Movement Dialogues

"Movement is life, life is a process. Improve the quality of the process and you improve the quality of life itself."

"Long standing habitual action feels right, but our feeling is unreliable until we re-eduate our kinesthetic sense to reality-tested norms."

"Learning must be slow and varied in effort until the parasitic efforts are weeded out; then we have little difficulty in acting fast, and powerfully."

Moshe Feldenkrais, Ph.D. (1904-1984)

The Feldenkrais® Method is an approach to health and learning that uses developmental movement sequences, recognized by the nervous system, to help individuals move past injuries and their habitual neuromuscular patterns and rigidities in a unique manner. Learning to focus the mind and cultivate the kinesthetic sense during these innovative movement tasks benefits anyone experiencing chronic or acute pain whether of the back, neck, shoulders, hips, knees, or feet, as well as healthy individuals who wish to increase their range of motion, improve their flexibility and stability or rediscover, at any age, their inborn capacity for efficient movement.

Engaging in the movement sequences of this method with a focus of attention expands awareness of how one thinks, senses, feels, and moves which opens the door naturally to personal improvement and development.

Many have sought out this method, whether due to a physical illness or injury or simply wanting to retain or regain ability to move without strain or discomfort. Artists and writers often come to stimulate their creativity or reduce their tension to continue their art form; those involved in athletic ventures and wish to expand their abilities use this approach to understand and refine their form and execution; those wishing to include body in their psychotherapeutic journey enhance their experience of themselves. The method is diverse in scope and has many applications.

The developer of this Method, Moshe Feldenkrais, Ph.D. (1904-1984) was a physicist who combined his extensive knowledge of physics and mechanics with the study of neurology, anatomy, biology, and psychology. His work has been taught all over the world in private settings, clinics, schools, hospitals and developed for work with animals.

How the Feldenkrais Method Is Experienced

The Feldenkrais Method is offered in two ways.

(1) In a group, the certified Feldenkrais practitioner leads Awareness Through Movement® (ATM) lessons, or

(2) In private with an individual, the certified Feldenkrais practitioner gives Functional Integration® lessons.

What to Expect in Awareness Through Movement Group Lessons

In group Awareness Through Movement lessons, the Feldenkrais practitioner verbally leads students through a sequence of movements in basic positions: sitting or lying on the floor, standing, or sitting in a chair.

These precisely structured explorations of movement are designed to involve thinking, sensing, moving, feeling, and imagining.

Using gentle direction and unforced movements, the teacher helps students learn to abandon habitual patterns and develop new alternatives.

The new way of moving improves flexibility and coordination and frees individuals to inhabit their bodies in more supportive, less taxing ways.

Many lessons are based on developmental movements and ordinary functional activities such as reaching, standing, going from lying to sitting, looking behind oneself, etc. Some are based on more abstract explorations of joint, muscle, and postural relationships. There are hundreds of ATM lessons, varying in difficulty and complexity, for all levels of movement ability. A lesson lasts between 30 and 90 minutes.

What to Expect in Functional Integration Private Lessons

Private Functional Integration lessons are tailored to each student’s individual learning needs.

The Feldenkrais practitioner guides the individual—using gentle, non-invasive touching and spoken directions and concepts—in helping the body release rigid patterns and tensions and find more effective ways to function.

These movement sequences provide positive messages directly to the neuromuscular system. Receiving new information through the practitioner’s touch encourages a response of moving with greater fluidity.

Students are fully clothed, lying on a table or in a sitting or standing position. At times, various props (pillows, rollers, blankets) are used to support the student or to facilitate certain movements.

The lesson is carried out without the use of any invasive or forceful procedure.

How the Feldenkrais Method Differs from Massage and Chiropractic

While Feldenkrais, massage, and chiropractic practices all touch the individual, the Feldenkrais Method is quite different in its focus.

In massage, the practitioner works directly with the muscles; in chiropractic, the focus is on the bones. These are structural approaches undertaken to affect changes in structure (the muscles and spine).

Feldenkrais works with the individual’s ability to regulate and coordinate movement, without manipulation which involves working with the mind, nervous system, and the whole person.

How the Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement (ATM) Classes Differ from Yoga

Yoga was originally developed in India as part of a spiritual practice. Yoga’s early focus was to promote a sense of self by placing the body in certain demanding positions that opened the flow of energy and stimulated specific glands.

In contrast, the Feldenkrais Method is more process-oriented, exploring movement sequences rather than achieving postures and holding them. The Feldenkrais Method uses an organic system to free individuals from their limitations.

Bringing awareness to movement variations enables individuals to recognize and explore the ongoing dance between stability and flexibility in themselves.

The goal of Feldenkrais is to help each individual learn to move in the particular harmony that supports his or her mobility in all areas of life.

How Feldenkrais Practitioners Are Trained

All Feldenkrais practitioners must complete at least 800 hours of training over a period of four years.

Trainees participate in Awareness Through Movement and Functional Integration lessons, lectures, discussions, and group process. They watch videos of founder Moshe Feldenkrais, Ph.D teaching. Newtonian mechanics, physics, neurophysiology, development of movement, biology, and learning theories are covered in the training programs.

Moshe Feldenkrais,

Founder of The Feldenkrais Method

Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais (1904-1984) was a physicist who combined his extensive knowledge of physics and mechanics with the study of neurology, anatomy, biology, and psychology.

He made revolutionary discoveries about the relationship between bodily movement and the ways we think, feel, and learn.

He believed that his method of body/mind exploration leads to improved functioning, as individuals become more aware and discover improved use.

He was unequivocal about the method’s scope: “What I am after is more flexible minds, not just more flexible bodies.” Among his writings are: Awareness Through Movement, Body and Mature Behavior, The Case of Nora, The Elusive Obvious, Higher Judo, and The Potent Self.

Volume 1 of the first biography of Moshe Feldenkrais is now available at feldenkraisresources.com

Payment Options

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Initial 90 minutes - $135.00

75 minutes - $110.00

60 minutes - $ 90.00

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