Nikhila Ludlow
Feldenkrais Practitioner
Contact Nikhila
“Movement is Life, without Movement, Life is Unthinkable”
- This is a statement made by Dr Moshe Feldenkrais, the founder of the Method: movement is something we generally take for granted, often not stopping to think about it much til we can’t do it so well for whatever reason – sprain an ankle, get a bad back, or are just ‘getting on a bit’.
Something else Dr Feldenkrais said, “When you don’t know how you act, you can’t do what you want...” Through this Method it is possible to recover the natural agility a healthy child has, often in spite of age!
Benefits
The following lists some of the conditions that Feldenkrais has proven positive results for:
- Chronic back problems, back pain, pelvic pain
- Repetitive Strain Injuries - eg Carpal Tunnel syndrome, Tennis Elbow, Frozen Shoulder, etc
- Muscular Tension
- Stress, Anxiety and Depression
- Insomnia
- Arthritis, bursitis and joint inflammation conditions
- Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Stroke, ME, Parkinsons – ie neurological & developmental disorders
- Rehabilitation from surgery
- Rehabilitation from accidents/injury
- Development in existing professional skills, or hobbies
Feldenkrais is grouped with some other therapies under a general heading of ‘Somatic Therapies’. ‘Soma’ is a latin root meaning body.
Feldenkrais engages the body intelligence, it works directly with the nervous system and the brain.
What does it do?
- Relieves pain
- Relieves muscular tension
- Helps easier and fuller breathing
- Relaxing, and improves mental and emotional states
- Improves performance – in sport, dance, the arts or at work
- Helps you Move Better in your Everyday Life
How?
- Through our exploring our habits and patterns in the way we move
- Remember: “If you don’t know how you act, then you can’t do what you want”.
- Using our awareness to observe ourselves in action
- Much improvement takes place simply through attending
- And comparing movements on one side with the other
- Noticing differences
Feldenkrais is taught in two ways:
One is in classes, which are called ‘Awareness Through Movement© ‘ lessons
- Taught lying on the floor, sometimes sitting
- Guided sequence of movements – like a physical riddle
- Each new movement repeated and explored
- Engaging your attention, curiosity - gently and at your own rate - using your awareness to explore the world of your internal sensation
- This awareness enables the release of chronic patterns of tension
- Creating new movement possibilities
And the other is individual sessions, called ‘Functional Integration©’
- For specific & long-standing issues
- ‘How do your habits of movement help you – but also stand in the way of you doing better?
- Discuss
- Lie on low table, fully-clothed
- A non-verbal ‘conversation’ between client and practitioner
- Using touch to support, suggest, encourage and guide
- Each lesson is unique and tailored to your needs
- Increasing self-awareness allows you to find and choose new habits in movement
- Also tends to positively affect the way you think and feel about yourself and your life
Who’s it For?
- Feldenkrais is suitable for all ages and abilities
- My youngest client - 5 months old
- My eldest - 87
- Also used for animals
(note: groupwork usually involves laying on floor)
The philosophies and ideas behind this approach
We develop habits in our movements – Or, In other words, we tend to limit our choices
- Each of us is unique. We move uniquely.
- We develop our own habitual ways of doing things
- Sometimes, these can become the source of our problems
- Using movement, and awareness in the particular way the Feldenkrais does, we can re-educate and expand our range of choices
- Our intelligent nervous system always makes the most efficient choices it can, depending on the information available to it, which comes through life experiences
- - and so, we can replace these old habits with new ones
- Over a period of time, depending on a variety of factors.