Monthly Archives: February 2015

Norman Doidge

There has been a great deal of excitment over the last few weeks amongst the Feldenkrais community with the publication of Norman Doidge’s new book, “The Brain’s Way of Healing”. Doidge is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst whose previous book “The Brain that Changes Itself” has sold over a million copies worldwide. Doidge is interested in the phenomenon of neuroplasticity – the recent discovery that the brain can change its own structure and function in response to experience. How does this affect us? Well, it means that it is possible to re-awaken lost physical and mental function through movement and reverse conditions thought to be irreversible. The Feldenkrais Method takes up two large chapters of Norman Doidge’s book where he first describes the development of Moshe Feldenkrais’ ideas and experiments and then details specific cases where Moshe and his students worked with severely damaged clients to bring about astonishing improvements in physical and mental development. The book is written is a easy, accessible format that will not please some scientific communities but it means that the notion of neuroplasticity can be readily understood by anyone reading this work. For the Feldenkrais community, we are happy to receive such detailed recognition by an acclaimed author.

Finding greater flexibility…

Had a very enjoyable class yesterday at Breathe Pilates where we explored flexibility in ankles and feet which is so important for supporting movement in the whole body and giving knees some much needed help! This month we’re going to develop the theme of flexibility in feet, ankles and knees and how we can integrate the whole body in this.

Feldenkrais for Dummies

This morning I’ve been listening to this excellent programme from Australia’s ABC network “The Body Sphere”. It contains one of the clearest explanations of The Feldenkrais Method and also has an interview with Dr Frank Wildman who wrote “The Busy Person’s Guide to Easier Movement” – a publication I recommend to anyone interested in an introduction to The Method.

New weekday class starting soon

We’ve just added a new class to the Feldenkrais timetable – Thursdays from 17.45-18.45 at Breathe Pilates. These will start on 19 February and run until Easter. Use the booking form on the Classes page to book either a single class or a block of classes. £9.50 for a single class or £35 for a block of four. See you there!

Snow business

Apparently another blast of snow is heading our way so be prepared when you go out with those brooms and shovels. I’ve seen quite a few people during January with sore shoulders and backs from sweeping and digging – working with the whole body and using the strength of your rib cage to help you swing that shovel will avoid unnecessary strain on your lower back and arms.