Mu Yi Kuo
Feldenkrais
...During the session I did not train my body,
but rather got to know it better.
I felt that space, order and calmness,
which the body possesses naturally,
came back to me.
--Xue Qing W.
Why Feldenkrais?
Frederico T. Since I started dancing I got very used to having pain in my body, especially in my hip joints and lower back. This year, however, the pain in my hip joints became very intense and almost unbearable. After visiting a doctor it has been detected that I have a beginning of arthrosis. As I did not wish to have a physiotherapeutic treatment, I decided to go to the Feldenkrais offering. I was especially interested in the hands-on aspect, the manipulation of the body from an external input. From the very first session I could feel an enormous difference in my hips and hip mobility. I felt like the bones were “gliding” better in the joint, and the body was overall more connected. I was very aware of my body as a whole, this integration felt really good. But I also found very interesting that throughout the sessions I had access to many memories of my childhood. This was very intense, I believe these memories were, in fact, triggered through movement. As for my constant pain in my hip joints, I could very happily say: they were really gone. I had always asked myself, how does it feel to have a body that is completely free from pain – like the body of a baby. I could keep this sensation for a couple of weeks, until my next session.
Xue Qing W. At the end of the year 2019 I started having strong back pains. All test results made at the doctor turned out normal, no direct cause for my symptoms could be found. Two months of physical therapy did not help. Afterwards, I tried many different methods and eventually also asked Mu-Yi if she could help me with the Feldenkrais method. The session was nice and meditative for me. I felt relaxed and felt no pressure to actively participate. I clearly sensed Mu-Yi’s attention, sensitivity and openness. She was very equal to me when guiding the session and gave me a trusted feeling not only with her but also with myself. Everything happened in a natural way. A small example: When Muyi moved my left arm she paid close attention to my reactions while continuing the movement, in a way that I felt like my body was acting on its own and Mu-Yi was merely supporting the process. It was like a nice non-verbal conversation: my body became very relaxed through the trusted environment and began to speak. Its conversation partner listened attentively, answered and inquired- without words but only through movement. During the session I did not train my body, but rather got to know it better. I felt that space, order and calmness, which the body usually possesses naturally, came back to me.
Daniel K. I am tall and slim. I am often missing a strong centre for my body to act out of. This constantly caused a feeling of not having a grasp or the need for a strong effort to reconstruct this grasp in my body through training. Furthermore, I have a history as an athlete, which in addition to doing me much good, has given me an injury. My body has therefore developed a pattern and fixed itself into this state. I myself often view my body through this “filter of injury”. After the first Feldenkrais session I was almost shocked at how effortlessly my body wanted to straighten itself up. My back, which usually has the tendency to arch itself into a curve when sitting, which I then have to straighten by actively tensing up my muscles, basically fell into an upright position by itself, in a thankful manner. It felt like the parts in my body were now starting to search for their optimal place again. In addition to this, every movement I made in that moment felt very present to me. A reset point so to say, from which on every movement means something big, possibly as if it had been carried out for the first time.