Embodiment and Creativity

by Janelle Keane Campoverde, Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner

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How does a baby learn to move? How do adults continue to learn, through movement, with the joy and engagement of a child? And, by the way, where is instruction manual?

When the colorful rattle is out of our reach, it’s time to get creative! It begins with an intention, but we don't know how to get there. How to uncover this mystery? Throughout our lives we are continually learning, through our senses. We learn spatial and body awareness as we move. This process is called proprioception. We are born, playful learners, with big brains...living in the mystery of not knowing each step in advance. As the baby discovers how to move toward, grasp, and shake the anticipated rattle—she feels the sensation of her hand around the rattle, the smell, the sound and the satisfying rhythm she made happen! Wow!

Learning is the "miracle" of the Feldenkrais Method—through intention and attention. We play with others, engaging with the mystery of how we realize our intentions.

There is one thing, that cultivated and regularly practiced, leads
to a deep sense of urgency,
to the supreme peace;
to mindfulness and clear comprehension,
...to knowledge;
to happiness here and now;
to realizing wisdom,
and the fruition of wholeness:
it is mindfulness of the body.

—The Buddha