Relearning movement eases pain, adds flexibility

BOULDER – Cici Runge used to be a physical therapist, but became a Feldenkrais Method practitioner instead.

“When I was a physical therapist, I felt like I was just fixing people,” Runge says. “I found that I wanted to support people rather than doing something to them.”

Feldenkrais, named for Moshe Feldenkrais, who developed the method from judo movements, increases range of motion and improves flexibility and coordination, according to practitioners.

“It’s really more like a dance. I’m guiding someone to move in a process of self-discovery,” Runge says. “Feldenkrais taught that if you have one way to do something, you’re a machine. If you have two ways, you have a dilemma. If you have three or more ways you have options.”

Runge says people end up with problems because “they do something one way” until they hurt themselves. “Fixing the problem doesn’t give them any awareness of how they got there,” she says.

Feldenkrais is applied in two ways, functional integration, which is a hands-on between practitioner and student, and awareness through movement in which the practitioner directs usually a group of students through a series of movements.

In awareness through movement lessons, the teacher guides students by moving in basic positions: sitting or lying on the floor, standing or sitting in a chair. These movements involve thinking, sensing, moving, feeling and imagining. By increasing awareness, Runge and others say clients learn to abandon habitual patterns of movement and develop new alternatives, resulting in improved flexibility and coordination.

“It’s intended to help them develop a greater awareness of how they move,” Runge says.

The functional integration lessons are tailored to each student’s individual learning needs and are designed to lead to more “self-discovery” of how they move. Runge guides clients’ movements with touching and words. Students can lie on a table or sit or stand (sometimes pillows or blankets are used for support).

Runge, who’s been practicing Feldenkrais for seven years, charges $65 for a private functional integration session, and $14 for an awareness through movement class. Lessons generally last from 30 to 60 minutes.

“After a lesson, my clients report that they’re moving easily and comfortably,” Runge says. “They say they feel more grounded, connected and taller. They breathe deeper and are more aware of their surroundings.”

Runge says clients often come back and tell her that they’ve discovered a new way to do something that’s more “effective and pleasurable.”

Her clients, she says, come from all walks of life, including athletes, performing artists, offices workers, people recovering from injuries and others with acute or chronic pain.

One client, who wished only to be identified by her first name, Jody, says Feldenkrais “is great in so many ways.”

She tried it for chronic pain in her foot, leg, hips and shoulders. “It helped entirely,” Jody says. “Although my foot is still something we are working with, we have made great progress. And I no longer have any pain at all in my leg, hips and shoulders – none.”

Jody explains that Runge taught her to “bring creativity” to the way she moved her body. “She encouraged me to explore all the ways to walk, sit, turn, lift, work at my desk and hold my body. There are a dozen ways to walk across a room. We figure out what works best in our bodies.”

Jody describes the process as “fun and more relaxing” than massage. “I’ve learned to be aware when I am tensing muscles or in a position that is really not very comfortable and make adjustments.”

Sven Hedenas of Boulder has attended Runge’s awareness through movement classes for the last two years and says it has helped him “learn my body. It helps me identify tension in my body and when you can identify it, you can reduce it,” Hedenas says. “It may sound like mumbo jumbo to some people but for me, it works.”
For example, Hedenas says when he runs, he’s more mindful of his form and any tension that arises. “After my runs I feel much better now.”

Runge says there are 44 guild-certified Feldenkrais practitioners in Colorado; eight of those are in Boulder.
Runge says Boulder is “a great place” for her to practice. “It’s a health-conscious community, and I find that people want to improve their quality of life.”

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