By improving the quality of how we move, we can enhance our physical abilities, cognitive function, and overall health and well-being—this is the premise of the Feldenkrais Method. This modality is based on the idea that movement, coupled with the brain’s attention and awareness of self, is the key to effective learning that leads to change. This holistic approach seeks to address the whole person as a biological system, rather than as the symptoms of a particular condition or pathology.

IMPROVING MOVEMENT

The Feldenkrais Method is a somatic educational and integrated body-mind approach that aims to improve movement and function by increasing awareness of how the body moves and functions. It was developed by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, an Israeli physicist, engineer, and black belt judo master, who sought to create a system that could help people overcome limitations caused by injury, pain, or neurological conditions. 

The Feldenkrais Method uses functionally based variation, innovation, and differentiation in sensory-motor activity to break down habitual movement patterns that don’t serve the person, and thus allow new ways of thinking, feeling, and action to emerge. This offers significant outcomes in terms of pain, anxiety, depression, and quality of life. It is unique in its scientific approach to self-improvement and uses movement of the body and support of the skeleton to enhance the capacity of motor learning and skills. 

TWO PATHS

The Feldenkrais Method can be delivered in two ways: Awareness Through Movement and Functional Integration. Awareness Through Movement classes involve guided movement lessons taught by a trained practitioner, usually in a group situation (and nowadays mostly on Zoom), which help individuals become more aware of their bodies and how they move. Functional Integration is a one-on-one, more intensive approach where the practitioner uses gentle touch and suggests subtle movements to help individuals improve coordination, balance, and overall quality of life. 

In both modalities of the work, lessons focus on learning rather than performing or achieving. Function takes precedence over form, and the “student” is encouraged to explore, use their imagination, and reduce the effort to be able to detect fine differences and make subtle distinctions.

For example, if you have already acquired one way to do a thing—even a habitually inefficient way—then you are capable of learning to acquire new and more effective ways to do that same thing. Awareness Through Movement lessons provide you with ways to observe yourself while in action, and to enhance and practice the skill of self-observation and awareness. You learn to experience the details of how your habitual “organization” includes unintended, unconscious movement that actually interferes with your intention. In this process of “becoming aware of yourself” in completely new ways, more efficient ways of functioning emerge—and often quite quickly. Once you acquire a better way of acting, the old patterns you learned to live with but that don’t serve you can be given up. 

Feldenkrais brings improvement to a wide range of people of all ages and offers an additional dimension and versatility to the work of many professionals: physical therapists, occupational therapists, massage therapists, psychologists, and physical education teachers. It is a valuable resource for those involved in highly refined movement such as musicians, athletes, dancers, and other performing artists, allowing them to eliminate the excess effort and strain that can affect their performance and cause long-term injuries.

Feldenkrais and Special Populations

One of the most remarkable aspects of Feldenkrais is its ability to support people with neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS)¹ and Parkinson’s disease.² While obviously not a cure for these conditions, Feldenkrais provides powerful ways to support easier and better-organized movement and function for those afflicted with conditions of the brain and nervous system.

Research has shown the Feldenkrais Method can help people with MS improve their balance, mobility, and quality of life. People with MS who participated in a six-month Feldenkrais program had significant improvement in balance and walking speed compared to those who did not participate in the program, according to a study published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).³

Similarly, research has shown that Feldenkrais can help people with Parkinson’s improve their movement and everyday function. A study published in the Journal of Movement Disorders found that people with Parkinson’s who participated in a six-month Feldenkrais program had significant improvements in walking speed, balance, and their self-image compared to those who did not participate in the program.⁴

Children with special needs also benefit from the Feldenkrais Method. The Anat Baniel Method of Neuromovement for Children, which is an evolution of the Feldenkrais Method, is specifically tailored to meet the challenges of children with special needs. It is based on the idea that children with special needs have the same potential for learning and growth as children who do not have special needs, and that by providing them with fundamental and developmental movements that are necessary for more complex function and activities, they can reach their full potential.

Case Studies

To anecdotally illustrate the impact of incorporating the Feldenkrais Method into your practice, let’s look at these four clients I’ve had the privilege of working with over the years. (Clients’ names have been changed.)

Joseph—Stroke Patient

Joseph suffered a stroke in his mid-70s, partially paralyzing his left side. He had been a competent surgeon until that time, still working full time and running several miles each day. He also loved playing the piano. His daughter, already a client of mine, brought him to me for help. Having lost his beloved livelihood, he was understandably depressed and defeated by his current life. He had been to physical therapy for a few months but did not think it had made a difference, and he felt himself getting more rigid and unable to use his left hand and arm. In addition, he had developed a severe limp and could not walk without a walker. 

The Feldenkrais approach to stroke treatment takes a person’s neuroanatomy into consideration and assumes that areas of the brain are underused and can be remapped through movement with the brain’s attention.

As his practitioner, my intention was to help him feel more potent and have more agency over his life. The plan was to have his right side “teach” his stricken left side and establish and reform neural connections around areas of his brain that had been damaged. These new connections respond to stimuli in much the same way as the old connections, and lost function can be restored.

Initially, I showed him what he could do well with his functional right arm and hand, and then I asked him to begin imagining doing the same movements with the left side. I began to introduce and suggest gentle movement to his affected side with my hands, going slowly to invite his brain to begin remapping the affected areas. With Feldenkrais, we do not ever use force or suggest unnecessary effort. This process of remapping, which is known as neuroplasticity, is one of the most important discoveries Dr. Feldenkrais incorporated in his work. He is said to have been one of the first “neuroplasticians.” Using the brain’s attention to continuously map and reform the motor cortex is at the heart of how Feldenkrais is different from other modalities.

At first, Joseph became frustrated and even wept occasionally during our sessions. But gradually, over a period of three months of regular lessons, he began to improve the use of his left hand and arm. He became increasingly more confident and was empowered to do more. One year after we began our lessons, Joseph could walk without his cane and soon drove himself to our appointments. Although he would never perform surgery again, he became so dexterous that he was able to play his beloved piano, slowly but joyfully. 

Antonio—Cerebral Palsy Since Birth

I first worked with Antonio when he was 9 months old. He had just been diagnosed with cerebral palsy (CP), which is caused by abnormal development or injury of the brain that affects a child’s ability to control their muscles. It can happen before or during birth, or within months or even years after birth, while the brain is still developing. The symptoms of CP are often observed when the child has delays in reaching developmental milestones. 

The typical spasticity, exaggerated reflexes, and rigidity of Antonio’s limbs had begun to set in, and he was making more involuntary movements with his hands and feet. He was unable to bear weight on his hands and knees, thus preventing him from crawling. His worried parents had already enrolled him in pediatric physical therapy, but they wanted to look for other solutions and found me through my training with the Anat Baniel Neuromovement Method. In this system, based largely on the Feldenkrais Method, we focus on the brain, where immense potential for transformation and change lies. The human brain, under the right conditions, has the capacity to create new patterns and possibilities that lead to breakthrough results in physical, emotional, and cognitive performance for children with CP—or any of a whole host of diagnoses. 

I began to give Antonio regular hands-on lessons, and instead of trying to “correct” the rigid muscles of his legs and arms by stretching them, I followed his pattern gently and slowly with my hands, allowing him to feel how he could let go in small increments. I used variation and helped him learn to make small distinctions in everything he did. His weekly lessons were interspersed with “intensives,” where we give the child approximately 5–7 lessons within a short period, and often two lessons per day. Then, we will often stop the lessons and let the child and their parents take a break for up to a month to allow all the changes to be integrated in the child’s brain and nervous system. This amplifies the work and creates powerful changes. We provide the child with many movement variations, differentiation, and the conditions needed to create positive brain change that can open new possibilities for a better organization of their whole brain and musculoskeletal system. 

After Antonio began to crawl and bear weight on his hands and knees, he also started communicating more clearly, and his vocabulary improved greatly. The spasticity in his limbs, though still present, began to attenuate, affording him the possibility of better all-around mobility and stability. It took many lessons until Antonio would learn to walk with his walker and leg braces, but now he is weight-bearing on his feet for a few seconds—the look of satisfaction and his huge smile say it all. He has “learned to learn” and continues to improve his ability to use his body more easily and fluidly each day.

Annie—Challenges of ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that affects millions of children and adults. The most common symptoms of ADHD include hyperactivity, impulsive behavior, and the inability to maintain focus, or a combination of these. Annie is a 9-year-old girl who was diagnosed with ADHD and came into my practice six months ago. Her parents were concerned about her inability to regulate her impulsive behavior at home and at school. She had great difficulty sitting still and completing activities or tasks, and she talked almost incessantly. She exhibited a typical postural pattern of walking on the balls of her feet with her head thrown back and her spine hyperextended, sometimes referred to as the fight-or-flight response. She also had trouble maintaining eye contact. Using aspects from the Anat Baniel Neuromovement Method, my first objective was to get Annie to understand “slow.” I asked her to perform a variety of tasks in the slowest possible way: walking, speaking, reading. Working hands-on with her feet, I specifically wanted her to feel her heels and have a sense of feeling grounded. Then, while walking, to bring her attention to initiate each step heel first and slowly. I also began to add other variations, such as walking backward, and adding intentional use of her voice, by asking her to say “Hey!” every time she used her heels during a specific movement sequence on the Feldenkrais table. 

It was important to my work that I not ask her to “repeat” things many times, as a way to ensure novelty and help her remain connected to herself without going into automaticity. I requested the parents be allies in this project and invited them to attend and sometimes even participate in our movement lessons so they could better understand Annie’s world. She began to make more consistent eye contact, slowed down her speech, and her parents reported she had more frequent periods of time when she was calm and focused. As often happens, the entire family began to shift and take more responsibility for embodying in themselves the changes they felt and observed in Annie.

Beth—Parkinson’s Disease

I first began to work with Beth when she came to me 10 years ago for help with her stiff hips. At the time, we were both unaware that this would turn out to be the beginning manifestations of Parkinson’s, a disease that presents itself in many ways. Beth improved with private lessons and group classes, and soon found that her hips were more responsive, and walking was less painful. However, over time, she began to develop some other symptoms of the disease: a tremor in her dominant hand and issues with her balance. Nevertheless, she found that each time she either had a private lesson or took a Feldenkrais class, her daily activities were much easier, and the symptoms seemed to abate for considerable periods of time. Although there is no cure for Parkinson’s, the Feldenkrais Method can help create the conditions for more functional and evenly distributed movement.

Transformative for All

Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais was ahead of his time in thinking about the importance of the brain’s role in function and rehabilitation. Using Feldenkrais principles, actors, singers, and elite athletes can be coached to embody themselves and upgrade their craft in powerful ways, finding more scope and sovereignty. But the subtlety of the Feldenkrais Method also means it can be transformational for the rest of our clients too. 

Notes

1. Patricia Silva, “Feldenkrais: Awareness of Movement for Those with MS,” Multiple Sclerosis News Today (August 2016): https://multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com/make-changeshappen-a-column-by-paula-hardin/2016/08/22/ feldenkrais-ms-awareness-through-movement/.

2. Lavinia Teixeira-Machado et al., “Feldenkrais Method-Based Exercise Improves Quality of Life in Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease: A Controlled, Randomized Clinical Trial,” Alternative Therapies 21, no. 1 (2015): https:// somaticworld.es/wp-content/uploads/08_ RCT_Feldenkrais_y_Parkinson.pdf.

3. S. K. Johnson et al., “A Controlled Investigation of Bodywork in Multiple Sclerosis,” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 5, no. 3 (June 1999): 237–43, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10381247.

4. Sung Hoon Kang et al., “Dance Intervention Using the Feldenkrais Method Improves Motor and Non-Motor Symptoms and Gait in Parkinson’s Disease: A 12-Month Study,” Journal of Movement Disorders 15, no. 1 (2022): www.e-jmd.org/journal/view.php?number=362.

Finding My Own Freedom Through Feldenkrais

I had my first encounter with the Feldenkrais Method through my voice teacher when I lived in Cairo, Egypt. I was lucky enough to meet an extraordinary Feldenkrais teacher who helped me overcome my habit of clenching my jaw and dominant hand and overstraining my vocal cords while singing. I also had a frozen shoulder that resolved itself within a few weeks of taking group classes and doing individual work. Becoming more aware of how I moved, breathed, and held myself rigid helped me understand that working harder and faster was actually causing me harm. A few years later, I began my first four-year Feldenkrais professional training in Boulder, Colorado, to become a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, and have since built my life around teaching Feldenkrais and continuing to learn. I now work with people of all ages and backgrounds, including children.

To learn more about multiple sclerosis and the Feldenkrais Method, read “Heart-Mind and Axon: Reflections on MS” by Ingrid Willenz-Isaac at feldenkrais.com/heart-mind-and-axon-reflections-on-ms.