Larry Goldfarb Talks About Awareness Through Movement

Moving Beyond Habits - by Larry Goldfarb, CFT, Ph.D.

Each Awareness Through Movement (ATM) lesson consists of a series of movements that fit together to form a meaningful sequence. These lessons are not exercises in the normal use of the word. Instead, Feldenkrais® lessons are guided formats, carefully constructed to bring you to a new sensory appreciation and conceptual understanding of your movement abilities. The main obstacles to easy, efficient action are the habitual, unconscious aspects of our movements. As the lesson guides you to a new awareness of self-limiting habits, you learn to move beyond these restrictions. A central theme to each sequence, even those that emphasize the small motions, is how the whole person—all of you—can be involved in every action. Other themes include learning about your capacity for easy and pain-free movement, changing through awareness rather than effort, learning to learn, and tapping into the possibilities for further improvement.

 

No Pain, More Gain

How you approach these movements is of utmost importance. If you were to perform the sequence as some sort of exercise, repeating each movement a certain number of times, straining, moving against resistance, and not paying attention to how you move, you would receive little, if any, benefit. Unlike strengthening or flexibility exercises, these lessons do not require struggling, making great effort, and forcing. These lessons are for learning how to improve the way you move. Do every movement slowly and gently, without forcing, pushing, or stretching. Direct your attention to the quality, rather than quantity, of your movement. In each action, use the minimal amount of effort possible and strive for a smooth, continuous movement. That is to say, perform the movement without any little stops and starts, without unevenness in effort or motion.
Do only as much as is comfortable and easy for you, stopping before you experience any strain. If, at any time, you notice discomfort, further decrease the range and effort of your movement until it is comfortable. If you cannot make a specific movement without discomfort or strain, do it only in your imagination.

Awareness Through Movement Class Content

Dear friends,

Last week I began the first in a series of 12 extraordinary Awareness Through Movement lessons designed by an Israeli Ph.D. who has a deep understanding of Dr. Feldenkrais' method. She works closely with Dr. Feldenkrais' remaining original students and has devised some of the most interesting and effective lessons I've had the pleasure to learn and give.

Below is a quote about Lesson #2, the lesson we will be working on during the first week of March, 2011. It is focused on rediscovering and improving the movement of the head, neck and upper chest/back. The lesson builds upon the first lesson which helped us lengthen the extensor muscles and develop more upright posture in the back --by exploring bending in the middle, i.e., the work of the flexor muscles in the front. The result (of Lesson #1) was a surprising and delightful effortless and beautiful, upright posture.

Some aspects that we will touch upon in lesson 2, noted by Dr. Shelhav, are:

*Synchronized movements of the head and eyes
*More coordinating action of the flexors and extensors
*Shaping the curves of the cervical and lumbar spine
*Improving the lifting of the head

"The movement of the eyes in this lesson have an effect on the tone of the muscles in your neck. Tension in the neck makes lifting one's head more difficult...
In order for people to communicate with their environment it is essential that they can easily lift their head. The environment arouses their curiousity and thus stimulates further development. All the components which improve as a result of this lesson, harbor within them the potential for further development."

Dr. Feldenkrais' ability to deconstruct human motor development and serve it back to us in digestible, extraordinarily useful bites, was brilliant, unrivaled. My only dismay is that more people do not have, or make use of, access to this extremely effective, imminently practical and now readily available teaching.

Best wishes,
Carole

Some Physiological and Psychological Benefits of Feldenkrais

YOUTHFUL, COMFORTABLE MOVEMENT AND POSTURE AT ANY AGE -- from Meriah Kruse, GCFP

We all know that better posture brings many health benefits, both physical and mental. ‘Most people have been admonished at some point in time to “Stand up – or sit up -- straight!” And we have all tried to do just that – straighten up from our sometimes less-than-perfect posture, in the midst of a long day or a tedious task, or while seated in an uncomfortable chair. Yet to improve posture we must learn to increase our body awareness and find good posture from the inside out, rather than by mimicking ideas based on appearances. Feldenkrais® practitioners and Bones for Life®  teachers have an impressive track record of teaching better posture with gentle movement lessons. Using a simple, relaxing body scan and lessons you can do in your own home, you can forge a path to better posture, greater body awareness, and the improvements in self-image, fluid movement and wellbeing that come with that achievement.

How does good posture benefit us?

No wonder we make these heroic efforts, forcing ourselves to 'sit up and stand up straight'! Our posture says a lot, sending messages both outward to the world around us, and inward to the enthusiastic animal inside who wants to be ready for action. We know that maintaining a dynamic posture helps us to get right with the world and with ourselves, particularly as we age. We hope to remain tall throughout our lives, and to reap the benefits of better posture:

>  beautiful, effortless, fluid movement

>  space for breathing and for vital organs to work unimpeded

>  improved circulation and energy flow

>  greater comfort and mobility

>  less wear and tear on our joints

> improved mood, self-image and appearance

How do we improve our posture?

For starters, it is helpful to modify our view of posture from a frozen state of ‘straightness’ to a dynamic state of ‘tallness’. In his most popular book, Awareness Through Movement: Easy-to-Do Health Exercises to Improve Your Posture, Vision, Imagination, and Personal Awareness, Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais says, “The word ‘straight’ is misleading. It does not express what is needed.” 

What IS needed is a high level of body awareness, and a balanced use of our muscles! In this way, the skeleton is free to do what it does best: counteract the pull of gravity. From this kind of balanced state, beautiful posture emerges naturally. Voila!

My Body Can Learn, by Steve Hamlin

What is Feldenkrais®?

As Buddha said, whatever you think, it will not be that way. All I can give here is a little history, a few hints, and my own insights. Feldenkrais® is a study of human movement, and that encompasses all aspects of life. There is no end to ways of looking at it. And it’s really not possible to get a grip on what it is, without getting involved, taking classes.

Moshe Feldenkrais was born in 1904 in the Ukraine. He left home at age 14 to walk to Palestine (now known as Israel). After 10 years, he went to Paris to study at the Sorbonne –physics, mathematics, and electrical and mechanical engineering. He earned a Doctor of Science, and began working with Frederic Joliot-Curie, Director, Curie Institute. During this time he learned Judo from Jigoro Kano, the Japanese Minister of Education. After obtaining his black belt he taught in France and wrote books on Judo.

Kano had tried before to train other westerners for this work, with no success. Kano saw that Feldenkrais had a special quality, and he did, indeed, successfully teach martial arts to many Europeans before WW II. Feldenkrais was on one of the last boats from France to England at Dunkirk, at the start of WW II and he carried with him, in a suitcase, lab notes from Joliot-Curie regarding research on nuclear fission, plans for an incendiary bomb, and two quarts of heavy water that were later used in the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. (Later, however, for personal reasons he declined an invitation to work for the Manhattan Project ). He worked in England for the Admiralty during WWII, helping to develop sonar.

During this time he became interested in human development – especially human movement – and he learned much from observing babies in the office of his wife, Yona Rubenstein, who was a pediatrician. Feldenkrais had a photographic memory, and he studied his wife’s medical books, and in addition became a self-taught neurologist. Because of an old knee injury, he applied his new skills to curing the knee, and he succeeded in learning to walk again and even resume his judo.

He began to work – hands on – with friends in need, and he called this work Functional Integration® (FI). Later he developed a format for teaching these ideas to groups of people, and he called this Awareness Through Movement® (ATM). His ideas, while based on solid science and common sense, still run counter to many popular beliefs and methods. When you do movement work, you’ll certainly find many of your beliefs challenged by what your own body is teaching you. I’ve never seen an exception.

In 1950 Feldenkrais returned to Israel and worked for their Defense Force, and was instrumental in starting Israel’s nuclear program. He taught in Israel and Europe through the 1950’s and first taught in America in 1971. He continued to teach often in America until his death in 1984 at age 80.

Today there are thousands of Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioners® worldwide, and thousands of students who have gained significant benefits from Feldenkrais work.
Feldenkrais is much more than just an alternate form of body-therapy; it’s used by dancers, artists, performers and others to enhance their work. Some practitioners teach in the school system. Psychologists use it. It’s used by many just to feel good or improve posture, and some use it to enhance their spiritual life. For many, it’s a way of life. Yet, because most people first come to Feldenkrais as an alternate “therapy,” that’s how I’m presenting it. So how is Feldenkrais different from other therapies?

A Reno Medical Doctor's Personal Experience with Feldenkrais

Although founded nearly 70 years ago and known worldwide, the Feldenkrais Method is not well known in Nevada.  Thus Dr. Feldenkrais's unique system of learning as change and improvement at any age, and how these ingenious yet simple, carefully structured movements act on the body and brain is what we want to convey.

Feldenkrais' early observations and work were the groundwork for neuroplasticity half a century before the technology existed to confirm brain changes! (See the YOUTUBE clip at bottom of this page for more information.)

Here is the experience of a Reno MD who has been been taking Feldenkrais classes and lessons from Reno Feldenkrais during the last year:

“I am a medical doctor and have been using the Feldenkrais Method personally for one year. I have attended classes and 2 workshops; while not having in depth understanding of the Feldenkrais method, I have found the lessons very beneficial. The success of this technique lies in the fact that it works from inside to out, and from the bottom up. In other words the awareness starts at an internal level (proprioceptors) in the muscle cells, joints, tendons, inner ear) and feeds back to the central nervous system/brain via the spinal cord. It thus bypasses some of the conscious awareness of movement, making it easier to progress--whether one is recovering from severe injuries, a stroke or trying to progress as a trained athlete. It eliminates the intellectual defense that often interferes with recovery and/or reaching higher levels of skill.

For myself, I struggle with severe arthritis and soft tissue injuries from 2 major motor vehicle accidents. Despite this, the Awareness Through Movement techniques in Feldenkrais classes and personal sessions, allow me to develop improved range of motion, increased flexibility, more energy, improved posture and a decrease in pain via retraining of my movements. The technique requires slow, small movements and is against inducing pain of any kind. Due to vast integration of eye and contralateral movements, the Feldenkrais curriculum/sessions stimulate right and left brain hemisphere integration, visual pathway feedback, etc. This is ultimately how the improved awareness arises. In short, the method utilizes our intuitive capacity to induce change, a quality we have all lost in our high tech, fast paced world.

It is truly an asset to now have 2 fully trained Feldenkrais instructors in the Reno, NV area. I thus hope more people take advantage of this opportunity. Even a once monthly attendance could prove beneficial.”

AM Waldron, MD

Physician

Feldenkrais for Seniors, People with Chronic Stress, Injuries or Impairment

You may be surprised to know that our movement patterns are more or less hardwired by the time we are in our 20s. As we grow older, these patterns become habitual, repetitive and narrow; aches and pains develop; we have injuries; our posture worsens. The proprioceptors in our joints, which tell our brains where we are in space and time, begin to fall asleep out of boredom! And this process decreases the conversation between body and brain, driving the lack of communication. Eventually our coordination, balance and movement may become very limited.

As Meriah Kruse, GCFP, states, "Wear and tear on our joints, injuries, long hours spent at a computer, carrying around children, or on the job slowly whittle away our uprightness and create a roundness in the shoulders, discomfort in the neck and low back. Knee and hip injuries or replacements complicate posture severely. And yet, through Feldenkrais lessons, you can dramatically improve your posture in a relatively short time, without surgery or painful invasion of any kind. You have to feel this for yourself to believe it." She has more to say...

How to Decrease Neck Pain
We tend to think that when our neck hurts, the problem is in our neck; and yet, this is rarely so. For a moment, think of the neck as the top of your vertical structure.

Felden-What??

What is the Feldenkrais Method®?

At its most basic level, the Feldenkrais Method will improve your posture, balance, coordination and flexibility, making it possible for you to work and play more comfortably and productively for longer periods. You will feel stronger and "better in your own skin," as Dr. Andrew Weil says.

"Feldenkrais alleviates pain and tension by minimizing physiological and psychological stress associated with restricted functions. Inefficient patterns of movement can be improved; compromised self-expression and forgotten ways of feeling can be recovered. Ordinary problems associated with the work place or caused by injury, repetitive activities, and aging can be remedied." (Feldenkrais Inst of NY)

The structured, non-habitual movement sequences done in Awareness Through Movement® classes and individual, one on one, Functional Integration® lessons can improve your comfort, expand your activities and lengthen your work life, at nearly any age and condition.

Improved efficiency means more enjoyment and pleasure in your daily life. Persons with orthopedic or neurological problems can experience dramatic change. Athletes, actors, dancers and musicians can substantially improve their performance with the Feldenkrais Method.”