Are you carrying a piano on your back?
By Richard Adelman, June 15, 2007

“If you’re carrying a piano on your back and a fly lands on it you won’t feel it. But if you’re holding a feather and a fly lands on it you’ll be able to feel the difference.” Moshe Feldenkrais

I think we would all agree that if it were possible to accomplish the same things in our lives with less effort would be a plus. It could be emotionally liberating and even benefit our physical health. We might feel “lighter” in body and mind. But before we look into these promising possibilities, let’s take a look at the mystery of effort itself.

Effort is a complex phenomenon with many fascinating and paradoxical aspects. It pervades our lives even when, as often happens, it goes unrecognized by ourselves or other people. We may admire those who are able to sustain heroic efforts while, at the same time we are awed by the “effortless” grace of others. In fact, it takes a concerted effort to learn a martial art, a dance-form or play a musical instrument with apparent effortlessness. I believe that a person who is interested in learning to refine (and thereby reduce) the effort in their life needs a form and a discipline in order to do so… and this inevitably requires a commitment and effort.

On the other hand, being a sincerely hard-working person is a part of many people’s personal and social identities. People can be rewarded even for the appearance of effort. There are many life situations in which we feel called upon to sustain great effort for long periods of time, even years. In fact, most of us, at least until mid-life, are in a relatively high state of effort. Our aging body invites or compels us to moderate and soften this. Making the transition can be very difficult for some: it can even precipitate a mid-life crisis.

I have been concerned with these issues as a musician, music teacher and somatic educator since 1970. The core belief of somatic educators, including Feldenkrais Practitioners such as myself, is that there is hope, based on the human capacity for learning and reorganization. Thus you do not have to accept as inevitable the full regimen of effort, aches, and pains of your daily life. You can learn to feel your body from the inside, to distinguish how you may be using or misusing yourself, and learn to move more naturally. In the Feldenkrais Method this is accomplished through tablework using subtle, educated touch in hands-on, fully-clothed private sessions and slow, gentle, pleasurable floorwork movement sequences done in private or group settings. 

Reducing the effort, intensity, and tempo of your movements is the basic procedure in body awareness education. This magnifies subtle sensations and enables you to focus in a very detailed way on the experience of effort. How is your effort initiated? Where in your body are tension patterns first invoked? While sustaining or intensifying effort, how and where do you recruit more muscles, involving more of yourself? Are you expending to little or too much effort? What are your presuppositions about how much effort you need? Do you implicitly assume that everything you do requires a great effort? How do you brace and stiffen yourself (and probably hold your breath) in order to prepare for a difficult endeavor? Is this merely your preparation for a specific challenge or is this rigidity actually your life stance itself?

In short, are you carrying a piano on your back?

Richard Adelman, MA, is a Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner and Pilates Teacher with an extensive background in Somatic Psychology. The issue of effort—learning to experience and regulate one’s personal effort—is always present in his work but will be a special focus of his upcoming Lifepath talk, workshop, and private sessions starting on June 22 and lasting until July 1. If you wish to become more intimate with your efforting pattern and learn how to make modifications within it please do not hesitate to contact him or attend one of the events. Lifepath: 154-8465; Richard’s SMA cell: 415- 114-3069; Richard in Xalapa, Veracruz: 01-228-812-6252.

Beating the allergy blues
By Cheri Long 

The Jacarandas were more colorful than ever this year, their violet arms shrouding San Miguel like Lenten vestments, inspiring even the most jaded photographer, littering the ground with cobalt confetti.

For allergy sufferers of course, the Jacaranda brings ambiguities most poignant: how to view the blue without suffering its respiratory plagues. Some who never otherwise suffer from allergies catch the purple penance, and they dash to the druggist in search of Claritin or Allegra. This year seasonal problems were worse than ever: welcome increased rains brought greater numbers of blossoms, and with them more sniffles! 

Every year, the pollen-laden breezes drive me to apoplexy, but this year the symptoms were complicated by other allergens. Asthma, skin problems and chronic respiratory infections turned me into a crashing bore who sloshed grudgingly from one remedy to another with no long term solutions. I couldn’t shout, sing or talk a blue streak without gasping. Using my exercise bike or taking the dogs for a simple walk were out of the question, which was even more disconcerting, since one of the best aids for asthma is a round of exercise. 

Many general practitioners here are excellent and they can offer relief from allergy symptoms, even administering generically-prepared, preventative shots. There are no allergists in town and few in Celaya. My dermatologist was at a loss, and suggested calling the hospitals in Querétaro; but when one needs a specialist, a recommendation can be truly heartening. I felt daunted by the Yellow Pages. 

Then in true SMA style, my husband happened onto someone kind enough to ask her specialist in Querétaro for names of reputable allergists, and as a result, I’ve received excellent treatment, the most affordable in my experience.

In San Jose Hospital in Querétaro, Dr. Sergio Quiroz Gatica has practiced allergy and immunology specializations for many years.

Dr. Gatica provided simple testing in a matter of minutes. After one visit he armed me with new medications or dosage adjustments (Seretide, Singulair, Beconase and Flurinol).

Dr. Gatica speaks some English, but non-Spanish-speakers may wish to take along a translator or dictionary. Limiting oneself only to doctors who speak fluent English may do a disservice to comprehensive health care. I’m just glad to be breathing easier, no matter the idiom. 

Hospital San Jose is located at Prol. Constituyentes 302, off the Libre de Celaya on Querétaro’s south side; parking is plentiful on the street. Dr. Gatica’s office is Consultorio #603 in the building; his phone numbers are 01-442-215-6667 or 01-442-215-7392.