How does the Feldenkrais Method work?

 With each new movement we learn as infants, the connections in our brain multiply to create a map of ourselves, which in turn is used by our brain to send signals to our muscles when we want to do something. Our nervous system constantly solves new problems and evolves to meet the world we live in.

Muscles don’t think; bones don’t think. Human brains do. If we have pain – back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, etc. – we need to learn to move differently so as not to put the same pressure on the same joints all the time. If we want to hone a performance skill – playing an instrument, acting, dancing, swimming, playing baseball – we need to learn how to better use ourselves. If we don’t find a way to change the map in our brain so that the orders given to our muscles are more efficient, every other solution will be temporary and will not enhance our life.

The Feldenkrais Method, named for its founder, Moshé Feldenkrais, is unique in its approach to solving these problems of self-use. Through carefully developed movement lessons based on developmental stages, it accesses the brain’s innate capacity for plasticity, learning and adaptation. It uses the language the brain understands best – the language of movement.