Our brains continually seek and sort through information as we act in our lives. With trillions of neural connections, it is amazing to think about how it all comes together so that we can live our lives.

In the coming together of those connections, we form habits. The formation of habits occur over the expanse of our lives without necessarily knowing the origin. With the repetition of a particular response to a particular stimulus, a habit is formed. It is the thoughts, feelings, sensations and movements that get “patterned” in the habit. Habits can make our lives easier. We don’t have to always think to get something done quickly; but over time, limitations may live “under the surface” of our awareness and we develop compensatory responses to injuries, stress, and traumatic events leading to a diminished ability to ascertain what we need to do to make improvements. Overwhelm can occur making coping harder, accompanied by a loss of knowing in which direction to turn to find help or learn what we need to do to improve or feel better.

At Movement Matters, the Feldenkrais Method® is used to restore and make conscious that which has been unconscious because of the adaptation that occurs with habit formation. The patterned part of our habit stays out of consciousness and with the repetition, our self-use can lead to wear and tear on joints, vulnerability to injury and dissatisfaction with enjoying our own lives. In other words living becomes a burden. Depletion of energy, pleasure, and comfort, along with either cycles or continuous levels of pain, challenges our lives further.

With an inquiry into one’s experience and further developing an ability to notice differences, we begin to expand our ability to sense the repetitive nature of our actions and begin to slowly explore other options of using ourselves in easy, more pleasurable ways. In the process, we release the restrictive nature of our habits and feel freer, lighter and more vital!

Movement Matters is an organization that provides movement education for feeling better, overcoming injuries and disorders and allows for developing self awareness for improvement in everyday living and in your craft. Lindy Ost works to inspire intrigue and inquiry in that learning. Please join us in finding and making a difference!