Two Teaching Approaches: Functional Integration and Awareness Through Movement

Given that Feldenkrais is basically teaching, or really teaching you-the-teacher to teach yourself, it has two basic paths: hands-on or guided-by-voice movement. The hands-on might look like what would happen if physical therapy made a baby with massage—but it really isn't that. And the movement classes might look a little like a tai chi-yoga conglomeration. But they really aren't that. I think it is probably most accurate to say that the hands-on and the movement classes are each, in a very pleasurable way, mind-clucks. The 'Functional Integration' (the hands-on part) is one-on-one, though I am planning to experiment with that a bit. [I'll write about this when I get to the care-giver/person-living-with-dementia entries.] And the movement lessons—what we call 'Awareness Through Movement'—are usually group lessons.