Calming the System Is the First Step, Especially With Chronic Pain

When a person takes on that ineffable calm that can come from a Feldenkrais lesson, what is happening? I know that their texture changes under my hands or as they engage in another variation of a movement. It is as though the body just turns soft and elastic, as though made from a different substance. Somehow, the 'be-on-guard' pattern seems to have been let go. This in itself is enjoyable. Just as importantly, I think it is the prerequisite for learning—and by learning I really mean internalizing new patterns more than memorizing something intellectually. And of course I mean new patterns of 'organization' in the sense of refining how you look over your shoulder to parallel park. But I also mean new interoceptive patterns. Yep.