Movement lessons for
improved function and well being
Do you want to experience...?
Relief from tension and muscular painRelaxation and greater vitalityImproved posture, balance and co-ordinationEasier and fuller breathImproved artistic and athletic performance
Relief from tension and muscular pain
Relaxation and greater vitality
Improved posture, balance and co-ordination
Easier and fuller breath
Improved artistic and athletic performance
Feldenkrais in East Dulwich and Greenwich, Londonwith Hannah Wheeler (Feldenkrais Guild UK).Contact me on 07716 099181 for a non-obligational chat about what Feldenkrais could do for you.
Feldenkrais in East Dulwich and Greenwich, London
with Hannah Wheeler (Feldenkrais Guild UK).
Contact me on 07716 099181 for a non-obligational chat about what Feldenkrais could do for you.
What is Feldenkrais? And who is it for?
The Feldenkrais Method is a unique approach to movement and learning. Through gentle and innovative movement explorations, we tap the innate intelligence of the human nervous system to create higher levels of function. We learn to move with greater ease, power and efficiency and awaken our abilities to sense, think and feel. Feldenkrais works by enabling us to recognise our individual ways of doing things and discover new possibilities that serve us better.Everyone can benefit from Feldenkrais, we all have patterns of muscular tension that restrict us. Feldenkrais sessions enable people to do what they want to do in their lives more easily. People may come to Feldenkrais for help with pain and tension or to improve a specific function in the arts or sport. The method is also helpful to children with developmental delay, those recovering from injury or childbirth and for people with neurological conditions such as MS, Cerebral Palsy or stroke.
The Feldenkrais Method is a unique approach to movement and learning. Through gentle and innovative movement explorations, we tap the innate intelligence of the human nervous system to create higher levels of function. We learn to move with greater ease, power and efficiency and awaken our abilities to sense, think and feel. Feldenkrais works by enabling us to recognise our individual ways of doing things and discover new possibilities that serve us better.
Everyone can benefit from Feldenkrais, we all have patterns of muscular tension that restrict us. Feldenkrais sessions enable people to do what they want to do in their lives more easily. People may come to Feldenkrais for help with pain and tension or to improve a specific function in the arts or sport. The method is also helpful to children with developmental delay, those recovering from injury or childbirth and for people with neurological conditions such as MS, Cerebral Palsy or stroke.
To make the impossible possible,
the possible easy and the easy
pleasurable.
Moshe Feldenkrais
How does Feldenkrais work?
Feldenkrais lessons work by addressing the ways of moving and holding that lead to pain and injury, and interfere with our potential for both pleasure in daily life activities and optimal function in skilled activities.
Limitations in movement are often due to the unconscious habits of muscular holding we develop through our lifetime. Most of us have experienced physical or emotional trauma at some point and though our body may have absorbed the effects of this at the time, stresses and strain remain stored in the muscles and held as pattern in the brain. This creates bad posture and movement which make more stress and strain. Its a vicious circle. Feldenkrais sessions break this circle, helping people recognise habits of tension and discover alternatives to eliminate limitations and restrictions. As a result we learn better body mechanics and discover ease through natural flexibility and new-found coordination.
In Feldenkrais learning takes place directly at the nervous system level, therefore new information is automatically available when moving without continual, conscious thought. Results are often immediate and profound. You discover flexibility does not require months of stretching but an awareness of how to distribute movement throughout the body. Breathing deepens. Strength increases as we let go of the tension interfering with the skeletons alignment.
The process of discovering our unlimited potential as physical beings spills over into all areas of life. Because the Feldenkrais Method focuses on the relationship between movement and thought, increased mental awareness and creativity accompany physical improvements.
Through awareness we can learn to move with astonishing lightness and freedom.
About Moshe Feldenkrais
The Feldenkrais Method was developed in the 1940s by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, an ingenious physicist, engineer and martial artist. Dr. Feldenkrais was originally from the Ukraine and immigrated to Israel, aged 13. He studied at the Sorbonne in France, and worked with nobel prize winner, Joliot Curie at the Curie Institute in Paris in the 1930’s. He was also a strong athlete and martial artist and a founder member of the first Judo club in France.
Feldenkrais suffered repeated knee injuries from football and judo, which became so bad that he couldn't walk without crippling pain. His doctors prescribed surgery, but with only a 50% chance of full recovery. Feldenkrais refused surgery. Instead he applied his extensive knowledge of anatomy, physiology, psychology and engineering, as well as his mastery of martial arts, to recover his lost function.
Feldenkrais succeeded in teaching himself to move without pain. During the process, he experimented with gently manipulating his joints and learned how to improve his whole body coordination. Dr Feldenkrais realized the vital importance of working with the whole body and indeed the whole self in order to achieve lasting, radical change. Most importantly, Dr. Feldenkrais realized that becoming aware of what he was doing was the groundwork for being able to do what he wanted - walk comfortably.
Feldenkrais spent the rest of his life developing his new method of movement education, and helped thousands of people with a wide variety of challenges. His genius lay in making abstract ideas concrete, combining Eastern and Western ideas with powerful applications for recovering movement and developing self awareness. For Feldenkrais, good health meant functioning well in all levels of life, "What I am after is more flexible minds, not just more flexible bodies". He believed we all hold extraordinary capacities, and that movement was our greatest key to unlock this potential.
His insights continue to influence disciplines such as physical medicine, gerontology, the arts, education and psychology. Moshe Feldenkrais lived from 1904-1984 and made an incredible contribution to the field of human consciousness.
Dancers, Musicians, Artists and Athletes
Feldenkrais classes are a powerful tool to help you expand and refine your skills. By improving your sensory skills, you will develop greater dexterity and find new ways to refine your technique. Enhancing your ability to perceive subtle differences aids making fine distinctions. Discovering unlimited movement possibilities feeds creativity.
Through Feldenkrais, athletes and dancers find that learning to move with less effort and more efficiency increases stamina and minimises stress on muscles and joints. This can help you avoid, or recover from, injury.
"The Feldenkrais approach has helped and continues to help me refine my understanding of my body. Feldenkrais helps my habits appear as positive resources from which to discover more range and capacity. In recovering from an injury to my ribs and sternum, FI work has been invaluable for helping me re-learn and re-integrate my moving - useful for my confidence, creating and performing."
Elizabeth, dance artist and movement director
The Feldenkrais Method
for Children
Feldenkrais can make a huge difference to a childs movement and development. Sessions offer a safe and fun environment in which to explore movement and consolidate fundamental movement patterns.
Feldenkrais is built upon understanding of developmental movement and the stages healthy children move through on their way to crawling, walking and beyond. These form the best possible foundation for future movement skills. However, these stages can be interrupted by illness, trauma or because of neurological impairment. Revisiting developmental movements helps a child reach their full potential and avoid unnecessary future difficulty.
How can Feldenkrais help children with special needs?
Feldenkrais sessions have a profound impact on children with learning difficulties, providing learning experiences that help children develop beyond their limitations. Feldenkrais uses gentle, innovative touch techniques to access the childs ability to learn movement, which in turn awakens sensing, feeling and thinking.
Feldenkrais helps children with diverse developmental issues including:
Cerebral Palsy & hemi-plegia
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Persistent tension
Global learning difficulties
Functional changes which are seen include:
More effortless movements
Better balance
Improved ability to roll, crawl, walk
Improved speech
Greater problem solving skills
Other benefits include:
Improved confidence and mood
Increased alertness and awareness of surroundings
Better sleep
In a Feldenkrais session (usually 30- 45 mins), the child is guided through a gentle series of movements that support how they move and suggest new possibilities. The Feldenkrais Method works by facilitating the formation of new neural connections and patterns, irrespective of the cause of the child's limitations. New and effective patterns of movement, thought, and feeling, are learnt. Children often move beyond a bleak medical prognosis.
A child's brain is extremely responsive to relevant movement and sensory information. Movements explored within a Feldenkrais session give the child lots of sensory feedback. However, stimulation does not equal learning and children with learning difficulties often lack the capacity to make sense of the information they receive. What is remarkable about the Feldenkrais Method is the way in which it facilitates learning by helping the child to perceive differences and therefore organize information and action in a useful way.
The Feldenkrais approach is concerned with the possibilities of the child, rather than their limitations. As children discover they can move in new ways, their self esteem and motivation improves.
For children who have been through a variety of therapeutic interventions which they did not enjoy, the Feldenkrais Method is a revelation. They do not feel cected, nor are they being stretched or put into restrictive braces. Instead, they experience moving in a connected, whole way.
Any age child can benefit from Feldenkrais. However, early intervention is generally proven to provide the quickest and most far reaching results. Children often learn readily and can move on quickly. While it is a process, results are often seen straight away.
The Feldenkrais Method is being recommended by more and more medical doctors and other professionals.
Further Information
Read
Throughout his lifetime, Moshe Feldenkrais published several books on his work, including Awareness Through Movement and The Potent Self.
His insights continue to influence disciplines such as physical medicine, gerontology, the arts, education and psychology and he made an incredible contribution to the field of human consciousness.
Click on the books
for more info.
Watch
"Natural movement comes through harmonious coordination," says Ruthy Alon, an Israeli who worked closely with Moshe Feldenkrais.
These videos are not presentational, and do not give you a step-by-step method. Rather they allow you to explore movement with Alon's demonstrations as a guideline.
She invites you to move "like a child let into a playground, inspired by curiosity."
Click on the image of Ruthy Alon
and the Youtube logo
to watch the videos.
An inspirational story about the body's ability to teach the brain. A baby born 20 years ago without a third of her cerebellum was given a grim prognosis by medical doctors: she could never walk or talk.
Now the young woman enjoys a nearly normal life and is a college student.She and her family attribute her amazing recovery to Feldenkrais.
About Hannah
I've had a strong interest in movement all my life and danced from a young age. I became interested in the Feldenkrais Method while training in contemporary dance at Laban in South East London. I had a strong response to my first Functional Integration(FI) session, I felt like it set something right in my body, my breathing was freer and I felt more at home in myself. For several days afterwards I noticed my performance in dance classes was greatly improved. Balance was effortless and I felt somehow more physically intelligent- that every part of my body was working together in each action, and without the tension I usually experienced. This sensation didnt last forever, but it had showed me a potential I hadnt known was possible and I got hooked on searching for it again. Through weekly Awareness Through Movement (ATM) classes I discovered a fascinating and bizarre world of movements that lead to similar changes, Id feel more grounded and powerful or taller and softer, it was always different. Mostly though, I was excited to discover that these changes took place through working smarter rather than harder. I knew instantly after that first session that I wanted to train in the method but spent another year and a half researching Feldenkrais through Awareness Through Movement classes, Functional Integration sessions and reading before committing to training as a practitioner. I trained on the Amsterdam International Feldenkrais Teacher Training, a comprehensive 800 hour training over 3.5 years. Im a fully accredited member of the UK Feldenkrais Guild and subscribe to its code of ethics and requirement for insurance. I have worked with a range of people applying the Feldenkrais Method and embrace the variety. This includes dancers, musicians, bankers, cyclists, teachers and children.In addition, I have taught dance and developmental gymnastics in schools, colleges, play schemes and specialist centres with children and adults. I have a particular interest in working with children with developmental and learning difficulties.
I've had a strong interest in movement all my life and danced from a young age. I became interested in the Feldenkrais Method while training in contemporary dance at Laban in South East London. I had a strong response to my first Functional Integration(FI) session, I felt like it set something right in my body, my breathing was freer and I felt more at home in myself. For several days afterwards I noticed my performance in dance classes was greatly improved. Balance was effortless and I felt somehow more physically intelligent- that every part of my body was working together in each action, and without the tension I usually experienced. This sensation didnt last forever, but it had showed me a potential I hadnt known was possible and I got hooked on searching for it again. Through weekly Awareness Through Movement (ATM) classes I discovered a fascinating and bizarre world of movements that lead to similar changes, Id feel more grounded and powerful or taller and softer, it was always different. Mostly though, I was excited to discover that these changes took place through working smarter rather than harder.
I knew instantly after that first session that I wanted to train in the method but spent another year and a half researching Feldenkrais through Awareness Through Movement classes, Functional Integration sessions and reading before committing to training as a practitioner. I trained on the Amsterdam International Feldenkrais Teacher Training, a comprehensive 800 hour training over 3.5 years. Im a fully accredited member of the UK Feldenkrais Guild and subscribe to its code of ethics and requirement for insurance. I have worked with a range of people applying the Feldenkrais Method and embrace the variety. This includes dancers, musicians, bankers, cyclists, teachers and children.
In addition, I have taught dance and developmental gymnastics in schools, colleges, play schemes and specialist centres with children and adults. I have a particular interest in working with children with developmental and learning difficulties.
"Hannah thank you for the wonderful series of lessons that I have had with you, your open and patient approach really have helped me grasp and address some of my bad movement habits which have been holding me back in my personal and professional life. I feel a greater feeling of freedom in my body and also in my mind. I start to understand where my neck and shoulder pain come from not using my whole body, and I feel lighter and more in myself now. I am sleeping better, playing better and working better. I highly recommend Hannah to anyone wishing to find greater ease in their own body."
Maria Green
Awareness Through Movement (ATM)
Functional Integration (FI)
Individual sessions are specifically tailored to your personal needs and requests and are a great opportunity to make deep and lasting changes. You are guided by a gentle, specific yet non-invasive touch as you lie on a table, fully clothed. Together, you and the practitioner explore how your movement habits help you, but also how they stand in the way of you doing better. Where muscles are excessively tight, the practitioner gently supports the muscles until they are coaxed into relaxation. Lessons are pleasurable and you will usually experience immediate results. After sessions, people describe feeling lighter, taller, more aligned, comfortable, and deeply relaxed.
Classes take place lying on the floor or sitting. I verbally guide you through movement sequences that engage your curiosity, develop body awareness and lead you to discover ways to coordinate your entire body in harmonious action. Patterns of body tension are released to create new movement possibilities. You learn to use a minimum of muscular effort, to rely on your skeletal structure for support, and to utilize the strongest core muscles to do the greater part of the work in movement.
Contact
Please contact me if you would like to make an appointment, an enquiry or to join my mailing list to receive information on classes.Hannah WheelerLondon SE22Mobile: 07716 099181Email: hannah_intofeldenkrais.com
Please contact me if you would like to make an appointment, an enquiry or to join my mailing list to receive information on classes.
Hannah Wheeler
London SE22
Mobile: 07716 099181
Email: hannah_intofeldenkrais.com
In addition to working from East Dulwich I do Functional Integration sessions from Laban, Greenwich on Thursday afternoons. For more info or to book please click on the image of Laban.
In addition to working from East Dulwich I do Functional Integration sessions from Laban, Greenwich on Thursday afternoons.
For more info or to book please click on the image of Laban.
Into
Feldenkrais
move with ease
