The Feldenkrais Method ®

of Somatic Education


"Make the impossible possible, the possible easy, and the easy elegant." Moshe Feldenkrais

Our Class Schedule

 Introductory Feldenkrais Video

Biography of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais

                                        

The Feldenkrais Method®

The Feldenkrais Method is an ideal and enjoyable way to learn about, experience and immediately benefit from improving your brain-body coordination. 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. Our unique path of learning can lead 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, and the learning is thoroughly enjoyable and empowering.

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. (See the link to his bio above.)

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, bio mechanics 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.

To find out more, visit  www.feldenkrais.com

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 After years exploring somatic learning through our studies of tai chi, yoga, massage and various other forms of body-based therapies, both of us were blown away by the efficacy, efficiency, integrity and pleasurable quality of this incredible method. We completed a 4-year professional training program in Santa Fe, NM in 2007, and are Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioners®. We are honored and delighted to share this profound system of body-based awareness training with our clients.

 We are passionate about continuing our education and cultivating excellence in what we offer to our students. We spend at least several weeks per year in pursuing continued personal and professional studies and have been blessed to be touched by many amazing teachers. Among our favorite Feldenkrais teachers are Yvan JolyAlan Questel, Diana Razumny, Dennis Leri,  Carl Ginsburg , Katrin Smithback , Ruthy Alon, Prisca Winslow Bradley, Carol Lessinger, and Elizabeth Beringer.



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How can a movement be improved? Is the extension of range of movement the only component that can be considered an improvement? The functional approach is interested in the degree of ease with which you can experience that range of movement; in the level of harmony among all the parts of the body coordinated in the action and in the attitude which accompanies the activity so that movement is not perceived as a coercion of arbitrary exercise but rather as a natural gesture."

-Ruthy Alon

 

 Why Feldenkrais? (as excerpted from website of The Feldenkrais Institute of New York)

Because your brain improves too.

Research is showing how your brain changes as it learns.  Scientists call it “neuroplasticity” — the brain’s extraordinary ability to acquire more efficient patterns of movement and function if given the right environment. Nothing creates that environment like The Feldenkrais Method. Feldenkrais generates the precise conditions that access the intelligence of your nervous system, so you can learn and function at your best.

  1. Eliminate aches, pains and discomfort: Discover the safe and easy way to feel better.  Renew and restore your body any time you want without stretching or boring workouts.
  2. Move Smarter: Recover from injuries faster and keep old injuries from recurring.  Understand how the whole body participates in the process of recovery and prevention.
  3. Gain Effortless Posture:Learn to move easily in gravity and be upright with minimum effort and maximum skeletal support.
  4. Sleep Sounder, Deeper:  Better relaxation means better repair.  Teach your body to rest well, and it will serve you your whole life.
  5. Improve the Basics: Sit, stand and walk with dynamic balance and poise that moves with you.
  6. Achieve Higher Performance:  Incorporate the neurological advantages and sensory skills used by top musicians, dancers, actors and athletes.
  7. Feldenkrais is easy: The lessons use simple, everyday words, the touch is gentle and communicative, and you’re encouraged to attend to your comfort and reduce unnecessary effort.  The old saying “no pain, no gain” creates noise for the nervous system and strain for your body.  It should be retired from your vocabulary, and we can show you how.
  8. Feldenkrais is effective: Feldenkrais has developed a reputation for helping people where nothing else could.  But you don’t need to be injured or frustrated to benefit.  We also work with musicians, dancers and athletes who want to improve their performance. The method’s effectiveness comes from its sound application of principles of physics and physiology, learning theory, psychology and brain science. To hear what people are saying, read our acclaim page.
  9. Feldenkrais is safe: People with pain or other physical conditions and elder citizens often shy away from many forms of treatment or exercise, where they don’t know what to expect or what will be expected of them.  With Feldenkrais, movements are performed slowly with plenty of time for rests in between, and you’re encouraged to avoid mechanical, mindless repetition—the precursor to many an injury. One of the fundamental skills the method teaches you is how to monitor and control your movements to keep things within a safe, easy range—the range where the curiosity, learning and improvement can emerge. 
  10. Feldenkrais works fast: While everyone learns at a different rate, with Feldenkrais you won’t have to wait weeks or months to feel changes.  Many people notice significant improvements during their first class or individual lesson.
  11. Feldenkrais makes you smarter:  Many of the habitual movement choices we make (how we sit, stand, walk, turn, bend) seem automatic—just part of “who we are”.  In fact, many of these habits grew in our early years, under less-than optimal conditions, and without the benefit of choice or further examination.  Studies on learning show that people learn better and faster when they’re guided towards the specific sensations to look for, rather than merely given instructions on “how to move”.  The Feldenkrais Method will teach you how to investigate, recognize and discriminate the sensations of unnecessary effort. You’ll make better choices and improve your physical intelligence.  You’ll move smarter!
  12. Feldenkrais is flexible: There are hundreds of different Feldenkrais lessons and strategies, and every one of them can be modified and adapted to best suit your comfort and ability.  Whether in FI or ATM, your brain learns best when you work within the range of movement that is easy for you. Here your brain is more available to make the sensory distinctions that lead to improvement and health.  In fact, your comfort and your ability to attend to it is one of the most important ingredients in learning and improvement.
  13. Feldenkrais helps you understand your movement:  People appreciate that pain can limit movement.  But many fail to understand that how you move can actually create pain where there was none.  Because our culture often discourages our learning and skill development past a certain point, many people develop a distorted image of their own health and function until injury and aggravation are the norm.  With Feldenkrais you can relearn and clarify many of the fundamental patterns of action we rely on every day. And you’ll learn what it means to embody concepts like balance, flexibility, strength and poise. 
  14. Feldenkrais is fun: One of the top complaints from people who hate to exercise is: “it’s boring”.  The Feldenkrais Method exploits the fact that your nervous system is attracted to novel sensations.  Dr. Feldenkrais designed Awareness Through Movement and Functional Integration to use non-habitual movement patterns containing subtlety, variation and mindfulness to restore vitality and function. Feldenkrais connects your movement and attention with health and improvement.



Feldenkrais®, Feldenkrais Method®, Awareness Through Movement®, and Functional Integration® are registered service marks of the Feldenkrais Guild® of North America.
 

 

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