Sharing is the opening column in our monthly newsletter. Hear from ILCMA volunteer staff and board members.
Over the holidays I set about making a decision as to what changes I would look to make after the first of the year. I will not say that I was making my New Year’s resolution as, I believe, they are made to be broken. Rather, I wanted to find a positive way to make some changes that I might enjoy. I decided that I would focus on my tennis game as this sport has always been a source of both pleasure and accomplishment for me.
To that end, I decided to reread W. Timothy Gallwey’s Inner Tennis. I had read the book a number of years ago, long before beginning any training in the Feldenkrais Method® and the various genres of alternate medicine. I was immediately struck by the common language in this book and many of the books I have read through training or post training.
Gallwey speaks toward the differences between understanding intellectually of what is happening and feeling (or being aware) of what is happening. In chapter 5 entitled Discovering Technique, he says “..if we let ourselves lose touch with our ability to feel our actions, by relying too heavily on instructions, we can seriously compromise our access to our natural learning processes and our ability to perform.” He discusses the differences between letting something happen versus making something happen and how making something happen can impede the movement necessary to perform well.
He talks of two selves who are present, one analyzing the performance and deciding what needs to be done to perfect the movement. The second self is available to just let the right thing happen. He argues that the second self can always outperform the first self as it is spontaneous and intuitive as opposed to letting itself get mired into a deep discussion of its faults and what is needed for improvement.
The result has been that my game is more spontaneous game and much more enjoyable than the game requiring a tremendous amount of effort analyzing each stroke, what was wrong and how it could be improved. I found that I enjoy the “feel” of my game and I believe my scores are improved – slight, but improved!
However, I have been careful not to admit to my opponents that there are two “me’s” on the court. They may cry unfair advantage.