Hi, I'm Špela

I wrote this part for everyone, who likes to know a little more theory behind it. If you don’t feel like going into details, don’t worry. The method will work both ways :)

 

In the Feldenkrais method, you work with your nervous system (your brain and all the connections between your brain and your body) and learn how to organize it better for your everyday movement.

If you wonder how that is possible, take a minute. Let me explain.

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You might think that your muscles move you (of course they do). But they do not decide, what they want to do. They don't actually think. Your brain thinks!

And your brain is connected to your muscles through a complex nervous system that it uses to send instructions to them.

In your brain all those instructions are saved. We will call those instructions the movement patterns. 

 

There are many, many great movement patterns that work amazingly. 

For example, in the morning, you don't think; »How do I walk again??« Of course, walking is a good old pattern in your brain, that helps you make your life easy!

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And then you might have some movement patterns, that don't work that great. You might have them:

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• since you were a baby.
  
  For example, babies sometimes get so excited about rolling in the one direction that they discovered first, that they don't realize there's also the other side!
  If you rolled only in one way, you probably looove turning in that one way. And the other might not be that easy and comfortable for you.
  
  You can try it right away: look over your left shoulder and then over your right shoulder. Do you look easier in one direction? Do you like one more? 
  That difference does not necessarily go back to your childhood, it might also have a cause later in your life.

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• since you had an injury or pain,
  
  For example, if you ever had your foot injured, you probably didn't walk on that injured part? You have protected that part and walked around it, didn't you?
  And your brain loved the way you protected yourself. That's why it learned to use that way of walking very fast. 
  That's also the reason why you might still walk that way, if you didn't bring attention to learning to walk your usual way after the injury was gone.
  
  As much as that protective way helped you while you had pain, it's usually less efficient long term and might bring you tension, pain or overuse syndrome, when you use it for a long period of time.
  After the injury is gone, it's important to bring the awareness to your movement and learn how to move efficiently again.
  
  You can try it right away: stand on both feet and observe how you stand. Is there more weight on one foot? More weight on heels or more weight on front feet? On the inside or outside? Do you feel all the toes on the floor? Maybe you notice, that you have better balance on one leg also in your everyday life?
  Again, those differences might also have a cause in any other experience in your life.

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• sometimes you might love one movement pattern and you get really good at it. You use it all the time, but only that one way of movement. 
  
  For example: writing with one hand or brushing teeth with one hand.
  It's of course great, because you are superb in it, but it can cause your muscles and bones stress, overuse, tension and pain. That's why it's great, that your brain knows many different ways to move.
  
  You can try it right away: put a glass in the cupboard, put your jacket on, eat soup with the spoon, take a step on the stairs: did you always use one arm or hand, or did you always start with one arm or hand? Can you easily do it with the other side or not?

 

• maybe you have a lot of stress in your everyday life, feel a lot of tension in your body and sit a lot?
  
  The stress, muscle tension and sitting slowly but surely make our movement rigid and inflexible. With the many tensions in the body, the easy and flexible movement in the body is unfortunately not even possible.
  
  If that's the case for you, then there's a very good chance that a Feldenkrais session can make a miracle for you ;)

 

 

So what can you do about all those?

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In the Feldenkrais class you will first learn to bring attention to yourself and maybe recognize some of the above examples in yourself. Then you’ll learn how to work on them to improve them.

 

This is where all the great scientific knowledge of Dr. Feldenkrais and his incredible self-awareness as a judoka comes in. He watched the movements of the babies and toddlers. They namely don't have enough muscle strength and they have to find ways to move skillfully. Those ways of movement are also biomechanically the best ways to do a movement! Who would have thought that babies are such great physicists? Not consciously, of course, but they feel all the most skillful possibilities for movement, because otherwise they wouldn't even be able to do those movement.

 

Dr Feldenkrais then assembled these precisely studied and planned movements into the individual lessons. In this way, also adults can easily recall these light movements from their own childhood, refine their everyday movements and also introduce new movement patterns. In that way your brain learns again about wide variety of healthy movement. The more ways your brain knows, the easier it will be for you to choose the optimal way in a specific situation.

 

You will recognize that as you will be able to move more skillfully, with more ease, elegance and more gracefully.

 

Many participants say that the new movements feel somehow familiar, but with a new freshness and lightness. They also feel content and calm, as is rarely the case in their everyday life.

This not only brings lightness and well-being in your body, but also makes your brain and body younger, more flexible and livelier. A great reason to try Feldenkrais, right? ;)

 

Furthermore will that also minimize the chance for overuse syndrome, pain or injury. 

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Are there in the brain only the patterns we use for movement?

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Interestingly, patterns in your brain are not referring only to your movement. Also, your emotions, thoughts and even sensations are a pattern in your brain.

 

Similarly, as you (many times unconsciously) learned how to move, you've also learned how to act, and feel in certain situations. 

 

When you were young, you observed your care-takers, your teachers, your siblings, neighbors and even people on tv. When did they get angry, sad, or happy? When were they compassionate, busy, caring, overwhelmed or stressed out? Were they overthinking or deciding spontaneously? What did they wear and how did they take care of themselves?

Many times, you've learned about the world without even noticing it. And all those patterns got imprinted in your brain too!

 

Again, it's great on many occasions. And sometimes it's a little less great. 

Especially, when you unconsciously inherited a pattern that you aren't a big fan of.

Through paying attention to yourself and your body, you can first start to get aware of those patterns, and once you know them, you can tailor them the way you like.

 

Many times that happens also unconsciously. Participants in my classes oftentimes observe, that in the situations where they would usually get very angry, they don’t get so angry anymore. Or they don’t worry so much anymore and get a way better sleep at night. They even avoid stress much more, since they feel more centered in their body. They feel calmer in their work and are therefore more successful, more confident and happier.

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