Designed to function: learn better movement methods."Movement is life. Without movement, life is unthinkable."--Moshe Feldenkrais The complex, intricate process of evolution has produced a human species designed to function. Effortless posture, elegant movement, strong bones, functioning organs: these are our birthright birth·right n. 1. A right, possession, or privilege that is one's due by birth. See Synonyms at right. 2. A special privilege accorded a first-born. . So, what happens? Why must we struggle muscularly for alignment? How do we shift from the effortless movement we knew as children to difficulty and discomfort? How is it that our bones deteriorate, when people in other cultures work sturdily through to the ends of their lives? Why do digestion, breathing, vision and circulation, become impaired, sometimes at an early age? In life, as a result of the strictures of education ("Be quiet! Don't move!"), parental dictates, physical or emotional trauma, repetitive occupational stress, and/or the intervention of surgery, parts of ourselves stop moving and become unknown to us. The alertness and awareness we had as babies, when we were in a constant state of learning, become replaced by habit and often by lack of hope. The brain needs options- at any age. When given options, it will choose the best path for the present moment. The Feldenkrais Method Feldenkrais Method Definition The Feldenkrais method is an educational system that allows the body to move and function more efficiently and comfortably. Its goal is to re-educate the nervous system and improve motor ability. [R] offers options to the brain through movement. Moshe Feldenkrais (1904-1984), an Israeli physicist and engineer, believed that learning--developing, growing, changing, adapting, thriving--happens most fundamentally through moving. When parts of ourselves stop moving, we become unaware of those parts, and vice versa VICE VERSA. On the contrary; on opposite sides. . The movement explorations offered by the Feldenkrais Method wake up the brain, help fill in missing parts of the map, and things begin to fall into place: we begin to move--and to live--with more of our whole selves, and begin to function as we were meant to. This is embodied learning. The Feldenkrais Method offers movement options to the brain in individual, hands-on sessions known as Functional Integration[R], and in-group classes called Awareness Through Movement Awareness Through Movement, n.pr the Feldenkrais method, especially when taught to a group of students, as opposed to a one-on-one session. Students learn to focus on forgotten or poorly used body parts to recover full functionality. [R]. In both, movement processes help recipients attain improved alignment, mobility, balance, breath and self-image, and release of pain. Functional Integration, custom-tailored to each person, utilizes touch and provides direct and personal information to an individual's nervous system. Its focus is addressing both minor and serious muscular-skeletal and neurological neurological, neurologic pertaining to or emanating from the nervous system or from neurology. neurological assessment evaluation of the health status of a patient with a nervous system disorder or dysfunction. problems, chronic tension and pain, and the motor development problems of children. Professional musicians, athletes and dancers have sought out the Feldenkrais Method to hone and improve their abilities, and to deal with potentially career-ending injuries and conditions. People with strokes, spinal cord Injuries Spinal Cord Injury Definition Spinal cord injury is damage to the spinal cord that causes loss of sensation and motor control. Description Approximately 10,000 new spinal cord injuries (SCIs) occur each year in the United States. , multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy cerebral palsy (sərē`brəl pôl`zē), disability caused by brain damage before or during birth or in the first years, resulting in a loss of voluntary muscular control and coordination. have utilized the method extensively to improve their functioning. Individuals with pain and dysfunction through overuse overuse Health care The common use of a particular intervention even when the benefits of the intervention don't justify the potential harm or cost–eg, prescribing antibiotics for a probable viral URI. Cf Misuse, Underuse. , misuse and neglect have benefited, as well as people who simply want to move more easily, or age more gracefully. Others seek out the method because they have felt alienated al·ien·ate tr.v. al·ien·at·ed, al·ien·at·ing, al·ien·ates 1. To cause to become unfriendly or hostile; estrange: alienate a friend; alienate potential supporters by taking extreme positions. from their bodies, or because they are in a process of personal growth and recognize movement as an important part of that process. The Feldenkrais Method has also been successfully applied to strengthening bones, improving vision, restoring pelvic floor The pelvic floor or pelvic diaphragm is composed of muscle fibers of the levator ani, the coccygeus, and associated connective tissue which span the area underneath the pelvis. functioning and improving sleep. Moshe Feldenkrais developed his work in a successful attempt to heal his own injured knees. In the process, he discovered that learning through movement offered even more than the gift of being able to walk again. As he went on to work with other people, he became, more than anything else, interested in the question of human potential. Like Feldenkrais himself, most people come to the method because of physical pain or disability. Very often, they come away with more than just physical relief. They find that if they are not always compelled to orient themselves to the left, or to stand mostly on one foot, they can also act in non-habitual ways in the world. Some find that issues with which they have dealt in therapy for years become resolved when they are no longer carrying them in their movement patterns. We are designed, through the evolution of the human brain, to function exquisitely throughout our lives. Very often we feel helpless when we do not function, when debilitating de·bil·i·tat·ing adj. Causing a loss of strength or energy. Debilitating Weakening, or reducing the strength of. Mentioned in: Stress Reduction injuries result from something as minor as bending over to pick up a pencil. Learning through movement, the basic premise of the method, helps us access that which is possible in our lives, to get more in touch with "how we were meant to be." TRY THIS FOR EASIER TURNING! A FELDENKRAIS MINI-LESSON * Sit on the edge of your chair with your feet flat on the floor, feet and knees hip-width apart, hands resting lightly on thighs. * Turn and look slowly to the right, without straining. How far can you comfortably turn? * Several times, turn slowly to the right, but keep your eyes looking forward (you will be looking out of the left comers of your eyes). * Again turn to the right, taking your eyes to the right also. Do you turn further without strain? * Several times, turn as if to look over your right shoulder, but this time, keep your whole face to the front, so that you turn below the neck. * Turn right again, including your head and your eyes. How far can you easily turn now? * Several tithes TITHES, Eng. law. A right to the tenth part of the produce of, lands, the stocks upon lands, and the personal industry of the inhabitants. These tithes are raised for the support of the clergy. 2. , keeping your feet flat on the floor, move your left knee forward. You will feel your pelvis pelvis, bony, basin-shaped structure that supports the organs of the lower abdomen. It receives the weight of the upper body and distributes it to the legs; it also forms the base for numerous muscle attachments. shift on the chair. * Move your left knee forward as you turn to look to the right several times. Do you see further now, without strain? Do you feel more of yourself involved in the act of turning? * Repeat these steps on the left! Louise Runyon is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais [Practitioner.sup.[cm]] and certified Bones for Life[tm] (an application of the Feldenkrais Method to prevention and reversal of osteoporosis) teacher, with over twenty years TWENTY YEARS. The lapse of twenty years raises a presumption of certain facts, and after such a time, the party against whom the presumption has been raised, will be required to prove a negative to establish his rights. 2. experience teaching movement. She can be reached at 404-728-8991, at louiserunyon@aol.com or see www.feldenkraisatlanta.com The terms Feldenkrais Method[R], Feldenkrais[R], Functional Integration[R] and Awareness Through Movement[R] registered service marks and Guild Certified Feldenkrais [Practitioner.sup.[cm]] is a certification mark A certification mark on a commercial product indicates five things:
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