
Moshe Feldenkrais, D.Sc. (1904-1984) was a distinguished physicist,
engineer, martial artist, writer, educator and researcher. With
his broad
range of knowledge in biomechanics and movement, learning theories,
child development, dynamic systems theory and neuroscience, Dr.
Feldenkrais developed a highly sophisticated somatic learning system
for self improvement and rehabilitation.
The Feldenkrais Method can be experienced in two forms:
Awareness Through Movement® and Functional Integration®. Both are
generated by the same conceptual framework: utilizing our nervous
system's self-organizing and self-regulating faculties to improve
the quality of our actions, to reach our full potential and to feel
at our best.
Awareness
Through Movement are group lessons in which the teachers
verbally directs exploration sequences that modulate the students
attention, intention and motion to create new movement skills, recover
lost ones or improve existing ones. The practice of Awareness
Through Movement leads to an independent learning that progressively
enhances our ability to act with efficiency, pleasure and spontaneity.
Functional
Integration are one-on-one lessons custom-tailored to the
student's state and condition. The practitioners rely on their extensive
experience and understanding of movement to guide the student's
awareness and enhance sensory-motor patterns through gentle, noninvasive
touch. The student experiences a new awareness of ease and comfort
in their movements and learns an ever growing range of possibilities
for action and self-expression.
Unlike
medical modalities, The Feldenkrais Method does not specifically
address pathologies. Rather, it optimizes human functioning (inclusive
of any pathological conditions) by stimulating the maturation of
our nervous system through an organic learning process based on
movement awareness, pleasurable sensations, self-discovery and organic
growth. |

M.
Feldenkrais,
Amherst Training 1981
"Unless
you know what you are doing,
you don't have any choice.
If you don't have a choice,
if you can't do the same thing at least two different ways,
you are a machine.
If
you can differentiate the movement,
if you have an alternative way of doing something,
you restore human dignity to what it could be."
Dr.
Moshe Feldenkrais |
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