But it doesn’t have to be that way, according to practitioners of the Feldenkrais Method®. Developed by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, a Russian born physicist, judo expert, mechanical engineer and educator, the Feldenkrais Method is defined on the educational Web site, www.feldenkrais.com, as “a form of somatic education that uses gentle movement and directed attention to improve movement and enhance human functioning.”

“People move out of habit, rather than awareness,” said Sue Felix, certified Feldenkrais practitioner and owner of Port Orchard Massage and Movement. By introducing awareness into movement, she continued, Feldenkrais helps people learn new, and better, ways to move.

Feldenkrais, said Felix, is appropriate for anyone who wants to move with less pain and more flexibility. It is often complimentary to other treatments, such as chiropractic treatment and massage, but its approach is quite different.

“It’s a learning-based method,” she said. “It’s very different than anything else.”

The Feldenkrais Method is taught through classes and individual sessions. In an individual session, Felix said, the client will lie down, fully clothed, on a Feldenkrais table, which is similar to a massage table.

“I move and touch parts of the body in a non-invasive manner to understand the pattern of how a person moves,” she said. “Then I introduce new movements.”

Initially the new movements are done for the client by Felix, to facilitate their learning. Then gradually, said Felix, the client becomes more aware of the new movement possibilities, and can do it themselves.

In the class setting, students typically lie on a mat on the floor, so they are “out of gravity;” then Felix will verbally guide the students through a series of movements.

Felix, a long-time massage therapist, came to Feldenkrais as a result of her own struggles with movement and pain, from a severe neck injury in a car accident.

“It kept getting worse,” she said. “I had headaches every day. It was like my head no longer knew where to be on top of my spine.”

Felix sought a host of treatments for her pain, from physical therapy and massage to rolfing and chiropractic care.

“You name it, I tried it,” she said.

But nothing seemed to provide more than short-term, temporary relief. Then she was told about Feldenkrais, and she thought she’d give it a try. After just one session, she said, her pain was gone. With additional Feldenkrais sessions her neck became stable again.

It was such a powerful experience that Felix was determined to become a Feldenkrais practitioner.

“I needed to do it,” she said.

Felix started the four-year training in 2002, and began teaching Awareness through Movement® classes about two and half years ago. This spring she completed all the course requirements, and became a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, which qualifies her to work with clients in individual sessions. She is one of the few Feldenkrais practitioners in the county and the only one practicing in South Kitsap.

Although it’s not as well-known as some other alternative treatments to pain, Feldenkrais sessions are covered under some health insurance plans, said Felix, under the heading of “neuromuscular re-education.”

For those who are interested in learning more about the Feldenkrais Method, Felix recommends visiting www.feldenkrais.com, or looking up books about Feldenkrais in the library.

“There’s a wealth of information out there,” she said.

Felix will also be teaching an Awareness Through Movement class series at her Port Orchard studio in January. More information is available by calling (360) 876-9749.