Dancers in general are aware of their bodies, and it doesn't take long for us to figure out what we need to do to stay balanced while moving, spinning, and anchoring in place.  Many of us have heard where on our foot to place our weight for maximum support, stability, and control, but how we get to that place is different for each of us.  We all have our own unique patterns through our muscles and joints from our toes up through our center of gravity and beyond.  Addressing individual movement patterns is too detailed to address in group or even private lessons, even if the instructor has the knowledge to help us figure it out.  After all, we pay for lessons to learn to dance, so we want to be dancing!  While a good teacher can tell you or show you how to move as he or she does, building the muscle memory takes practice, often involving a lot of trial and error.  The Feldenkrais Method is one way to explore and fine tune movement in your body - without subjecting your dance partners at dances or at Swing Swap to those experiments gone wrong we've all experienced at one time or another.

     Just as there are several ways to get from the 250 bypass to the Greek Orthodox Church, there are also several ways to move from our center of gravity to our feet.  Usually, we take the same route because it's the quickest way or the most familiar, but just as one might take another route because of road work, unexpected traffic, or to make another stop along the way, the habitual way we find our balance point can change if conditions warrant it.  Returning to an anchor step is mechanically different depending on whether it is preceded by a push break or a left side pass.

     In a typical Feldenkrais Method Awareness Through Movement class, participants' attention is devoted to exploring different ways of making relatively small movements.  By experimenting with different ways of getting to the same place, or the same ways of getting to a different place, our bodies build muscle memory and alternatives to the same old patterns.  During a Feldenkrais Integration, a Feldenkrais Method practitioner works one on one with their fully clothed client using assessment and passive movement to give the body a sense of fluidity.  Both Integrations and Awareness Through Movement classes are gentle, hour long sessions that are surprisingly accessible in Charlottesville, considering our relatively small population.

     Admittedly, two of the four Guild Certified Feldenkrais Method Practitioners here are friends of mine.  Rather than risk being accused of favoritism or advertising in disguise, I encourage anyone interested in increasing their options for ease of movement to look for a Practitioner online.  The Guild's website, link for Virginia practitioners is here:  http://www.feldenkrais.com/practitioners/find/browse/USA/VA

     Personally, I knew my knees are prone to injury, and I knew movement in my ankles and hips contribute to their stability or instability.  Through the Feldenkrais Method, my intellectual knowledge connected with movement in my body and I continue to increase my options for stabilizing from different starting points.  Feldenkrais was also the first clear experience I had of how movement (or lack thereof) in my ribs directly impacts how easily I can move through basic walking steps, turns, spins, and leans.