FUNCTIONAL
INTEGRATION®
PRIVATE LESSONS in the Feldenkrais Method® are called
Functional Integration®
One~on~one sessions using gentle,
non~invasive touch & verbal instruction guiding the
student in personalized movement processes.
Lessons, as they are called, are done with the
client, fully clothed, on a work table. Depending on the
function(s) being addressed, the client may be lying,
sitting or even standing. Through touch, the Feldenkrais
Practitioner partially discloses or hints at a functional
motor pattern & the client's nervous system responds
with altered muscular responses. In order to achieve the
goals of learning rather than conditioning, the
practitioner & the 'learner' must be engaged in a
highly sensitive kinesthetic rapport. The practitioner
must be ready to adapt his/her sensory cues to the
learner's ability to use the input at any given moment.
A Functional Integration® lesson is always an intelligent
improvisation on a theme, a kinesthetic conversation in
which response determines next input, rather than a
predetermined lesson or pattern. Gradually, with
entrainment of the whole skeleton into participation with
the function, the client synthesizes, mostly at an
unconscious level, a new neuromuscular pattern of
movement. The altered neuromuscular responses catch the
client by surprise & change is therefore experienced
as effortless ~ not based on conscious correction or
exertion of will.
Who Can Benefit from Functional Integration®
lessons?
Functional Integration® is appropriate for those whose
movement is limited or compromised by poor mechanics as
well as by a variety of organic causes. Feldenkrais®
Practitioners do not treat organic damage, degenerations
or inflammations. We simply guide the client to
reorganize his/her movement pattens in ways which respect
their organic limitations. We make the observation that
when this happens, pain which had been attributed to the
organic causes often either disappears or is
significantly decreased.
A series of Functional Integration® lessons results in
re~organized body movement, re~organized posture as well
as a heightened sense of self~direction in movement. In
experiential language this translates into: decreased
pain, increased flexibility, better posture, a sense of
the whole body working together, increased mobility &
a greater sense of confidence in all daily movements.
Clients are much more able to make kinesthetic
distinctions, therefore, they begin to be able to feel
& recognize movements which are detrimental to their
system as well as activities which benefit them. Clients
become empowered via their bodies.
What I'm after isn't
flexible bodies but flexible brains.
What I'm after is to restore each person to their human
dignity.
Moshe
Feldenkrais