volunteers, healthy older adults, older adults in elderly-care institutions, and individuals with diseases and disorders such as multiple sclerosis, myocardial infarction, and sleep bruxism. The Feldenkrais-based interventions were predominantly variations of Awareness Through Movement (ATM)—the verbally
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Evidence for the Effectiveness of the Feldenkrais Method
James Stephens and Susan Hillier
Getting Grounded Gracefully©: Effectiveness and Acceptability of Feldenkrais in Improving Balance
Freda Vrantsidis, Keith D. Hill, Kirsten Moore, Robert Webb, Susan Hunt, and Leslie Dowson
The Getting Grounded Gracefully© program, based on the Awareness Through Movement lessons of the Feldenkrais method, was designed to improve balance and function in older people. Fifty-five participants (mean age 75, 85% women) were randomized to an intervention (twice-weekly group classes over 8 wk) or a control group (continued with their usual activity) after being assessed at baseline and then reassessed 8 wk later. Significant improvement was identified for the intervention group relative to the control group using ANOVA between-groups repeated-measures analysis for the Modified Falls Efficacy Scale score (p = .003) and gait speed (p = .028), and a strong trend was evident in the timed up-and-go (p = .056). High class attendance (88%) and survey feedback indicate that the program was viewed positively by participants and might therefore be acceptable to other older people. Further investigation of the Getting Grounded Gracefully program is warranted.
Perspectives on the Feldenkrais Method
Roger Russell
Feldenkrais Method® includes two approaches: group lessons of Awareness Through Movement® (ATM) and Feldenkrais’s individual method of Functional Integration® (FI). Feldenkrais lessons reflect how the embodied sense of self is grounded in movement. The lessons can be adapted for any person, at any time across
Somaesthetics in Context
Richard Shusterman
insightfully enlightening. Cosmetic practices (from makeup and hair styling to plastic surgery) exemplify the representational side of somaesthetics, while practices like yoga, zazen meditation, or Feldenkrais’s “Awareness Through Movement” lessons are paradigmatic of the experiential mode in its senses of
