My Feldenkrais training cohort. Here we are doing a lesson I would never teach to the public but it is a great example of how we are guided to move at our own pace, stay in our comfort zone, and pay attention to sensation while caring for our entire self in each action.
Feldenkrais
What is Feldenkrais? There are two arms (pun intended) of the Feldenkrais Method that beautifully link together.
Feldenkrais private sessions are known as Functional Integration (FI) lessons . The practitioner guides an individual student in movement lessons using gentle, non-invasive touch. Essentially it is bodywork using a table similar but not the same as a massage table that is set up at chair height. The student keeps their clothing on.
Feldenkrais group classes are called Awareness Through Movement. These lessons use slow, mindful movements to achieve powerful effects in terms of strength, flexibility, and holistic integration of body and mind…these lessons tie directly into functional movements of daily life, such as walking, reaching, turning, getting up and down from a chair or the floor, lifting objects, improving posture in sitting or standing….and so much more!
Why did I embark on this journey to become a certified practitioner? Here is a story of a recent teaching experience that might help explain my fascination with and commitment to this modality.
I was teaching Feldenkrais recently to a group of my students and friends, most of whom had never experienced an Awareness Through Movement (ATM) lesson before. We were lying on our backs and our sides exploring length and rotation in the arm and shoulder joint. We started with simply reaching our fist forward to the ceiling, pulling the arm bones long, and then dropping it back down. This eventually lead to a whole self or whole body inquiry regarding our capacity for full and effortless reaching and rolling on the floor.
I had a student in class who had experienced brain trauma and was slightly atrophied in their right arm, shoulder, and side ribs and leg. This lesson was not about building muscle or increasing range of motion or establishing a physical goal and seeing if one can achieve it. It was about how our individual whole self can find the best, lightest, clearest, and easiest way to move within the framework of the inquiry of the lesson. I had mentioned to the class at the beginning that they could use their other hand and arm to support and guide if they had shoulder injuries or weaknesses. I kept a compassionate eye on my student who was gingerly guiding the tentative arm through the movement with the other hand.
At the end of class, we repeated the first movements to see what had changed or shifted. As I started to witness the results of the hour of this Awareness Through Movement lesson, the first fist to reach to the ceiling belonged to this student…and it shot up into the air with such pride and intention bringing the straight and unwavering arm along with it…with no help from the other hand…defying my original label of atrophy! The student’s head shot up too and looked me straight in the eyes in complete shock…and then blossomed a triumphant smile!
Alan Questal, my teacher, talking about Feldenkrais. This a really nice SHORT video that is a small window into a huge landscape!
I am currently certified to teach ATM and will be in 2024 online and in-person. Please go to my Group Classes and my Online Classes pages to see my offerings.
In two years I will be certified to offer Functional Integration lessons. Beginning in May of 2024, I will be looking for volunteers to be my students for practice sessions.