Feldenkrais Method

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Feldenkrais Method is a type of

exercise therapy devised by Israeli Moshé Feldenkrais (1904–1984) during the mid-20th century. The method is claimed to reorganize connections between the brain and body and so improve body movement and psychological state.[1][2]

Although there is no medical evidence that the Feldenkrais method improves health outcomes or if it is a cost-effective treatment option,[3] researchers do not believe it poses serious risks.[2]

Description

Students at the San Francisco Feldenkrais Practitioner Training doing an Awareness Through Movement lesson (1975)

The Feldenkrais Method is a type of alternative exercise therapy that proponents claim can repair impaired connections between the

autism, and people with multiple sclerosis. However, no studies in which participants were clearly identified as having an autism spectrum disorder or developmental disabilities have been presented to back these claims.[6]

Feldenkrais lessons have two types, one verbally guided and practiced in groups, called Awareness Through Movement and one hands-on and practiced one-to-one called Functional Integration.[7]

Effectiveness and reception

In 2015, the

Australian Government's Department of Health published the results of a review of 17 natural therapies that sought to determine which would continue being covered by health insurance; the Feldenkrais Method was one of 16 therapies for which no clear evidence of effectiveness was found. [3] Accordingly in 2017 the Australian government identified the Feldenkrais Method as a practice that would not qualify for insurance subsidy, saying this step would "ensure taxpayer funds are expended appropriately and not directed to therapies lacking evidence".[8]

The Feldenkrais Method is promoted with anecdotal claims it can help children with

autism and other developmental disorders, but such claims are not backed by reputable supporting evidence.[9]

There is limited evidence that workplace-based use of the Feldenkrais Method may help aid rehabilitation of people with upper limb complaints.[10]

David Gorski has written that the Method bears similarities to faith healing, is like "glorified yoga", and that it "borders on quackery".[5] Quackwatch places the Feldenkrais Method on its list of "Unnaturalistic methods".[11]

History

From the 1950s till his death in 1984, he taught continuously in his home city of Tel Aviv. Feldenkrais gained recognition in part through media accounts of his work with prominent individuals, including Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion.[12] Beginning in the late 1950s, Feldenkrais made trips to teach in Europe and America. Several hundred people became certified Feldenkrais practitioners through trainings he held in San Francisco from 1975 to 1978 and in Amherst, Massachusetts, from 1980 to 1984.[13]

Influences

In David Kaetz's biography, Making Connections: Roots and Resonance in the Life of Moshe Feldenkrais (2007), he argues many lines of influence can be found between the Judaism of Feldenkrais's upbringing and the Feldenkrais Method – for instance, the use of paradox as a pedagogical tool.[14]

Feldenkrais was critical of the appropriation of the term 'energy' to express immeasurable phenomena or to label experiences that people had trouble describing ... He was impatient when someone invoked energy in pseudoscientific 'explanations' that masked a lack of understanding. In such cases he urged skepticism and scientific discourse. He encouraged empirical and phenomenological narratives that could lead to insights.

Cybernetics, also known as dynamic systems theory, continued to influence the Feldenkrais Method in the 1990s through the work of human development researcher Esther Thelen.[15]:1535

References

  1. ^ . a system of exercise therapy developed in the 1940s by former judo instructor Moshe Feldenkrais
  2. ^ .
  3. ^ (PDF) on 18 August 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  4. .
  5. ^ a b Gorski D (6 August 2009). "M.D. Anderson enters the blogosphere–and goes woo". Scienceblogs—Respectful Insolence. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  6. ^ Collet-Klingenberg, Lana (31 October 2014). "Treatment Intervention Advisory Committee Review and Determination" (PDF). Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2020. In sum, it is the decision of the committee that Feldenkrais Therapy does not have a study in which participants were clearly identified as having an autism spectrum disorder or developmental disability and no authoritative bodies have recognized the treatment as having emerging evidence...
  7. PMID 36360614
    .
  8. ^ Paola S (17 October 2017). "Homeopathy, naturopathy struck off private insurance list". Australian Journal of Pharmacy. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  9. ^ "Treatment Intervention Advisory Committee Review and Determination" (PDF). Wisconsin Department of Health Services Autism and other Developmental Disabilities Treatment Intervention Advisory Committee. 28 April 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  10. from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022. Workplace-based work hardening, case manager training and Feldenkrais should be implemented with caution, as only one study supported each of these interventions.
  11. ^ Raso J (25 March 2007). "Unnaturalistic Methods: F-G". Quackwatch. Archived from the original on 14 March 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  12. ^ Lori, Aviva. "Ben Gurion's Personal Trainer". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 3 May 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  13. ^ Keller, Jon; Freer, Bonnie. "His Methods May Seem Bizarre, But Thousands Swear by Mind-Body Guru Moshe Feldenkrais". people.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  14. .
  15. from the original on 15 July 2021.