What brought me to the Feldenkrais Method® was being paralyzed. Due to Guillain-Barre Syndrome in 1986, I was bed- or wheelchair-bound for months. Determined to walk again, I would imagine walking in a familiar area. “Seeing” in my mind the path through the trees, “hearing” the leaves rustling underfoot, “feeling” the wind on my face kept me hopeful of actually walking in the future. I’m sure it also kept the brain connections, the motor memory, intact and helped me learn to move again.
“Movement is life,” said Moshe Feldenkrais.
Yet, at times, we refrain from actually moving in an Awareness Through Movement® class! Why?
This may be another instance in which Dr. Feldenkrais was ahead of his time. Many lessons incorporate imagination or visualization. Rather than actually lifting an arm or sliding a foot, the instruction is to imagine doing so. Often this mental exploration follows actually doing many movement variations on one side of the body. Paying attention to how we move and the parts of ourselves that are involved develops the movement image and, even if not consciously recalled, fills in the visualization on the other side. Such “thinking” activates the motor cortex.
Visualization changes how we move! See more
