Even though I am a Feldenkrais method practitioners and have gone through the full 4 year training I still find it hard to find the right words to describe the method. Today I was listening to a lesson by one of the persons I had during my training, and he mentioned that he was asked during one of his group classes “what is this work about?”. He said that he gave a quick answer, which was; that the method helps us “to make our lives easier and more comfortable”. The person who has asked the question was satisfied with the answer, but Alan Questel (the Feldenkrais trainer’s name) was not. He thought about it for a week and came up with this definition. The Feldenkrais method is “to learn to struggle well, because life is not always easy and comfortable”. These answers are not easy understandable ones like gaining muscle strength and becoming more flexible. The method is much more profound and affects us on many levels. It allows us to question ourselves and the way we live at all moments. Alan says at one point, “why do we wait until we are uncomfortable to move and become more comfortable?”. This is a fair point and expresses clearly how we choose to live our lives, we do not say to ourselves ” I feel very comfortable, but I wonder how I could adjust myself to feel even more comfortable!”. So to get back to defining the Feldenkrais method, I was thinking of different definitions which I will enumerated below. I will keep adding to the list as I come up with more definitions: 1. The Feldenkrais method gives us the tools to use more of ourselves by noticing small differences as we move in non habitual ways. 2. The Feldenkrais method allows us to see where we have limited ourselves through poor posture and habitual non conscious choices, and through conscious non habitual movement sequences expand our self image and improve our function as well as making choice an option again.
Gost Paleo Barefoot Shoes
The Joy of Minimalist Barefoot Shoes
My wife who is a barefoot running enthusiast received an email from a company that makes very interesting shoes. They are made from stainless steel chain links, like the armours of yore. The founder of Gost Barefoot shoes, Jorg sent her a pair to test. She tested them out and I found them very interesting, but they were too small for me to try as her feet are much smaller than mine.
Some time later Jorg contacted my wife and asked her if she knew any men who could test these unique “shoes” out, so I volunteered. Jorg sent me a pair to test out. I knew that these barefoot “shoes” would be very interesting for me to try out. I am a Feldenkrais practitioner and movement educator. The Feldenkrais method is all about awareness and the brain and I knew that these “shoes” would offer my brain a very unique experience! So the sensory aspect that the “shoes” offers attracted me. 
There was also another aspect of the shoes that interested me and that is the visual aspect. These barefoot “shoes” are visually striking and do not leave you indifferent. I decided today to take them to work and wear them all day. When I arrived at work the first thing that I noticed is that these shoes are best suited to natural surfaces and not man made smooth surfaces like a tiled floor. I guess a carpet would be fine though. The smooth floor altered my gait a little, so much so that a friend pointed out that I walked differently. 
I then pointed to my feet and showed everyone around the “shoes” They were are very curious and even envious of the them. They wanted to know what they were made of, where you could buy them, if they were comfortable. Some asked if they were for scuba diving to walk on the coral reefs, others as protection from chain saws. One thing is sure, they left no one indifferent, I allowed some who had a similar sized foot to try them out and they were surprised by the sensations. 
I think that the concept is a very good one, they make you look medieval and unique and they offer a unique sensory experience. Your feet can breath, sense the ground and are protected from sharp small stones and pebbles. The sand goes in and straight out when you walk on sand. I will repeat this “social” experiment again soon in a different context.
To conclude if you are interested in barefoot shoes and barefoot running I do recommend that you consider these innovative “shoes”. I enjoyed trying out the Gost barefoot shoes and also enjoyed all the attention they attracted!
The Feldenkrais Method explained in a very interesting way on Ted x
The Feldenkrais Method Learning Principles
I find it rather difficult to explain how the Feldenkrais method works. I have my ways of explaining the pricinciples behind it but am always happy when I find someone who can explain it well and clearly. I found this Ted-X video on Youtube by Professor Dorit Aharonov that does a good job at explaining the principles behind the method of learning behind the Feldenkrais method. She lays out 4 principles that she illustrates by an example. The 4 principles are the following: 1. Start within your comfort zone and make it even more comfortable. 2. Not too easy, not too hard: Pick an interesting challenge within reach. 3. Move away from your desired place, and come back to it from different angles. 4. Play with it, connect it to other things you know, make it your own.the genius of barefoot running - is man born to run - how the feldenkrais method fits in
Barefoot Running and the Feldenkrais Method The first time I heard of a tribe that has a very different attitude to life than we do was in 1992. It was a recording of a lecture given by Dr. Deepak Chopra. He talked of the body mind and how our mindset determined the way we lived and died. He said that a tribe existed in Mexico that had running at its core and that an 80 year old ran faster and farther than a 20 year old. He pointed out that in our society a 20 year old is considered at his peak and that an 80 year old is considered worn out and at the end of his. But this tribe had things the other way around. You got stronger as you aged and theirThe Evolution of the Brain and the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education
Moshe Feldenkrais And The Central Nervous System Moshe Feldenkrais was very interested in Neuroscience and the evolution of the human brain. He liked to bounce ideas off the experts of his day to test his own theories. He was a big believer in the power of our central nervous system to learn and this made up the foundation of the system that has come to be known as the Feldenkrais method of somatic education. Simple worms are closet brainiacs 14 March 2012 by Michael Marshall Magazine issue 2856. Subscribe and save For similar stories, visit the The Human Brain and Evolution Topic Guides DON’TFeldenkrais Method Of Somatic Movement Education
Feldenkrais Movement Education - The Feldenkrais Method
The lower part of our spine is strong, but as it bears all the weight, it is also mechanically vulnerable. Having all of our weight carried high gives us a great deal of agility but causes mechanical stress on the lower back and spine. People have found many ingenious techniques to deal with the problem of back pain.
To relieve the lower back pain that he was cursed with, man has utilized all types of tools and methods, he invented massage, bone setting and acupuncture to name but a few. However , more often than not the actual functional and mechanical “cause” of the problem is not dealt with and mainly the results of these are investigated and “treated”.
Every technique I know that proposes to treat lower back pain in a serious way gives some attention to the root cause of the problem, however, not enough in my opinion. The problem with all these techniques that do not go far enough in looking at the “root cause” of the problem is that they do not give a permanent solution.
Re-establishing functional balance is what the Feldenkrais Method aims at. It aims at extending the repertoire of movements so that the person now has a choice and can go about living everyday life in “movement diversity” and not always repeat mechanically the same painful movements that end up being harmful to the spine and inflicting great pain.
Throughout childhood we tend to be more flexible, but as adults we restrict ourselves a lot and become fixed in our ways. We have made choices and use a very small palette of movements to go about life. As babies we had an “infinite” movement potential and virtually an limitless number of movements to chose from, and by experimenting we came to chose a certain way of moving over others and finally honed it down to a limited vocabulary.
The habits we develop in our movements and the repetitive nature of those movements that are very often not optimal is in large part responsible for most of our aches and pains. Low back pain and bone and joint pain may be a result of life threatening diseases, but once that has been discounted the actual cause of the pain more often than not is bad use of self.
Inefficient movement seems to be the norm, we can through awareness learn to make our movements more functional and more efficient. The Feldenkrais method deals with this by offering alternatives. This change is brought about by playfully exploring different movement possibilities and doing fun and challenging moves with ones body.
The group lessons that are taught by a Feldenkrais practitioner are called Awareness Through Movement lessons. These lessons or ATMs are practiced mainly on a soft carpet on the floor. If you do enough of these you will begin to expand your own body awareness and movement repertoire.
There are trained Feldenkrais practitioners all over the world and in every state in the U.S. If you do not have one you can find a practitioner near you, you can find recorded lessons online in MP3 format that you can download and do.
Feldenkrais Method Of Somatic Education
The Feldenkrais Method
The Feldenkrais method was found by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais. What is very interesting about this method is the fact that it is aimed at changing ones “bad” habits and replacing them with more functional ones. This is achieved through bringing ones conscious awareness to the way we move. He developed a series of moevements that are called Awareness Through Movement. These series of movements or lessons are practiced in groups on a soft carpet on the floor. The class is guided through a series of movements by a Feldenkrais practitioner. Each person is invited to explore these movements and “learn” about their own bodies. They are like exploreres exploring an unknown country and mapping it out. This “map” that they are creating will then be integrated over time and have an effect on the way they move and go about life. You can learn more about this method from this website What Is Feldenkrais you can also go to this Facebook page to learn more, What Is Feldenkrais. Wikipedia is a good place to get infromation also. You can access that Here.
