The body movement taught by Moshe Feldenkrais, a nuclear physicist and engineer, and his practitioners re- program the natural fluid movements of childhood that have been forgotten or altered with age or disease or injury. It is a program of awareness of movement and integrated movement for a better life.
Who Might Benefit from a Feldenkrais Practitioner?
- Those with chronic pain from disease or accidents
- Those who have suffered an injury (e.g. trauma, stroke, falls)or wish to reduce the odds of injury (e.g. athletes, dancers, yoga students)
- People with developmental delays
- Those with anxiety, depression, or sleep disorders
- People with balance problems (e.g. age, Parkinsons, multiple sclerosis,etc.)
- Those who wish to explore the relationship between their mind and their body in motion
Functional Integration and Awareness Through Movement (ATM)
Practitioners use touch and create movement in a healing therapy of neurologic exploration of the body. The Feldenkrais practitioner physically guides the student (patient) through a movement so that through repetition the brain begins to recognize a pattern of physical change or mobility.
Unlike a personal trainer, the student isn’t shown how to perform the movement or encouraged to get up and do a movement properly; rather the student’s movement is analyzed to discover weakness that may cause pain. Automatic movements can be re-channeled to become different movements thus breaking a pattern for the etiology of pain. Changing the neurologic pathways changes muscle behavior.
Group sessions or "Awareness Through Movement," may be more verbal in nature. A class may be a group of people exploring a physical theme such as back and neck pain.
What to Expect at a Typical Session
The practitioner begins the session by watching the movement. The practitioner then gently touches the area- often through clothes, feeling with trained fingers an area of tightness or injury. An example might be observing the student who complains of neck pain, observing the shoulders and the head posturing and gently touching the area feeling tension of asymmetry of muscle. After identifying improper but learned or automatic movements, there is relearning of the movement pattern from the nervous system. This is not the same as massaging muscles or chiropractic manipulation of joints. By retraining the brain to relax the shoulders or be aware of the head and neck posture, the posture and movement become permanently changed. Discomfort can be a learned behavior the brain repeats within the body’s movements. The neurologic pathways of expression are changed. It is a process and both group and individual sessions are helpful.
If the problem is a disc, the student learns to use the neck in the light of this change. A further explanation might be, where yoga uses breath or props for neck alignment, Feldenkrais use the brain patterning.
How to Find a Feldenkrais Instructor
The Feldenkrais Guild lists practitioners throughout the world, as does the Institute for Study of Somatic Education.
Although at home practice is offered via pre-recorded tapes, it is best to start live with group or private sessions. A session weekly over a 6-8 week period is later customized for need.
Practitioners train over several years incorporating movement, biology, physics, and learning theories. Practitioners work from this basis of neurology, engineering, and eastern philosophy as well as the etiologies of the areas they treat.
Prices of Feldenkrais Private or Group Classes
Cost range from $60-100 a private session but less expensive classes may be available depending on needs, location, and instructor. The cost can be as low as $10 a session.
Amy Andersen - Amy Andersen, MSN, ARNP, family & pediatrics certified, practices yoga and explores the inter-relationships of mind body fitness and ...
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