Check out Part I here!
PART II
There are three main causes for the high drop-out rate in gym- membership, a challenge which gyms are constantly battling:
How Mind Body Studies Can Empower the Athlete and Enhance Ability
MBS Program Director Leora Gaster explains how the principles of MBS can translate to more beneficial physical activity, whether as part of a regular fitness regime, social sports or simply when taking a stroll around the neighborhood.
High-performing athletes who walk into class expecting to break a sweat are often surprised by MBS group classes, which can often involve small, thought-focused movements. However, the principles behind the classes are directly applied to high-intensity forms of movement and workout routines – whether on the treadmill or in a boxing ring. Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais’ own background in sports, as a boxer and one of the first western Judokas, vastly contributed to how he developed his system. Far from prescribing gentler or more limited forms of activity, Mind Body Studies is designed so that you can actually do more by initially doing less: quantity, effort, and speed, with more intense focus and attention.
All too often, the legacy of Dr. Feldenkrais is lumped together with therapeutic and healing modalities. The methods he developed do improve mobility, agility, coordination, and overall quality of life. However, the Mind-Body-Studies system he devised is, above all, a set of tools, which enables you to work more efficiently and effectively toward your goals. It empowers anyone, at any level, to access complete insight into what they are doing and how they do it – enabling them to expand the boundaries of their physical and mental capacity. Whether the aims are recovery from injury or Olympic-level performance, the principles remain the same: becoming aware of how you operate at your best and building on those patterns to operate even better, faster, easier. Greater awareness leads to control, freedom and resilience, which result in a streamlined and powerful approach to fitness.
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The Role of Awareness in Injury Recovery and Athletic Development: A Conversation with Personal Trainer Ian Lim
Current MBS Foundation student and personal trainer Ian Lim discusses how the principles of Mind Body Studies help him connect with his clients’ needs and better prepare them to meet their goals.
Next February, Ian Lim will once more fly from Singapore to Germany to participate in the final seminar of the MBS Foundation Training program. With graduation right around the bend, many students are gearing up their own practices at home. Since the beginning, Ian has seen his studies with MBS improve and enhance his skill as a personal trainer. Instead of teaching formal group classes (ATM’s), though, Ian finds that he can best reach his clientele by incorporating a Mind Body Studies approach into his private training sessions. He notes, “It’s about bringing the principles of MBS into the usual fitness work and about guiding the client to become more aware of their movements.”
Sometimes, when a client changes the way they think about a movement it brings the most significant improvement. Ian offers an example: “My clients used to think about just kicking the ball. But the motion, itself, is much more important than what happens with the ball.” So he begins suggesting questions to the client: “‘What do you move first? When do you stop moving when you kick the ball? What do you do when you get to the endpoint? Do you tense up?’ So,” Ian explains, “I slowly move them through their entire movement.” What is the result of shifting attention to the movement, itself, instead of the athletic goal? “More power. More flexibility.”
As it turns out, Ian’s clients perform better overall when he can bring their attention to how they move instead of focusing on the number of repetitions, the maximum speed, or the weight that they press. This same phenomenon holds for clients with highly varied needs.
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