This is a 20 min chat about how 2 long standing students of the method have found it. I get the ball rolling and occasionally interrupt but basically its their take. http://www.feldenkraisworks.co.uk/maria-and-julia-chat-about-feldenkrais/
It’s a truism to say that the way we feel affects the things we do, but the fact is inescapable. I see it dampen possibilities in every rehearsal and in every workshop, as people struggle with what they want to do, and what they think they can’t. Old habits, old movement patterns – some as old as childhood – are imprinted on our minds and re-released in the way we move. Feldenkrais is unique in my experience in interceding between the glib personal assumptions we make about ourselves, and our actual potential.
Before I started doing Feldenkrais, I used to think that to make any progress in movement work, it had to hurt. No pain – no gain was the prevailing culture in my previous training, but Feldenkrais continually teaches me that the reverse is true: If you feel the pain, there’ll be no gain. It’s the essential lesson of less doing more, where the journey is more important than the arrival, and where the desire to achieve is the greatest obstacle to doing anything.
In my experience, this reckless economy starts with the rediscovery of simple functional movement such as the journey from lying to standing, or from walking to running, and running to jumping.But the implications of the work go way beyond this. I feel less fatigue, when I’ve done some Feldenkrais, and big new challenges fall into more comfortable proportions. I think more clearly. I’m more aware; more present, yet at the same time, more objective. I feel as if my ego has been switched off, and find it easier to take on new ideas, to do something different – something else.
I haven’t found any other movement study that opens up such a rich and continuing area of enquiry. It’s as if I’m taken back to the place that nature intended me to be, rather than keeping me at the place where life has left me. And all this through the gentle art of teaching yourself not to try.
Thank you Victoria Worsley. Thank you Christopher Connelly. Thank you Monika Pagneux, and thanks a million Moshe Feldenkrais.”
John Wright (Theatre Director)
I was lucky enough to be introduced to the Feldenkrais Method by an enlightened lecturer at university 25 years back, where I was studying music, when it was very little known about here.
I am now a professional violinist of over 20 years and it has been invaluable to me to be able to return to Feldenkrais at regular intervals. My job involves many hours of very detailed and repeated movements, in a rather unnatural position which can put lots of strain on specific parts of the body (particularly hands, neck, shoulders).
I find the excercises of Feldenkrais Method a very clear, simple, gentle way of asking what I am doing and discovering new ways that my body can work as a whole to ease and aid the very specific things I have to do when I play – it can ease the tension of playing in a very practical way.
And with Victoria I have found a teacher whose classes have a real clarity and focus in a very welcoming, supportive environment.”
Glen Sheldon(Violinist)
The Feldenkrais method and Victoria’s work have truly been life changing for me. After one year of regular Feldenkrais I am pain free, following twelve years of debilitating back problems that had inhibited all day to day life. I have a range and ease of movement I never thought possible. It’s a moving experience to wake up in the morning without pain. I cannot recommend Victoria highly enough.”
I have found Victoria’s way with the Feldenkrais method to be deeply unusual, in that there is no ‘one right way’. There are no rules to follow or postures to copy – it is orientated only to the growing map of sensation in ones own body. We navigate using own private experience – without striving, stretching or pushing. This makes for a gentle, compassionate method where we meet our experience in a spirit of curiosity and enquiry. She teaches how we might unfold this new body relationship. Listening ensues. Ease begins – and then magic.”
Anna Johnson, teacher
Since I have been going to Victoria’s Feldenkrais classes I have been reconnected with my feet and legs. I had too many painful problems with those. For years I just ignored them. I just flew. After a few classes I realized that I had tried to be a bird, it was too painful to walk. My whole body had tried to adapt unsuccesfully to this situation. Thank you Victoria with your classes, you have helped me to reconnect and work out how to use my whole body again to walk with the pleasure I was used. I still have aches and pains, but much less.”
Pien Maltz-Klaar
Victoria is the rocking the Feldenkrais main stage with an escort about to arrive taking her to the Moshe hall of fame. Get involved in her classes. It will change your life for the better” -Henry Garrett / Sound Engineer / London or “The Feldenkrais technique has had a positive impact on all areas of my life. I would highly recommend it to anyone in any field. I have found Victoria to be a fantastic teacher in both group and 1 on 1 sessions. She is extremely clear and seems to make everyone feel comfortable and at ease in the lessons.”
Henry Garrett / Horse Wrangler / Neath
I have been attending Victoria Worsley’s weekly Feldenkrais classes for over a year.. I have had a stiff neck and lower back pains for years, massage helped but didn’t last. I finally found Vic’s once a weeks classes. The difference in my body is profound, it feels as if slowly all the muscles, bones, elements of my body are being put back in the right order! It has helped in my performance work and with looking after the children, I get up in the morning and I don’t creak! Unfortunately before Christmas I had to miss a few sessions due to rehearsals and when I was able to return my back felt like a mountain range trying to lie flat but by the end of the class, I was relaxed, my breathing was relaxed and my body felt like it was melting into the ground. Upon standing, I was far more grounded, my legs and back felt stronger and I had a neck! I would recommend these classes to anyone from any walk of life, they cannot fail to relax you and strengthen you all at the same time, yes in me they have achieved the impossible! “
Sarita Eames (Crouch End)
“It was a very interesting experience for me with an unexpected result – because I really had no idea what to expect. The pain in my back which I came to you (Victoria) with has not returned, which as a fitness instructor is brilliant because it was affecting my work. I think the whole approach is particularly good as it seemed to be about empowering the individual to help themselves ultimately, through sessions with you and what can be learnt at them.”
Fran (YMCA Fitness Instructor)
“These sessions are invaluable to the progress I am making with my running – I noticed an improvement straight after the first one. Victoria has helped me to develop an awareness in my walking and running which is definitely helping to diminish my ankle pain.”</span>
Carolyn Baker (Crouch End)
“The session was both relaxing and stimulating. I felt very comfortable with Victoria and found her very easy to talk to. I was conscious of the realignment for quite some time afterwards – days if not weeks! My knee was painful immediately afterwards but the pain had disappeared completely by the next day – and apart from a few twinges it hasn’t returned.”
Margaret Cheng (Crouch End)
“Since doing Feldenkrais classes and workshops I have noticed an increased range of movement in my back neck and shoulders and alleviation of lower back pain and neck and shoulder tension. Also a noticeably heightened awareness in general while moving i.e walking, running, sitting, standing. My body feels more free and less heavy – all that from rolling around on the floor making small subtle movements. But also on a general well being level, I have developed a more positive attitude as well as more confidence, energy and focus. I would recommend it to anyone from any walk of life seeking to learn and re-educate themselves into a better, comfortable and more harmonious way of being.”
Karen Cartwright (Crouch End)
“After the Feldenkrais class I always have a really good night’s sleep and have a lot of energy the next day. I originally came to Feldenkrais because of RSI in my shoulder. Not only does it minimise the pain but it maintains the mobility of my shoulder. It is my weekly respite from a very busy week!”
Doe Warnes (Crouch End)
“Having had 2 children in quick succession and particularly carrying a toddler around while heavily pregnant, I had a recurring lower back problem. I saw an osteopath twice while pregnant but the problem never seemed to be solved. Then Vic introduced me to the world of Feldenkrais. The first time was when my back was so bad, I could barely walk and I felt immediate relief. I continued to have hourly sessions over several weeks which had amazing results. My posture completely changed and I learnt a great deal about how to correct it myself. I would thoroughly recommend Vic and Feldenkrais to anybody who is either suffering trauma through injury as well as correcting a long suffering ache or pain.”
Charmian Denison (Crouch End)
“As a long term migraine sufferer and jeweller who spends lots of time hunched over a bench, private feldenkrais sessions with Victoria helped my posture and migraines, also reducing the many visits I used to make to the osteopath. After a day at Victoria’s feldenkrais workshops I always notice a remarkable improvement in my posture, and I sleep really well that night too.”
Michelle Krausz (NE London)
“I went to see Victoria Worsley for ‘hands-on’ Feldenkrais in the hope that she could treat my ankle. After spraining it on successive occasions, it had become very weak and at the time I commenced sessions with Victoria, it was giving way frequently as well as being very painful. After only four sessions it stopped hurting and even better, it completely stopped giving way. As well as being an excellent Feldenkrais teacher, Victoria is a brilliant ‘hands-on’ practitioner.”
Bethea Jenner (Wood Green)
“I was first diagnosed with what is effectively scoliosis of the spine in my Teens. As a child I had always had a certain amount of joint pain and muscular problems and headaches.
During certain times of my adult life these symptoms would wax and wane a bit but were always underlying and would manifest themselves with severe debilitating migraines. I have tried different methods to manage the problem of dealing with chronic pain. In the end Osteopathy was my preferred way of making myself more comfortable and easing my symptoms.
Last year I went through another bad patch and as I am getting older and my energy levels getting lower I felt unable to cope. Also a diagnosis of osteoporosis meant that manipulation would become more problematic. I had a realization that although osteopathy was of great benefit it was in essence only maintenance and was not addressing the core problem of how I held my body, the muscular tension that stemmed from this.
I have now been seeing Victoria fairly regularly for about nine months and already feel the benefits of the Feldenkrais technique. Victoria brings to my awareness the habits I have established to maintain the status quo i.e. sustain being in pain. With Victoria we have examined how I stand, walk and ultimately think about my body and also looked at the somatic aspects of any emotional trauma. This has made more me more aware of how I had adopted habits that actually ensure that I still have neck/back pain and therefore frequent headaches. Victoria has brought a new healthier awareness of how my body works and how I can relax within the imbalance of my physique. I feel very positive that I will be able to find a way of being virtually migraine and pain free”
Josie Ingram