Reddingite teaches the Feldenkrais Method

by Donna Christopher
Reprinted from The Redding Pilot
March 20, 2003

To be able to turn the head without wincing, to reach the top shelf, to walk, or even to run, freely are all possible through a series of exercises that help students achieve greater range of movement and increased vitality. The discipline, known as the Feldenkrais Method, is being taught by Reddingite Jody Zacharias.

Classes consist of gentle, pleasurable movements that are accessible to everyone, including senior citizens and people with disabilities. "Anyone who wants to move with more comfort and ease than they already do" will benefit from her classes, said Ms. Zacharias. who "has the challenge of multiple sclerosis."

A bit hard to describe because "it really isn't like anything else," Feldenkrais teaches, through movement, "how we can improve our capabilities to function in our daily lives." she said. In Awareness Through Movement (ATM) lessons, which Ms. Zacharias is certified to teach, the Feldenkrais practitioner verbally guides one through a sequence of movements, sitting or lying on the floor, standing or sitting in a chair.

Web site

A Web site maintained by Feldenkrais Guild of North America turned up the following additional explanation: "You discover how you do the movements and notice the quality of changes in your body. You learn to relax and to abandon habitual patterns. Through the subtle ATM movements, you develop awareness, flexibility and coordination. You experience relaxation and a sense of release."

The objective is for students to learn how to "rely on their skeletal structure for support," diminishing the need for muscular power," Ms. Zacharias explained.

During a recent demonstration class she gave at the Redding Park and Recreation Department, the instructor directed participants through a series of movements or "explorations" that involve thinking, sensing, moving and imagining.

Ms. Zacharias had participants sit at the end of their chairs, with knees spread apart, as they attempted to "realign" their skeletal structure, "Raise your right pelvis to your right shoulder... release. Imagine that you're sitting tall," she said in a slow, steady voice. "Now begin to move your right thigh and knee forward so your right side slides forward and back again (pause), and again, so you can begin to see if it's easier than before (pause) and now you can rest."

Many of the movements, she explained afterward, are based on developmental movements and ordinary functional activities, while others are more abstract explorations of joint, muscle, and postural! relationships that require intense concentration. Lessons gradually evolve to include movements of greater range and complexity.

Some of the students at the introductory class in February reported feeling better after just 20 minutes of exercise.

Reactions

"Now, I'll be interested in any comments you have," said Ms. Zacharias, drawing feedback from Anne Altern, who experiences pain from a broken back she suffered some years before.

"I have a lot of steel In my lower back and felt the 'pelvic clock' was too much for me," she said, referring to the first movement. "If it hurts, slow down or do it smaller. With Feldenkrais, nothing should hurt," Ms. Zacharias cautioned.

Another participant, who preferred not to give her name. said the "tensing back and forth" was "disturbing" because she suffered from sciatic pain in her lower back. The "sliding of the thigh." she added, "felt much better."

"It's interesting," she said to Ms. Zacharias. "that you're doing this subtle movement, yet your whole body is feeling this."

Ms. Altern, who has studied the discipline with a teacher in Westport for the past six months, agreed. She calls it "the non-exercise exercises." Thrilled that classes are being offered locally, the Reddingite said, "When people see how much it helps, they'll want to sign up. It's very effective and has helped relax spasms in my back, relieve pain and make it possible for me to move better,"

The other woman said she'd like to take more classes. "This is the first time in my life that ' I've had chronic pain and am looking for ways to improve my body," she explained. The woman said physical therapy didn't help. "I'd lie on a heat mat for 30 minutes, which I can do in my house. And the rest of the session involves someone else working on me. Here, you can be involved in making yourself feel better."

Background in dance

Ms. Zacharias, who has lived in Redding for 12 years recently completed a three-year program at a school in California. Before that, she spent 25 years in the field of movement, body language and dance therapy. "I've been involved with dance my whole life and studied movement analysis. My world was the study of movement and dance notation," said Ms. Zacharias, who relies on a cane to to steady her walk and keep her balance.

The discovery she has MS came six years ago. Fortunately, she said, "I have the kind of MS that is sticking to one side of my body and it's not affecting other parts of my brain." The hardest part of the disease, she said, is feeling "uncoordinated, broken into parts."

Soon after her diagnosis, she reached out to her "dance community in New York City" and was led to a physical therapist who used Feldenkrais in her practice.

"I'd heard about it and knew what it was, but didn't care about Feldenkrais at the time, but I went to see this woman anyway," recounted Ms. Zacharias, who underwent three years of physical therapy. The therapist encouraged her to study the discipline further. "What I didn't know when I started was how good I was going to feel, I feel coordinated again," she said.

This innovative approach to movement re-education was developed by an internationally known physicist and engineer, Moshe Feldenkrais. He began when he was incapacitated by a sports' injury. Given little chance of ever walking without pain, he applied his mastery of martial arts with his scientific background to restore his own functioning and, later, the functioning of many others. The Feldenkrais approach, long popular in Europe , has now attained world-wide recognition and more can be learned by visiting the Web site, www.Feldenkrais.com.

To find out about classes in Redding, contact Jody Zacharias at 203-521-8585