Feldenkrais and F-word
How do I even explain Feldenkrais® without using a 4-letter F-word?
Here I’ll say it:
F - U - E - L
Imagine that you have two cars: one is a “normal” petrol car, and one is a hybrid.
Your petrol car can speed up pretty fast, you enjoy driving it, and your fuel consumption is high. You see it on your bills, but to calculate the average consumption or spending per km, you need to gather the right numbers and do your maths. Many people don’t come that far: if you know that on average you spend 10 l per 100 km, your fuel consumption awareness is considered great.
Your hybrid is an entirely different story. It tells you immediately what your fuel efficiency is. If you are in a rush or have to speed up on a highway, it goes quickly up to 7 l per 100 km. If you drive calmly, however, you can reach as low as 4 l per 100 km. At any given moment, you know what your average fuel consumption is, and you are aware of the price of every trip. It’s not a car to drive when you are angry or have to hurry. By giving you immediate feedback on the control panel, this car can change your behaviour on the road and your driving style.
I know because this happened to me.
One of our cars is a hybrid, and during the lockdowns when both cars were pretty much on stand-by and the only drive I had to do every week was grocery shopping, I started driving the hybrid – normally used by my husband. I quickly learned that these drives calmed me down – because I had to be a calmer driver for optimal fuel consumption. I learned to monitor my efficiency constantly and adjust my driving style for the sake of cost. I also learned that one of my routes to school costs me about $1 more per trip because of distance and hills – not a biggy, but all combined over $40 more expense per month.
Now, when I drive my petrol car, I still keep fuel consumption in mind and drive more efficiently. On a good day, I even have a head space to watch my RPMs. I can decide to take a different route for fun or experiment, but I am aware of the extra cost.
Doing Feldenkrais® is like driving a hybrid:
You have to slow down
You get constant and immediate feedback about what you do
You start doing things more efficiently and lose less energy
You transfer this capacity to other parts of your life
You still have fun – because you can choose to!
Can you relate?