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Publications
Physiology: The Avenue of Excellence
by Anthony Robbins
The better you
use your body, the better your brain is going to work. That's the essence of the work of Moshe Feldenkrais. He used movement
to teach people how to think and how to live. Feldenkrais found that simply by working on a kinaesthetic level you can improve
your self-image, your state, and the overall functioning of your brain. In fact, he states that the quality of your life is
the quality of your movement. His works are an invaluable source for creating human transformation though improving physiology
in a very specific way.
From: Anthony Robbins, Unlimited Power: The New Science Of Personal
Achievement , Free Press, 1997.
Moving with Ease
Dr Andew Weil
Have your ever watched a baby learn how to crawl, sit, stand or walk? The Feldenkrais Method is
based on the premise that we have all forgotten how to move with such natural ease and awareness. By paying close attention
to the signals our bodies give us and gently exploring new ways of moving, claim practitioners, we can rediscover the free,
effortless sense of movement we had in the first few years of life – and undo many of the aches and pains that plague
us as adults who have literally become too set in our ways.
I have long been intrigued by this subtle form of retraining
the nervous system, which I currently recommend to patients whose movement has been restricted by injury, cerebral palsy,
stroke, fibromyalgia, or chronic pain. (I find it to be much more useful than standard physical therapy). I also believe the
Feldenkrais Method can help older people achieve greater range of motion and flexibility, and help all of us feel move comfortable
in our bodies.
(Moshe) Feldenkrais believed that most of us go through life using habitual patterns to compensate
for past injuries or learned them on the job (through performing repetitive motions or sitting for long periods). Yet few
of us really pay attention to how our bodies move until something hurts. The key to healing, Feldenkrais felt, is learning
to be aware of these unconscious patterns of movement, and experimenting with new possibilities until your find ways to move
with the least effort and strain. Through repetition you body "learns" these new, more efficient movements and can
program the brain and nervous system to incorporate them into your everyday functioning.
Today, there are more
than 1,000... practitioners working in the US and Canada, leading group classes to everyone from cab drivers and computer
bound office workers to sufferers of arthritis and MS. It is a popular modality among musicians and athletes... who use it
to improve coordination and enhance performance...
Dr Andrew Weil is the author of Spontaneous Healing,
these observations are from his newsletter Self Healing, May 1998.
Physical Habits and Emotional Habits
by Tara Bennet-Goleman Feldenkrais proposed that the habitual ways we move our
bodies are ingrained in the motor cortex, the part of the brain that controls motions. Most of us have a few habits of holding
or moving that limit our potential or even cause us pain. To open people up to their full potential, Feldenkrais believed,
requires breaking out of the rut of habit. And that, he said , means that changes need to occur within the motor cortex, so
that new neuromuscular patterns can be formed that maximizes rather than limits our ability to use our bodies.
Doing
so, he proposed, could alter other habits, too, including emotional ones. He believed that making changes in the motor cortex
would bring changes in the habitual conditioning controlled by other parts of the brain. "The only thing permanent about
our behavior," Moshe used to say, "is the belief that it is so."
His attitude toward habit change was
refreshing and encouraging: much is possible if we allow ourselves to climb out of our familiar mind-sets and routines and
so gain access to a greater range possibilities. ...when we do a familiar task in a novel way, we stir a fresh awareness.
The dull, automatic routine becomes an opportunity for a small awakening.
In this sense, breaking free from a
habit, no matter how seemingly trivial, can bring a shift in our awareness, inspiring a fresh attitude: beginner's
mind, seeing things as if for the first time. And that fresh look gives us the option of doing things differently.
From: Emotional Alchemy, How the Mind can Heal the Heart,
by Tara Bennett-Goleman, Harmony
Books, New York, 2001
Original
Melthods, Striking Results
by James S. Gordon, M.D.
Moshe Feldenkrais… initially developed
his method to deal with his own disability – a knee that he had torn up playing sports. Feldenkrais, who was brilliantly
analytic and wonderfully intuitive, discovered that he could create and teach movements that would re-educate the brain and
in turn enable it to communicate in new ways with the rest of the body. He taught it in one-to-one, hands-on sessions, and
in classes where students practiced movements...’ ‘Feldenkrais’ methods were original and dramatic, and
the results were striking. Stroke victims and people with cerebral palsy often recovered functions they had been told were
forever gone. Ordinary …people discovered they could expand their repertory of movements and, in the bargain, their
own sense of psychological as well as physical possibility.
From: James S. Gordon, M.D., Manifesto
For A New Medicine – Your Guide to Healing Partnerships and The Wise Use of Alternative Therapies, Reading,
MA: Addison-Wesley, May 1996. J.S. Gordon is Director, Center for Mind-Body Medicine, Washington DC; Chair, Advisory
Council of NIH's Office of Alternative Medicine.
Quotes
"... the Feldenkrais Method and its unique approach to mind and body has helped me immeasurably,
not only in the way I play golf, but also the way I teach the game."
- Rick Acton, 5-time NE PGA Champion
"I recommend
the Feldenkrais Method to patients whose movement has been restricted by injury, cerebral palsy, stroke, fibromyalgia or
chronic pain…I also believe that the Feldenkrais Method can help all of us feel more comfortable in our bodies." - Andrew Weil, MD, Bestselling author of Spontaneous Healing
"The Feldenkrais Method has had remarkable
success in a wide range of complaints ranging from the debilitating to the merely nagging."
- Science Digest
"The system developed by Moshe Feldenkrais has as much potential
for understanding the mind / body relationship as Einstein's general theory of relativity had for physics."
- Bernard
Lake, M.D.
"[Dr. Feldenkrais is] not
just pushing muscles around, but changing things in the brain itself."
- Karl Pribram, MD, Ph.D.
I have long been intrigued by this
subtle form of retraining the nervous system, which I recommend to patients whose movement has been restricted by injury,
cerebral palsy, stroke, fibromyalgia, or chronic pain. I find it to be much more useful than standard physical therapy. I
also believe that the Feldenkrais Method can help older people achieve greater range of motion and flexibility, and help all
of us feel more comfortable in our bodies.
Andrew Weil, M.D., Author of ‘Spontaneous Healing’ and ‘Natural
Health, Natural Medicine’
Following
the program with Feldenkrais, patients showed significant improvement in their levels of pain, decreased numbers of medications,
and increased quality of life. American Journal of Pain Management
One of the most exciting developments in the field of mind-body
co-ordination is the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais. Elmer Green, Ph.D., Menninger Foundation
The Feldenkrais Method has shown me how
to balance my body and improve my flexibility. Chris Dudley, NBA Player, New York Knicks
The Feldenkrais Method has allowed me
to play pain free golf, without worrying about injury. Duffy Waldorf, PGA Tour Golfer
The Feldenkrais Method is a remarkable, quick, and
effective way to alleviate muscular tension and discomforts. James Rice, M.D.
The Feldenkrais Method is an extraordinarily effective
approach to enhancement of posture, balance, movement and behavior. Sandy Burkhart, P.T., Ph.D.
As a violinist, the Feldenkrais work has
not only sped my recovery from injury, but greatly enhanced my sense of physical integrity, ease and grace.
Ingrid Matthews,
Violinist and Music Director of the Seattle Baroque Orchestra
After having suffered from severe shoulder problems and surgery, I have found lasting
relief with my Feldenkrais sessions.
Gloria Jones, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
The Feldenkrais Method offers dancers an education that can
help them turn pain around, continue dancing, and reestablish their love of dance.
Nancy Galeota-Wozny, MA, Dance Magazine
The Feldenkrais Method has given me the
ability to do things in tennis I never could do before and has relieved my body of the pain accumulated from over twenty years
of competitive playing.
Tony Trear, Tennis Teaching Pro and Ex-Pro Player
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