Julia Broome & Naomi Richards

“Make the impossible possible, the possible easy and
the easy, elegant” - Moshe Feldenkrais

What is Feldenkrais?

The Feldenkrais Method uses gentle movement to help you become aware of:

• How you move
• Any unhelpful habits you have acquired
• Moving differently to increase your comfort, ease and fluidity.

The human body is designed to move with minimum effort and maximum ease, yet few people move in this way. A lifetime of limiting habits affects comfort, flexibility, self-confidence and performance. The Feldenkrais Method is a unique approach to improving movement and awareness, named after the man who developed it, Moshe Feldenkrais.

Awareness is evoked using gentle movement and directed attention, creating greater ease and vitality, leaving you feeling more centred and balanced.
Taught using both “hands on” lessons called Functional Integration, or group classes called Awareness Through Movement, the Method facilitates balanced posture, flexibility, coordination and wellbeing.
(See descriptions of these below)

Will Feldenkrais lessons be useful for me?

You will find the applications of the Feldenkrais method are broad, ranging from reduction of pain and improving mobility to performance enhancement for athletes, dancers, musicians and actors. It is valuable for people with neurologically based movement difficulties including children with movement, learning and developmental difficulties. As well as addressing these specific situations, it offers a unique exploration for anyone wanting to improve their quality of everyday life.

Benefits include improved functioning, regained curiosity, greater vitality, enhancement of one’s self-image, improved breathing, posture and flexibility, and reduction of pain. By bringing our attention back to the process of what we are actually doing we feel lighter, more graceful, and our intentions are more accurately brought into action.

Individual sessions – Functional Integration (FI)

Functional Integration is a hands-on process with lessons tailored to meet your particular needs. Lessons are generally carried out in lying on a low padded table or in sitting. The practitioner guides your movements through precise touch to bring present habits into focus and offer new movement options. The learning is then applied to everyday activities such as reaching, sitting, standing, walking, and to activities specific to your needs.

Awareness Through Movement (ATM) classes

ATM lessons are usually taught in groups on a weekly basis. The practitioner guides you through a planned sequence of movement explorations. Attention is drawn to the process of each movement pattern. Through observing your movements, you learn easier ways of moving in everyday activities. Exploration of movement in these classes is designed to improve overall wellbeing.

“There is nothing permanent about our behaviour patterns,
except our belief that they are so.” Moshe Feldenkrais

For information about Awareness Through Movement classes at WellBeing at the Convent please go to  the Workshops section.