The concept of neuroplasticity is one that helps to define human life; how we move, think, learn, live. By definition, “the ability of the brain to form and reorganize synaptic connections, especially in response to learning or experience or following injury.” Plainly, it’s the process with which the brain uses to grow and react to environmental stimuli over time.
In that way, the brain is truly incredible. It’s the only part of our body that changes throughout our lifespan, creating the wondrous cycle of neuro construction and deconstruction that guides us through a wildly diverse range of experiences and emotions. This is seen most drastically in individuals whose learned skills are lost due to brain damage, only to relearn them using a completely different part of the brain. In order to reconnect, though, neurons must be stimulated in a way that alerts our brain to the existence of a new lesson to learn.
Coursework with the Feldenkrais Method is one vehicle with which we have developed a way to facilitate that refined, or redefined, learning. Focusing solely on neurological connections that govern movement, Moshé was able to decode parts of the complex natural relearning process into the simple movements and poses that make up the method in his namesake. In taking a hands-on approach with human alignment and range of motion, he taught the body, a willing and capable learner. In our practice, with his recorded lesson plans, we do the same.
Movement lessons that deal with the concept of neuroplasticity include but are not limited to:
– Awareness Through Movement (ATM)