The Feldenkrais Method
"Feldenchrist?!" Is that some sort of religion??
Actually Feldenkrais is a method of somatic (body) education that focuses on moving the body in small, slow and gentle movement patterns.
These small, slow movements allow the person to truly focus on how they are moving.
It brings insight into the ways we move and hold ourselves that are inefficient and often cause pain.
In learning how we are inefficient, we allow an opening to learn how to move with freedom and ease, and decrease painful patterns of movement.
The Feldenkrais Method was developed by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais after he suffered a debilitating knee injury in 1940, until he died in 1984.
Because of this injury he began an intense exploration into the relationship between movement, and healing, feeling, thinking, and learning.
Investigating movement patterns, like babies begin to explore movement, freely and easily without any preconceived notions as to how it should look.
As a result, he restored his ability to walk and made revolutionary discoveries in human potential and learning, resulting in the development of the method that bears his name.
Who Can Benefit
We all live at a fraction of our full potential.
This is as true for athletes and performing artists as for someone limited by brain injury, stroke, chronic pain, developmental disabilities or cerebral palsy, and for those striving for efficiency in their daily activities.
The Feldenkrais Method works through your nervous system to allowing you to gain access to your underlying potential, thus improving performance, range of motion, relaxation, physical and emotional well-being, and increasing flexibility in all aspects of life.
Specifically:
- Neuromuscular disorders such as stroke, cerebral palsy, or spinal injury.
- Back, neck, or other muscular-skeletal problems, including chronic stiffness and pain.
- stress -- such as that resulting from job pressures, or the stress of day-to-day living
The Method is taught in two formats -- group classes and workshops in Awareness Through Movement® and individual lessons in Functional Integration®.
In Awareness Through Movement you are guided through gentle non-strenuous movement sequences, lying on the floor out of the field of gravity. Attentive repetition of these gentle movements helps you to discover how to move more comfortably and efficiently. Students often experience rapid improvements in posture, lightness of movement, and freedom from chronic discomforts.
In Functional Integration the person is gently guided through a series of passive movements by the practitioner, investigating how the person "prefers" to move, and also gently exploring new movement options. During this investigation the client's attention is drawn to their bodys' habitual movement patterns and is introduced to alternative and often more efficient ways of moving. Through this exploration the client is often left in a deeply relaxed state releasing muscle tension and relieving pain, and creating an opportunity to learn new more efficient movement, enhancing function and physical performance.
