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 Moshe
Feldenkrais (1904 - 1984), originally a physicist and judo teacher,
invented a system of body movement education that reawakens,
develops, and organizes capacities for kinesthetic (sensorimotor)
learning. Whereas children before the age of three learn movements
by relying on their sensorimotor experience, older children
and adults often behave according to social expectations, distancing
themselves from their bodily feelings. Feldenkrais also observed
how very young children use all their senses and every part
of their bodies, a process he called organic learning. Adults
appear to involve less of themselves, unless they are fully
absorbed in what they are doing.
Feldenkrais believed that such alienation from the body contributes
to habitual, usually unconscious, patterns of muscular tension
and psychosomatic illnesses. Because the Feldenkrais method
involves the emulation of how young children learn, its therapeutic
value hinges on releasing capacities for learning that had been
left behind in childhood (Reese, 1985).
In order to teach his methods, Feldenkrais invented thousands
of Awareness through Movement7 lessons, many of which are based
on the movements performed by babies as they first learn to
roll, sit, crawl, walk, and explore their bodies in the environment.
Students are asked to make small, slow movements, reduce their
efforts, and sense how even simple movements are connected with
every part of the body. This book contains a series of Awareness
through Movement7 lessons to help you access your own experiential
memories of infancy. Feldenkrais practitioners also use hands-on
techniques called Functional Integration. In this work, students
lie on a padded table, as a practitioner gently touches and
moves them, often in baby-like ways, in order to promote deep
relaxation, kinesthetic awareness, and openness to learn new
ways to move.
Feldenkrais methods are used to increase physical coordination
and integration, and to bring greater enjoyment and satisfaction
in life. They are also used for adults and children with minor
muscular problems, cerebral palsy, downs syndrome, and other
developmental problems, and with adults who suffer from neurological
or orthopedic problems. |
