What is the Feldenkrais Method®?
We improve our well being when we learn to fully use ourselves. Our intelligence depends upon the opportunity we take to experience and learn on our own. This self learning leads to full, dynamic living.
Ordinarily, we learn just enough to function. For example, we learn to use our hands well enough to eat, our legs well enough to walk. Our abilities to function with a greater range of ease and skill, however, remain to be developed. The Feldenkrais Method® teaches -- through movement -- how we can improve our capabilities to function in our daily lives.
The Feldenkrais Method is named after its originator, Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, D.Sc. (c.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 expressed in two parallel forms: Awareness Through Movement® and Functional Integration®. Both forms are 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.
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. Click on the button on the left hand side of your screen to learn more.
Private Feldenkrais lessons, called Functional Integration, are tailored to each student's individual learning needs; the teacher guides your movements through touch. Students are fully clothed. Click on the button on the left hand side of your screen to learn more.
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.
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.
Successful Students: here are examples of recent successes students have accomplished after work with the Feldenkrais Method:
a 42 year old computer programmer with incipient wrist problems is able to increase his speed on the keyboard after learning how to use his arms and hands more efficiently.
a 28 year old woman goes through her third pregnancy, but the first one without back pain.
a 55-year old woman is able to lift her affectionate 2 year old granddaughter without straining her back.
a 40-year old cellist becomes so creative in developing new, less strained positions to play in that she able to extend her musical repetoire.
a 9-year old with learning disabilites can read a full page competently and gains self-confidence in his intelligence.
a 19-year old diver is able to visualize and perform the complex series of movements needed to accomplish an intricate endeavor more proficiently.
a 78-year old man walks a mile daily, free of chronic knee pain he's had for 30 years.
a 32-year old man learns to reuse his hands after a crippling auto accident.
Professional athletes who have enjoyed the benefits of Feldenkrais include basketball star Julius Erving and PGA golfers Rick Acton and Duffy Waldorf. Other well-known individuals who have used Feldenkrais include Norman Cousins, Margaret Mead, former Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, Helen Hayes and Whoopi Goldberg. Famous musicians include violinist Yehudi Menuhin, and cellist Yo Yo Ma.
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