— There is a daily routine created by Michael Landau that is different every day. A habit of moving with awareness is what he wants to learn. The attitude is more important than the action. This involves slowing down, observing closely, and stopping the rat race. By reducing effort, increasing efficiency and not hurting yourself, you are giving yourself the opportunity to improve. We rarely take the time to do those things. Our bodies are not well-cared for by most of us. Our bodies constantly send us tiny feedback messages, which we usually ignore.
The nervous system seems to need a reminder of how to listen to itself. When we were young, we all mastered this art. Lifting our heads, rolling over, crawling, and walking all came from this experience. Playing, listening, and trying many options and variations, we were attentive and curious. Learning organically takes place in this way.
As adults, we seem to have lost sight of this fine and subtle art in our busy lives. It is difficult for us to reexamine our habitual patterns and take a break from them.
Unlike so many of us, Michael has learned to balance the need to explore, to play, to slow down and try new things with the lack of time and peace of mind he suffers from. Creating a habit is the key to success here.
His research showed that short breaks - a couple of minutes - during which you get up, stand up, make some deliberate slow movements, and then sit back down at the computer are actually quite effective. As long as you do it every day: three minutes.
A tiny habit can have a huge impact. To make it manageable, you make it tiny. To make it effective, you must make it constant — and big changes begin to happen!
Valeria interviews Michael Landau — He has been a Feldenkrais practitioner since 1994.
This means that he teaches Mindful Movement, and uses the minute exploration of movement to create well-being and growth. He teaches people to take better care of themselves by developing finer and more precise awareness of themselves as they move through life.
As the pandemic forced him to move all his teaching activities online, he developed a daily online practice of movement with awareness that is only three minutes long. It started as an experimental venture into the unknown, and it became a stunning success. Benefits build up and accumulate over time if you give yourself those three minutes each day. Creating the daily habit of stepping out of the hamster wheel, slowing down and looking at yourself with gentleness and care has proven to be highly transformative.
Michael was a professional musician and university professor for 30 years. He has navigated through a long path of Buddhistic practice, shamanic studies, and all sorts of personal growth and healing processes. All these experiences inform his teachings and turn them into a holistic approach of self care, wellness and growth.
To learn more about Michael Landau and his work, please visit: persistent-growth.com
— This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.
