A rather heartwarming story reported in the Hudson Reporter. A Feldenkrais Practitioner helps a stroke victim.

When Freed [a Feldenkrais Practitioner] first met Barbara [who had suffered a stroke] , the therapist couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Barbara wasn’t with it,” Freed said. “She could open her eyes and smile, but she couldn’t do much else. I couldn’t believe we lived in the same building and we never met before. She couldn’t roll over on her own. She just moved her toes a little.”

But Freed was determined that something could be done to help Barbara, thanks to a method of healing that she specializes in, called the “Feldenkrais method.”

“I realized that Barbara was cognitively impaired,” Freed said. “I knew she couldn’t speak. Her life, as she knew it, was decimated. She had significant brain damage. She had to learn how to do all the little things all over again. We had to try to figure out how to teach the brain how to do all the little things she was so used to doing.”

The “Feldenkrais method” focuses on the relationship between movement and thought, increased mental awareness and the creativity that can accompany awareness. It is basically teaching the body to move with less effort and making daily life much easier.

Read the entire article online at The Hudson Reporter