Today I am going to go over the third significant area where the Feldenkrais Method® improved my life.

3 – Prioritizing Skill Over Effort

I was blindly chasing a dream that wasn’t mine, causing me endless pain and discomfort.

So, what did I do?

Did I take a step back to reassess the situation and find a better solution?

Of course not!

Instead, I did what most people do in my situation: I doubled down, pressing harder on the gas, hoping that more effort would solve my problems.

I believed I just needed to try harder.

After all, we hear it all the time: “No pain, no gain,” right?

In hindsight, my actions may not seem sensible, but maybe you do it too. When things aren’t going your way, do you tend to push harder?

Do you find, like I did, that it often makes the problem worse?

So, why do we do it?

Because it feels safer to keep doing what we know or what has worked for us in the past, even if it’s clearly not working now.

Trying something new means first admitting that your current approach isn’t effective, then being willing to make mistakes until you get it right.

And if you’re like me, you don’t like making mistakes.

But mainly because not sticking with it feels like you’re giving up. And if there is one thing I had become very good at, it was not giving up. I prided myself on my ability to tough it out through difficult situations.

As a result, learning how to stop before I hurt myself was the hardest lesson for me to grasp during my Feldenkrais training.

It took me a long time to realize that most things can and should feel easy if done the right way— by aligning my actions with a greater sense of awareness and using the right mindset, tools, and skills

That trying too hard while playing tennis was hurting my shoulder and knees, just as trying too hard to convince my children to do things my way was hurting my relationship with them.

This was my biggest challenge in getting to know myself.

Slowly, over the course of my training, I learned the value of prioritizing skill over misdirected effort. That the true measure of skill is how effortlessly you can do what you want and how many different ways you have of achieving your goals.

It also taught me to be okay with making the right kind of mistakes—those that don’t cost much in terms of money, time, and missed opportunities. Instead, they lead to greater self-awareness and open up more options.

In which areas of your life do you feel like you’re pushing a boulder uphill? Where are you trying very hard but not getting the results you want?

Do you allow yourself to make mistakes when learning something new?

If your inner critic had a megaphone, what mistakes would it shout about the loudest?

My four-year training allowed me to know myself in a completely new way, leading to new options and pathways that weren’t available before. These new options, in turn, have made my life easier and more enjoyable.

Applying these 3 learnings to my life over the years has enabled me to:

• Recover from lingering shoulder and knee injuries.
• Significantly enhance my posture and flexibility.
• Prevent injuries and enjoy more time playing tennis, which I love.
• Develop a deeper sense of authenticity and self-connection.
• Become more attuned to my own comfort and needs.
• Pursue my true passions, fulfilling a childhood dream.
• Improve my parenting, becoming more present and engaged with my children.
• Continuously grow and rejuvenate both physically and mentally.

These changes have not only improved my physical health but also enriched my overall well-being and sense of fulfillment.

Now, I know you don’t want to spend four years or invest the money it would take to replicate my journey!

So, next time, I’m going to tell you about an exciting way that I’ve developed for you to get on the fast track to knowing yourself in just ten weeks!

If what I have shared so far has resonated with you, make sure to look out for that!