THE FELDENKRAIS METHOD® - for RUNNERS

A STORY

The most extraordinary running and Feldenkrais story I have heard is about a professional american triathlete called Sharon Moyano who was hit on her bicycle by a semi. She had nine operations, broke a huge list of bones and lost 3 muscle groups. She was told she'd be lucky to run again and would certainly never race again. For two years she worked intensely with the Feldenkrais Method, doing both classes and one-to-one hands-on sessions. Two years later she beat her own personal best in a marathon by 20 minutes. She is now a Feldenkrais Practitioner in the US and still runs. Much of her work is publicly available on the internet.

FELDENKRAIS AND RUNNING

The Feldenkrais Method® is not a running technique and is not a strength or endurance training either but can help greatly with both: it is to be used alongside your training not instead. It will not give you rules about how to run but will help you become aware of what you are doing and develop some new choices so that you can use the whole of yourself better when you run. Useful for everyone in all walks of life, the method has excellent applications for sports and encompasses a very sophisticated understanding of how to find efficient ways of organising your whole self to run more efficiently - which means using less effort (so you can run longer) with less chance of injury - and faster as well.
Some of the aspects of running it can help with are:

The connection of the shoulder and pelvis in rotation;
The ability of the lower back to lengthen as the leg comes forward, but also how all your back can share the work as the leg goes back (and so avoid back pain)
The connection of the foot pushing the ground away through the extension in the hip joint and the back (esp upper back) to the propulsion of the chest forward. Extension of the upper back also frees the lower back from doing all the work.
The mobility, alignment and passage of weight through the foot, ankle and hip for the safety of the knee, shock absorbancy and propulsion
The ability to rotate freely and quickly in the spine
Differentiation, loosening and freeing of the chest and shoulder girdle.
Freer, easier breathing.
Greater awareness of running as a movement of the whole self and accompanying ease and power.

CLOSED GROUPS AND INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS FOR RUNNING

If you are interested in how the Feldenkrais Method can help you run easily, efficiently and with less risk of injury you can of course come to one of my weekly classes or workshops, since almost every lesson can be of benefit to running in some way.

However, if you wish to do an intense course of lessons designed for runners instead (or as well) then please contact me and I will put you on a list for a closed group (see list of ideas the closed groups focus on in section above).

Individual hands-on sessions can also be tailored to your areas of interest or to help recover from or avoid injury.

MORE INFORMATION

Look at the pages about the method itself on the website and also see the 10 min video under ‘resources’ which was made in an american fitness centre. Or give me a call!
Sharon Moyano’s website