Feldenkrais and Yoga in Vienna

The Feldenkrais Method aims to reorganize the connections between the mind and body in order to improve physical movement and psychological state. In this sense, this powerful method is similar to many aspects of yoga, which also focuses on the deeper connection between the mind and body.

What is Feldenkrais?

The Feldenkrais Method aims to reorganize the connections between the mind and body in order to improve physical movement and psychological state. In this sense, this powerful method is similar to many aspects of yoga, which also focuses on the deeper connection between the mind and body.

The Feldenkrais Method is an integrative movement therapy that places attention at its center. It is believed that it has its effect by strengthening disrupted connections between the motor cortex and the body, thereby improving the quality of physical movement and increasing well-being. Naturally, the human experiences himself through the body. So, when the connection between the mind and body is strengthened, the entire experience of the world is intensified.

David Gorski of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America claims that the Feldenkrais Method enables people to "rediscover their innate ability to move with grace and efficiency" and that "these improvements often affect overall health and all aspects of life." Experienced practitioners also say that the Feldenkrais Method can benefit people with a range of conditions, including children with autism and people with multiple sclerosis.

What does the Feldenkrais Method have to do with yoga or Kundalini yoga?

Both yoga and Feldenkrais create a space where people can connect with the world through their bodies, whether in a yoga class or Feldenkrais therapy. However, this space is not just a physical yoga class, but also a causal inner space. A space that allows for a specific inner experience, such as in Kundalini yoga. Creating this yoga space is opening and can lead to intense inner experiences.

Everything we are arises in the moment when the conscious self comes into contact with the world. This happens in every yoga class, but also in every moment of our daily lives. This moment of contact is magical because it is the moment of integration of consciousness and thus of becoming the world.

There are basically two ways that modern yoga uses to establish a connection between people and their conscious experience of themselves in the world. The first way is the path of consciousness, where focus and attention are directed towards what is happening in the body. This moment of attention is very similar to the practice of Feldenkrais and leads to self-realization.

When we experience a yoga class and the teacher asks us to breathe deeply and focus on the yoga exercise, this is the moment of integration through attention. This focus is also often used in Hatha or Postural Alignment Yoga.

The second approach of yoga, as found in Kundalini Yoga, is the awakening of power in the body, which awakens consciousness through the intensity of the experience. Whenever Bandhas or Mudras are used in Kundalini Yoga and an intensity of power is felt, this technique is close. In Tantra, this process would be called the invocation of the highest energy, which as mentioned in the Vijnana Bahirava Tantra is the face of Shiva, thus the gateway to consciousness.

This approach of awakening power for the experience of consciousness is different from the way Feldenkrais works. However, Feldenkrais provides the foundation of practice that helps integrate the experience of power into yoga.

Feldenkrais is therefore a good partner of yoga. A foundation of conscious perception.

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