Feldenkrais Practitioner, Feldenkrais Method, Somatic Education, Feldenkrais Workshop, Bellevue

Feldenkrais® work is practiced in two formats; Awareness Through Movement® (ATM) classes and Functional Integration® (FI) sessions. ATM classes are a group experience, and FI sessions involve individual interaction with a practitioner.

The Method

The Feldenkrais Method of somatic education improves physical, mental and emotional functioning, regardless of your age or condition.

You move and act in the world according to your image of self. Seldom are you aware of these habitual patterns, yet they limit your capacity to respond to changes in yourself or in your environment. Instead, you experience pain and an inability to act as intended.

Movement is the teaching medium for awareness of these extraneous, nonintegrated patterns and for learning alternatives. In the Feldenkrais Method, you are guided through a series of structured, gentle movements. Using attention, perception, and imagination, your brain’s capacity to develop and grow through a focused exploration of your body movement allows for the creation of new neural pathways. Through the lessons you discover new options for moving, thinking, and feeling, thus increasing your capacity for intentional action.

Applications of the learning are vast and diverse: reduction, often elimination of physical and emotional pain; increased physical and mental vitality and performance; reduced stress; and spiritual well being are a few of the benefits reported.

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioners^cm must take a four-year accredited training course. After two years of formal training, student practitioners may become authorized ATM teachers. In order to maintain certification, continuing education is required each year. Training is conducted worldwide in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, England, Germany, Holland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United States. Practitioners can be found in an even wider variety of locations.

Further information on the Feldenkrais Method® and its practice can be obtained from the Feldenkrais Guild of North America.


	About the Feldenkrais Method
	Feldenkrais® work is practiced in two formats; Awareness Through Movement® (ATM) classes and Functional Integration® (FI) sessions. ATM classes are a group experience, and FI sessions involve individual interaction with a practitioner. The Method The Feldenkrais Method of somatic education improves physical, mental and emotional functioning, regardless of your age or condition. You move and act in the world according to your image of self. Seldom are you aware of these habitual patterns, yet they limit your capacity to respond to changes in yourself or in your environment. Instead, you experience pain and an inability to act as intended. Movement is the teaching medium for awareness of these extraneous, nonintegrated patterns and for learning alternatives. In the Feldenkrais Method, you are guided through a series of structured, gentle movements. Using attention, perception, and imagination, your brain’s capacity to develop and grow through a focused exploration of your body movement allows for the creation of new neural pathways. Through the lessons you discover new options for moving, thinking, and feeling, thus increasing your capacity for intentional action. Applications of the learning are vast and diverse: reduction, often elimination of physical and emotional pain; increased physical and mental vitality and performance; reduced stress; and spiritual well being are a few of the benefits reported. Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioners^cm must take a four-year accredited training course. After two years of formal training, student practitioners may become authorized ATM teachers. In order to maintain certification, continuing education is required each year. Training is conducted worldwide in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, England, Germany, Holland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United States. Practitioners can be found in an even wider variety of locations. Further information on the Feldenkrais Method® and its practice can be obtained from the Feldenkrais Guild of North America.	The Founder Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais was born in 1904 and immigrated to Israel at the age of thirteen. He graduated with degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering, and later earned his PhD.Sc. in physics from the Sorbonne in Paris, where he assisted Joliot Curie in early nuclear research. He studied with Professor Kano, the developer of Judo, and was one of the first Europeans to earn a Black Belt in this martial art (1936). He was also an avid soccer player. Injuries to his knees and a grim prediction of the surgeon regarding the likelihood of walking, let alone running or other athletic endeavors, caused Feldenkrais to consider his options. Noticing the adjustments his body made to new conditions, he began to explore organic learning. He was fortunate to have available several infants to observe, patients of his wife, a pediatrician. Applying his broad range of knowledge, Dr. Feldenkrais made revolutionary discoveries regarding consciousness, human movement and action.
	© Copyright 2008 MindMoves Feldenkrais Institute. MindMoves Feldenkrais Institute is a division of MindMoves, Inc.