What is the Feldenkrais Method®?
The Feldenkrais Method is named after its originator, Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais,
D.Sc. (1904-1984), a Russian born physicist, judo expert, mechanical
engineer and educator.
The Feldenkrais Method is a form of somatic education that uses gentle movement
and directed attention to improve movement and enhance human functioning.
Through this Method, you can increase your ease and range of motion, improve
your flexibility and coordination, and rediscover your innate capacity for
graceful, efficient movement. These improvements will often generalize to
enhance functioning in other aspects of your life.
The Feldenkrais Method is based on principles of physics, biomechanics and an
empirical understanding of learning and human development. By expanding the
self-image through movement sequences that bring attention to the parts of the
self that are out of awareness, the Method enables you to include more of
yourself in your functioning movements. Students become more aware of their
habitual neuromuscular patterns and rigidities and expand options for new ways
of moving. By increasing sensitivity the Feldenkrais Method assists you to live
your life more fully, efficiently and comfortably.
The improvement of physical functioning is not necessarily an end in itself.
Such improvement is based on developing a broader functional awareness which is
often a gateway to more generalized enhancement of physical functioning in the
context of your environment and life.
Who Benefits from the Feldenkrais Method?
Anyone--young or old, physically challenged or physically fit--can benefit from
the Method. Feldenkrais is beneficial for those experiencing chronic or acute
pain of the back, neck, shoulder, hip, legs or knee, as well as for healthy
individuals who wish to enhance their self-image. The Method has been very
helpful in dealing with central nervous system conditions such as multiple
sclerosis, cerebral palsy, and stroke. Musicians, actors and artists can extend
their abilities and enhance creativity. Many Seniors enjoy using it to retain or
regain their ability to move without strain or discomfort.
Through lessons in this method you can enjoy greater ease of movement, an
increased sense of vitality, and feelings of peaceful relaxation. After a
session you often feel taller and lighter, breathe more freely and find that
your discomforts have eased. You experience relaxation, and feel more centered
and balanced.
What Happens in a Feldenkrais Method Session?
Feldenkrais work is done in two formats.
In group classes, called Awareness Through Movement, the Feldenkrais teacher
verbally leads you through a sequence of movements in basic positions: sitting
or lying on the floor, standing or sitting in a chair.
Private Feldenkrais lessons, called Functional Integration, are tailored to each
student's individual learning needs; the teacher guides your movements through
touch.
People learning the Feldenkrais Method are usually referred to as 'students'
rather than clients or patients. This reinforces our view of the work as
primarily being an educational process.
What Happens in an Awareness Through Movement® Lesson?
Awareness Through Movement consists of verbally directed movement sequences
presented primarily to groups. A lesson generally lasts from 30 to 60 minutes.
The lessons consist of comfortable, easy movements that gradually evolve into
movements of greater range and complexity. These precisely structured movement
explorations involve thinking, sensing, moving and imagining. Many are based on
developmental movements and ordinary functional activities (reaching, standing,
lying to sitting, looking behind yourself, etc.), some are based on more
abstract explorations of joint, muscle, and postural relationships. There are
hundreds of ATM lessons, varying in difficulty and complexity, for all levels of
movement ability.
The emphasis is on learning which movements work better and noticing the quality
of these changes in your body. Through increased awareness, you will learn to
abandon habitual patterns of movement and develop new alternatives, resulting in
improved flexibility and coordination.
How do you learn in an Awareness Through Movement lesson?
• Using slow, gentle movement and directing students to move within the limits
of safety by avoiding pain and strain.
• Orienting to the process of learning and doing rather than working towards a
goal.
• Directing awareness toward sensing differences and perceiving whole
inter-connected patterns in movement.
• Allowing the student to find his/her own way with a lesson.
What Happens in a Functional Integration® Lesson?
As Feldenkrais practitioners guide you through movement sequences verbally in
Awareness Through Movement lessons, they also guide you through movement in
Functional Integration lessons with gentle non-invasive touching.
Functional Integration is performed with the student fully clothed, usually
lying on a table or with the student in sitting or standing positions. At times,
various props (pillows, rollers, blankets ) are used in an effort to support the
person's body configuration or to facilitate certain movements. The learning
process is carried out without the use of any invasive or forceful procedure.
Functional Integration is a hands-on form of tactile, kinesthetic communication.
The practitioner communicates how you organize your body and, through gentle
touching and movement, conveys the experience of comfort, pleasure and ease of
movement while you learn how to reorganize your body and behavior in new and
more expanded functional motor patterns.
In Functional Integration the practitioner/teacher develops a lesson for you,
custom-tailored to your unique configuration at that particular moment, relating
to a desire, intention or need you have. Through rapport and respect for your
abilities, qualities and integrity, the practitioner/teacher creates an
environment in which you can learn comfortably.
How Does the Feldenkrais Method Differ from Massage and Chiropractic?
The similarity is that both practices touch people, but beyond that our Method
is very different. In massage, the practitioner is working directly with the
muscles, in chiropractic, with the bones. These are structural approaches that
seek to affect change through changes in structure (muscles and spine). The
Feldenkrais Method works with your ability to regulate and coordinate your
movement; which means working with the nervous system. We refer to this as a
functional approach wherein you can improve your use of self inclusive of
whatever structural considerations are present.
Who was Moshe Feldenkrais?
Feldenkrais was born in Russia. At the age of 13 he left his home and travelled
alone for a year until he reached Palestine, where he worked as a laborer,
cartographer and tutor in mathematics. He also became active in sports
(gymnastics, soccer) and the martial arts (jiu-jitsu). During his mid twenties
he left for France and eventually became a graduate of l'Ecole des Travaux
Publiques de Paris, in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Later he earned
his Doctor of Science in Physics from the Sorbonne in Paris, where he assisted
Nobel Prize winner Joliot-Curie in early nuclear research.
In Paris, Feldenkrais also met Jigaro Kano, the creator of modern Judo, and
he became one of the first Europeans to earn a Black Belt in Judo
(1936) and to introduce Judo in the West through his teaching and books on the
subject. In the early 1940's, while working in anti-submarine warfare for the
British Admiralty, he patented a number of sonar devices.
After suffering crippling knee injuries, Feldenkrais used his own body as his
laboratory and merged his acquired knowledge with his deep curiosity about
biology, perinatal development, cybernetics, linguistics, and systems theory. He
taught himself to walk again and in the process developed an extraordinary
system for accessing the power of the central nervous system to improve human
functioning.
Feldenkrais studied intensively in psychology, neurophysiology, and other
health-related disciplines, and in 1949 he returned to Israel where he continued
to integrate and refine his ideas into the system known as the Feldenkrais
Method.
This list of frequently asked questions was originally compiled by Richard
Ehrman and the Feldenweb Committee, 1996.
Feldenkrais®, the Feldenkrais Method®, Awareness Through Movement®, and Functional Integration® are registered service marks of the Feldenkrais Guild.
Go to www.Feldenkrais.com for more information about the Method, articles, book store and related links.