Why is everything a struggle nowadays and why do we couch everything in such bellicose language? We're fighting wars on all fronts: obesity; drugs; alcohol; poverty; fitness; climate change; social injustice - you name it.
And now, even our leisure time is a potential war zone. A recent advertorial magazine from Tourism Australia ran with the headline, 'Win the Work/Life Battle'.
What hope have we got of creating balance in our lives when the media feeds us with subliminal negative messages? The implication is that if we don't push and strive (i.e. battle) and put huge amounts of effort into life, we won't be happy.
Conversley, sometimes the harder we try, the more elusive our goals become. Starting out with the mindset that life is an uphill battle, we're already into negative goal setting.
Take fitness. How many people pump iron and push themselves to the point of collapse in their quest to develop big muscles? Putting all their trust in that old maxim, 'there's no pain without gain', they drive their bodies harder than their cars. And cars are a lot easier to replace.
So many of us are in conflict with our bodies on all levels. We try expensive creams to delay ageing, liposuction to get rid of the flab, miracle diets to shape up, supplements and herbal extracts to give us eternal life and super foods to give us more energy.
That's why I have found it such a relief to rediscover the Feldenkrais Method. Pioneered by Israeli Moshe Feldenkrais in the 1940s and 1950s, it's about developing awareness of how you move, exploring ways of letting go of the holding patterns in your body and reconnecting your movements into a fluid whole.
Like most other people in the Western world, I hold large amounts of tension in my body - spending long hours at the computer doesn't help. In my efforts to loosen up, I've tried just about every form of exercise and method known to man: yoga of all kinds; swimming; cycling; Tai Chi; The Alexander Technique; Pilates; Bowen Therapy; Rolfing; body work; massage; aromatherapy; hot baths and a large whisky and soda, but Feldy beats them all. Check out www.feldenkrais.com.
After my first session of Feldenkrais (well the first in six years), my body started to remember how to move efficiently and I found myself singing the words of Dem Bones to myself:
Your toe bone connected to your foot bone
Your foot bone connected to your ankle bone
Your ankle bone connected to your leg bone
Your leg bone connected to your knee bone
Your knee bone connected to your thigh bone
Your thigh bone connected to your hip bone
Your hip bone connected to your back bone
Your back bone connected to your shoulder bone
Your shoulder bone connected to your neck bone
Your neck bone connected to your head bone
Did you know that the words are based on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, 37,1-14?
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