The Potent Self: A Guide to Spontaneity [Paperback]

When was this book written? "Before, during and after [...] 'Body and Mature Behavior', which was published in 1949" (quoted from the Editor's Note to the 1985 softcover edition). Already then Moshe was writing for the general reader, but at that time he decided not to publish this book before attaining the recognition of the scientific community.

The book's uniqueness among the author's other books is the emphasis indicated in the title: the nature of human sexuality, its hindrances and its potential. In this context his ideas acquire an additional sense of urgency. Like in all his writings, Moshe's perspective is unusually wide. Yet the style is highly concentrated.

We all know the "admirable saying 'Love thy neighbor as thyself' [...] Yet there is also room for the symmetrical saying". There is danger of such forms of love for the other which are in fact a compulsive expression of the anxiety in social relationships. What are the limits of human capacity? "Impotent rage and impotent love have a great deal in common. In both, the desire to do is excessive... in both cases ... "ought to" ... is more pronounced than "want to". This leads a discussion of

Spontaneity (as contrasted with compulsive action): "At root of all anxiety ... lies inner compulsion". Where is the borderline between automatic (reflex) response and free (learned) choice of action? Individual freedom is tamed by society. Society may punish heavily for deviations from its demands. "... we should not consider frigidity in women and impotence in men as physiological deficiencies, but as the result of successfully achieving a mistaken education". We are dependent. We strive at maturity. Maturity means reducing dependence. The game is not easy. A non-optimal result in maturation is always reflected in posture. "POSTURE is misleading; it suggests fixity", but in fact it describes "the use of the entire self in achieving and maintaining ... configuration and position". There follows a discussion of Body and Mind. "What is needed is a positive method of directing oneself... in short, the physiology of doing". "The cmpetent adult's action is so simple that he can never understand the complexity that bewilders the incompetent person".

It is at this points that the author introduces a discussion of correct posture and specific demonstrations of his method (which made him so famous). Then again Moshe turns to the wider aspect of "physiology and social order". In this context he underlines an aspect of sexuality which is "rarely recognized": the "regulation of the sympathetic-parasympathetic balance". A rare discussion and instruction of what is required for the improved co-ordination of abdomen, pelvis and head is one of the highlights of the book.
Moshe concludes with "a little philosophy": "Our object is to discover what it is that you really want". Some short examples of case histories follow.

To review Moshe's books is no easy task. If I have not succeeded in making you eager to read the book, try the book itself. Like all the Master's books it is this special mixture of a companion and instructor, rich in insights which have lost nothing of the originality with the years.

Despite the fact that this book sometimes reads like a scientific abstract, I think this is a seminal metaphysical book.

Moshe Feldenkrais was a Ukranian nuclear physicist and chemist, who was taught by Marie Curie and worked with Nobel Laureates. He was also interested in ju-jitsu and judo, eventually achieving a black belt in 1936 long before it was popular.

When he injured his knee and was eventually told that he needed surgery but it only had a 50% probability of being succesful, he began to do his own research. He studied anatomy and physiology and eventually developed his own methods of rehabilitating muscle and the patterns of neural networks that created the imbalance to begin with.

But more than this, what Feldenkrais proposes is a holistic approach to balance in one's life--in all aspects of life--so that all possible actions (and emotions) are available to us to spontaneously chose depending on the circumstances. Only then do we live a fulfilling life and one that is physically and emotionally in balance.

He teaches this balance, flexibility and spontaneity through muscular movement. If we don't have it there and in our posture, it is most likely not in other areas of our lives.

There is no proscription in the true Feldenkrais method. There is no "you SHOULD have proper abdominal control" or "you SHOULD have proper posture". His approach says that the best movement (or action) is that which is easiest, which we actually want to do. He points out that the reason athletes are the best at diving or swimming or skiing is that they have distilled the actions to their easiest, simplest, least stressful movements. When we learn, what we learn is how to avoid the unnecessary actions, making it become easier and easier the more skill we attain.

All action which requires will or exersion is going to fail because we resist.

We have all developed some methods of movement (or of emotional response) that are counter-productive because we have adapted to the particular demands of our environment or society. We all lived in a dependence mode during our early life when our actual existence was dependent on our parents or care-givers.

These people motivated us to sit, roll, talk, move, walk, run, accept responsibility -- by giving or withholding praise. There was always an element of fear behind these methods that we would lose our caregiver.

As a result, we often learned to do things that we were not yet physiologically or psychologically capable of handling. So some children were encouraged to walk or run before they had total control of balance and movement of the pelvis.

Feldenkrais talks about one patient who stood with his feet too widely apart. On investigation, the patient revealed his older brother pushed him down whenever he could get away with it. His chin was hyper-extended, his pelvis tipped forward--all manifestations of this environment. Unsurprisingly, his sex life was affected as well. As our most intimate and spontaneity-demanding activity, our sexual response is a mirror of our flexibility --both physically, and emotionally.

I think I stumbled onto Feldenkrais by searching through YouTube for videos about how to reduce muscle tension in the shoulders and neck. I then read the reviews, many of which said that Feldenkrais's book was difficult to understand. So I chose another "Feldenkrais method" book--The Busy Person's Guide to Easier Movement. But it turned out to be just another "Here's how to properly exercise book" to me.

Feldenkrais is a scientist, not a psychologist. He calls those not skilled in some movement or action "Incompetents", calls any action or movement that distracts from a movement "parasitic". He uses words like "tonic" (meaning bare muscular action required to stay upright),and "acture" instead of posture. His writing goes maddeningly from pedantic to real.

This book was only published post-humously because Feldenkrais did not want to be judged harshly by the scientific community for a philosphy which is at heart very humanistic.

This book is the foundation of the approach. It is so all-encompassing that it is difficult to comprehend how much of our lives it applies to. Not only can people be helped with changing muscular movements, posture, but with obsessive patterns of thinking and acting like OCD.

Feldenkrais sees our movements as intimately involved with our cortex. The two of them form together--the movement pattern is carved into our brains. In order to disrupt this pattern, we must either "tire out" a particular movement, or approach it from another, non-familiar action.

When we overuse a muscle or our brains, the muscles don't just tire out and rest, as they were designed to do. Often, the muscle becomes incapable of relaxing, often going into spasm or overbuilding. The brain as well can become incapable of stopping thinking in a particular way. The pattern has to be interrupted. Feldenkrais begins to hint at how one finds those ways of interruption.

But it's not easy. He hints at many ways, but doesn't relly provided a complete guide to how to begin.

When we are balanced, we move from "work" mode and total concentration on an action or work to relaxation mode. At any time we can move from work to relaxation mode or vice versa. Only then are we totally spontaneous and replenished. It is a powerful philosphy.

In reading the book, I skipped the exercises at first--being totally in my own head. But finally I did one of the exercises and was amazed at the total release I felt.

Now I'm not sure where to go. I've watched many of the YouTube practitioners of the Feldenkrais method. None fit exactly so I suspect I will have to "solve" my own problems. But at least this book provides the underlying philosophy of what it is I need to accomplish.

This book will open you to the many possibilities. You learn new ways of thinking, moving and living. Moshe Feldenkrais has been recognized by some of the greatest minds in the last 100 years. You would not be wasting your time or money by investing in this book. Once you pick it up you will have a hard time putting it down. There is no other book on mind/body development/evolution that can match this or Moshe's The Potent Self, Awareness Through Movement and The Elusive Obvious. Pick these books up where ever you can.