“What I’m after isn’t flexible bodies, but flexible brains.

What I’m after is to restore each person to their human dignity.”

“Nothing is permanent about our behavior patterns except our belief that they are so.”

— Moshé Feldenkrais

What is The Feldenkrais Method®? The Feldenkrais Method® is a scientifically grounded learning method that expands human potential by improving the way we learn, feel and function.  Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® lessons (ATM® Lessons) are learning explorations that remap and generate connections in the brain and nervous system, helping people to improve their functioning, sense of self, mental and overall health, and capacity to continue learning and changing.

A physicist, engineer, athlete, and jiu-jitsu and judo master, Moshé Feldenkrais conceived his method to help people learn about and re-educate themselves, disrupt dysfunctional habits, and live with vitality and independence. When people have a new experience that connects through their sensory-motor system in a way that bypasses their muscular habits, there is an implicit neurological change that spreads into other areas of the brain and nervous system. People change without having to will themselves to do so, thereby freeing themselves from habits of thought and behavior.  The way the lessons accomplish these learning experiences is the great innovation of Feldenkrais.  His discoveries and approach to the process of learning have been borne out by current neurological and behavioral science, and he is considered a pioneer in the science of neuroplasticity. Though he created the method to be accessible to everyone as a method of somatic education rather than a medical practice, health professionals refer to the method to enhance rehabilitation and healing.

Who is it for? Athletes use the method to increase their strength and capabilities and punch up their performance. Musicians engage with the method to stimulate creativity, expand ability and technique, accelerate learning and memory, relieve chronic pain and improve performance.  Actors and dancers use the method to enhance the possibilities of their instrument, structure and presence. Whatever the case, everyone does ATM® Lessons to help recover from injury or even become better than before, and to relieve stress, improve functioning, find sleep, discover comfort, release habits, increase mental acuity and attention and spur creativity. The benefits of the method can be surprising, showing up outside the parameters of the lessons. Changes and new abilities often take hold right away, not after months or years of study or “practice.” Best of all — there are lessons for everyone, and it is never too late to begin!

What do we do? ATM® Lessons invite us to explore unusual movements and movement patterns or puzzles designed to harness the attention, cultivate awareness, and “rewire” the brain to change the way we think, feel and function. The lessons are verbally directed and are structured to stimulate embodied thinking to redirect us out of our habits, assumptions and limitations. Lessons unfold as adventures with discoveries, and they engage the brain and nervous system in novel ways. People discover new ways of moving, thinking and feeling — new ways to know themselves and use themselves in all that they do. You may sense yourself getting stronger, even without changing your exercise routine, due to improved balance in your musculoskeletal and nervous systems.   You may find yourself running faster, sleeping better, better able to focus your attention, better able to direct your mood.  Whatever your early experiences with ATM® may be,  the cumulative long-term effects of ATM® on the way you learn are far greater!