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
Class Schedule
More about Private
Sessions
Audio CDs and downloads
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 Joly,
Alan Questel,
Diana Razumny,
Dennis Leri,
Carl Ginsburg , Katrin Smithback ,
Ruthy Alon,
Prisca Winslow Bradley, Carol Lessinger,
and Elizabeth
Beringer.
"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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Gain Effortless Posture:Learn
to move easily in gravity and be upright with minimum effort and maximum
skeletal support.
- Sleep Sounder, Deeper:
Better relaxation means better repair. Teach your body to rest well,
and it will serve you your whole life.
- Improve the Basics: Sit,
stand and walk with dynamic balance and poise that moves with you.
- Achieve Higher Performance:
Incorporate the neurological advantages and sensory skills used by top
musicians, dancers, actors and athletes.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Back to home page