The New York Times recently wrote a wonderful article about the Feldenkrais Method™. And it echoes some of the things we’ve been saying and some things we’ve been seeing.
Winter can be a difficult season for people, add a modified lockdown and a pandemic and your winter blahs have turned into the blues and worse. Many people have simply stopped moving and spend most of their time cuddled on a couch, staring at a screen. While that can be an escape, it actually piles onto the problem.
How the Feldenkrais Method™ Reshapes the “You Relationship”
To free yourself from the arms of stillness takes movement. You have to break free from sedentary. The great news is it doesn’t have to be frantic, exhausting, or painful movement. You can get going with even just the slightest movement. This is where the Feldenkrais Method™ steps in and revolutionizes your relationship with your own body.
It guides you toward putting your brain and body back in touch. It’s a re-introduction of the parts of you that make a whole in a teambuilding exercise, if you will. Too often, we’re on auto-pilot. You don’t think about walking across the room, you just do it. Even during exercise, when it becomes routine, you do it without thinking about how it’s effecting your muscles, bones, tendons, etc.
How Small and Slow Works
In some ways, Feldenkrais is easy. It begins with small movements done very slowly. Let’s reiterate, it’s very small movements done very slowly. This can be freeing, enabling, and inclusive for many people who aren’t able to move well due to illness, injury, or a whole host of other reasons.
In other ways, Feldenkrais is very difficult. It begins with very small movements done very slowly. While that’s what makes it easy for some, it also can prove incredibly challenging for all.
Try lifting one finger sloooooooowly, and only lift it a half an inch. Now move at half that speed, slowing your movement even further. What pressed down to begin that movement? Another finger, a part of the hand? Perhaps you find that you grip in the elbow or the jaw or even hold your breath. From there, more varied movements or even movements you would never think to do will be explored. You begin to improve the flexibility of your brain because you are attending to yourself in new ways as well as doing movements that are new to you.
You also begin to see and feel your own control. The power you have over your body and your life. You have agency over your body and over your space. Suddenly, small feels huge.
How You Can Try It – FREE
At Future Life Now, we were already planning an online event before the pandemic. Sharing the power of the Feldenkrais Method™ and helping others is our calling and we were ready to expand. In May, 2020 we hosted our first Move Better Feel Better Summit and were thrilled with the response. So thrilled, that we’re hosting our second Move Better Feel Better Summit in 2021.
You can get on the wait list now, so you don’t miss the life transforming interviews and lessons.
But right now, we also offer you a chance to do a lesson with Taro Iwamoto from last year’s summit.
Remember that this is a free summit. You can sign up and give it a try without commitment. If you love it, then you can continue. There are even options to become more involved if you see and feel the benefit and want more. If you just want to dip your toes into the method and see what it does for you, that’s fine too.
What To Expect at the Move Better Feel Better Summit 2021
We’re going to start this summit with an amazing event that’s never been done before. We’ll be hosting 24 Awareness through Movement™ classes taught by 24 different instructors. WOW! It’s a nonstop opportunity for you to try a little or experience a lot.
We’ll then continue for 10 days with Awareness through Movement classes to get you started, followed by leaders in the field. You’ll learn from some of the best practitioners and teachers in somatic education. It’s a valuable experience that has something to offer for everyone.
Want to Learn More?
Sign up for the wait list so you don’t miss out on your opportunity to join us when the registration opens.