The Feldenkrais Method of Movement Education has a reputation for relieving even chronic and severe pain, but the true purpose of the Feldenkrais Method goes far beyond relieving pain. This method of self-improvement uses physical movement and use of the attention as a model for the process of learning any new skill. Feldenkrais students experience dramatic changes in their bodies, then apply the same principles to learning or improving any task in life.

 

Feldenkrais is about learning and improving in both physical and non-physical ways. This means that Feldenkrais practitioners can assist a variety of people: people with pain, children with movement or developmental difficulties, older people wishing to maintain or restore their functioning, people with neurological troubles, people with neuro/immune dysfunction (such as chronic fatigue syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, etc.), people with emotional or psychological questions, and people who wish to improve a skill they can already do very well (such as music, dance, yoga, theatre, or sports).

 

One of my students said that before taking private Feldenkrais lessons he "could barely stay upright for more than 30 minutes with [my neck pain]. It was quite bad." He continued, "Within a couple of sessions, I was comfortable again and leading a normal life." This student's pain diminished in a short time, but he continued with the work because he felt there was something more to be learned. Over the next lessons, his posture improved, and he also became more self-confident. His chronic hearing impairment even improved as a result of the additional lessons. These seemingly unrelated issues (self-confidence, posture, and hearing) are one and the same to the Feldenkrais practitioner. It is impossible to separate movement, sensing, thinking, and emotion.

 

The Feldenkrais Method is named after its founder, Moshe Feldenkrais, D.Sc. (1904-1984). Dr. Feldenkrais was a well-known physicist, mechanical engineer, and the first Judo blackbelt in Europe. He was born in Eastern Europe, left home at age 14 to become one of the first Jewish settlers in then-Palestine, and later returned to Europe to get a doctorate in physics and pursue his scientific research.

 

Dr. Feldenkrais' Method was first created out of his need to walk comfortably with a crippling knee injury, but as he developed it further with influences from physics, engineering, Judo, child development, yoga, acupuncture, and psychology. The Method’s true purpose evolved to helping people "become more truly human."

 

In Dr. Feldenkrais’ book "Higher Judo", he wrote: "Those men that we incorrectly call "great" are simply better co-ordinated in most of their being. Perhaps the most important feature of co-ordinated movement, as we teach, is that in the correct act there is no muscle of the body which is contracted with greater intensity than the rest. The sensation of effortless action is because we teach to peform voluntary acts by such attitudes and in a manner similar to the reflex movements of the body. This sensation of lack of resistance is pleasant. When co-ordination is achieved, the breath is even and unhampered through any act." (pp. 32-36) Interestingly, I named my Feldenkrais practice "Effortless Action" before I read that passage myself. The possibility of effortless action is implicit in the work itself.

 

The Feldenkrais Method is not an end in itself. It is a process of learning to use all aspects of yourself more consciously. Improved awareness is a light that shines on all activities you undertake. The Feldenkrais way of being aware brings a new dimension to exercise or sport, makes sitting easier and more comfortable, helps in creating a better work-life balance, and gives generalized pleasure in being embodied.

 

Feldenkrais work comes in two forms.  There are hands-on private lessons, called Functional Integration, and group classes, called Awareness  Through Movement. 

 

During Functional Integration, the student sits or lies fully clothed on a low table. The practitioner touches very lightly to guide the student's movement and show new possibilities of more comfortable, functional movement. These sessions are usually profoundly relaxing, and depending on the session, they can also be energetic and active.  Each Functional Integration lesson is created on the spot, because what the practitioner does depends on the student's needs at the time. The process is very intuitive but always uses movement to explore a particular theme (something as concrete as rolling or bending the spine, or something less tangible such as becoming more assertive or even being a better parent).

 

In Awareness Through Movement sclasses, the practitioner verbally leads the students through a structured movement series designed to interrupt habitual patterns of muscular contraction. This creates the potential for new muscular use, and often resolves pain or emotional trouble as a result. Doing Awareness Through Movement requires a meditative use of the attention, and is also restores the balance between activity and rest (with stress relief as a welcome "side effect").

 

There is a growing body of research that is proving what Feldenkrais students have known since the 1950's - that Feldenkrais work eases pain and improves function where nothing else works. Click here for research on the Feldenkrais Method. Link will open in a new window.

 

Click here to visit the Belgian Feldenkrais Association's website.  Click here to visit the Feldenkrais Guild of North America's website. Links will open in a new window.

 

Miriam Levenson is an American who originally discovered the Feldenkrais Method through playing cello. Miriam was suffering from chronic tendinitis and her professor encouraged her to try Feldenkrais. The Feldenkrais Method had helped him recover from a severe neck injury that had affected his ability to play. After some Feldenkrais group classes and one private Feldenkrais lesson, Miriam’s tendinitis disappeared and has never returned. After continuing with Feldenkrais lessons, the pain in her shoulder disappeared and then the pain in her back went away. The real gift, however, was stress relief and a more grounded, peaceful way of life.

In 1993 Miriam decided to make Feldenkrais her life’s work, not because of the often spectacular physical and mental results, but because Feldenkrais offers a way to continuously evolve in the direction of higher awareness and harmony.

 

Miriam earned the internationally recognized diploma in the Feldenkrais Method. She completed her four-year professional training in Boston and has practiced the Feldenkrais Method since 1997. Her practice reflects her diverse interests: relieving (chronic) pain, learning how to perform physical tasks with less effort (such as gardening – visit http://www.effortlessgardening.com for information about her Effortless Gardening Program), recovery from (brain) injury, dealing with psychological or relationship troubles via movement, easing chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, supporting children’s development, and encouraging free expression of all other human experiences. Miriam has authored a book for other Feldenkrais practitioners, has received international recognition for her Feldenkrais work, and gives advanced trainings for Feldenkrais practitioners.

 

For more information or to schedule a private lesson, e-mail Miriam at miriam.levenson@telenet.be or call +32(0)9/272.80.82 or +32(0)485.701.178. Address: Koningin Fabiolapark 34, 9820 Merelbeke (close to the junction of the E40 (and E17) and the R4).