Embodied Clarity

Do as you Want, not as you Should….

December 17th, 2008

“Your trouble and mine is that we are trying to behave correctly, as one should, at the cost of quenching, with our own consent, our individuality.  In the end, we do not know what we want, to the point of believing that what we are doing is what we really want to do; moreover the annoying status quo becomes more attractive to us that what we believe or say we want.” (Moshe Feldenkrais, The Elusive Obvious, p. xii, 1981)

So Moshe Feldenkrais advises you to stop trying to behave correctly and instead understand how you do something.  Unless you know how you do something, you have no alternatives because there is no choice.  Thus, you are simply acting compulsively and  this lacks individuality as well as consent.  Conversely, if you learn how you do something, you will be able to generate alternatives and thus choice.  And you escape your compulsions and the status quo. You will uncover your individuality and be able to act accordingly. If instead, you are simply trying to behave correctly or as one should, you will lose connection yourself, your desires and your dreams.  So, Feldenkrais advices, do as you want, not as you should.

Practice:

Chose one action in your upcoming week and decide to do it as you want, not as you should.  For example, do not go to a party that you don’t really want to go to.  Don’t go to the gym because you should.  Notice how you chose what to do–what events or obligations to partake in.  Chose an alternative action (something that you want to do) and notice how you do it. How did you make the choice?  What did it feel like in your body to make a choice to do something you want as opposed to should? When you did the action, how did you do it?

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