Intro:

“To use one’s self with minimum effort as a complete whole requires careful training of the entire body. It takes patience, application and understanding to use the body with economy of effort and without strain in performing the most casual daily functions.”

chapter 1 –

Man is born whole and can remail whole, but usually lives in a state of disharmony.

Every human being has capacities to do infinitely more than he does, where his energies only brought into focus.

For lack of adequate understanding and handling, the human mechanism grinds along spasmodically, underpowered and overburdened. Yet all the time, deep within ourselves below the threshold of consciousness, lie unawakened potentialities which, if brought into play, would better accomplish our daily tasks for us and spring to our assistance in moments of crisis and exceptional strain.

We are more apt to devote tiem mastering the mechanism of a new device than in exploring the possibilities of the human body, which is our to use at will and which must last a lifetime.

These are my aims: 1. To get better acquainted with our basic structure. 2. to take full advantage of it’s invaluable self-correcting equipment. 3. to experience joy in this!

Self-detachment, learning to let go, is the most necessary step toward surpassing mere technical competence in physical work. The physical goal is an effortless ease comparable to that of some beautiful forest animal or of the cat, which owes its grace to its perfect command of relaxation.