What is it? What does it do? How can it benefit me and those I care about?
Interview with Darcia by Jeff Bond for the Dynamic Wellness Center, July 2006
The Feldenkrais Method discovered me when I was 19. I had a stress condition where my hair was falling out - had been falling out since I was three. We'd tried so many things, my mom and I, and then she saw a flyer for a Feldenkrais practitioner at her gym. So I went - and being only 19, I thought I knew everything - and I couldn't make sense of why the practitioner kept pushing through my feet, and asking me about my left foot. Finally she asked me, “Did something happen to this foot? Did you ever break the ankle or something like that?” I told her, “Well, I was born with a clubfoot.” That seemed to satisfy her and she worked some more - and then when I got up I felt really different.
That's what really interesting about the Feldenkrais Method, because the next morning I noticed something really different. You see, I was born with that clubfoot and by the age three my eyes started to cross and I started losing my hair. But that morning, 18 years ago, I was walking around my kitchen and I noticed that I could see out of my left eye. And I had never used my left eye. I'd had two surgeries to correct it but I still didn't use my left eye. But my mom was standing to my left and I told her I could see her - and she told me, “No, no. The doctors say you don't use that eye, not unless the other eye is covered.” And I said it again and she still didn't believe me. She said, “How many fingers am I holding up?” And I said three and she said, “Well, that was just a good guess.” But I told her, “Yes, Mom, and you were wiggling your three fingers!” We both knew right then that I could really see with both eyes at the same time.
From that, everything changed for me. I knew where I was in space in a different way. I could begin to play sports for the first time - because now I had depth perception. It was like I had been missing a connection to the world in a certain way… all because this woman had worked with my feet.
So I went back for more lessons, and after college I decided to get some training myself. And my mom - who was thrilled with everything I was getting out of this - she said, “Hey, don't do it without me!” And so we did the training together. That was in '93…
We did. We were like the Bobsey Twins, inseparable. Even now in the Feldenkrais community we're still closely linked - even though our lessons are very different. But it's nice to know that, even if we share clients, they're well-taken care of either way.
A guy was referred to me - he was writing and producing these travel shows, with a lot of hand-held camera work that he was doing himself. He was having these hip pains - you know, trying to do all these big panoramic scenes with a hand-held camera. I worked with him and we got really good results. Just through some very simple suggestions, of him lifting his right heel when he turned left, and his left heel when he turned right, we got it so he was able to turn, full circle, without pain, so he could get those 360 panoramic shots he wanted. He was so happy, and he said, “You know who you should really be working with is the Steadicam guys; they really need your help.” So he referred someone whose family happened to be big in the union. He was wearing a neck brace, he'd had neck trouble, neck surgery… And after a few lessons, after he started to get results, he helped me become a part of the Motion Picture Wellness Program.
It's a program for crew members, available to them through their insurance. It's funded by grant money, and it offers programs, in things like weight management, smoking cessation, family health, and parenting skills…Since 2002, the Feldenkrais Method has been part of the stress management program.
All of the above. Repetitive movements, they're everywhere. For camera guys, it's bending, lifting. For make-up people, it's reaching. For location scouts, they're driving all day…
Endurance: Right now there's a big push in the industry to prevent fatigue, to get better hours - the campaign's called “Twelve on, twelve off.” But no matter what the hours are, there're movement tricks, things my clients can do all day long - I call it “stealing moments on the set” - to notice how they're moving.
Because it stimulates the brain, which helps prevent fatigue and injury. Any change of attention gets the brain stimulated. We do it all the time. We steal moments all the time for other things - checking messages, getting coffee… They're like life's little commercial breaks.
Yes. And we can use some of these breaks to notice how we move. For example, when you’re checking messages on the cell phone you can take a moment to notice what hand you’re holding the phone with, which way your head tilts or anything else about your movement patterns in that moment and then notice how changing one element at a time, like switching hands (and listening ear) effects your posture.
Sample text. Click to select the Text Well what I love about working with people in the motion picture industry is that they really understand nuance. One more stroke of blush and you've made all the difference. And lighting: same thing. They understand it. I describe Feldenkrais as more like a new way they can apply what they already understand about nuance.
I like working with people like that, because when we've moved them beyond the pain, we get to see that what's on the other side of it is all the creativity that lends itself to the business..
I love working with creative people! I'm a thinker myself, and I tend to work with people who like to think. People who like to think are attracted to Feldenkrais work.
Yes. When they've moved beyond the pain, there's a maintenance quality, there's a preventative angle. And there's just realizing your full potential. Part of my long-term plan is to be on set, helping people all day long, all the time.
Every session is full of surprises! I can compare Feldenkrais lessons to rides at Disneyland. Having grown up ten minutes from The Happiest Place on Earth, I know what to expect on most rides and no matter how many times I’ve been on the same ride there is always something new and fun to notice.