Feldenkrais Panther Tread

Remember, Moshe was one of the first Judo exponents in the West.

This is one of the exercises that would be very good for anyone who relies on fast moving and agility - dancers, sports people, martial artists etc.

It is also an exercise that is also of value to everyone else as a lot of the physical tensions that people experience begin with the way they walk and stand.

It all starts with the contact of the feet with the ground.

• Improve your mobility
• Develop your balance
• Move naturally and with ease

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Reversible Movement

For your information, another function that can reveal how well organised and aware a person, from a Feldenkrais perspective, is how they sit in a chair.

You are more likely to see the Kamikaze crash landing method than the 'arrive as light as a feather version'.

In Feldenkrais we often talk about the concept of 'reversible movement'. Can you stop at any point and easily and effortlessly return or reverse the movement. This should be so with both walking and sitting.

I have found, since I become a Feldenkrais Practitioner, that most people are totally unaware of how they make contact with the ground - none more so than me before I began the professional training.

In our own trainings I can usually identify participants by how heavy they are making contact with the floor. Everything from a light touch to the floor actually shaking - no matter the size of the person. It is like your own personal signature.

Interestingly, a heavier tread is often a sign the person is under stress. This is why the Feldenkrais Method can so often be of value to a person under physical and emotional stress.

It is quite striking when you come across someone who literally 'treads lightly on the earth'. More often than not this is also a metaphor for how they live life. You can't have that level of awareness and not have it be of benefit to you elsewhere in life - in my humble opinion.

These exercises can help you develop this awareness.