The Feldenkrais Method and Benefits

Moshe Feldenkrais (Doctor of Science, Sorbonne) was an engineer, physicist, inventor, martial artist and student of human development before he started working on what was later known as The Feldenkrais Method. Born in Eastern Europe, he immigrated to Palestine as a young man. Later he studied at the Sorbonne and worked in the Joliot Curie laboratory in Paris during the 1930s. His interest in Ju Jitsu brought him into contact with Professor Kano who developed the sport of Judo. Dr. Feldenkrais was a founder of the Ju Jitsu Club of Paris and was one of the first Europeans to earn a black belt in Judo.

A knee injury (1940), and uncertain prospects for surgery, started Feldenkrais on what was to become a life long exploration of the relationship between movement and consciousness.

In developing his Feldenkrais Method, Moshe Feldenkrais studied, among other things, anatomy, physiology, child development, movement science, evolution, psychology, a number of Eastern awareness practices and other somatic approaches. He developed a wealth of exercises based on scientific understanding of the relationship between brain, body and movements. Using simple movement sequences he has found breakthrough ways to improve human functioning and achieved what is known today as the Feldenkrais Benefits. Dr. Feldenkrais authored a number of seminal books on movement, learning, human consciousness and somatic experience. He taught in many countries in Europe through the 1960s and 1970s and in North America through the 1970s and 1980s. He trained his first group of teachers in Tel Aviv in the early 1970s. This was followed by two groups in the USA - one group in San Francisco and another in Amherst NY.

During his life Dr. Feldenkrais worked with all kinds of people with an enormous range of learning needs -from infants with Cerebral Palsy to leading performers such as the violinist, the late Yehudi Menuhin and Israel's first prime-minister David Ben-Gurion. He taught over a number of years for Peter Brook and his Theatre Bouffes du Nord. He was a collaborator with thinkers such as anthropologist Margaret Mead, neuroscientist Carl Pribram and explorers of the psychophysical Jean Houston and Robert Masters. Current neurological research repeatedly confirms his theories.

The breadth, vitality and precision of Dr. Feldenkrais' work has seen it applied in diverse fields including neurology, psychology, performing arts, sports and rehabilitation.

New York declared May 2004 as "Feldenkrais Month" to celebrate the date of his 100th birthday.