What Is Feldenkrais^®?

Feldenkrais® teachers talk about heightening awareness, living a more fully human life, accessing your full potential, and improving neurological organization. But most people come for Feldenkrais work because they have pain and difficulties they don't want.

And why not? What's wrong with wanting to feel better, being able to sit at your desk all day without your neck and shoulders hurting and your back getting tired? Why not be able to garden comfortably, sleep restfully, do your job with less pain and fatigue, and decrease stress responses? How could we object to a skier wanting more grace and power, or an equestrian wanting her riding to be more balanced and effortless? All of these are legitimate concerns that can be addressed with the Feldenkrais Method.

Moshe Feldenkrais, an Israeli physicist and Europe's first black belt in judo, developed the method. Working in relative obscurity in Tel Aviv, he was thrust onto the world stage when Parade magazine published a photo of Feldenkrais' friend and student — octogenarian David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister — standing on his head on the beach. He'd learned that skill as part of his work with Feldenkrais.

The world, though, has had a hard time categorizing Feldenkrais' work. Coming from a physics and martial arts background, the method differs from those based on some version of medicine or physical therapy. The Feldenkrais Method is more learning than treatment, yet it still helps people resolve disorders and problems. It doesn't tell you how to do your sport or job, but still helps you do it better. It doesn't stretch your muscles, but you become more flexible. It doesn't involve calisthenics, but it makes you stronger. It is not really like anything else, so you have to taste it to know what it is.

Feldenkrais believed that much pain and many maladies stem from misusing oneself. When something is amiss with your movement, you continually strain your tissues in ways they were never designed to handle. Correcting this, however, is not as simple as having someone tell you to do something, like, stand up straight. You have to feel clearly where and how you are straining and how your habits limit you. Then, in a supportive and safe situation, you explore other options until you find a way that works better. That's learning. You can learn a better way: more efficient, more natural, easier.

Feldenkrais' focus is not so much on what you do, as it is about how you do it. He discovered in teaching people judo that they could not master the repertoire of judo if they had problems with their human repertoire. These problems result from injuries, illness, faulty learning, and emotional distress. When you can sense the efforts you make to compensate for these limitations, you can start working your way free of them.

This kind of learning requires being kind to yourself in the process. You go slowly, staying where you're comfortable and avoiding the habitual strain of making efforts to succeed. You come to ease and grace in your life through ease and grace in your learning, not through more struggle.

Feldenkrais® teachers provide this kind of supportive learning environment through group lessons, called Awareness Through Movement®, and in individual sessions, called Functional Integration®. Whether your teacher guides the whole group verbally through interesting sequences of movement exploration, or works with you individually mostly through touch, you progress at your own pace, overcoming habitual difficulties, feeling your actions respond more simply and directly to your intentions. It is interesting, painless, and gives you a new way of relating to your body and the life you live with it.

You, me — we all need this kind of improvement. We can overcome much of the pain and stress with which many people live. We can realize that life doesn't have to be so hard. As one Boise student who had suffered years of debilitating headaches said, "It's like someone opening your eyes and saying 'you're allowed to do better.'"

Getting people into class is the hardest part, and I want to make that easier. If you're interested in drug-free improvement, if you want to be more in charge of your life and health, and if you want to experience new breakthroughs, you can try the Feldenkrais Method. Please e-mail me at idahorob@hotmail.com, or visit the web site of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America at www.feldenkrais.com.

Want to see an improvement in your riding? Try the Feldenkrais Method with the EquiMotion Audio Course and workshops taught by Nancy Camp and myself. For more information, Contact us. The site has information about EquiMotion, Feldenkrais® Integrated Riding products and workshops.

Robert Spencer, M.S.
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner