Posts by Ethan Kind

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Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. (MOVEMENT THERAPY)

I was a former concert guitarist who learned how to play with absolute trust in my ability to hit the right note when I was in my twenties. I found an obscure publication in a university library called New Pathways to Piano Technique by Luigi Bonpensiere. The book said that if you know which note or notes you want to play, and you trust your hands, you can’t miss. So, I picked up the guitar, played a note and instantly leaped up the string to another note seven frets away and nailed it.

It was miraculous, because I had moved with total abandon reflexively and landed with absolute precision on the note I had chosen. Reflexively means to move as quickly as possible, equivalent to touching a hot stove and pulling your hand away without thinking. We can only move as fast as our reflexes will allow us, so you can’t consciously move any faster than your reflexes can move you.

In an instant I went from being a guitarist who played constantly trying to avoid mistakes, to a guitarist who couldn’t miss. And when I did miss, I KNEW I wouldn’t miss the next time. Emotionally I went from always being afraid of the guitar, to always feeling the joy of always being in control of the instrument, running to play the instrument to feel how good it felt to play with extreme accuracy effortlessly.

So, how do we apply this way of playing an instrument to painting, walking, standing in line, dancing, so that you hurt less and less? On the guitar playing classical music accurately was a function of knowing where I was going and trusting myself to hit the mark. Is it possible to apply these principles of trusting yourself to do things without tensing in your body to not mess up or trying to stop chronic pain? Yes.

What does this mean? It is possible to do the things you want in such an effortlessly organized way that it feels as if you are weightless, as if your body is moving in such an effortless supremely coordinated way that you are going along for the ride. To get to where I got on the guitar and do so in walking, you will need to do what I did.

Tell your body what you want and trust it to do as you ask accurately with less and less pain. You do this by giving your body orders of allowance as you do all of your daily activities. You actually think these orders and trust the body to do them.

Ex: “My neck is free, my spine lengthening, as my knees are pointing straight ahead forwards and up as I walk.” “My neck is free as my shoulders are floating on my ribcage as my arms move forwards to pick up the plate.” “My neck is free and my spine lengthening as my lower back is released, as I squat down to pick up the book.” “My neck is free, my head leading a lengthening spine upwards, as my legs and feet support me as I wash the dishes.” “My torso is spiraling upwards as my legs effortlessly carry me with free joints.”