Awareness Through Movement®:
A Moving Method for Living
by Kelli Tonko
Published in Twin Cities Wellness magazine

Awareness Through Movement is a mindful approach to moving that leads to better organization with less strain and more choice. In Awareness Through Movement classes students are guided through specific sequences of movement in order to bring awareness to their habitual movement patterns and introduce new options for organizing oneself in action. Developed by Moshe Feldenkrais, physicist, engineer and judo master, in the late 1940's, The Feldenkrais Method® has two avenues of learning. The first is the group movement class called Awareness Through Movement and the second is Functional Integration® the private hands-on work of The Feldenkrais Method. Moshe Feldenkrais developed these methods of self-awareness and movement refinement from his extensive knowledge of human development, neurology, engineering and eastern movement practices. Combining this knowledge, he developed a process of working with the nervous system to expand potential by addressing the process of learning itself. How is it we come to move the way we do? How is it we develop poor habits of moving over our lifetime and relinquish our ability to move/think with responsiveness and adaptability to change? This is at the core of the Feldenkrais Method and the crux for provoking change in our movement potential.

Awareness Through Movement (ATM) classes benefit people of all ages and physical conditions. High-level performers, such as athletes, dancers and musicians, all use the Feldenkrais Method to reach new levels of performance with greater clarity of function and refinement of their movement potential. Those with chronic tension, pain and injuries also use ATM classes. The classes enable them to learn better use of themselves in order to dissolve current physical strains and prevent future injuries. The beauty of an ATM class is that the outcomes are individual. Everyone learns more about how they move and are given options to find new pathways, to approach the movement with less effort and open movement possibilities that were previously thought unreachable.

The uniqueness of the Feldenkrais Method is in the approach. As a culture we tend to think all is gained through straining ourselves physically and mentally. But that is not an optimal learning environment for change. In order for the nervous system to adopt new patterns of moving the new patterns must be perceived as pleasant and also must prove more efficient than the old patterns. That is why the approach to each ATM lesson is slow, gentle and attentive. There are literally thousands of ATM lessons created by Moshe Feldenkrais. These lessons range from small, gentle movements to larger more complex sequences. Throughout students are encouraged to attend to their comfort level and not push to the limits of their movement. By moving with awareness to one's overall comfort and attending to the variety of possibilitites rather than repeating a movement over and over with force, the nervous system is invited to experience new ways of moving without strain and injury. Learning by exploring alternatives in an easy and pleasant way is a process the nervous system will effortlessly receive. This is evident in watching a young infant learning the art of moving. An infant doesn't gain the strength to crawl, stand and walk through mindless, forceful repetitions. They gain their ability and coordination through trail and error and continued exploration. They learn to navigate and locomote through a curiosity to seek out objects in their environment and find the path of least resistance. Moshe Feldenkrais once said, "What I'm after isn't flexible bodies but flexible brains. What I'm after is to restore each person to their human dignity." Young children are beautiful examples of flexible brains, curious movers and individuals with awesome movement potential. In addressing how we move we address the patterns of our whole self. How it is we navigate through our lives, in movement and in thought. Having clarity of movement clarifies more than just our movement. As sensing, thinking and feeling are inseparable from movement a change in one's movement patterns inevitably results in changes in all other areas.

"Movement is life. Life is a process. Improve the quality of the process and you improve the quality of life itself."
– Moshe Feldenkrais

Awareness Through Movement classes enable us all to restore a biological optimism that seeks to engage in the world and perceive with greater kinesthetic curiosity. A biological optimism and adaptability that results in not only better posture, breathing and ease of movement but also a more flexible mind and ability to step out of our habitual responses in life and create new options for living the life we want.

Kelli Tonko is a Guild-Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner. She teaches ATM at The Marsh: A Center for Balance and Fitness and other locations throughout the Twin Cities. She also maintains a private practice in Feldenkrais Functional Integration¨ working with a diverse clientele ranging from dancers, athletes and equestrians to senior citizens, breastcancer survivors and children with cerebral palsy. She can be reached at 612.926.7503 or www.feldenkraismovementcenter.com

Articles by other Feldenkrais Practitioners/Trainers:

The Feldenkrais Method: An Introduction
–Alan Questel
www.feldenkrais.com/questel1.html

Learning How to Learn –Dennis Leri

"Ouch!" Dancers find a path out of pain with the Feldenkrais Method
–Nancy Galeota-Wozny
www.feldenkraisnyc.com/DM2002_FK_web.pdf

Interview with Alan Questel on the applications of the Feldenkrais Method for Actors
–Tommie St. Cyr
www.feldenkrais.com/questel2.html

Article on the Applications of the Feldenkrais Method for Muscians
–Adam Cole
www.feldenkraisinfo.com/my%20eyes%20uncover%20my%20hands.htm