Moving like a tree in the wind
A door opened for me the rider with the first exercise in Moshe Feldenkrais, Consciousness Through Movement
~ Equestrian and researcher Christine Sanders, who is writing a book on the physiology of riding.
When I watch my children move, specifically when riding their horses, I am amazed at the ease of their seats, the nearly effortless way they sit the gaits. It has been a joy to watch 8-year-old C. lope past me on his long-legged quarterhorse mare Piñon, back end of his Wranglers glued to the saddle.
(My aspiring cowboy has just recently advised me that from now on he will only wear his Wranglers to ride his new horse. Those Wranglers are going to get a lot of washing, I told him, because right now he's only got one pair. I suspect there will be no more breeches for this boy ever again. And since we brought Piñon home, C. has been eyeing with great interest those silver cowboy belt buckles the size of dinner plates over at the Western Warehouse.)
After breaking my back years ago in a riding accident, and after a lot of physical therapy, I’ve been practicing yoga, pilates, and a little dance conditioning. All of which have kept me going. Particularly for horseback riding.
Looks like Moshe Feldenkrais had to keep himself going as well. Did you know that Moshe Feldenkrais earned his doctorate in Physics at the Sorbonne and later was an associate to the Nobel Prize laureate Frederic Joliot-Curie in Paris? Upon suffering a serious knee injury, Feldenkrais was faced with a 50 percent chance for recovery and the possibility of confinement to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Unsatisfied with the prognosis and conventional treatments available, he embarked on exploring new relationships between the mind and body to improve physical movement and function. For 40 years, Feldenkrais developed an ingenious method for effective neuromuscular reeducation. (Source: feldenkraisinstitute.org)
Feldenkrais sounds like a good practice for equestrians. I’m going to check it out. To learn more about Feldenkrais, Christine recommends the book Consciousness Through Movement
Here are some online Feldenkrais exercises/movements I found:
1) 60 Feldenkrais exercises
2) Sitting in a chair─Chair Play (This looks like a good way to become more aware of my sitz bones!)
Wouldn’t it be something to at least recapture some of that movement we may have forgotten as adults? Perhaps, like Christine, practicing some Feldenkrais movements will open a door for me the rider.
Maybe I’ll even learn how to sing.
Resources: feldenkrais.com; feldenkraisinstitute.org
Flickr photos: Kris Kros; film girl; tejana
