The Potent Self: A Guide to Spontaneity

This book is a wonderful intro to the Feldenkrais exercise method. It will inspire you to find a professional to continue in this most excellent body maintenance. It is especially excellent for seniors and folks with disabilities.

I've had no experience with the Feldenkrais method, nor even any particular interest in taking any classes. My interest is in improving the general functioning of my body and mind. This book provides deep and cogent analysis of a number of issues that I've not seen covered with such care elsewhere. Particularly interesting to me was the chapter on "Resistance and Cross Motivation," discussing the lack of clear, singular motivation in many of our actions that then manifests as resistance or tension. Performing actions well, then, is not just about working hard to overcome obstacles, but letting go of the resistance one creates in oneself. Also discussed are issues such as compulsiveness, fatigue, the nervous system and its relationship to the muscular system, sexuality and its relationship to social integration, and of course a great deal about posture and about healthy physical functioning. Through all of this he continuously relates body to personality in many ways, making clear that what manifests as physical functioning or dysfunction -- the entire spectrum, from individual cell to mental health and even to social structure -- is of a piece and cannot be separated; e.g. "faulty posture can always be traced to those factors that cause increased emotional tone." It's difficult to reduce this book to a simple summary; the ideas are both broad and deep and provide a lot of fertile ground for further exploration. The book overlaps of course with ideas from other movement therapies. I thought that it went into more depth than Alexander Lowen's "Bioenergetics," and that it was more systematic in dealing with the mental and emotional roots of physical posture than what I've read and experienced in the Alexander Technique. Having no allegiance to any of these therapies, I'm happy to endorse "The Potent Self" as a valuable resource to enhance one's own self-awareness on all levels -- mental, emotional, and physical -- and it can complement many forms of self-directed healing. For instance, the ideas in the book are very complementary to the Bates Method of natural vision improvement. If there is a drawback to the book, it's that the language can be a bit academic and take some serious thought to digest. But the value is in the digestion anyway. Also, if you are expecting a lot of exercises, you'll be disappointed. There are a few things to try, but the bulk of the book -- and what I consider most valuable anyway -- is discussion of the dynamics that propel behavior and action.

When was this book written? "Before, during and after [...] 'Body and Mature Behavior', which was published in 1949" (quoted from the Editor's Note to the 1985 softcover edition). Already then Moshe was writing for the general reader, but at that time he decided not to publish this book before attaining the recognition of the scientific community. The book's uniqueness among the author's other books is the emphasis indicated in the title: the nature of human sexuality, its hindrances and its potential. In this context his ideas acquire an additional sense of urgency. Like in all his writings, Moshe's perspective is unusually wide. Yet the style is highly concentrated. We all know the "admirable saying 'Love thy neighbor as thyself' [...] Yet there is also room for the symmetrical saying". There is danger of such forms of love for the other which are in fact a compulsive expression of the anxiety in social relationships. What are the limits of human capacity? "Impotent rage and impotent love have a great deal in common. In both, the desire to do is excessive... in both cases ... "ought to" ... is more pronounced than "want to". This leads a discussion of Spontaneity (as contrasted with compulsive action): "At root of all anxiety ... lies inner compulsion". Where is the borderline between automatic (reflex) response and free (learned) choice of action? Individual freedom is tamed by society. Society may punish heavily for deviations from its demands. "... we should not consider frigidity in women and impotence in men as physiological deficiencies, but as the result of successfully achieving a mistaken education". We are dependent. We strive at maturity. Maturity means reducing dependence. The game is not easy. A non-optimal result in maturation is always reflected in posture. "POSTURE is misleading; it suggests fixity", but in fact it describes "the use of the entire self in achieving and maintaining ... configuration and position". There follows a discussion of Body and Mind. "What is needed is a positive method of directing oneself... in short, the physiology of doing". "The cmpetent adult's action is so simple that he can never understand the complexity that bewilders the incompetent person". It is at this points that the author introduces a discussion of correct posture and specific demonstrations of his method (which made him so famous). Then again Moshe turns to the wider aspect of "physiology and social order". In this context he underlines an aspect of sexuality which is "rarely recognized": the "regulation of the sympathetic-parasympathetic balance". A rare discussion and instruction of what is required for the improved co-ordination of abdomen, pelvis and head is one of the highlights of the book. Moshe concludes with "a little philosophy": "Our object is to discover what it is that you really want". Some short examples of case histories follow. To review Moshe's books is no easy task. If I have not succeeded in making you eage

When was this book written? "Before, during and after [...] 'Body and Mature Behavior', which was published in 1949" (quoted from the Editor's Note to the 1985 softcover edition). Already then Moshe was writing for the general reader, but at that time he decided not to publish this book before attaining the recognition of the scientific community. The book's uniqueness among the author's other books is the emphasis indicated in the title: the nature of human sexuality, its hindrances and its potential. In this context his ideas acquire an additional sense of urgency. Like in all his writings, Moshe's perspective is unusually wide. Yet the style is highly concentrated. We all know the "admirable saying 'Love thy neighbor as thyself' [...] Yet there is also room for the symmetrical saying". There is danger of such forms of love for the other which are in fact a compulsive expression of the anxiety in social relationships. What are the limits of human capacity? "Impotent rage and impotent love have a great deal in common. In both, the desire to do is excessive... in both cases ... "ought to" ... is more pronounced than "want to". This leads a discussion of Spontaneity (as contrasted with compulsive action): "At root of all anxiety ... lies inner compulsion". Where is the borderline between automatic (reflex) response and free (learned) choice of action? Individual freedom is tamed by society. Society may punish heavily for deviations from its demands. "... we should not consider frigidity in women and impotence in men as physiological deficiencies, but as the result of successfully achieving a mistaken education". We are dependent. We strive at maturity. Maturity means reducing dependence. The game is not easy. A non-optimal result in maturation is always reflected in posture. "POSTURE is misleading; it suggests fixity", but in fact it describes "the use of the entire self in achieving and maintaining ... configuration and position". There follows a discussion of Body and Mind. "What is needed is a positive method of directing oneself... in short, the physiology of doing". "The cmpetent adult's action is so simple that he can never understand the complexity that bewilders the incompetent person". It is at this points that the author introduces a discussion of correct posture and specific demonstrations of his method (which made him so famous). Then again Moshe turns to the wider aspect of "physiology and social order". In this context he underlines an aspect of sexuality which is "rarely recognized": the "regulation of the sympathetic-parasympathetic balance". A rare discussion and instruction of what is required for the improved co-ordination of abdomen, pelvis and head is one of the highlights of the book. Moshe concludes with "a little philosophy": "Our object is to discover what it is that you really want". Some short examples of case histories follow. To review Moshe's books is no easy task. If I have not succeeded in making you eag

This book will open you to the many possibilities. You learn new ways of thinking, moving and living. Moshe Feldenkrais has been recognized by some of the greatest minds in the last 100 years. You would not be wasting your time or money by investing in this book. Once you pick it up you will have a hard time putting it down. There is no other book on mind/body development/evolution that can match this or Moshe's The Potent Self, Awareness Through Movement and The Elusive Obvious. Pick these books up where ever you can.