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Feldenkrais Works Through Zoom
We need to keep moving! Being at home a lot, being indoors a lot, and your situation can be – not moving enough.
It is bad for the body. It is bad for the spirit. And this can also mean bad for relationships.
Feldenkrais is a system of movement that is good in many environments, and one of them is small spaces. You can experience a lot of physical change just in a 6’ x 6’ cleared space in your living room. Or rec room. Or bedroom.
In other times, meaning before the pandemic, you might have experienced Feldenkrais in a group class, or in a practitioner’s office. But as those choices are mostly not available today, Zoom is a next best alternative, and a good one.
One attribute of Feldenkrais, and, in the current situation, an advantage, is that Feldenkrais is mostly not demonstrated. It is described. So, you can hear the instructor’s voice while being in the same room, or over the Internet.
An advantage of participating by Zoom is that you enjoy all the comforts of home, and do not have to drive.
The key distinguishing attribute of Feldenkrais is the focus on cultivating awareness. You might say that it is analogous to the agility side of sports training.
Feldenkrais adapts to all skill levels. In any one class, the instructor has the task of shaping a lesson that fits those who are there.
Each Feldenkrais class is an exploration of a movement theme, or possibly of two. A common theme is turning. It can be very enlightening to work through all the components of the simple act of turning to look behind yourself. Another theme is the transition from sitting on the floor to lying down and then back to sitting again. Every joint in the body is called on to participate, and many need some limbering up.
These are every day actions. In a Feldenkrais class they are broken down into parts, explored, and then reassembled. The benefit comes from the process of paying attention, and the increase in ease of action.
At the end of a lesson, when asked if anything feels different, people often say simple things, such as “I feel good.” When pressed for more details, one will say, “I feel more grounded.” And another, “I feel lighter.” And often one person says she experiences both at the same time.
