Flying Fox Feldenkrais

What is Feldenkrais?

Feldenkrais is a form of movement therapy, largely based on developmental movement, that is functionally-oriented (as opposed to other methods that are structurally-oriented, like Structural Integration or sports massage or chiropractic).

The Feldenkrais Method is unique in its approach to addressing movement habits, neuromuscular organization, issues of pain, injury, or poor functioning- and simply expanding one's movement learning capacity and physical self-knowledge, even if you're not dealing with dysfunction. Through carefully developed movement lessons based on developmental movement, it accesses the brain’s innate capacity for plasticity, learning and adaptation. It uses the language of movement to speak directly to the nervous system.

It has two applications- Awareness Through Movement (ATM), and Functional Integration (FI). FI is practiced one-on-one, and involves the practitioner moving the student's body with their hands, sometimes with verbal movement instruction layered in. ATM involves the practitioner verbally guiding the student through movement experiments aimed at illuminating some bodily relationship or movement pattern. Both forms are aimed at giving the student greater ease and versatility of movement- more options!

Specific Applications

Expressive Movement Arts (Dance, Aerial Acrobatics, etc)

For movement artists to achieve long and fruitful relationships with their craft requires an ongoing and ever-evolving relationship to motor learning. Whether your practice is professional or recreational, Feldenkrais offers a way to hone your movement learning process and access your full expressive potential while reducing pain and injury. With the aid of this method, you can find a way of practicing your discipline, whether that be aerial acrobatics or ballet, that best suits your unique body and nervous system- and that brings you joy!

Hypermobility and Chronic Pain

Hypermobility, whether a result of diagnosed Ehlers Danlos Syndrome or manifesting separately, comes with a unique set of challenges for the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. With the increased risk of soft tissue injury even in everyday activities, building body awareness and movement skills is crucial. By working with gentle, low-risk movements, focussing on the "how" of movement rather than a goal-oriented end result, Feldenkrais can help us find more options for healthy, enjoyable movement while reducing underlying pain.

Queer Community

For those of us who are of queer identity or experience, seeking care of any sort can be fraught with anxiety. Will my gender identity be seen and respected? Is it ok for me to talk about my partner or relationships with a new provider? Will my body be treated as whole and valid? Am I at risk of violence? This can create tension with and disconnection from caring for our physical selves, on top of that which results from dysmorphia or previous trauma.  Feldenkrais offered by a queer (trans enby) practitioner is a way to feel into physical self-care that is nonjudgmental, non-goal-oriented, and entirely self-directed. For trans siblings, increased positive connection to physical movement can alleviate some of the heavy psychological load that dysmorphia sets on us. For all queer community, this work will aid you in gaining greater awareness of your singular way of inhabiting the world.

Practitioner Bio

Sable is in love with movement. They have been a movement professional since 2009, beginning with their enrollment in the Professional Track Program at the New England Center for Circus Arts. They went on to found Esh Circus Arts, now Boston's premier circus school, and to perform on stages up and down the continent. After complications of a hypermobility disorder ended their performing career prematurely, they became fascinated with anatomy, body mechanics, and the pedagogy of movement learning. This years-long deep dive into the intricacies of teaching movement led them to become a Feldenkrais practitioner after a lifetime of doing Feldenkrais (their first Feldie exposure beginning in the womb!), and they completed their Feldenkrais certification in 2020, as a graduate of the Boston 3 Feldenkrais Training.

They credit their experience with Feldenkrais for their ability to become an acrobat in the first place, and for their continued ability to move creatively even as their Ehlers Danlos becomes incrementally more disabling over time. They find joy in sharing that process with their students in their Feldenkrais practice as well as their ongoing acrobatic movement practice (www.flyingfoxaerial.com). They specialize in working with hypermobile and chronically ill students, fellow neurodivergent folks, queer and trans siblings of all stripes, and dancers and acrobats; anyone looking to deepen their somatic understanding and presence, or to find creative movement availability after (or in the midst of) career-limiting dysfunction.