Does Pain Go Away?
The Feldenkrais Method® teaches—through movement—how we can improve our capabilities to function in our daily lives, whether it’s lifting up a child, working at a computer, or training for the marathon. It helps us move more freely, carry less stress in our bodies, and stop doing things that cause us pain.
People often ask me if my pain has gone away. It has and it hasn't. It comes back. Patterns weave in and out of our lives. It's not that tension will never happen, it will. But we can shift out of it. I can shift out of old habits because new habits are more available, more a part of me. We are amazing in our adaptability. To put it in perspective, some of the clients I work with are:
people who can barely use their arms
people who can't find their balance
people with failed neck surgeries, failed spine surgeries, or both
people whose spines have been crushed
people with severe MS and Parkinson's
people whose skin feels like it's being pulled in all directions so they feel constantly twisted
people who stopped feeling their legs after a near-death reaction to anesthesia
people who've had cancer several times, degenerative disc disease, and cervical stenosis, all at once
people whose pain is so bad they can hardly move
kids with club feet
kids with spina-bifada
kids with sensory perception disorder
Believe it or not, the cause doesn't matter. The base truth is that we are all alive with a nervous system that can learn. My teacher, who passed away recently, used to say, "Just give them a Feldenkrais lesson," which means, just help people move along a continuum toward higher function and greater choice.
Feldenkrais practitioners are trained to educate people about their habits so they can lead fuller lives. We create learning scenarios so that even someone with degenerative disc disease can learn to sit more comfortably and a youngster with a club foot can swing their leg with greater ease.
Aches and pains diminish not because anything has been fixed or healed, but because the habit that supported the painful experience has shifted.
“We first make our habits, then our habits make us.”