People usually come to the method because they have some sort of movement related problem, examples include
- I played sport for years, and had ankle and shoulder injuries, but now my back and neck also play up when I sit too long and when I play golf. I’m 45 but I feel 60.
- I use the computer a lot and so do my kids. The tension I get worries me, my neck aches and I wake with headaches and jaw pain. How do I learn ways of changing sitting habits that are better for myself and the kids?
- My mother struggles to walk after her stroke, can you help?
- I had foot surgery after a broken ankle 10 years ago, and now my back plays up with standing at work. My husband is about to have knee surgery, can you help him be better prepared and move better after, and also help me unravel the ways I favour my ankle and back?
- Our child struggles at school, and often gets headaches, struggles to keep up in PE, and we reckon could do better if she was able to move better and more easily.
Feldenkrais (rhymes with RICE) developed 2 movement education approaches that through awareness show you better ways to reach, twist, turn, bend, sit, walk, run or jump better and generally solve movement problems!
The hands on part of the methods is Known as Functional Integration. Functional in that it addresses how all the bits of your movement are put together as a system, to work as a whole so that parts that concern you are overworked less and you move with less strain, effort and discomfort; that is you are more Integrated.
“Feldenkrais works. It’s more holistic. There is no crunching, no pills, and no tying up in knots; it’s beyond all that. I always feel as if my whole system has been tweaked for the better. I often sleep and relax better after, as well as moving better, and my sports performance and ability has improved. “ J. Ford (project officer, 44 yo)
In this part of the method, you usually lie on a low table, comfortably clothed, and the practitioner works with you using subtle and deliberate touch, more than with words, to find ways for your whole movement system; (muscles, bones and brain); to bypass limiting and overly protective habits, about which you most likely are largely unaware. You will discover simpler or more integrated ways of moving so that whatever you do and in whatever way you have been damaged , your movement functions, such as reaching, twisting, turning, pushing, and the things you want to do such as writing, walking, running, throwing or simply getting out of a chair more are performed much more easily.
The other Feldenkrais Method of learning how to do this is through Awareness Through Movement lessons, (given in classes or workshops, and/or I often give them on audio disc or similar for your home practice). These are movement sequences that will help you to move simpler and fluidly and with more awareness, relaxation, comfort and ease. They are like exercise without straining; you are not asked to do anything that is beyond your limits or uncomfortable. Generally afterwards you will feel more mobile, often taller, lighter, looser or more fluid and better postured or aligned. Sooner or later you will feel that you have movement choices where before you felt stuck.
These Feldenkrais Methods can be and are applied to every aspect of human interest from sport and the arts, education to rehabilitation, from neurological, orthopaedic and pain problems, in the office, work and classroom.
Whilst I have tried to put this in layman’s terms, this method is based on precise knowledge of the body and movement systems and learning, and the laws of physics, amongst other things.
Feldenkrais prided himself in the application and combination of his Doctorate of Science learnt methods of inquiry and his life experience to investigating human movement in the above pioneering ways; making them accessible to everybody. He said... “We are all born Rolls-Royces, but the job is to help people get the grit out of their engines!“
