About The Feldenkrais Method®
The Feldenkrais Method® of Somatic EducationThe Feldenkrais Method is for anyone who wants to reconnect with their natural abilities to move, think, and feel. Whether you want to be more comfortable sitting at your computer, playing with your children and grandchildren, or performing a favorite pastime, these gentle lessons can improve you overall well being. Learning to move with less effort makes daily life easier. Because the Feldenkrais Method focuses on the relationship between movement and thought, increased mental awareness and creativity accompany physical improvements. Everyone, from athletes and artists to administrators and attorneys, can benefit from the Feldenkrais Method. After experiencing Feldenkrais® lessons, people often express feelings of relaxation and ease. They may breathe more freely and find their thoughts have more clarity. The learning process is full of pleasant surprises and personal breakthroughs. Feldenkrais lessons teach you the means to take charge of your own improvement and are offered in two ways, enabling you to discover which learning style is most appropriate for your needs. In Awareness Through Movement® lessons, the teacher verbally guides you through a sequence of gentle movements intended to help you develop a greater awareness of how you move. These lessons occur in a group setting. Functional Integration® lessons are designed to meet your personal needs. Communicating through touch and movement in addition to words, the teacher guides you in your one-on-one process of self-discovery. Regardless of which learning style you choose, the Feldenkrais Method can help you overcome limitations brought on by stress, misuse, accident, or illness.
12/2005 Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat is the Feldenkrais Method® of Somatic Education? The Feldenkrais Method is a form of somatic education that uses gentle movement and directed attention to improve movement and enhance human functioning. With this Method, you can increase your range of motion, improve your flexibility and coordination, and rediscover your innate capacity for graceful, efficient movement. By expanding the self-image through movement sequences, the Method enables you to include more of yourself in your movements. Students become aware of their habitual neuromuscular patterns and rigidities, and learn to move in new ways. Who Benefits from the Feldenkrais Method? Everyone can benefit from the Method. The Feldenkrais Method helps those experiencing chronic or acute pain of the back, neck, shoulders, hips, legs, or knees, as well as healthy individuals who wish to enhance their movement abilities. The Method has been very helpful in dealing with central nervous system conditions such as multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, and stroke. Musicians, actors, and artists can extend their abilities and enhance their creativity. Seniors enjoy using it to retain or regain their ability to move without strain or discomfort. What Happens in a Feldenkrais Method Session? In group Awareness Through Movement® lessons, the Feldenkrais® teacher verbally leads you through a sequence of movements in basic positions: sitting or lying on the floor, standing or sitting in a chair. These precisely structured movement explorations involve thinking, sensing, moving, feeling, and imagining. By increasing awareness, you will learn to abandon habitual patterns of movement and develop new alternatives, resulting in improved flexibility and coordination. Many lessons are based on developmental movements and ordinary functional activities (reaching, standing, lying to sitting, looking behind yourself, etc.). Some are based on more abstract explorations of joint, muscle, and postural relationships. There are hundreds of ATM lessons, varying in difficulty and complexity, for all levels of movement ability. A lesson generally lasts from 30 to 60 minutes. Private Feldenkrais lessons, called Functional Integration® lessons, are tailored to each student's individual learning needs. The teacher guides your movements through gentle non-invasive touching and words. The student is fully clothed, lying on a table, or in a sitting or standing position. At times, various props (pillows, rollers, blankets) are used in an effort to support the student, or to facilitate certain movements. The learning process is carried out without the use of any invasive or forceful procedure. How Does the Feldenkrais Method Differ from Massage and Chiropractic? While all of these practices touch people, the Feldenkrais Method is very different. In massage, the practitioner is working directly with the muscles, in chiropractic, with the bones. These are structural approaches that seek to affect change through changes in structure (muscles and spine). The Feldenkrais Method works with your ability to regulate and coordinate your movement, which means working with the nervous system and the whole person. How are Feldenkrais Practitioners Trained? All Feldenkrais practitioners must complete 740-800 hours of training over a 3 to 4 year period. Trainees participate in Awareness Through Movement and Functional Integration lessons, lectures, discussions, group process, and watch videos of Dr. Feldenkrais teaching. Newtonian mechanics, physics, neurophysiology, movement development, biology, and learning theories are presented in the training programs. This list of Frequently Asked Questions was originally compiled by Richard Ehrman and the Feldenweb Committee, 1996. Testimonials"I have been intrigued by this subtle form of retraining the nervous system, which I recommend to patients whose movement has been restricted by injury, cerebral palsy, stroke, fibromyalgia, or chronic pain. I find it to be much more useful than standard physical therapy. I also believe that the Feldenkrais Method® can help older people achieve greater range of motion and flexibility, and help all of us feel more comfortable in our bodies." "As an aging ex-jock, nursing bad knees and shoulders, Functional Integration® and Awareness Through Movement® work helps me develop insight into how my body operates and how it compensates for old injuries. With a more solid understanding of "what is," I can start to make intelligent choices about how I want to move, sit, stand, and just function." "I was having constant pain in my hand, wrist, and arm. After six months of Functional Integration lessons and doing the assigned exercises, the pain in my hand occurred only infrequently. The process of change through awareness is something you have to experience to believe." "As a violinist, the work has not only sped my recovery from injury, but greatly enhanced my sense of physical integrity, ease and grace - even with an activity as "unnatural" as playing the violin!" "I had suffered with chronic shoulder and arm pain that had developed into severe numbness and tingling. Nothing I did brought me any long-term relief until I started with Feldenkrais®. Through a series of Feldenkrais lessons, the chronic pain, numbness, and tingling resolved. More importantly, I learned how to manage and maintain my body to avoid these problems in the future." "After years of back problems, the Feldenkrais Method has given me the ability to remain free of pain. They are by far the most effective and pleasurable exercises I have ever done." "About two years ago, I tripped over a raised bit of sidewalk that had up heaved from a tree root. The jolt caused a disk in my back to herniate, resulting in a tremendous amount of pain and reduced mobility. I eventually had an MRI. The diagnosis was clear; I would have to have surgery. Not wanting to do that, I found out about the Feldenkrais Method and decided to give it a try. I completed 15 Functional Integration sessions, and was amazed to go from facing back surgery to being pain free." "The Feldenkrais Method has allowed me to play pain free golf, without worrying about injury." "The Feldenkrais Method is the most sophisticated and effective method I have seen for the prevention and reversal of deterioration and function."
12/2005 Research and the FELDENKRAIS METHOD®There is a growing body of research to support the efficacy of the Feldenkrais Method. In addition to the many case studies that contain detailed information about the interventions used with individuals, a number of recent studies incorporating larger groups, more effective methods, and random assignment control have been conducted. The following represent some of the three dozen studies included in "Complementary Therapies in Rehabilitation" (Slack Incorporated. Thorofare, NJ 2004), Chapter 12, written by James Stephens, PT, PhD., CFP and Teresa M. Miller, PT, MS, CFT. Pain ManagementIn a study of 97 auto workers in Sweden, significant decreases in complaints of neck and shoulder pain were found in the group receiving Feldenkrais Method compared to a group randomly assigned physical therapy and a control group. (Lundblad, et al. Randomized controlled trial of physiotherapy and Feldenkrais® interventions in female workers with neck-shoulder complaints. J Occup Rehab. 1999;9(3):179-94.) Following an 8- week intensive Feldenkrais intervention, a group of seven chronic pain patients found - one year later - a reduction in use of pain medicine along with large decreases in pain perception, with a 40% reduction in the cost of medical care. (Bearman et al. Feldenkrais method in the treatment of chronic pain: a study of efficacy and cost effectiveness. Amer J Pain Manage. 1999;9(1):22-27.) The Feldenkrais Method helped to reduce pain and improve function in 34 chronic pain patients, who continued to independently incorporate what they learned 2 years after the study. (Phipps, et al. A functional outcome study on the use of movement re-education in chronic pain management. (unpublished master's thesis). Forest Grove, Ore; Pacific University, School of Physical Therapy; 1997.) Motor and Postural Control, Functional MobilityA random controlled follow-up study with people with multiple sclerosis showed improved balance and balance confidence. (Stephens et al. Use of Awareness Through Movement® improves balance and balance confidence in people with multiple sclerosis: a random controlled study. Neurology Report. 2001;25(2): 39-49.) Randomly dividing 59 elderly women into three groups, Hall et al found improvements in the group receiving ten weeks of Feldenkrais lessons measured by the activities of daily living score, Timed Up and Go, and Berg balance assessment. (Hall et al. Study of the effects of various forms of exercise on balance in older women (unpublished manuscript). Healthway Starter Grant, File #7672, Dept of Rehabilitation, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia; 1999.) Psychology and Quality of Life In a randomly assigned, crossover design study involving 20 people with multiple sclerosis, a significant decrease in perceived stress and anxiety was found following Feldenkrais sessions. (Johnson, et al. A controlled investigation of bodywork in multiple sclerosis. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 1999;5(3):237-43.) In a matched, control group study of 30 patients, all young women with eating disorders, outcomes were measured using standardized psychological testing following a 9- hour Feldenkrais course. Results included an improved level of acceptance of the body, decreased feelings of helplessness, and increased self-confidence. (Laumer et al. Therapeutic effects of Feldenkrais Method® "Awareness Through Movement®" in patients with eating disorders. Psychother Psychosom Med Psychol. 1997;47(5):170-180.) For more research studies, please visit our website at www.feldenkrais.com.
12/2005 A Concise Biography of Moshe Feldenkrais*By Mark Reese Moshe Pinhas Feldenkrais was born on May 6, 1904, in Slavuta, in the present-day Ukrainian Republic. When he was a small boy his family moved to the nearby town of Korets. By 1912 his family moved to Baranovich in what is, today, Belarus. While Baranovich endured many World War I battles, Feldenkrais received his Bar Mitzvah, completed two years of high school, and received an education in the Hebrew language and Zionist philosophy. In 1918 Feldenkrais left by himself on a six-month journey to Palestine. After arriving in 1919, Feldenkrais worked as a laborer until 1923 when he returned to high school to earn a diploma. While attending school he made a living by tutoring. After graduating in 1925, he worked for the British survey office as a cartographer. Feldenkrais was involved in Jewish self-defense groups, and after learning Jujitsu he devised his own self-defense techniques. He hurt his left knee in a soccer match in 1929. While convalescing he wrote Autosuggestion (1930), a translation from English to Hebrew of Charles Brooks' work on Émile Coué's system of autosuggestion, together with two chapters that he wrote himself. He next published Jujitsu (1931), a book on self-defense. In 1930 Feldenkrais went to Paris and enrolled in an engineering college, the École des Travaux publics de Paris. He graduated in 1933 with specialties in mechanical and electrical engineering. In 1933 after meeting Jigaro Kano, Judo's founder, Feldenkrais began teaching Jujitsu again, and started his training in Judo. In 1933 he began working as a research assistant under Frédéric Joliot-Curie at the Radium Institute, while studying for his Ingénieur-Docteur degree at the Sorbonne. From 1935-1937 he worked at the Arcueil-Cachan laboratories building a Van de Graaf generator, which was used for atomic fission experiments. In 1935 he published a revised, French edition of his Hebrew jujitsu book called, La défense du faible contre l'agresseur, and in 1938 published ABC du Judo. He received his Judo black belt in 1936, and 2nd degree rank in 1938. Feldenkrais married Yona Rubenstein in 1938. From 1939-1940 he worked under Paul Langevin doing research on magnetics and ultra-sound. Feldenkrais escaped to England in 1940, just as the Germans arrived in Paris. As a scientific officer in the British Admiralty, he conducted anti-submarine research in Scotland from 1940-1945. While there he taught Judo and self-defense classes. In 1942 he published a self-defense manual, Practical Unarmed Combat, and Judo. Feldenkrais began working with himself to deal with knee troubles that had recurred during his escape from France, and while walking on submarine decks. Feldenkrais gave a series of lectures about his new ideas, began to teach experimental classes, and work privately with some colleagues. In 1946 Feldenkrais left the Admiralty, moved to London, and worked as an inventor and consultant in private industry. He took Judo classes at the London Budokwai, sat on the international Judo committee, and scientifically analyzed Judo principles. He published his first book on his Method, Body and Mature Behavior in 1949, and his last book on Judo, Higher Judo, in 1952. During his London period he studied the work of George Gurdjieff, F. M. Alexander, and William Bates, and went to Switzerland to study with Heinrich Jacoby. Feldenkrais returned to Israel to direct the Israeli Army Department of Electronics, 1951 - 1953. Around 1954 he moved permanently to Tel Aviv and, for the first time, made his living solely by teaching his Method. He worked sporadically on the manuscript of The Potent Self, which he had begun in London. Around 1955 he permanently located his Awareness through Movement classes to a studio on Alexander Yanai Street in Tel Aviv. He gave Functional Integration lessons in the apartment where his mother and brother lived. In early 1957 Feldenkrais began giving lessons to Israeli Prime Minister, David ben Gurion. In the late 1950's Feldenkrais presented his work in Europe and the United States. In the mid 1960s he published "Mind and Body" and "Bodily Expression." In 1967, he published Improving the Ability to Perform, titled Awareness through Movement in its 1972 English language edition. In 1968, near his family's apartment, he made a studio at 49 Nachmani Street as the permanent site for his Functional Integration practice, and location for his first teacher-training program, 1969-1971, given to 12 students. After giving month-long courses internationally, he taught a 65-student, teacher-training program in San Francisco over four summers, 1975-1978. He published The Case of Nora in 1977, and The Elusive Obvious in 1981. He began the 235-student Amherst training in 1980, but was only able to teach the first two summers of the four-year program. After becoming ill in the fall 1981, he stopped teaching publicly. He died on July 1, 1984. * I have done my best to verify dates, names, and places, though I cannot guarantee their accuracy, due to limitations of information available and discrepancies between sources. This document may not be altered or edited. Mark Reese taught the FELDENKRAIS METHOD® since 1977 in San Diego and internationally, until he passed away in 2006. March 19, 2004 The information compiled on this page is a joint project of the FGNA Council of Regional Representatives, the Board of Directors, and the staff of the Feldenkrais Guild® of North America, for use by FGNA members in promoting their practices and educating the public regarding the Feldenkrais Method. Photography was created by Rosalie O'Connor (www.rosalieoconnor.com) and may be used for these purposes. The biography of Moshe Feldenkrais may not be altered or edited. Feldenkrais®, Feldenkrais Method®, Awareness Through Movement® and Functional Integration® are registered service marks of the Feldenkrais Guild® of North America. back to moving awareness homepage |