Testimonials

“I have been intrigued by this subtle form of retraining the nervous system, which I recommend
to patients whose movement has been restricted by injury, cerebral palsy, stroke, fibromyalgia,
or chronic pain. I find it to be much more useful than standard physical therapy. I also believe
that the Feldenkrais Method® can help older people achieve greater range of motion and
flexibility, and help all of us feel more comfortable in our bodies.” -Andrew Weil, M.D. Author of
Spontaneous Healing and Natural Health, Natural Medicine

“As an aging ex-jock, nursing bad knees and shoulders, Functional Integration® and Awareness
Through Movement® work helps me develop insight into how my body operates and how it
compensates for old injuries. With a more solid understanding of “what is,” I can start to make
intelligent choices about how I want to move, sit, stand, and just function.” -Kevin Paxton
President of Preston Technology, Inc.

“I was having constant pain in my hand, wrist, and arm. After six months of Functional
Integration lessons and doing the assigned exercises, the pain in my hand occurred only
infrequently. The process of change through awareness is something you have to experience to
believe.” -Erica C. Christ, writer and bartender “As a violinist, the work has not only sped my
recovery from injury, but greatly enhanced my sense of physical integrity, ease and
grace—even with an activity as “unnatural” as playing the violin!” –Ingrid Matthews, performs on
Baroque and classical violin and is the Music Director of the Seattle Baroque Orchestra

“I had suffered with chronic shoulder and arm pain that had developed into severe numbness
and tingling. Nothing I did brought me any long-term relief until I started with Feldenkrais®.
Through a series of Feldenkrais lessons, the chronic pain, numbness, and tingling resolved.
More importantly, I learned how to manage and maintain my body to avoid these problems in
the future.” -Ruth Nielsen, Attorney at Law, Nielsen Law Office Inc. “After years of back
problems, the Feldenkrais Method has given me the ability to remain free of pain. They are by
far the most effective and pleasurable exercises I have ever done.” -Joseph Batkin, M.A.

“About two years ago, I tripped over a raised bit of sidewalk that had up heaved from a tree root.
The jolt caused a disk in my back to herniate, resulting in a tremendous amount of pain and
reduced mobility. I eventually had an MRI. The diagnosis was clear; I would have to have
surgery. Not wanting to do that, I found out about the Feldenkrais Method and decided to give it
a try. I completed 15 Functional Integration sessions, and was amazed to go from facing back
surgery to being pain free.” -Shirley Beieler Orthodontic Laboratory Technician/Manager,
Feldenkrais practitioner trainee

“The Feldenkrais Method has allowed me to play pain free golf, without worrying about injury.” –
Duffy Waldorf, PGA Tour Golfer

​“The Feldenkrais Method is the most sophisticated and effective method I have seen for the
prevention and reversal of deterioration and function.” -Margaret Mead, Ph.D., Anthropologist 

The New York Times

Trying the Feldenkrais Method for Chronic Pain

​Personal Health
By JANE E. BRODY OCT. 30, 2017

After two hour long sessions focused first on body awareness and then on movement retraining
at the Feldenkrais Institute of New York, I understood what it meant to experience an incredible
lightness of being. Having, temporarily at least, released the muscle tension that aggravates my
back and hip pain, I felt like I was walking on air.
I had long refrained from writing about this method of countering pain because I thought it was
some sort of New Age gobbledygook with no scientific basis. Boy, was I wrong!
The Feldenkrais method is one of several increasingly popular movement techniques, similar to
the Alexander technique, that attempt to better integrate the connections between mind and
body. By becoming aware of how one’s body interacts with its surroundings and learning how to
behave in less stressful ways, it becomes possible to relinquish habitual movement patterns that
cause or contribute to chronic pain.
The method was developed by Moshe Feldenkrais, an Israeli physicist, mechanical engineer
and expert in martial arts, after a knee injury threatened to leave him unable to walk. Relying on
his expert knowledge of gravity and the mechanics of motion, he developed exercises to help
teach the body easier, more efficient ways to move.
I went to the institute at the urging of  Cathryn Jakobson Ramin , author of the recently published
book “Crooked” that details the nature and results of virtually every current approach to treating
back pain, a problem that has plagued me on and off (now mostly on) for decades. Having
benefited from Feldenkrais lessons herself, Ms. Ramin had good reason to believe they would
help me.
In her book, she recounts the experience of Courtney King, who first experienced crippling back
spasms in her late 20s. Ms. King was taking several dance classes a week and practicing yoga,
and she thought the stress of these activities might be causing the pain in her tight, inflexible
back. But after a number of Feldenkrais sessions, she told Ms. Ramin, “I realized that the pain
had more to do with the way I carried myself every day.”
Even after just one session, I understood what she meant. When I make a point of walking
upright and fluid, sitting straight, even cooking relaxed and unhurried, I have no pain. The slow,
gentle, repetitive movements I practiced in a Feldenkrais group class helped foster an

awareness of how I use my body in relation to my environment, and awareness is the first step
to changing one’s behavior.
One common problem of which I’m often guilty is using small muscles to accomplish tasks
meant for large, heavy-duty ones, resulting in undue fatigue and pain.
The group class, called Awareness Through Movement, was followed by an individual session
called Functional Integration with a therapist that helped to free tight muscles and joints that
were limiting my motion and increasing my discomfort. Using gentle manipulation and passive
movements, the therapist individualized his approach to my particular needs.
The ultimate goal of both sessions is, in effect, to retrain the brain – to establish new neural
pathways that result in easy, simple movements that are physiologically effective and
comfortable. Although the Feldenkrais method was developed in the mid-20th century,
neurophysiologists have since demonstrated the plasticity of the brain, its ability to form new
cells, reorganize itself and, in effect, learn new ways to do things.
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The beauty of Feldenkrais lessons is that they are both relatively low-cost (group classes
average $15 to $25, individual sessions $100 to $200) and potentially accessible to nearly
everyone. There are more than 7,000 teachers and practitioners working in 18 countries,
including large numbers in the United States. You can be any age, strength, fitness level and
state of well-being to participate. The exercises are slow, gentle and adjustable to whatever
might ail you. Their calming effect counters the stress that results in contracted muscles,
tightness and pain.
Many Feldenkrais practitioners, like Marek Wyszynski, director of the New York center, start
professional life as physical therapists, although many other practitioners begin with no medical
background. They then undergo three and a half years of training to become certified in the
Feldenkrais method.
Mr. Wyszynski explained that he starts by observing how patients are using their skeletons –
how they sit, stand and walk in ways that may cause or contribute to their pathology, be it spinal
disc disease, arthritis, shoulder pain or damaged knee joints. In accordance with Dr.
Feldenkrais’s astute observation, “If you don’t know what you are doing, you can’t do what you
want,” patients are then given a clear sensory experience of how their posture and behavior
contribute to their pain and physical limitations.
For example, some people may use excessive force, clench their teeth, hold their breath or
rush, causing undue muscle tension and skeletal stress. Years ago, I realized that my frequent
headaches resulted from an unconscious habit of clenching my jaw when I concentrated intently
on a task like sewing or cooking. Feldenkrais teachers do not give formulas for a proper way of
behaving; rather, they rely on their patients’ ability to self-discover and self-correct.
Once aware of their counterproductive habits, students are given the opportunity to experience
alternative movements, postures and behaviors and, through practice, create new habits that
are less likely to cause pain.

Mr. Wyszynski told me that there are more than 1,000 distinct Feldenkrais lessons currently
available, most of which involve everyday actions like reaching, getting up from a chair, turning,
bending and walking.
As a mechanical engineer and physicist, Dr. Feldenkrais understood that the job of the human
skeleton was to accommodate the effects of gravity in order to remain upright. And he wanted
people to achieve this in the most efficient way possible.
​
Using two tall foam cylinders, one perched on top of the other, Mr. Wyszynski demonstrated a
guiding principle of the Feldenkrais method. When the top cylinder was centered on the bottom
one, it stood in place without assistance. But when it was off center, perched near the edge of
the bottom cylinder, it tipped over. If instead of cylinders these were someone’s skeletal parts
that were askew, tightened muscles would have to keep the patient from falling over.
As Mr. Wyszynski explained, “Good posture allows the skeleton to hold up and support the body
without expending unnecessary energy despite the pull of gravity. However, with poor posture,
the muscles are doing part of the job of the bones, and with poor skeletal support, the muscles
have to remain contracted to prevent the body from falling.”