An experience in Functional Integration

A 1 to 1 session with Jenny Coogan

I was so lucky to have a chance to have a 1 to 1 Feldenkrais Functional Integration session with Jenny Coogan. As a big part of my dissertation was investigating the Feldenkrais method and its forms, it was very beneficial for me to physically experience this particular form of the method. The main focuses were on the release of my lower back and the back of my neck. After a short discussion about the specificity of the tensions I held, a completely silent hands on work followed. This way I had a chance to experience the power of letting go and giving in into somebody else's hands as well as enhance my senses in order to achieve the release of the held pain in order to improve my movement performance by allowing me to move just a little bit easier. I had a chance to process and notice the changes happening without any verbal instructions given. It was absolutely amazing, after an hour's session, I felt so lengthened and such a release in my neck, it felt like there was so much space made within my spine, and between the neck and shoulders, it almost felt like it's never going back. In this way I had a chance to re-evaluate my knowledge about the Method. If this can make such a difference after one session, I would absolutely recommend this Method and this particular form to people who suffer from pains which causes restriction of movements because it is effective for human performance in everyday life just as much as it is for dancing bodies.

Many Thanks to Jenny Coogan for her time and the experience given ;]

Peer Teaching session


One of the tasks we had for Movement Studies, was planning a short session and delivering it to your peers. As my interest this year has been accessing the nervous system, the material I delivered was based on this experiential experience. This was following the interest in integrating the interaction between inner functioning and outer world, two things of which somatic nervous system (receiving, interpreting and responding to the information) and autonomic nervous system (responsible for involuntary, surviving processes) are responsible for. Therefore my intention was experiencing the nervous system as nerve cells, how it fires, and how quickly it travels through the body in order to notice how quickly the information is proceeded and even registered.  Hence I have started from showing short video about the nervous system and neurons, then followed with Body Scanning imagery exercise to bring the focus to the body, then the hands on work followed of cellular touch and finally moved towards a hands on partner graphic of travelling fingers, that I experienced myself before in SRT class 11 and that I found very relevant for this exploration. If I had more time, my further instructions would have lead to slightly more detailed explorations as well as towards little solo dance, involving some music/sound, and even contact improvisation.

It was very beneficial to be able to deliver such material, because I could make evaluations about myself as a teacher. Although it required some research in books (took me quite a few to look at to find the most relevant and beneficial material) and online, it was not too difficult to plan this class, as it was my own interest this whole year, especially second term. Actually, it drew my interest in ways of teaching even more! Even though a number of aspects of teaching had to be considered for this particular session. However, in time of delivery, the time limitation appeared to be tricky, as the material I had is demanding for quite longer amount of time. Therefore the lack of information/details for imagery was noticed. However, details like the correct use of voice, clarity of instructions given, the layout of the material given was complimented by my colleagues. The connection between visual material and practical material was acknowledged working well together, helping to move through material quite swiftly.

Being a participant of other people's 'little classes' helped me not only notice the aspects of given material but critically look at delivering itself, to notice what methods of delivery works better than the others. This included the feedback discussion, as the ethics of feedback is a very important part of teaching skills too.

I think this session was a really good chance to experiment teaching abilities. I hope to be able to deliver this material to another group of people in the future!

March Entry

My lovely experience in SRT

This term, I had an amazing opportunity to do a series of 15 Skinner Releasing Technique introductory classes. 3 times a week, 5 weeks in a row, was an intensive practice of this particular technique, in comparison to my previous experience doing first 10 classes in 10 weeks period.
First of all, evaluating this practice, it was really beneficial for me considering the investigation and research I did on SRT for my dissertation, so starting this series I already had a different level of understanding, hence different approach to a given material. I could really connect to the imagery scores much quicker than I used to, and because of the intensity it felt like really layering up, because my body could easily remember and connect to the material that has been done in previous classes. Even the material from 1st term and from the few weeks of the start of second term was still present. This even appeared in my journal writing, where I mention the connections to some phrase work, and movement patterns' exploration.
Something that particularly interested me in SRT this time, was some kind of connection to my nervous system, and a very different experience of consciousness and unconsciousness. I was actually exploring the difference of it and noticing the moments when it shifts and switches. Therefore, very interestingly, I have started to learn to use conscious and subconscious once I get dancing, and letting myself be...letting myself being danced by what is awakened there at that very moment by the imagery and partner graphics, or sometimes just letting go...When you experience that subconsciouss state of mind where you are not asleep, but you are not conscious, and you know you've been hearing everything that Polly said, but can not actually remember it yourself until it is said to you again after you finish the class, makes you wonder about the ways your mind is processing the information beyond your own conscious choice..
Technically I improved in 'seeing and being seen' as well as improved my tone, presence and fuller embodiment of the movement. I also noticed an improvement in my flexibility, especially in my hip socket.
There is a little quote from my notes from one of the classes:

'I was dancing, not danced today...However, the calm in the body is just incredible in these classes. Supple feet, quietened vibrations of energy that's put into the space. That's how it takes me into a peaceful dance today...'

' You just let your inner energy come into play, let it flow with no restrictions and take you somewhere unexpected, but keep that suspension of the torso with you, making those legs so light, your whole body supported..as if you're flying just above the floor and glide around the space...and there you taken somewhere before you even know...'

The reverberations of this practice was very present in the afternoon Improvisation classes too. The group work/working with more than one partner was most significant for me in these classes, because I could really feel the differences between individuals, which made me aware of more possibilities within dance practice and performance making practice, as well as being useful for future teaching.