Once every few weeks I search the Internet for writings about Feldenkrais. And every time I set out to do so I mourn that so little is written. 

However- sometimes I do find pretty good stuff. Larry Goldfarb for example, a wizard with words. I do enjoy foraging his blog. In his post from October 19, 2022, titled “A global approach” Larry translated a flight of speech from French to English, originally written by Feldenkrais teacher François Combeau—of whom’s text Larry wrote “is a beautiful expression of the perspective that informs Moshe’s method.” But see for yourself, here’s the quote, first the original by François Combeau, then the translation by Larry Goldfarb:

“Ce que nous appelons «Méthode Feldenkrais» est une approche globale de la personne et de son fonctionnement. Elle ne cherche pas à identifier et isoler un trouble spécifique de la personne toute entière dans sa façon d’agir, penser et se comporter dans l’environnement. Elle n’a pas comme propos de récupérer un trouble, réduire et gommer une pathologie. Elle cherche plutôt à nous faire bouger, redévelopper la capacité à apprendre, à s’ajuster, s’organiser dans l’action d’une façon plus fonctionnelle et respectueuse de notre structure et de ses règles de fonctionnements.”

“What we call the Feldenkrais Method is a global approach to the person and their functioning. It does not seek to identify and isolate a specific disorder of the whole person in their way of acting, thinking, and behaving in the environment. It is not about recovering from an affliction or reducing and erasing a pathology. Instead, it seeks to get us moving, to redevelop the ability to learn, to adjust, to organize ourselves in action in a more functional way, one that respects our structure and its operating rules.”

Well- Larry has an affinity with words. And I guess fiddling with aforementioned paragraph lit his fire, maybe a bit too much so. I guess he was dazzled, charmed and bewitched by the skilful concatenation of mighty impressive words… and how someone was able to vacuum pack them into a syntactically and semantically correct paragraph that seem to ring true. And the comments agreed.

But I don’t. I don’t think it’s true. And I believe this makes everything better. To disagree is the bane of modern society, and our saving grace. I believe and therefore I speak:

“What we call the Feldenkrais Method is a global approach to the person and their functioning.”

Global means including or affecting the whole world. And in this case it’s probably a metaphor (or simile or something) and means relating to or embracing the whole of a person.

The Feldenkrais Method, however, is not a global approach. It leaves out many aspects to a person. For example it does not include diet and nutrition, which comprises a large part of a person’s thinking, behaviour, health and physical constitution. For example, it does not include rote drills, scheduled repetition and habit forming, which are part of how humans learn and function. One last example: there’s no lessons of Moshé Feldenkrais that challenge and develop a person’s cardiovascular fitness as in aerobic and anaerobic capacity. 

However, there’s good reasons why those and many other aspects are excluded, and this means that it’s not a global approach. Quite to the contrary, the lessons of Moshé Feldenkrais do address quite specific aspects of a person, with quite distinguishable characteristics. An experienced Feldenkrais scholar might be able to tell within seconds if something is in the spirit or “of the perspective that informed” Moshé Feldenkrais’s work, or if something is not.

“It does not seek to identify and isolate a specific disorder of the whole person in their way of acting, thinking, and behaving in the environment.”

Quite the opposite! A Feldenkrais teacher’s skill is defined by his ability to pinpoint, to identify and to isolate—and also to be able to identify and isolate specific disorders. To be able to see, to sense, to feel, to put things into words. 

Isn’t this the very definition of becoming aware of something? To be able to see something specific and even more than that, put it in words? To locate it’s position in a whole? And even more so, to know it in movement! Everyone can tap in the dark, but a Feldenkrais practitioner is in possession of a ever growing map and a decent flashlight.

“It is not about recovering from an affliction or reducing and erasing a pathology.”

And yet, it is! It’s what keeps the lights on, what pays the rent. It’s what backed Moshé Feldenkrais’s talking and the reason why people paid him a fortune to study with him.

But of course, Moshé Feldenkrais did not fail his students when he made this tall promise in Dallas 1981: “Whatever you thought your reason was to see me and whatever you thought you will get from my lessons, you will get more than that.”

“Instead, it seeks to get us moving, to redevelop the ability to learn, to adjust, to organize ourselves in action in a more functional way, one that respects our structure and its operating rules.”

I don’t know about the “operating rules,” but I too fancy this last sentence. I would put “improve” instead of “redevelop”, and “allow ourselves to self-calibrate” instead of “adjust”. But this is improvement work, fine-tuning, and not distinguished critique. Right on Larry Goldfarb, thank you for your inspiration. 

Next! Who else has written something about their experience with (or thinking about) work that was inspired by Moshé Feldenkrais? Who will tickle my fancy? —I hope I was able to tickle yours.