Feldenkrais

What is Feldenkrais®?

The Feldenkrais Method® teaches-through gentle movement lessons-how to improve overall use of self, posture, flexibility and coordination. It is a sound method of improving motor learning and motor control through awareness. Students learn to integrate mind and body, a powerful tool to take charge of their own well-being.

”What is Feldenkrais?” A 10-min. video:

Watch Lisa’s work with a little girl with cerebral palsy.

Watch Lisa’s work with a marathon runner.

Take charge of your well-being and comfort

“This is the most sophisticated and effective method I have seen for the prevention and reversal of deterioration of function. We’re condemning millions of people to a deteriorating old age that’s not necessary.” – Margaret Mead, Anthropologist

Feldenkrais is an owner’s manual for the human body

  • ARTHRITIS: Reduce pain and fatigue. Recover balance, mobility, strength.
  • PAIN: Learn to help yourself with back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, pelvic floor pain, etc.
  • REPETITIVE STRESS INJURIES (RSI): Learn to help yourself with carpel tunnel, TMJ, plantar fasciitis, tendonitis, etc.
  • AUTOIMMUNE CONDITIONS: Learn to move more efficiently and with less effort. This will reduce pain and fatigue for those with fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, Sjögren’s, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.
  • NEUROMUSCULAR CONDITIONS: Gain function through awareness of integrated movement patterns. This is extremely helpful for those with cerebral palsy, MS, stroke, etc.
  • BALANCE ISSUES: Learn not only how to fall less, but also how to fall and recover.
  • MINDFULNESS: Grow your capacity for awareness in everyday life. Learn to enter the present moment.

Improve performance

“The Feldenkrais Method has allowed me to play pain-free golf, without worrying about injury. It puts me in control of what I want to do by allowing me to get in touch with the ‘mind-body’ connection. I’ve re-learned more efficient patterns for playing golf. – Duffy Waldorf, professional golfer

“Working this way has been more useful than music lessons. It has been very valuable and has solved problems both physical and musical.”– Jeremy Constant, Assistant Concertmaster San Francisco Symphony

Learn to act with precision, power, and spontaneity

  • SPORTS & EXERCISE: You can improve performance and reduce injury in any sport through increased awareness. Change your habits of how you move and learn to move more efficiently.
  • PERFORMING ARTS: You can improve performance and reduce pain associated with poor habits of posture and movement. Through increased awareness you can also recover your creativity.

Individual Sessions (Functional Integration®)

Photography by Rosalie O’Connor – www.rosalieoconnor.com

People come to individual sessions for a variety of reasons, ranging from nagging pain to severe disabilities to improving performance. Every lesson is different. There aren’t any protocols or standard treatment plans because the same diagnosis (say, sciatica) will be addressed quite differently for a baseball player than for a person who sits at a desk all day. The baseball player may be asked to bring his bat so the practitioner can observe how he swings. The session with the office person will most likely revolve around improving sitting, if that is what aggravates his or her back. If the student presents with a severe disability, for example, a child with cerebral palsy who isn’t able to talk, most of the hour will be spent quietly. Through the practitioner’s hands, that child is given a direct experience of effortless, integrated movement patterns.

One thing common to all who come is the experience of being deeply listened to. The Feldenkrais practitioner is a keen observer of movement and posture, creating a doorway into the person as a whole. This ‘listening’ is actually an important part of the lesson because it also allows the student an opportunity for self-awareness. What you can expect is to feel more comfortable in your body, to actually be aware of your body and from there…learn to move more freely.

 

In a typical session, you will receive:

  • Analysis of your movement and posture, relating to your specific goals.
  • Hands-on neuromuscular retraining of your movement and posture. This is typically done on a low padded table (fully clothed), but can be done in any position to accommodate the needs and comfort of the individual (wheelchair, standing, etc). It is especially ideal for people in pain and also works well for older people because it is so gentle. Most people feel these sessions are deeply relaxing, and they certainly are never painful.
  • Home movement lesson program. Lessons for you to use at home to help heal and train yourself. This is a great tool you can use the rest of your life. The movements are gentle, awareness-based exercises-effective but never painful.

Group Classes & Workshops (Awareness Through Movement®)

Photography by Rosalie O’Connor – www.rosalieoconnor.com

In the group classes, students are guided though a series of uniquely structured movement sequences, leading to improved movement patterns used in everyday activities of daily living and even in higher level sporting activities. There are over 1,000 different movement lessons available through which you can address every area, joint, and muscle group in the body.

 

Workshops offered in the Rochester/Red Wing area:

  • Weekly, ongoing classes – A great way to continue learning-keep your body moving well, reduce pain, and keep your mind aware.
  • Aging Successfully” Wksp – Stay active and able as you age.
  • Total Body Golf” Wksp – More power, greater flexibility, improved accuracy, less pain.
  • “Full Body Running” Wksp – Run farther, faster, with less pain.
  • “Awaken Your Core” Wksp – Find greater core stability (and suppleness). This helps pelvic floor pain, back pain, incontinence, and sexual enjoyment.
  • “Meditation in Action” Wksp – Grow your capacity for awareness in everyday life. Learn to enter the present moment.
  • “Care for Caregivers” Wksp – How to take care of yourself as you take care of others.
  • On-The-Job Body Mechanics Consultation – Appropriate for manual laborers, as well as office workers.

Please check the workshops page for our current offerings by month.