The Feldenkrais Method is a somatic practice designed to be transformational. It is a method that can change individuals by facilitating a better, upright, and aware experience of their body-self, in such a way that a new self-image can materialize.
The idea of a somatic practice of self-change intrigues me as a philosopher who has been exploring the theme of identity and selfhood, trying to answer questions such as: How do we become who we are? What are the energies and dynamism that shape us and give us an identity? Are we autonomous and free to forge ourselves at will? Or is our existential status like that of marionettes who are made and moved by forces “out there,” beyond our will and control? Or are these rather two poles of a spectrum? And if so, how can we move along it?
During this inquiry, the body has drawn many of my efforts, as I have tried to elucidate its significance in the equation: How is the body related to the self? In this regard, I have studied how the human body is shaped by culture, by the experiences of early childhood, by the practices that we engage in, by the gaze of other people on us, by the images projected by the electronic and social media, by the spaces that we inhabit, as well as how brain processes play out in the theater of the body. Practicing the Feldenkrais Method and exploring its general principles have added a new facet to this inquiry.
The question that intrigues me is how does the Feldenkrais Method generate those changes? What are the principles of the method and how are they staged in its practice?
To answer theses question, in The Feldenkrais Method: Power of Transformation, I bring exemplary lessons selected from the large corpus that Feldenkrais left for us, that follow the principles and strategies for transformation of the method.
The book maps out a scientific basis for the method and its application in the process of transformation.
Abraham Mansbach 