Feldenkrais Method

From Cathy Wong, for About.com

Created: February 1, 2005

About.com Health’s Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

What is Feldenkrais?

Feldenkrais is a form of movement re-education developed by nuclear physicist and engineer Moshe Feldenkrais after suffering a sports-related injury. Rather than undergo surgery, he explored alternatives and created his own form of rehab integrating physiology, anatomy, martial arts, psychology, and neurology.

A key principle of Feldenkrais is that the way that a person speaks, moves, and thinks is based on the self-image that person has developed over the years. In order to change the way we move and carry ourselves, we have to change how we see ourselves.

Feldenkrais recognized the importance of proper breathing to movement. He also believed that postures and movements reflected the state of the mind and body. For example, a depressed person may have hunched shoulders.

Conditions Treated

• Muscle pain
• Back pain
• Neuromuscular conditions, such as cerebral palsy and fibromyalgia
• Repetitive strain
• Multiple sclerosis
• Performance enhancement for dancers, actors, athletes
• Sports injuries

What a Typical Feldenkrais Treatment is Like
With Feldenkrais, there are two approaches:

• Awareness Through Movement group classes - Led by a teacher, these classes increase mobility and help replace old patterns of movement with new, improving breathing and blood circulation. Classes are popular with actors, musicians, and dancers.
• Functional Integration individual sessions - One-to-one sessions, using touch and tissue manipulation, where the practitioner actively directs the client’s body through various movements tailored to individual needs.

So, the above is a description of a new type of physical therapy I am trying for chronic knee and foot pain related to my MS.  Traditional physical therapy left me very tired and actually made my pain worse in many ways. 

For one, it is easy to over work muscles when you are dealing with neurological weakness.  I have decreased sensation in my left extremity so I don’t”feel the burn” so to speak, when exercising.  But, if I overwork a muscle I will feel it days later and it is not a good thing!  Secondly, strengthening exercises are not always helpful with neuro weakness.  It is the messages the muscles are receiving from the brain that are usually the problem.

I decided to give this type of PT, known as the Feldenkrais method a try, because a friend of mine is a practitioner and said she thought it would really help with the chronic pain issues.  Well, I am so impressed!  I have been twice so far and my balance is already improving in my “bad” leg and my pain is decreased.

I am not a doctor nor a physical therapist but I have found this helpful and wanted to pass along the information as an alternative therapy option.  Have you or someone you know had success with this?  Tried it and didn’t like it?  Let me know!

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