A final statement regarding this integration (Grabher, 2010, pp. 12-13):
Inasmuch as feelings and sensations do not tell us what is actually taking place, we have no recourse but to avail ourselves of mental processes, of judgment, understanding and knowledge, if we wish to be certain that what we feel and sense is really what we want to happen. Without such means being called into service, the errors that might occur could very well be fatal.
Our actions are organized according to a self-image that was formed, as it were, by accident. It is a self-image which is made up of feelings and sensations. This being the case, it is elementary to point out that our actions- when based on areas of our self-image that are less than clear-may result in errors, such as doing the opposite of what one thinks one is doing or doing something that has no clear relation with what one feels one is doing.
The key point, according to Grabher, is that these actions will occur without us being aware that they have occurred. The subconscious (and unconscious) continue to reign supreme.
This brings us to the concept of Peremptory Ideation that is offered by George Klein. This concept can serve as a bridge between the work of Feldenkrais and a psychoanalyst such as Wilhelm Reich. Klein (1967) proposed that there is often a stream of images, thoughts and feelings that is coursing through our head and body at any one point in time. This stream resides below the level of consciousness and is labeled “peremptory” by Klein because it can demand attention and infuse our conscious thought with new, compelling content.
We might, for instance, be streaming an image of the traumatizing car accident we were in several years ago. Suddenly, we feel a chill and are afraid to drive to work today. Or we are already driving and have to either turn off the road or slow our car down to a crawl. The peremptory ideation might instead be quite positive. An image of our child at their 10th birthday party is playing at the back of our mind along with attending feelings of joy and gratitude. While we are currently attending a meeting at our corporate office, it is hard to pay attention to the person who is speaking–and we are reminded of the “true” priorities in our life. We might be labeled as a “day dreamer” on this occasion. Daydreams are often populated by peremptory ideations.
Peremptory ideation might also be related to (or even be a determinant of) our image of self. Grabher writes of self-images that help to organize our actions (including our posture, tone of voice, facial expressions, etc.). The self-image at any one point in time could very well be a peremptory ideation—or at least a part of or outcome of this ideation. Our sense of self is influenced by and perhaps carried by an image, thought and/or feeling from some occasion in our past life. Feldenkrais meets Reich and other psychoanalysts.
We are embarrassed by some trivial error because this error has triggered a peremptory ideation that picks up instances of past errors and the feelings associated with these errors. Our self-image is temporarily tarnished. This negative self-image is manifest in our hunched-over back, our shallow breathing and our dropping facial muscles. We look “down in the mouth.” Other people notice this and relate to us as if we were bruised and battered. In appearing to be embarrassed and defeated, we actually become that much more embarrassed and feel that much more defeated. A tightly looped, integrative mind-body cycle of negativity is engaged and not easily disrupted or changed.
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