Neuroplasticity and Possibility: the Feldenkrais Method

Fel… den… krais? How do you even pronounce that?

More or less the way it looks: “Fel,” “den,” and then “crisis” without the “is.”

Okay, cool. So… what is it, exactly?

Well, speaking of “crisis,” it’s a great way to get out of one.

Interesting. Tell me more.

You got it. Read on, friend.

What Is the Feldenkrais Method®?

The Feldenkrais Method® is a method of movement education that uses directed attention to improve human functioning. 

The Feldenkrais Method emphasizes gentle, deliberate movements done with awareness to foster a richer connection between the body and the brain and create healthier movement patterns. In a Feldenkrais® lesson, the focus is on moving with your whole self and seeking to refine the quality of every movement. This often means going slowly—more slowly than you may used to be moving in your daily life.

What does this do? It gently engages your nervous system, giving it a chance to make distinctions and become aware of habitual patterns that are causing pain or holding you back.

The nervous system is a marvelous thing. When you give it a chance to notice what you’re doing, it distributes movement and effort more efficiently through the body. The big muscles toward the center of the body take over more of the work. Unnecessary muscular effort is reduced, and the skeleton can better support the body against gravity.

And all this happens by doing less, going slowly, letting go of trying and excess effort.

The Feldenkrais Method was the brainchild of Moshe Feldenkrais, a Ukrainian-born Israeli scientist seen here with basketball legend Julius Erving, who studied with Feldenkrais. Feldenkrais believed that “everyone should be an athlete,” and he designed his method of movement education to help people toward that aim.

What Does the Feldenkrais Method Look Like in Practice?

In the Feldenkrais Method, there are two main ways to create this context for learning and improving human functioning.

The first is Awareness Through Movement® (ATM®). In this setting, a Feldenkrais teacher verbally guides students through a series of gentle movements, usually around a specific theme. The student moves slowly and with careful attention, noticing what’s easy and doing less than they think they can. Lessons are usually done lying on the floor to counteract the effects of gravity, though sometimes in sitting or standing.

If you want a taste of a Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lesson, try this 10-minute exploration working with movements of the dominant hand.

The second is Functional Integration® (FI®), a form of one-on-one instruction involving subtle, hands-on movement done by a skilled practitioner. The practitioner uses gentle touch to bring the student’s awareness to various parts of themselves and help their nervous system make richer connections.

I am going to be your last teacher. Not because I’ll be the greatest teacher you may ever encounter, but because from me you will learn how to learn.

—Moshe Feldenkrais

In a Feldenkrais ATM or FI lesson, your nervous system gets an opportunity to organize itself more optimally. It gets an opportunity to learn something new and useful. And over time, habitual patterns that have been holding you back can be overwritten by newer ones that serve you better.

That’s the power of neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to rewire itself, in action.

What Are the Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method?

So what can you expect to experience after a Feldenkrais lesson?

Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method can include:

• improved body awareness, flexibility, and coordination
• less pain and stress
• faster recovery from injury
• more ease in movement
• a sense of wholeness and integration—like everything’s working together the way it should

After a Feldenkrais lesson, you might feeling lighter, taller, “longer,” and more relaxed. You might have less pain, or your pain may even disappear. You might sense a more solid connection to the ground in standing and walking. You might also find that your breathing has become fuller and easier, and that you have more energy.

You might stand up and feel like something in you has shifted, that the “pieces” are talking to each other.

You might be smiling, and not have words for why.

You might find you’ve let go of something you didn’t realize you’d been holding.

Ready to expand your world of movement possibility?

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Video © International Feldenkrais® Federation. Produced by Marcela Bretschneider. All rights reserved.