forumadmin
26-05-2005, 09:18 AM
I am currently reading 'The Potent Self' by Moshe Feldenkrais and I was struck by the following passage in relation to myself at first and then more generally to the value of modelling desired outcomes (pp 20-21):
"The ideal conscious action corresponds to a clearly recognized unique motivation. The conscious act is mono motivated, and the skill of acting consists in acquiring the ability of inhibiting and excluding all the parasitic elements that tend to enact themselves by habit, conditioning, and stereotyped motion. Most of the time we fail to achieve what we want by enacting more than we are aware of, rather than by missing what is essential.
"This is particularly true in learning new skills. One tenses and enacts a considerable number of unnecessary and contradicting elements of action; only later on does one appreciate how much more one did than what was actually wanted. One could swim straight away if one could eliminate all the parasitic acts and perform only those movements that propel one in the direction wished. The expert swimmer produces only those movements that are wanted, and herein lies his skill. His action corresponds to the clear motivation and to that only. In the learning stage, a number of habitual and faintly recognized motivations enact themselves. The essential in learning is to become able to recognize these unwanted faint motivations and to discard them.
"The importance of having one clear, recognized motivation, and of being able to inhibit or discard those that tend to enact themselves through habitual mannerisms, can be brought home on examining any of our acts that do not bring the intended result."
I think we can translate "one clear, recognized motivation" into "desired outcome" and the Developing and Intention Questions are useful for directing attention to that.
For me "habitual and faintly recognized motivations" are different to what a client is likely to present as a problem. The presented problem is something which they are aware of consciously and is usually an effect rather than a motivation. Not many who are overweight complain about wanting to eat a lot. They complain about being overweight (an effect of eating a lot) or even about the effects of being overweight.
In the example above "habitual and faintly recognized motivations" are what are motivating the eating-too-much behaviour. In changework it could be argued that part of the job of the coach/therapist/facilitator is to direct attention to those motivations to bring them to the attention of clients.
One way to do this could be to develop the intentions of those motivations that may be preventing clients from achieving their outcomes. Then clients can compare those intentions with their desired outcomes and make some choices.
I wonder how we can do so while staying as clean as we do when we're developing desired outcomes.
Any ideas/comments/suggestions for CL questions?
Phil Swallow
"The ideal conscious action corresponds to a clearly recognized unique motivation. The conscious act is mono motivated, and the skill of acting consists in acquiring the ability of inhibiting and excluding all the parasitic elements that tend to enact themselves by habit, conditioning, and stereotyped motion. Most of the time we fail to achieve what we want by enacting more than we are aware of, rather than by missing what is essential.
"This is particularly true in learning new skills. One tenses and enacts a considerable number of unnecessary and contradicting elements of action; only later on does one appreciate how much more one did than what was actually wanted. One could swim straight away if one could eliminate all the parasitic acts and perform only those movements that propel one in the direction wished. The expert swimmer produces only those movements that are wanted, and herein lies his skill. His action corresponds to the clear motivation and to that only. In the learning stage, a number of habitual and faintly recognized motivations enact themselves. The essential in learning is to become able to recognize these unwanted faint motivations and to discard them.
"The importance of having one clear, recognized motivation, and of being able to inhibit or discard those that tend to enact themselves through habitual mannerisms, can be brought home on examining any of our acts that do not bring the intended result."
I think we can translate "one clear, recognized motivation" into "desired outcome" and the Developing and Intention Questions are useful for directing attention to that.
For me "habitual and faintly recognized motivations" are different to what a client is likely to present as a problem. The presented problem is something which they are aware of consciously and is usually an effect rather than a motivation. Not many who are overweight complain about wanting to eat a lot. They complain about being overweight (an effect of eating a lot) or even about the effects of being overweight.
In the example above "habitual and faintly recognized motivations" are what are motivating the eating-too-much behaviour. In changework it could be argued that part of the job of the coach/therapist/facilitator is to direct attention to those motivations to bring them to the attention of clients.
One way to do this could be to develop the intentions of those motivations that may be preventing clients from achieving their outcomes. Then clients can compare those intentions with their desired outcomes and make some choices.
I wonder how we can do so while staying as clean as we do when we're developing desired outcomes.
Any ideas/comments/suggestions for CL questions?
Phil Swallow