WellSpring Practice Guides

Feldenkrais Method
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The Feldenkrais Method was developed by a Russian doctor, Dr Moshe Feldenkrais in the 1940’s. It is a preventative therapy rather than a treatment and is similar in its approach to the Alexander Technique.

Feldenkrais uses movement and awareness to improve flexibility and functioning of the body. Dr Feldenkrais believed that awareness is developed through experience and developed methods using movement to re-educate the body and to help to break down established patterns of behaviour.

Body awareness – posture, movement and spatial orientation – is the main key to the Feldenkrais Method. By becoming more conscious of how we move, areas that are less flexible and formed habitual patterns, then this creates an awareness that can be used to initiate change in how we choose to use our bodies. By repeated attention to how we move and by practising exercises to counter old patterns, the brain’s signals to the body can be modified, becoming a new, ‘chosen’ way of moving. This can develop into a greater ease of movement, an increase in vitality and well-being.

Feldenkrais Method sessions can either be on a one-to-one basis or in group work. It encourages clients to take responsibility for themselves and anyone can benefit from this method as it’s purpose is to discover the potential for living effortlessly according to each individual’s abilities. It may. therefore, be suitable for any age and most conditions, including neurological, conditions, orthopaedic problems, chronic and acute pain.