Feldenkrais method: becoming aware of our body

Modern life tends to lead us towards some very sedentary habits. If you're like most people in the West, even if you feel like you're responding to day-to-day demands in many battlefields (work, family, community, etc.) the truth is that, at the practice, your body is tending to get used to the same movements and the same postures. Let us consider, for example, how many hours a day do we sit down, and what posture our trunk adopts when we do it. Monotony and passivity are constants in the lives of most of our muscle groups, and this is something that takes its toll on our quality of life.

Fortunately, there are ways to reactivate our body to be the versatile and reliable machine that for millennia has been shaped by evolution. Both in the world of fitness and in that of health and medicine, it is becoming increasingly important to expand the possibilities of movement that the sedentary lifestyle has been shortening since our childhood.

He Feldenkrais method is one of these calls to action.

What is the Feldenkrais method?

He Feldenkrais method proposes a way of learning (or relearning) the functioning of one's own body based on movement patterns and the generation of certain mental states. In his sessions, an expert indicates how to perform certain movements while the practitioner performs them and concentrates his attention on them. The objective of this is that the brain registers well the associations between the movements, the muscles that are activated and the sensations that this occurs, so that these movements become part of the habitual repertoire and are performed automatically, without the need to concentrate on them. it.

The main objectives of the Feldenkrais method are improving posture, range of motion, coordination and flexibility, as well as optimizing efficiency in the use of muscle groups.

In short, the Feldenkrais method is a somatic education system that raises the need to get the most out of the possibilities of movement and strength of the body itself, to be able to function in any situation without effort and tension unnecessary.

How it is performed?

There are two basic modalities in which the Feldenkrais method can be followed: group and individually. However, both set the same objectives and both also propose exercises focused on movement and directed attention.

The sessions consist of the repetition of series of movements that are easy to execute. The practitioner usually does this while lying on a mat, although some series are done standing up. During the sessions it is necessary to follow some instructions that refer to both the observable movements and the mental states of the person who practices it, with the basic objective that the attention is totally focused on the movements so that in the future they can be carried out automatically in all kinds of situations that require it. The movements used in the Feldenkrais method do not involve any effort or pain, since the joints and tendons are not suddenly forced.

The fact that the physical (movement) and psychological (attention) aspects are emphasized is a sign of the philosophy of mind from which the Feldenkrais method starts: it assumes a physical and a mental component that must work harmoniously for the whole system (the person) to function as it should. It is a dualistic approach mind-body in which the particularities of each of the two components must be recognized so that both can be well integrated.

Criticism from science

The Feldenkrais method places interesting objectives in its sights from the point of view of fitness and health, taking into account that Many times we understand that good physical shape consists of having a lot of strength and little fat and we ignore issues such as flexibility or energy efficiency.of our movements and postures.

However, and despite the fact that Feldenkrais began his studies on the subject decades ago, It is considered that there is not enough empirical evidence to substantiate its principles with the endorsement of science and that, in any case, more studies are needed to verify its effectiveness. Adding to this the fact that the Feldenkrais method does not raise the need to achieve externally measurable objectives but that situates progress in the subjectivity of the patient (since it is a personal process), often tends to associate it with the pseudoscience and the new age culture.

On the other hand, many of the benefits that the Feldenkrais method is said to have have nothing to do with the functional aspects of the force and movement, since they are rather cognitive aspects, such as the ability to search for new solutions, and even subjective, such as the improved self esteem. These are assumptions that for the moment are based more on theory than on empirical evidence, and that Nor do they emerge from a consolidated theoretical framework.

This does not mean, however, that the practice of the exercises proposed in the Feldenkrais method does not imply any type of benefit. On the one hand, it can be understood that beyond improving or not the range of movement and postural habits, following this system may lead to an increase in satisfaction or contribute other associated positive aspects to the Placebo effect. On the other, too it may also improve some functional and measurable aspects of the human body, and that the lack of independent and well-designed studies on the subject is masking these advantages. We will only know this as more research is done on the Feldenkrais method.