The following articles
by Frank Wildman, PhD are
provided to help identify key relationships among the mind and
body. Whether you are a health professional or a lay person, an
athlete or a couch potato, these are offered to aquaint you with
the potential for a healthier and more intelligent body using the
Feldenkrais Method.
Feldenkrais has far-ranging applications
in biomechanics and neuromuscular function. It addresses the goal
to achieve more efficient movement as well as the desire to alleviate
pain. Therapeutic uses include many common disorders, recovery
from injury and problems associated with aging. In this regard,
it is as much about improving the condition of one's life as it
is the body. Changing the way we think about these subjects is
the first step toward unlocking the benefits of healthier movement.
A simple ranking of conditions
responsive to this form of therapy is
as follows. As with all alternative therapies,
use of the Feldenkrais Method does not
preclude the use of mainstream medical
therapies in addition. more…
Barriers and Key Issues
As physicians increasingly recognize
the brain-body relationship, the importance
of learning how to move is becoming more
essential. Therefore, interest in Feldenkrais
as a scientifically based system of neuromuscular
control and biomechanics will continue
to grow. more…
Biologic Mechanisms of Action
Personal experience reduces the
initially unlimited number of possible
combinations of nervous interconnections
to a few preferred and active patterns
of moving and acting. more…
Credentialing
The
Guild of Certified Feldenkrais Practitioners
sets standards for training programs
and certification.more…
Demographics
Feldenkrais
practitioners can be found worldwide. more…
The
Feldenkrais Method® uses two approaches in working with patients:
Awareness Through Movement (ATM) lessons
and Functional Integration (FI). more…
Indications
for Referral
The
Feldenkrais Method is indicated to restore
functions lost through accident or degenerative
diseases, as well as to improve function
in people who want to enhance high-level
skills. more…
Origins and History
In
our society, we do, by the promise of
great reward or intense punishment, so
distort the even development of the system,
that many acts become excluded or restricted.
The result is that we have to provide
special conditions for furthering adult maturation of many arrested
functions. The majority of people need to re-form patterns of
motions and attitudes that should never have been excluded or
neglected. more…
Research Base
The
first research study involving Feldenkrais
Method® (FM) was
published in 1977 with several more appearing
in the next decade. Since 1988 there
has been an increasing amount of research
done and recently this has been increasing
each year. Because FM has such a wide range of effects, a wide
range of outcomes has been looked at and reported. more…
Theory for
Mechanisms of Action
Unlike
other animals, which are preprogrammed
to survive, human children must learn
to move. Although a cat is born with
the knowledge of how to move gracefully,
it takes years for humans to learn movement
well enough to function independently
in the world. The necessity and ability to learn individual patterns
of movement leads to a variety in human movement and posture
unknown in other species and can be considered the most distinguishing
feature of mankind. more…
Awareness
Through Movement® classes are taught on a floor with
carpet or mats, on chairs, or in
a standing position. Students pay
attention to their own sensations and movements as the teacher more…
What
to Look for in a Practitioner
As
with any art or craft, the longer practitioners
work, the more mastery their hands develop
and the greater their level of expertise
grows. more…
Anti-exercise
for the Older and Wiser
The
older we get, the more clever we must become. As we age, it
is more important to use our bodies more
efficiently. We must improve our quality
and ease of motion, our coordination,
our sense of balance, control and comfort.
After a certain age, our bodily wisdom
tells us it's too difficult to slam our
bones, strain our muscles, and do the things we used to do
with will power and brute strength. However, there is little
available in our culture to help us learn to reduce stress
while increasing muscular efficiency in a pleasurable and
comfortable manner. Because of this, it is not natural for
people in their 50's, 60's, 70's and older to explore new
ways of moving. more…
Emotional
Learning
Whenever
we contact another person we are in contact
with their emotional self. It is unavoidable.
When we touch someone's flesh, we enter
their mind, and we are in contact with
the wellsprings of their personality. more…
Clinical
Applications
Many
physical therapists are now familiar
with the Feldenkrais® Method.
Yet, there remains some uncertainty about
the place of this controversial method
in physical therapy due to a lack of
familiarity about what the method involves.
What is the Feldenkrais Method® and
what are some of the major differences
and similarities with techniques already
familiar to physical therapists? more…
Chronic
Illness
One
of the most revolutionary discussions
of the last few years has been about
the relationship between posture, muscles,
and the inner workings of our minds.
Most people, including medical professionals,
tend to isolate the mechanics of their
bodies from emotional and other physical responses. This is
only natural since Western science traditionally focuses upon
isolating what is particular and separated from the whole.
more…
Missing
Link in Physical Therapy
In
examining the field of physical therapy
today, I am reminded of the situation
of the pre-evolutionists who began investigating
biology, geology, paleontology, and other
natural sciences in the 19th century. Their situation was
remarkably similar. There was a wealth of newly observed phenomena,
and a profusion of methods to observe more. more…
Sitting
Pretty
Many
people have overly rigid ideas about
how they should sit in a chair. Think
about all the different ways children
move their bodies in relationship to
a chair. In this exercise, you will learn
to develop more flexible ideas about
how to relate to a chair, which will
create a much more flexible body. more…
The
Golden Years? Try Go-Go Years (Business
Week 2004)
People
used to work for 40 years, then abrupty
head out to pasture. today retirement
is a more active pursuit, combining work,
self-improvement, and fun, says Ken Dychtwald,
co-founder of Age Wave, a San Francisco
research firm that focuses on the graying
worrkforce. more…
Brain Gym (San Francisco Chronicle 2007)
Marathon-happy
Baby Boomers, those 78 million Americans
born from 1946 to '64, were the first generation
to make a
religion of physical fitness. Now, they
are investing time and
money to maintain what's above their six-pack
abs and rippling biceps: their brains. more…
Mental
Reserves Keep Brains Agile(New York Times 2007)
The brain, like every other part of
the body, changes with age, and those changes
can impede clear thinking and
memory. Yet many older people seem to remain
sharp as a tack well into their 80s and
beyond. Although their
pace may have slowed, they continue to
work, travel, attend plays and concerts,
play cards and board games,
study foreign languages, design buildings,
work with computers, write books, do puzzles,
knit or perform other
mentally challenging tasks that can befuddle
people much younger. more…
To Stretch or
Not to Stretch? The Answer is Elastic
News
about stretching seems to com in
waves. Stretch as part of your warm-up.
No, stretch after your workout. No,
don't even bother stretching. Or
the doozy: Even if you think you
like it,it's been oversold as a way
to prvent injury or improve performance. more…
