Moshe Feldenkrais, D.Sc., is the founder of what is today called the Feldenkrais Method. As a result of suffering debilitating injuries, Feldenkrais began an intense exploration into the relationship between bodily movement and healing, feeling, thinking, and learning. In the process of healing himself, Feldenkrais made revolutionary discoveries, culminating in the development of the method that now bears his name. There are two aspects to his method- an individual manipulatory technique of neuromotor education called Functional Integration and a group technique called Awareness Through Movement. His unique and subtle approach to facilitating human change and to improving functioning is spelled out in a number of influential books, including- Awareness Through Movement, Body and Mature Behavior, and The Elusive Obvious. Dr. Feldenkrais is also the author of a number of books about Judo and one of the first Europeans to hold a black belt in the art. Today there are nearly four thousand Feldenkrais Method Practitioners around the globe. His insights contributed to the development of the new field of somatic education and continue to influence disciplines such as the arts, education, psychology, child development, physical and occupational therapy, sports enhancement, and gerontology.
"The heritage of Moshe Feldenkrais proves its mettle year by year,
as his original vision takes root among the thousands of
practitioners and students who carry his method forward. His often
brilliant turns of mind are scattered among a handful of books left
to posterity. The Potent Self is one of the most important."
—Don Hanlon Johnson, Professor of Somatics, California Institute of
Integral Studies; editor of Groundworks and Bone, Breath, and
Gesture
"The radical roots of Moshe Feldenkrais’ Method are clearly
apparent in this book, displaying how his work evolved from his
concerns about the deleterious effect of family and society upon
the growth and development of human beings. Mark Reese’s new
Foreword beautifully traces the historical and cultural context in
which the book came about, and brings to life the current relevance
of Feldenkrais’ thinking of fifty years ago. The Potent Self is
still potent. It is well worth reading and rereading."
—Carl Ginsburg, Ph.D., Feldenkrais Trainer
"Moshe Feldenkrais has created a towering body of knowledge. There
is no other theory or practice that delves so knowingly and deeply
into the relationship between the body, its reflexes, its habitual
levels of muscular tension, and gravity. Feldenkrais [is] as
seminal to somatics as Freud was to psychology."
—Robert Shaw, M.D., Medical Director, The Family Institute of
Berkeley, CA
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