Dr Feldenkrais and the Feldenkrais Method®

Moshe Feldenkrais 1904 - 1984, was a pioneer and giant in the mind-body field and is arguably one of the most brilliant teachers/healers of the past 100 years.  Feldenkrais was a nuclear physicist, engineer and judo master. He pioneered a learning system, The Feldenkrais Method®, which utilizes movement and awareness of self to bring about remarkable changes in the human brain, body and mind.

He was one of the first to understand the importance of the brain in bringing about desired changes and overcoming pain and limitation. He based his method on brain plasticity long before the term even existed. Initially few understood Feldenkrais’ theory and practice.  He faced opposition, distrust, and misunderstanding by those incapable of grasping his thinking and his techniques. Yet, once he began practicing his method, his following grew at a rapid rate helping people replace stretching exercises and forceful therapy approaches with what would later be considered a form of complementary medicine. He introduced some of his methodologies to help with Yoga techniques back in the 1960’s, of which some have been adopted and have become common in Yoga teaching ever since.

“This is the most sophisticated and effective method I have seen for the prevention and reversal of deterioration of function”
~ Margaret Mead, Ph.D., Anthropologist

"It (the Feldenkrais Method) is not just pushing muscles around, but changing things in the brain itself"
~ Karl Pribram, M.D., Neuropsychologist

Dr Feldenkrais worked with world leaders, world renowned musicians, dancers, actors, and with thousands of people for whom he provided the only hope and solutions to their problems and suffering.

“The Feldenkrais exercises are ingenious and simple”
~ Yehudi Menuhin, Concert Violinist

Dr. Feldenkrais was born in Russia in 1904. He left home at age twelve and immigrated to what was then Palestine. He supported himself during his high school years as a construction worker in Tel Aviv, and as a tutor to failing students. He developed great interest in hypnosis and autosuggestion; taught himself and later others self-defense techniques; played soccer and was a weight lifter.

In his twenties he moved to Paris, France where he first earned a degree in mechanical and electrical engineering. He continued to earn his Doctor of Science degree in physics, doing pioneering nuclear research with Joliot-Curie.

While in Paris, he met Professor Kano, the creator of Judo and the Minister of Education of Japan at the time. Professor Kano chose Dr. Feldenkrais to be trained in his art and subsequently Feldenkrais opened the first judo club in France - Paris. During the same years, he joined his wife, a medical student, in studying all of her medical school courses. He was later offered an MD degree which he refused – he wanted to insure that his work will be perceived as educational rather than medical.

“Feldenkrais represents a revolution in human health” 
~ Smithsonian Magazine

During World War Two, as the Germans were entering Paris, Dr. Feldenkrais escaped to England where he handed Churchill all the documentation he carried from the Radium Institute and was recruited by the British Admiralty to serve as a scientific officer. When he suffered a debilitating knee injury, he realized that surgery would not give him a good enough outcome. Instead he began exploring ways to re-educate his brain to move in new ways that would allow him full functioning, including practicing Judo, despite the injury and damage to his knee. This long process of experimentation and discovery was the birth of what is now known as the Feldenkrais Method.

"What I'm after isn't flexible bodies but flexible brains. What I'm after is to restore each person to their human dignity." 
~ Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais

He moved back to Israel and became the head of the Missile Research Unit for the Israeli Army. But his true passion was with his discoveries about the human brain and the remarkable dormant capabilities all humans have. He continued to create hundreds of movement lessons and personalized hands on teaching based on his understanding of the central nervous system, making it possible for the brain to organize action more effectively and helping people continue to learn and grow throughout life. His constant goal was to help people transform limitation and make the impossible possible.

“Dr Moshe Feldenkrais’ method will be of great benefit to all of humanity. From my own experience I know the remarkable results achieved”
~ David Ben Gurion, First Prime Minister of Israel.

Dr.Feldenkrais developed two modalities: group movement lessons and individual
hands-on work. He created hundreds of movement lessons each focusing on a specific movement skill. The lessons are structured to bring about rapid learning and improvement in a safe and systematic way.

Anat Baniel translated 250 of these lessons from Hebrew into English, making them available to all Feldenkrais Practitioners. The hands on work is an innovative and very effective way of communicating with the brain to bring about rapid and profound changes.

Anat Baniel & Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais

“Our only limitation is our belief that it is so.”
~ Moshe Feldenkrais