Demystifying Feldenkrais

"We act in accordance to our self-image."

That's the opening sentence to Moshe Feldenkrais' book Awareness Through Movement and one of the main tenets of the method he developed. It means that what we do, the very way we move through life, is based on our conscious perception of our bodies, not on our structure.

With this notion comes the idea that the self-image can—and does—change as we grow and develop. Recent reserarch in neural plasticity has proven overwhelmingly that this indeed is just what happens. That's the good news of modern neurophysiology: your brain isn't set, it can change.

But what about illness or injury? Can life's difficulties also alter one's self-image? An interesting study in a 2008 issue of the journal PAIN shows that answer is "Yes, pain distorts the self image."

http://www.painjournalonline.com/article/PIIS0304395908004442/abstract

Five out of six patients could not clearly delineate the outline of their trunk, stating they couldn't “find it.” A two-point discrimination test showed greatly decreased tactile acuity in the same zone as the absence or disruption of body image, which is also the area of chronic back pain.

What a great demonstration of the relationship between pain and perception! Of course, it would make sense that this is a two way street: if pain changes self-perception, then learning to perceive yourself differently can change the pain. Indeed, the study concludes that "training body image or tactile acuity may help patients in chronic spinal pain, as it has been shown to do in patients with complex regional pain syndrome or phantom limb pain."

It has been 25 years since Moshe Feldenkrais' death. Irene Gutteridge, MSc. (2007), is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher^® who believes that it's up to us as a community of Feldenkrais^® practitioners to raise the bar, create dialogue, and increase awareness of the Feldenkrais Method^®. A practitioner from Whistler, Vancouver in British Columbia, she is dedicated to preserving Moshe Feldenkrais' teachings, contributing to the future of our profession, and maintaining its potency in the public eye.

Irene has been turning her intention into action by creating a way to introduce people worldwide to what the work of our founder has to offer. Her project is called "The Next 25 Years."

Irene recognized that there were next to no high quality media-related tools avaiable to tell the story of Moshe Feldenkrais, his genius and theories, and the people who apply his method with great success. The Next 25 Years is designed to share his—and our—work with a wide, varied audience through thoughtfully produced materials offered in an easily accessible format. The project is creating a series of short videos, each focused on specific aspects and applications, theories, principles, faces, and places of the Feldenkrais Method, compiled into an educational DVD.

When completed and viewed as a whole, the collection will provide a thorough primer on the work. Individually the shorts can be used in presentations or classes to clearly illustrate specific topics and fuel discussion. How exciting that this project gives practitioners another tool for actively contributing to our profession's future!

For more information on this production and the people and places that are involved please visit:

www.thenext25years.com