Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method
Profound settling on a nervous-system level
The slow, small movements in these lessons, by their very nature, help to promote relaxation in general. In particular, they help promote relaxation of your abdomen and therefore your diaphragm. This relaxation of your abdomen and diaphragm helps to change your involuntary nervous system from a sympathetic (fight/flight state) to a parasympathetic (rest and digest state).
Re-education of your sensory-motor system
This re-education process can bring you OUT of a habituated body pattern of anxiety and stress (which feeds back into the brain that danger is lurking, even when it is not). This re-education can also help bring you OUT of a habituated (stuck) emotional state.
Relief of muscular tension and pain
Muscular tension develops when you form an unconscious habit of using more muscular effort than you need to, or when your muscles remain contracted even when not in use. Tension habits frequently become chronic and cause muscular pain, restricted movement, fatigue, and depression. The Feldenkrais lessons give you techniques to relieve muscular tension and to help you relax your muscles whenever you want.
Minimizing the effects of aging
It is often assumed that poor posture, stiffness, and pain are an unavoidable aspect of getting older, but this is not so! Many of the physical discomforts we accept as time goes by can be easily avoided. These lessons improve your flexibility, posture, and freedom of movement at any age.
Enhancing your athletic performance
The movement lessons incorporate recent discoveries in neurophysiology and biomechanics to improve your neuromuscular organization. You will experience greater efficiency of movement, more power and speed, and improved accuracy and coordination in all of your physical activities.
Speeding up recovery time after injury
After an injury or strain, the lessons can speed up the healing process by relaxing your muscles, reducing inflammation, and stimulating your circulation. Sometimes an injury causes discomfort that lingers for months, or even years. Often, this is because we unconsciously develop compensatory posture and movement habits in order to avoid irritation of the injured area. These self-protective habits can persist long after the pain has gone, and many cause chronic misalignment and muscular discomfort. By increasing your awareness, you can recover fully. You will learn to dissolve old postural and movement habits that are no longer necessary, thereby reconditioning your body with healthier neuromuscular patterns.
Increasing your flexibility
Your body needs to be flexible in order to maintain the health of your joints and muscles, and move with comfort and ease. As your self-awareness increases, unhealthy neuromuscular habits of stiffness and tension dissolve and your flexibility may increase dramatically. When your body is more flexible, you will feel freer and healthier in ways that you may not have felt in many years.
