Moshe Feldenkrais, D.Sc.
“Movement is life, life is a process. Improve the quality of the process and you improve the quality of life itself.”
Moshe Feldenkrais, D. Sc., (1904-1984) was described by Norman Doidge, M.D. in The Brain’s Way of Healing (2015), as an early pioneer in neuroplasticity -- the ability for the brain to change. “His idea was that noticing and creating subtle changes in action can help the brain make new connections, no matter how damaged. He created many somatic movement lessons that engage the mind and body in a way they can self-discover new possibilities, often at the unconscious level.”
Dr. Feldenkrais was a Mechanical Engineer and a Physicist who had worked in the laboratories of Nuclear physicist, Madam Curie. He was also a Judo/Zen master. With his broad range of knowledge in mechanics, movement, neuroscience, and systems theory, along with his interest in learning theories and psychology, he created a Method that demonstrates how a new sensory experience informs the nervous system to new possibilities. You learn you can improve any condition and ability to move, feel or think, no matter how challenged. Over 70 years ago Dr. Feldenkrais understood that the mind and body act together as one and that the brain has fluid properties that one could, through attention to new sensory–movement experiences, create shifts in the brain’s ‘image of action’.
This pioneering mind/body work of Dr. Feldenkrais was first created to teach himself how to move without pain. Being a scientist and curious, he observed that his pain and inability to improve his walking after a knee injury, was due more to an old movement pattern that didn't allow full movement in his rib area which then put extra pressure on his injured knee. He hypothesized that to improve he needed to unlearn the old patterns, and replicate the natural learning explorations children use to learn; the ability to kinesthetically sense and notice differences and allow growth of new possibilities to evolve. Attention to one's movements and sensing differences was the key that could re-build a revived full ‘image of action’ in the sensory/movement area of the brain. Once you learn one way to move with ease, you soon discover many different optimally organized ways for moving with ease and efficiency. The more Dr. Feldenkrais heightened his attention and awareness, the more he found himself back with a full sense of wholeness in thought, attitude and action.
As he continued to teach his process to others, he realized his way of approaching a problem stimulates a sense of empowerment and cognitive pursuits in his students. He soon realized that learning how to learn through attention to movement was more important than the improvement in movement itself.
He first taught his Method to 13 students in Israel in the late 60s. In the early 1970s, Dr. Feldenkrais was embraced in the United States at Esalen Institute and began professional trainings in San Francisco (1975-1977) and Amherst, Massachusetts (1980-1983). His Method is now taught throughout the World by a group of highly skilled trainers and their assistants in an 800 hour program that extends over four years. Today there are over 5000 certified practitioners.
Moshe Feldenkrais also worked with children with special needs, becoming known for improving each child’s ability to move in spite of severe challenges. Dr. Feldenkrais defined learning as ‘discerning differences’. He observed that children learn through exploring movements. They try a new action, sense differences and make choices to form a pattern of action – be it to reach for an object or put a round donut in a round hole. He astutely understood that children who didn’t move fully due to early learning difficulties needed extra time and support in both sensing and organizing their early random movements before they should be asked to perform a fundamental action such as sitting or walking. Anat Baniel PH.D worked closely with Dr. Feldenkrais and the children he worked with during his last days here in North America and has dedicated her life to developing this side of the Method.
Moshe Feldenkrais, D.Sc., creator of The Feldenkrais Method®
