The Feldenkrais Method
"Awareness Through Movement"

The Feldenkrais Method helps restore your body to a feeling of wholeness through simple and gentle movements which help relieve discomfort, pain, and stress. Developed by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais (1904-1984), it provides a powerful way to contact the intelligence of the body to search for a better quality of being. Alternative possibilities of body organisation are offered to the neuromuscular system which lead to new and surprising results in your self-image and range of movement.

The Feldenkrais Method shows you how to learn from your body. It helps you improve posture and breathing. You learn to reduce stress, tension and fatigue. You also learn to ease pain and stiffness, and to develop efficient and more flexible movement. Free from habitual patterns that constrain you, you feel better, more able to enjoy the quality of your life, giving you the means to take charge of your own care and improvement. Because the Feldenkrais Method integrates movement with thinking, feeling and sensing, it can also expand your potential in other areas, such as creativity and problem solving. It is especially useful for people with recurrent difficulties who want to learn to overcome limitations and physical discomfort brought on by stress, misuse, accident or illness. Many people living with and recovering from cancer, for instance, have found comfort and a renewed sense of well-being through the Feldenkrais Method. It is also equally beneficial for people who just want to perform and feel better physically and mentally. In almost half a century, the Feldenkrais Method has been used successfully with tens of thousands of people worldwide.

There are two forms of the Feldenkrais Method. The group work, "Awareness Through Movement" (ATM), is a series of movement combinations and sequences done actively by participants lying on the floor, connected to functions such as breathing, reaching, turning, sitting, standing, and walking, with special attention paid to the quality of changes in the movement. Unlike yoga, which combines breathing awareness with stretching, this work combines breathing awareness with gentle movement patterns, letting go in movement.

Individual sessions are called "Functional Integration" (FI), a one-on-one, hands-on approach, involving communication through touch. Remaining comfortably clothed, you will be asked to lie on a padded table, preferably with the eyes closed, and allow yourself to be guided through a series of slow, gentle movements that are relaxing and at the same time lead to a fuller integration of the disconnected body parts so you can function better in your daily life; hence "Functional Integration." Sometimes your shoulder will be lifted, your leg bent, your head turned, all in different combinations to facilitate breathing, awareness and a sense of the body as a whole, rather than an array of parts.

After a group or an individual session, you may feel taller and lighter, more stable and grounded, breathe more freely and find that that your discomforts have eased. You may notice changes hours or even days afterwards, as the nervous system has been offered new patterns for posture and movement. The Feldenkrais Method provides a system of body education with long-lasting effects.

For more information on the Feldenkrais Method, you can explore the following websites:

www.feldenkrais-method.org (International Feldenkrais Federation)
www.feldenkrais.org.au (Australian Feldenkrais Guild, of which I am a member)
www.feldenkrais.com (North American Feldenkrais Guild)


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To purchase resources and for additional information:

www.feldenkrais-resources.com
www.achievingexcellence.com
www.soundersleep.com
www.desk-trainer.com
www.mindinmotion-online.com