Because I continued practicing Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) while studying Rubenfeld Synergy, I soon realized that all the methods I’ve mentioned, were helping me improve my TCC practice. In time I started applying the Alexander directions while practicing TCC. As I started teaching Tai Chi, I discovered that I could also use Dowd’s Ideokinesis imagery to facilitate students’ understanding of self-correcting movement principles.
As I developed my practice with groups I discovered it was easier to take students from the guided movements using the Feldenkrais approach, to the Tai Chi principles and then to the Alexander directions. I have discovered that the Alexander directions are usually the most difficult to convey.
Getting the Alexander directions through hands-on experience is a lengthy process and requires sustained motivation for at least 30 consecutive lessons. There is a reason why this method is an approach favored usually by performers that are highly motivated and have very specific physical or emotional goals. I only introduce them after I have given students an opportunity to release habitual patterns of posture through the FM. I find the Alexander directions helpful as a means of sustaining results obtained first through the Feldenkrais Method. A way of remembering that it is possible to create space between joints, improve the use of our muscles and connect the different body parts.
One important aspect that often prevents students from integrating guided body-mind movement lessons into their every day activities are limiting emotions. Even after muscles have been released and a person experiences a renewed sense of well-being, pain and discomfort returns. The reason is simple and complex at the same time. One way I have come to understand this, is that the body is a manifestation of our subconscious mind. Our subconscious is the director and guardian of our habits. It is not easy to change our habits and there is a very good reason for that.
Rubenfeld Synergy is based on the Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais’s approach to learning from the body through movement and touch. It facilitates a verbal dialogue with the subconscious mind as it manifests in sensations, aches and discomfort. Once we discover, acknowledge and understand the relation between sensations, physical pain or discomfort and our undisclosed or perhaps confusing limiting emotions, we are on the way to changing our dysfunctional habits.
You can visit my Youtube Channel at: Relaxation Zone (click on favorites) to take a look the various influences that blend into the Rubenfeld Synergy approach.
What do we do when we feel pain in a shoulder or in a joint, muscle or bone? Most of us start moving around to get rid of the painful sensation. As we persevere and try different things, we often discover a new position or posture that alleviates the pain. If we are successful, that’s it, we can then forget about the whole thing. But what do we do if we are not successful and the discomfort persists?
Often we will look for an expert, an orthopedist, a physical therapist or a massage therapist, for help. F Mathias Alexander (1869-1955) and Moshe P Feldenkrais (1904-1984), two of the men on whose work I base my professional practice, encountered physical challenges in their lives and were unable to find anyone who could help them. Fortunately for us, their solution was to develop their own unique approach.
Although the methods they developed are very different, they both rely on the human capacity for self-observation and our ability to develop awareness. Both methods rely on our innate ability to learn from movement and touch. By refining our sense of movement and awareness these methods improve our physical, emotional and mental performance.
My own introduction to what is sometimes called “sensory awareness” came through the guided movement lessons in Feldenkrais’ book Awareness Through Movement. The improvement I experienced was so dramatic that I felt inspired to look for formal training. I moved to New York City from Panama and was fortunate enough to encounter the work of Ilana Rubenfeld, who had developed a synergistic system using a combination of the Alexander Technique, Gestalt Therapy and the Feldenkrais Method called “Rubenfeld Synergy.” I decided to take her training after a weekend workshop.
During the first year of Ilana’s training program, I was initiated into the Alexander Technique (AT). The AT lessons required by the RSM program, improved my long time practice and study of Tai Chi Chuan. During the third year of the RSM program I was introduced to the study of functional anatomy. As an Alexander Technique practitioner, Ilana understood the importance of having accurate anatomical information to guide a client. Ilana encouraged her students to look for teachers of functional anatomy. I started with Irene Dowd, known for her work with Ideokinesis, a system that uses imagery to improve movement performance.
Throughout the RSM training program, I was continuosly exposed to Ilana’s approach to some of the guided movement sequences developed by Feldenkrais. Ilana would weave the Alexander directions, with the movement sequences she had studied with Feldenkrais. Initially I followed her, however I sensed there was more to learn from other Feldenkrais practitioners.
Being in New York City, it was not hard to find other Feldenkrais teachers. I soon learned that every practitioner brought something personal to Feldenkrais’ Method. It was at that point that I started to develop the movement sequences that my body was asking for. I started weaving my personal variations into the lessons I had learned with Ilana. I was able to test their effect during Ilana’s post-graduate course, which I took following her basic training program.
Body Mind Insight 