You may have heard the name “Feldenkrais” or the “Feldenkrais Method” but do you know who Moshe Feldenkrais was or anything about the Feldenkrais Method that he developed over many years?
He believed that awareness (mind) and body movements were intertwined and as a person organizes both, they have less pain, greater movement and overall better health.
Moshe Feldenkrais devised this system of body work over a period of nearly fifty years, working with people of all ages and abilities. It is based on our brain’s capacity for changing patterns and it presaged the concepts of brain plasticity and resiliency, now recognized by neuroscience.
The Feldenkrais Method re-trains the musculoskeletal system to minimize stress on our joints. It is done either on a bodywork table or a mat on the floor. Some sessions refine early developmental patterns (such as rolling or crawling), others work on basic functions such turning the head and neck, walking or fully lifting your arms. Feldenkrais makes it clear that all parts of the body are connected. A chronic pain in your neck might disappear when your ankle and foot make better contact with the floor as you walk. A Feldenkrais session is always a revelation.
When you get up after a Feldenkrais session you may find you relate to gravity differently. Tensions are gone. Gravity is a supportive net, rather than something to be strained against and negotiated. Being in your body feels easier and more pleasant. Another unique aspect of this method is that it is largely unconscious. Unlike yoga and other postural approaches, you do not have to actively think about remembering to walk or hold yourself in a certain way. Your body simply accepts the new ways of movement because it feels easy and delightful to do so.