What is Feldenkrais?

The most common reaction when I say I am learning how to teach Feldenkrais is "...felda-what?", so I figure I should start with an explanation of what it is. The Feldenkrais Method is a type of body work, created by the physicist, Judo master, and inventor Moshe Feldenkrais. Its purpose is to make movement easier by increasing body awareness.

What does that mean and how does it work, you might ask? Let's say you have a particular way of standing up from a chair where, for whatever reason, you put your hands down next to your hips and push yourself out of the chair with your hands. According to Moshe the physicist, that is not the most efficient way to stand up from a chair. An easier way might be to lean forward a bit so your weight is solidly in your feet, and push from the ground. A Feldenkrais lesson based off of that idea would break down that movement into little tiny pieces, and then slow them all way down, letting you observe in yourself how each piece happens and works. As you get more pieces of the movement, you gain body awareness, and you gain choices for how you can stand up from a chair.

As Moshe said, "If you know what you're doing, you can do what you want." By giving yourself choices and options in how you move instead of only knowing the habits you've developed over the years, any movement can become clearer and easier.