124 under pressure FELDENKRAIS HOW: Dr. Feldenkrais said “What I am interested in is not the flexibility of the body, but the flexibility of the mind”. Feldenkrais limbers through deliberate movement of the Three Entities: 1. Nervous System, 2. Body [skeleton, viscera and muscles], 3. Environment [space, gravitation and society]. Nancy Haller, Feldenkrais Guild of North America President, has been involved in the Method since 1997. Interviewed by Ossigeno, she suggests intention is pivotal in Feldenkrais. Students reveal their story - for example, back pain. Their intention: remove the pain. The instructor listens and converts story and intention into a plan. But the plan hatched to reach this end must be comprehensive. “It's not about adjusting one vertebrae”, Haller says. “It's about seeing how you can make all the vertebrae sing, like a choir”. Feldenkrais administers through two methods: • Functional Integration®, • Awareness Through Movement®, typically 45 to 60 minutes per session. Functional Integration can involve verbal instruction, but injured students often require an individual, tactile approach. Each Functional Integration lesson is tailored to a student's specific needs. Lessons commence on the back. As necessary, movements are guided by noninvasive touch and verbal cues, followed by rest. In Functional Integration, props such as blankets, bolsters or pillows may be used to support the student's body. Awareness Through Movement involves group verbal instruction. Feldenkrais believed one pertinent facet of group learning is the novelty maintained throughout a class. Heightened awareness can erase old ways of learning and create new ones. Again, lessons begin on the back to free the nervous system from gravity. Prone, students then scan their bodies for discrepancies. Many classes continue on the floor, or are conducted upright. Upwards of 30 Situations (or guided movements) follow from sitting, walking or balancing to a motion as simple as guiding the left arm across the upper body repeatedly, resting and switching to the other. Every sequence is followed by rest to encourage powerful, full body relaxation. Haller feels this essential state of relaxation is like one she had as a kid, lying on the grass, observing clouds or stars. “Think about how soft you get, how you get a beautiful, soft breath”, she says.
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