So how did Moshe Feldenkrais, physicist and judo master come about developing his original method instead of moving on as a talented physicist with a promising future?
We do know about his debilitating injury to his knee and his stubborn, albeit well founded refusal to have conventional treatment with a risky surgery and instead going his own way, experimenting, learning, even meditating on it, using every bit of knowledge and tool at his disposal, including applying psychology and becoming one of the pioneers of mind/body approaches.
“She will dance at her wedding”: Healing the girl born without part of her brain”
The following is annotated excerpt from the full article published on Salon.com on Sunday, March 1, 2015
See how a parent’s nightmare turned into hope by Dr Moshe Feldenkrais’ intervention, continued support and the innovative approach he pioneered, the Feldenkrais Method®, when medical science had no hope or answers.
“A Girl Missing Part of Her Brain”
N Moshe Feldenkrais doing Functional Integration(R) or FI with a young child
“Feldenkrais’s approach can radically change the life even of people who were born missing huge parts of the brain, by facilitating differentiation in the remaining brain areas. Elizabeth, whom I (refers to N Doidge, MD, author) interviewed, was born missing a third of her cerebellum, a part of the brain that helps to coordinate and control the timing of movement, thought, balance, and attention. Without the cerebellum, a person has difficulty controlling all these mental functions. The cerebellum, which means “little brain” in Latin, is about the size of a peach and is tucked under the cerebral hemispheres, toward the back of the brain. Although it occupies only about 10 percent of the brain’s volume, it contains almost 80 percent of the brain’s neurons. The technical name for Elizabeth’s condition is cerebellar hypoplasia, and there was no treatment known to change the course of the illness.”
The case of Elizabeth clearly points out that even a severely damaged brain is plastic, in other words, with proper stimulus, it can grow, learn and regain function, through a method of somatic education, as it was pioneered by dr Moshe Feldenkrais and is known and practiced by Feldenkrais (R) practitioners and eloquently accounted for in Norman Doige’s new book, The Brain’s Way of Healing.
“When she was in the womb, her mother felt there might be a problem, because Elizabeth hardly moved. When Elizabeth was born, she didn’t move her eyes. They flickered and were not properly aligned, gazing in different directions. At one month, they rarely tracked objects. Her parents were terrified she might not see normally. As she developed, it was clear she had a problem with her muscle tonus. At times she was very floppy, meaning she had too little or no muscle tension, but at other times she had too much tension and was “spastic,” making no exploratory, voluntary movements. She received conventional physiotherapy and occupational therapy, but the treatments were painful for her.
Pregnant Pauses is a scientifically proven exercise program that alleviates your pregnancy pain, increases your energy and helps you have a healthier overall pregnancy! It is not about bending or stretching or poses: it is about optimal movement for your changing body. Pregnant Pauses(TM) is based on the ground-working method of the Feldenkrais Somatic Education, originally developed by Moshe Feldenkrais. Continue reading →
Attention school teachers and nurses and all other interested practitioners, a class geared toward your schedule and needs to help you unwind and revitalize after an exhausting day!
A new exciting class offering in Nashua on Tuesday afternoons, where no matter what your current condition or ability, you’ll receive individual attention, a caring presence and will be gently guided through the class toward feeling and functioning better by the end. Continue reading →
Join us for an exciting opportunity to participate in our September offering: the Pelvic Health and Awareness Workshop is coming to Open Space Yoga in Nashua in mid September! Continue reading →
In the following video, recorded at TEDx Talks, professor Dorit Aharanov talks about the issues of learning, finding and implementing new ideas and the challenges of research. She draws a parallel of learning with the Feldenkrais Method(R) – a way somatic learning – reaching goals, extracting potential and quantum computation – her specific field of research -, that is universally applicable to learning, adapting, problem solving (neat math puzzle included) and better overall function in general. Continue reading →
It is a very snowy morning here in New Hampshire, I am stuck at home instead of teaching a morning class, so I decided to have some fun with it and design a mini class for you with a twist: you can yoga in the fresh, beautifully pristine white snow, a New England Winter Special! Continue reading →
Come and experience 3 new morning classes with Zsuzsa at Nashua’s beautiful Open Space Yoga Center, in the heart of downtown.
Immerse yourself in “Iyengar Influenced Hatha” on Monday, come and join us for “Gentle Hatha and Meditation” on Wednesday and explore a new modality through Friday’s “Rejuvenate” a class combining the “Feldenkrais Method’s(R) Awareness through Movement , ATM(R) practice with a mindfulness and restorative element. Continue reading →
Calling on all yogi/dancer/movement enthusiast friends: Come join us for an exuberant, free form, fun class, where you can let your body move with abandon and let your spirit soar.
This class is a truly easy and fun combination of basic yoga moves, lots of dance, guided imagery, group interaction/play, partner work/poses, lots of laughter and an exuberant, joyous celebration of life. It’s an unconventional, ever changing, unscripted dance/yoga/movement class, drawing on many traditions and experiences, as well as Zsuzsa’s many years of creative movement background.
There is no prior yoga or dance experience required, only an adventurous spirit and a sincere desire to laugh, have fun and make friends in the process. We’ll move through the class between quiet and loud, from introspective to interactive, being playful and soulful, move from soft to vibrant and finish happy, complete and content.
Whether you’re 8 or 80, tall or short, skinny or not, this class is for you: come, join the fun! I look forward to guiding you through your happiest, most fun dance yoga class ever!
Your Teacher is Zsuzsa Kovacs, RYT
For more information and to reach Zsuzsa directly you may contact:
moondanceyoga@yahoo.com, http://www.MoonDanceYoga.com
