the Feldenkrais Method with Emma Alter

Over the Summer I was teaching on the Professional Feldenkrais Training, in London, (at the moment there are two in the UK).

One of the students has a 6 month old. I offered to play him with for parts of the day, so the Mum could join in the lessons. It wasn’t completely altruistic. I practiced some ideas I’ve been learning on my child development course. (With permission from Mum of course). 

Some of which were great – He also enjoyed the tapping, and squeezing, touch designed to help him feel himself. When we’re in the room, we’re in a very self-contained space. In inter-uterine videos you can see the baby stretching his legs pressing against the surfaces of the womb. And the musculature responds to this both inwards and outwards pressure.

Out of the womb, life is pretty different, and so the baby has to learn to feel itself in relation to the external world. It’s a learning process that takes some time. 

He also responded to me stomping as I held him, in a rhythmic fashion, to help him self-regulate, and calm. The vibrations from us walking can help the baby feel itself. I confess I ran out of nursery rhymes I could remember, so will have to work on my repertoire for next time!