History

A Short History of the Feldenkrais Approach to the body’s functional integration using Awareness Through Movement® programs.

Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais (1904-1984)

Moshe Feldenkrais (Doctor of Science, Sorbonne) was an engineer, physicist, inventor, martial artist and student of human development. In developing his work Moshe Feldenkrais studied, among other things, anatomy, physiology, child development, movement science, evolution, psychology, a number of Eastern awareness practices and other somatic approaches and Judo. Dr. Feldenkrais authored a number of seminal books on movement, learning, human consciousness and somatic experience.

He taught in Israel and many countries in Europe through the 1960s and 1970s and in North America through the 1970's and 1980's. The breadth, vitality and precision of Dr. Feldenkrais' work has seen it applied in diverse fields including neurology, psychology, performing arts, sports and rehabilitation.

Below is a historic two minute video of Dr. Feldenkrais

Moshe Feldenkrais’s approach to the body’s functional integration using Awareness Through Movement® programs, is evidenced in the following quotation:

"The advantage of approaching the unity of mental and muscular life through the body lies in the fact that the muscle expression is simpler because it is concrete and easier to locate. It is also incomparably easier to make a person aware of what is happening in the body, therefore the body approach yields faster and more direct results. On acting on the significant parts of the body, such as the eyes, the neck, the breath, or the pelvis, it is easy to effect striking changes of mood on the spot."

Sourced from International Feldenkrais Federation: 

http://feldenkrais-method.org/en/feldenkrais-method

http://feldenkrais-method.org/en/biography 

http://www.feldenkrais.org.au/