What is
The Feldenkrais Method?

FUnctional integration®
Awareness Through Movement®

The Feldenkrais Method is a powerful system of mind-body re-education. It utilises Awareness Through Movement® classes and Functional Integration® one on one sessions.

“What I’m after isn’t flexible bodies, but flexible brains. What I’m after is to restore each person to their human dignity. ”

 Moshe Feldenkrais

The Feldenkrais Method is a powerful system of mind body re-education. It teaches you to:

  • Do less: reducing effort increases sensitivity which leads to finer improvements
  • Soften your focus: with a softening of attention you become more present to the wider picture
  • Breathe: if breath is restricted, so too is movement
  • Notice self-judgement: we all have an inner critic that gets in the way of how we act and move
  • Harness curiosity to reveal new options and versatility
  • Embrace mistakes as opportunities to explore and expand possibilities
  • Become a process oriented learner and less fixated on the end result
  • Make distinctions: getting specific about what you are doing helps you refine your action
  • Include more of yourself in the movement, to spread load through your system and create ease
These attributes are at the heart of the Feldenkrais practices of Awareness Through Movement and Functional Integration. 

Find out about…

FUnctional integration®
Awareness Through Movement®

FELDENKRAIS METHOD        

Functional
Integration

Functional Integration® is a process of assisting you into your own self awareness. The learning is your own and able to be brought powerfully forward into everyday life.

“What you truly learn best will appear to you later as your own discovery”

 Moshe Feldenkrais

Functional Integration® sessions

During Functional Integration® sessions I work with you to bring your habitual movement patterns to light. The process begins with discussion about what you want and how you experience yourself in movement. This might include specific actions or whole body patterns. 
 
In a typical session you will lie on the bench, in a stable, comfortable and supported environment. I will move you in ways that isolate particular areas of the body and either integrate or differentiate them in context with the whole self. 
 
The movement manipulations used are light and gentle so you are assisted to sense yourself and improve self awareness. This greater sense of awareness is key to making improvements. 
The Feldenkrais Method is not about “fixing” you or finding a cure. It is an exploration process that leads to improvement. There is no limit to improvement, whereas “fixes” are locked in an idea of what is best.
 
The process is particularly helpful in broadening movement options where the burdens of stress or injury have occurred. Uncovering movement possibilities that were previously unknown can take the pressure off the known pathways that have become aggravated. In this way we can restore ease and comfort to your stressed system.
 
Functional Integration is incredibly broad in its application. It is as helpful to the elite athlete in the pursuit of refined action as it is to the older person looking for a way to safely rise from a chair. 

Contact form

If you would like some more information, or a conversation about how this method may benefit you, please use this handy form.

I will respond according to your preference of email or phone. 

I will always have a conversation with a new client before an initial consultation. So please feel free to fill in the form even if you are unsure. 

Simon

    I would like to book a sessionI am interested in finding out more before I book a session

    I have had Functional Integration previouslyI have attended an Awareness Through Movement class previouslyI would like to join the Simon Slieker Somatic Education email list

    Find out about…

    Awareness Through Movement®

    FELDENKRAIS METHOD        

    Awareness Through Movement

    Awareness Through Movement® classes provide the opportunity to catch ourselves in “the act” of habitual movement. Put more precisely, we catch ourselves in the very small but vast space between “the act” and the intention to act. This is the key to unlocking unconscious habits so we may observe, unpack, adapt and adopt.

    “If you know what you are doing you can do what you want”

    Moshe Feldenkrais

    Awareness Through Movement® classes

    Consider yourself. You have a whole lot of physical capabilities. You can roll, sit, stand and walk. What if I were to ask how well you do any of these? Do you know? Or do you do them as well as when you first learnt each action?

    Consider the myriad actions you perform on a daily basis. Wouldn’t it be useful  to be able to self evaluate how well you do them and to be able to adjust accordingly?
     

    Awareness Through Movement classes are a way of training the awareness with which continual improvement can be made. With it life becomes ever more a journey into ease of movement.

    I lead classes by verbal instruction, letting a movement sequence slowly and gently unfold. You have time to explore and experience yourself in movement at each step. Your system calms as you enter a state of curious investigation. As you begin to sense yourself you start making distinctions about what is easy, comfortable, difficult or effortful. 

    Through making distinctions for yourself you are able to put together a clear image of the movement and how you can engage in it to your best advantage. And so a picture is formed, an enhanced self image that is able to be brought into action.

     

    Find out about…

    Services & Pricing
    Classes
    back to top