If you’ve heard of the Feldenkrais Method® and would like to learn more about it, you’ve come to the right place!
Below you’ll find answers to the 9 most common questions answering “What is the Feldenkrais Method?”
We’ll cover a little about the method, its founder, and what you can expect from a group class.
1. What is the Feldenkrais Method?
The Feldenkrais Method aims at the most difficult thing to do: change your unconscious habits. Through small variations of gentle movements, you’ll be guided to find ways of moving that make sense for your body. The Feldenkrais Method can help you find ways of moving that are pain-free, efficient, and even graceful.
Ultimately, the Feldenkrais Method is about learning. You’ll draw awareness toward your current movement habits, then try out variations that can introduce you to new ways of moving. So the Feldenkrais Method is as much about awareness, discovery, creativity, and play as bodily improvements.
2. Who invented the Feldenkrais Method?
Mosche Feldenkrais (1904-1984) developed the method through trying to heal himself from a knee injury. He worked first on himself, then hands on with individuals, and finally developed group lessons.
Feldenkrais held a PhD in physics and was also a judo master. He combined a biomechanical approach to the body with judo’s emphasis on balance and fluid movement.
Dr. Feldenkrais eventually left his university position to share his method with the world.
3. What is a Feldenkrais Group Class Like?
Feldenkrais group classes are called Awareness through Movement® (ATM) lessons. Most (certainly not all) are taught lying down, so you can relax your muscles and cue into how you are moving.
The teacher will guide you through gentle, usually small moments, then give you variations throughout the class. Generally, there is a certain movement pattern or area of the body that is focused upon in a class.
Classes are relaxing, quiet, and generally not strenuous.
4. What Should I Wear and Bring for a Group Class?
A mat and any necessary props will be provided for you. You won’t move very vigorously, so be sure that you’re warm.
For more information about preparing for an Awareness through Movement class, check out Tips for Feldenkrais Lessons and Feldenkrais Some Practical Hints ATMs.
5. What is the Feldenkrais Method Good For?
The Feldenkrais Method is good for:
- Discovering, evaluating, and changing habits
- Increasing bodily awareness
- Developing a general awareness practice
- Increasing range of motion
- Decreasing pain, tension, and stress
The Feldenkrais Method is practiced by elite-level athletes, weekend-warriors, seniors, babies, and people recovering from strokes and paralysis.
6. Is the Feldenkrais Method spiritual or religious?
The Feldenkrais Method is not religiously affiliated, and it’s not explicitly spiritual. Classes focus on attention to your body and appreciating your movement. The method will help you feel more relaxed and focused bodily and mentally, but there is no direct attention to the spirit.
7. Are there One-on-One Feldenkrais Sessions?
Yes, you can experience the Feldenkrais method in a personal session with a practitioner. This may either be hands-on (Functional Integration) or through a private Awareness through Movement lesson.
8. Why do you usually lie down in Feldenkrais classes?
When you lie down, there’s no more down you can go. You can’t fall, and gravity won’t pull on you any more than it is already. That allows you to 1) relax and 2) increase your sensitivity and awareness of what you’re experiencing bodily.
Dr. Feldenkrais said, “The floor is a teacher. The problem isn’t muscular, it is the “command mechanism” (the nervous system) which is why you do not improve through exercise alone. Only the floor can teach a person to hold his back softly so he can roll without any pain.” (Moshe Feldenkrais, Alexander Yanai Lesson 31, “Lifting in Thought, on the Stomach”)
9. Is there Anything the Feldenkrais Method Doesn’t Do?
The Feldenkrais Method doesn’t contain any direct strengthening or endurance aspects. In fact, when you’re doing a Feldenkrais lesson, you should produce as little muscular effort as possible.
In my opinion, there is no one method or exercise program that does everything (though many claim to). But the Feldenkrais method can help you enjoy and improve in your other activities.
Conclusion: What is the Feldenkrais Method?
As you can see, the Feldenkrais Method is a way to help you move and feel better. But its benefits extend beyond moving better into increase awareness and creativity in life. It’s practiced by people of all sorts, from those with injuries and bodily conditions to professional athletes.
You can learn more about the Feldenkrais Method by purchasing books above from Bookshop.org.
The following are service marks, trademarks, collective, or certification marks of the Feldenkrais Guild® of North America in the US: Feldenkrais Guild®, Feldenkrais®, Feldenkrais Method®, Functional Integration®, and Awareness Through Movement®.
