Body Wisdom: Seniors

The Feldenkrais Method can be an excellent tool for elders, as it focuses on improving movement, increasing body awareness, and fostering greater ease and comfort in everyday activities. Developed by Dr. Moshé Feldenkrais, the method is based on the principle that the brain is capable of reorganizing itself and learning new movement patterns throughout life. This makes it particularly valuable for older adults, as it helps maintain or even restore function, mobility, and quality of life.

Sometimes, our sense of self becomes narrower and narrower as we age. Fundamentally, this approach helps people to reclaim a broad and pleasurable repertoire of movement, thoughts and possibilities.

Here are some key benefits of Body Wisdom for seniors:

1. Improved Posture and Balance

As people age, changes in muscle strength, coordination, and joint mobility can affect balance. Feldenkrais helps elders become more aware of where they are in space and how they organize their movements, promoting better balance and stability. Movements are not only safer, but easier and more pleasurable.

2. Increased Flexibility and Range of Motion

The Feldenkrais Method involves gentle, exploratory movements that help to increase flexibility and promote better awareness of the body. This can be particularly helpful in easing stiffness and discomfort and in increasing self-confidence.

3. Pain Reduction and Injury Prevention

By improving movement patterns and reducing unnecessary tension in the body, Feldenkrais can help alleviate chronic pain, especially in the back, hips, knees, neck and shoulders. It can also help prevent strain or injury from overuse of a small range of habits.

4. Cognitive Benefits

The method encourages mindful awareness and attention to the body and the entire self, which can help improve mental clarity and focus. It enhances interoception, the sensations that come from within, many of which relate to our understanding of where we are in space. For elders, this can support cognitive health and offer a sense of mental engagement and stimulation—and it is great for balance!

5. Gentle and Non-Intensive

Movements are slow, gentle, and often done lying on a mat or sitting in a chair. This makes it accessible for elders with varying levels of fitness or mobility.

6. Improved Function in Daily Activities

This approach helps with movements such as getting in and out of a chair, walking, or climbing stairs. This method helps people find the safest, most efficient, and practical ways to get up and down, reach, walk on uneven ground and stablilize ourselves without ‘locking up.’ And it also helps for golf, dancing, paddle sports, swimming…

7. Emotional and Mental Well-being

Feldenkrais can help reduce stress and anxiety through its calming, mindful approach to movement. It fosters a sense of empowerment as individuals rediscover their capacity for movement and physical possibility. The method is designed to help people find their own easiest way rather than to impose external rules about what is right and wrong.