These gentle, floor-based or standing movement lessons are designed to improve posture, coordination, balance, and overall comfort. The approach is inspired by the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais and Dr. Thomas Hanna, focusing on slow, mindful movements that help you become aware of how you move in everyday life.
“When you know what you are doing, you can do what you want.” – Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais
Through this awareness, the nervous system can release unnecessary tension, improve balance, and make movement easier – regardless of age or fitness level.
What You’ll Learn
– Move with greater ease and less effort – Improve posture, breathing, and balance – Recognise and reduce unnecessary muscular tension – Learn a gentle, non-judgemental approach to improving mobility -Support daily activities with practical movement strategies
The Feldenkrais Method is a body-based approach that relies above all on movement work. Its aim is to erase harmful habits and correct body posture in order to improve well-being.
What are the positive effects of the Feldenkrais Method? Why turn to this method? How does a session take place? And how effective is it?
What is the Feldenkrais Method and where does it come from?
The Feldenkrais Method was developed in the 1940s by a physicist called Dr Moshe Feldenkrais. Following a knee injury, moving became difficult and painful for him. Surgery offered only a50% chance of improving his condition, so he refused to undergo the operation and began to take an interest in movement.
He studied neuroscience closely, as well as how children learn to move and get around. These observations, combined with his knowledge of physics and martial arts, gave him the idea for a new educational method. It produced good results for his knee problem. After trying it out repeatedly with those around him, he realised that his method also worked for other people. Gradually, the engineer-physicist developed a way of working with a wider public. He then created the Feldenkrais Method, named after himself.
What is the principle of the Feldenkrais Method?
At the core of the Feldenkrais Method is the idea that human beings are constantly learning and readjusting the way they perform movements. Most movements are learned during childhood and eventually become automatic. The problem is that, when they no longer meet the needs and limits of the body, they can become unsatisfactory. To educate or re-educate oneself, Feldenkrais proposes rediscovering correct movements – those that can be done easily, without tension or pain.
“Its practice allows you to discover, through experience, to what extent aspects of yourself you thought were fixed are, in fact, highly flexible […]. For example, the way you sit on a chair, the way you stand, the way you react to a problem, the way you hold your shoulders, all these aspects are much more malleable than we generally believe.
Specific features Dr Feldenkrais principals
Avoiding gravity – movements are generally explored while lying down to create greater possibilities for sensing and initiating movement.
Using what the person already knows – building on familiar movements and creating many variations to make them easier, providing a solid foundation for discovering new possibilities.
Starting with the unaffected side of the body – performing the movement clearly on this side and using it as a reference to teach the other side.
Focusing on the body’s centre – helping the brain connect all parts of the body; the practitioner uses subtle touch to help the person sense areas that are not yet clear to them and to teach how these parts could be better integrated into movement.
“It’s while lying down that you learn to walk” – learning through subtle touch, bodily sensation, and variations rather than through effort and repetition.
A global method – for example, wrist pain may be resolved through work on the pelvis.
Active awareness – while the work may appear passive from the outside, the person is highly active in their sensory experience and plays a direct role in developing this self-awareness.
A method inspired by the true Judo (also called Junomichi) (not the today sport judo)
This inspiration comes not from today’s competitive judo, which has drifted into a distortion based on ramming into one another and ego-driven confrontation, but from the Judo created by its founder, Dr Jigoro Kano. (Dr Feldenkrais and Dr Kano were friends.) For Kano, Judo was a spiritual study, not a sport. It was grounded in two fundamental principles:
Seiryoku-Zenyo – the most efficient use of energy.
Jita-Kyoei – mutual welfare and benefit.
The approach here is also rooted in five guiding principles which are the main tool to understand the true Judo (Junomichi):
No opposition – Do not create contradiction in your body or mind, for these will inevitably be reflected in your movement.
Mobility – Develop awareness of your whole body, integrating it as a unified whole. This fosters neurological balance and prevents the brain from sending unnecessary signals.
Decision – Do not allow contradictions to arise in your body; they stem from the mind. If they persist, your focus will gradually weaken, and you will become distracted, hesitant, and ineffective in your actions.
Encompass – When you encounter an internal obstacle or limitation, do not stop or struggle against it. Allow your body to find its own path around it.
Control – By becoming more aware of your whole self, inside and out, control will naturally emerge as an effortless quality, rather than something you must force.
“The Feldenkrais Method invites you to explore movement and actions as they happen, without preconceptions or judgement, and to allow new solutions to emerge. It thus restores to each person the ability to be more autonomous and confident in their capacity to find their own solutions when undertaking any action.”
“When you know what you are doing, you can do what you want.” – Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais
Following a knee injury, moving became difficult and painful for him. Surgery offered only a50% chance of improving his condition, so he refused to undergo the operation and began to take an interest in movement.