Learning

As babies and infants we learn all the building blocks for movement gradually, by experimentation and curiosity. We develop a “movement vocabulary”, which allows us to support our weight, shift our centre of gravity to be able to crawl, climb, then walk effectively, and then move, tumble, dance,  hop, skip and jump with no great effort.

 

Unlearning

Later in life, our bodies have to cope with injury, stress, over-use and emotional demands. Often we end up feeling that simple actions like reaching up, bending over, sitting cross legged, getting up and down off the floor or turning our necks are uncomfortable and difficult – sometimes even painful. Things we took for granted when we were younger, or before an injury.

We protect our bodies and adapt our movement with compensations that become long term habits: these can add to our discomfort and we don’t realise its happening

 

Relearning

Entice yourself by watching how Baby Liv learns to move: yes this is a little like a Feldenkrais lesson: “reminding” the body of its connections, of balanced ways to use the muscles, of how the whole body takes part in each movement.