Using slow, mindful movements to reduce pain and tension while improving flexibility, coordination, and balance.
The Awareness Through Movement practice, or ATM, is part of the Feldenkrais method. Aimed at helping people improve the way their whole body works, it has nothing to do with the kind of exercise you might do at the gym.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with working out. Physical activity is essential for maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle and supporting both mental and physical wellness. However, traditional exercising is just not the best tool when it comes to working with the numerous, subtle layers of the nervous system.
ATM focuses on a completely different way to care for your body. It invites your brain to create new neural connections, improve movement patterns, and facilitate your physical, cognitive, and emotional well-being.
Typically taught in group settings, in ATM, the instructor guides students verbally through a range of gentle movement sequences. It’s different from Functional Integration, which is the Feldenkrais Method applied to individual sessions, where a big part of the work is done through direct touch.
The benefits of Awareness Through Movement classes
ATM is mainly based on functional movements, with fewer lessons focused on more abstract explorations. In other words, during classes, we’re primarily exploring movements that are directly tied to your daily life, such as walking, lifting things, changing your posture, sitting and standing. It’s not at all about making it hard or challenging. It’s all about bringing your awareness and your body sensations back together, linking them like you might not have done in a while.
For instance, many students affirm they became aware of unexpected and interesting connections between different movements. We might move our bodies daily, but how often are we truly paying attention?
It’s something we can compare to the difference between simply eating and actually enjoying some food. Let’s say you’re in a hurry, and you have five minutes to have breakfast. You add some cereals to a bowl, pour some milk, and sit with a spoon as you grab your phone. You start eating while looking at the clock and thinking, “In ten minutes, I have to be sitting in my car.” Once the bowl is empty, you dump it straight into the dishwasher and hurry to brush your teeth. If, later in the day, I were to ask you about your breakfast, you would probably struggle to remember how your bowl of cereals truly tasted. Perhaps it would even take you a couple of seconds to recall what you actually had for breakfast.
On the other hand, let’s take that gourmet dinner you had in your favourite restaurant. The whole night was ahead of you, and perhaps you were with your family or a dear friend of yours. You had amazing food, and each bite was truly an explosion of taste. In the end, you were full and extremely satisfied with your dinner. How different is the eating experience when you’re truly present with yourself? You might even wonder if it’s truly about some sophisticated taste of the dish or purely about the level of attention you’re giving to it to make it so special.
ATM is like a gourmet dinner to your body. But in movement.
Although you probably are already moving your body every day, you might only notice some movement patterns once you come to class. You might find out the way you move can improve through gentle explorations, accumulated muscle tension can be released, and that nagging pain due to bad postures or chronic tension can disappear.
In other words, when you truly start paying attention to the way you move, you learn that some patterns of movement are not as efficient as you thought. By exploring the options and finding new ways of moving, you can help your body become more flexible, coordinated, and overall more in tune with your whole self. Some people describe this as a feeling of lightness, while, for others, it’s more about grounding themselves and feeling empowered.
“What I'm after isn't flexible bodies, but flexible brains,” Moshe Feldenkrais used to say.
After all, the benefits involve way more than simply the body. The Feldenkrais Method can help you with emotional well-being, overall daily performance, and neurological issues, too. In fact, some students take a few days to notice how a single class has changed their daily experience. They come back to the following session reporting lower anxiety levels or an overall calmer and quieter mind compared to what they were used to.
Performance can be incredibly important to dancers, athletes, musicians, and actors. Do not just think of a competition, where you need to be the fastest runner or the more skilled equestrian. Performance encompasses physical and mental abilities, such as reflexes, proprioception, sharpness, and memory. All of these improve when you help your body and your mind to meet halfway and work together.
What to expect from your first ATM session
Usually, people ask me, “How long does it take to experience some of the benefits of Awareness Through Movement?” The good news is that students usually can feel the difference from the first session.
The human body is a beautiful system, and the ability of our brain to change and adapt according to different stimuli is incredible. Based on the principle of neuroplasticity, ATM practice leverages the brain’s power to change its neural patterns through a medium that is most natural for us: movement.
ATM classes usually last between 45 to 60 minutes. You can dress up comfortably and come to class without prior experience. You absolutely don’t need to worry about being “not flexible enough” or having a short breath. You’ll start where you are and see how the improvement can be felt at any level of physical state.
All ages and activity levels are welcome, as becoming aware of one’s movement and connecting the mind with the body is available to everyone.
Your ATM class in Luxembourg
Awareness Through Movement is perfect for you if you’re new to the Feldenkrais Method and wish to start your journey to self-discovery. It’s also a good choice if you want to deepen and explore further what you’ve already learned in an individual setting. On the other hand, starting with one-to-one sessions might be more suitable if you’re currently struggling with acute chronic pain or have specific movement concerns.
At MindfulBody, our goal is to help you unlearn your pain, reconnect with your body, and discover - or rediscover - the freedom of pain-free movement. We do this by combining mind-body re-education, somatic bodywork - like the Feldenkrais Method - and a range of pain therapy techniques, including PRT and EAET.
You can find more details on times and places of Feldenkrais weekly group classes here.
If you want to reconnect with yourself, break your pain cycle, and find ease and freedom in your movement, I’m here to help you. To explore the ways in which I could support you on your healing journey, feel free to drop me a message at iryna@mindfulbody.lu
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