Primary source: Feldenkrais Method® web site, www.Feldenkrais.com. (Link will open in a new window.)

What the Feldenkrais Method is:

• An educational system using movement, learning and awareness to improve all levels of human functioning.
• An approach to expand movement, enhance awareness, improve function, and encourage expression.
• A tool to facilitate learning about the whole self. Expands self-image through movement sequences that bring attention to actions that individuals no longer use, or use incorrectly.

What the Feldenkrais Method is not:

• The Feldenkrais Method is not a medical, massage, bodywork, or therapeutic technique. It is a learning process.
• The Feldenkrais Method does not use chemical or mechanical aids in its practice.

Two Learning Approaches

The Feldenkrais Method involves two approaches to movement re-education.

• Awareness Through Movement®
  These are active lessons with individuals or small groups in which the instructor verbally directs participants, incorporating active movements, imagery, and focused attention. A lesson lasts 30 to 60 minutes and is organized around a function such as turning, walking, or seeing.

  The Awareness Through Movement lessons consist of comfortable, easy movements that gradually evolve into movements of greater range and complexity. There are hundreds of Awareness Through Movement lessons in the Feldenkrais Method that vary from simple to very challenging in structure and physical demand.

  Designed to make participants more aware of their unique and habitual neuromuscular patterns, Awareness Through Movement lessons explore new movement options while increasing sensitivity and improving efficiency.

• Functional Integration®
  This is a hands-on form of learning that involves gentle touching and movement by the instructor without the use of invasive or forceful actions. Functional Integration lessons relate to a desire, intention or need of the student. The lessons can be about anything, from pain relief to relationships, to improvement of highly developed athletic or musical skills. Functional Integration lessons are based on principles of physics, biomechanics and an understanding of human learning and development. In Functional Integration the teacher develops a custom lesson for the student based on his or her unique configuration.

About Moshe Feldenkrais

Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais developed the Feldenkrais Method of Movement Education through more than 40 years of research into human functioning.

Born in Russia, Dr. Feldenkrais earned degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering in Israel. He later earned a doctorate of science in physics at the Sorbonne, Paris, subsequently working for several years with Irene Joliot-Curie in early nuclear research. His interest in movement had deep roots in the martial arts. He studied with Professor Kano, the originator of Judo, and was one of the first Europeans to earn a Black Belt in Judo in 1936.

Dr. Feldenkrais' physical problems, specifically a crippling knee injury, led him to a lifelong exploration of ways to improve movement and functioning. His investigation resulted in a method that is a unique synthesis of science and aesthetics. It addresses universal human needs as well as a broad spectrum of individual problems, making it useful to a wide and varied population.

After giving up his career in physics to focus on his movement method, Dr. Feldenkrais trained his first group of students to be practitioners in the 1960s. Throughout his lifetime (1904-1984) he wrote four books on his method and several on Judo and self-defense. His teachings are preserved in thousands of hours of audiotapes and videotapes.

The Feldenkrais Guild® of North America

The Feldenkrais Method of Movement Education has become an internationally accepted approach to self-exploration and movement re-education. Feldenkrais Method practitioners are certified following a training program through the Feldenkrais Guild of North America, which has approximately 1,200 members. Worldwide, the Feldenkrais Method is taught in more than 30 countries by almost 5,000 practitioners.

Additional Feldenkrais Method Resources

www.Feldenkrais.com. (Link will open in a new window.)

www.effortlessgardening.com

About Effortless Gardening

The Effortless Gardening Program is an audio and video program that helps gardeners prepare for and alleviate aches and pains associated with gardening activities. Based on the Feldenkrais Method® of Movement Education, Effortless Gardening can be ordered for $69.95 by calling toll free, 1.866.EZGARDEN (1.866.394.2733), or online at www.effortlessgardening.com. The Effortless Gardening Program includes a videotape with movement demonstrations, two audiocassettes with movement lessons and coaching sessions to be completed while gardening, and an instructional booklet.