Body and Mature Behavior: A Study of Anxiety, Sex, Gravitation, and Learning [Paperback]

Moshe Feldenkrais (Author), Carl Ginsburg (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 8, 2005

A victim of debilitating injuries, Moshe Feldenkrais was intimately aware of the link between bodily suffering and mental health. Through healing himself, he made revolutionary discoveries, culminating in the development of the method that now bears his name. In an intellectually rich and eloquent style, Feldenkrais delves into neurology, prehistory, child development, gravity and anti-gravity, reflexive versus learned behavior, the effects of emotion, especially anxiety, on posture, and most importantly, the inseparability of body and mind.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Of all his books, it [Body and Mature Behavior] remains the most succinct statement of his fundamental theory: A 'whole situation,' systems view of physical movement, thought, emotion, sensation, and environment."
- Mark Reese, author of a soon-to-be-published biography of Feldenkrais and co-author of Relaxercise

"Body & Mature Behavior powerfully presents Moshe Feldenkrais’s masterful genius in integrating body and mind, theory and practice, nature and culture, freedom and constraint."
- Richard Shusterman, professor of philosophy at Florida Atlantic University and author of Performing Live

"Body & Mature Behavior is a seminal work of creative thinking in which Feldenkrais articulates the philosophical underpinnings for the development of his extraordinary approach to human growth and learning, now known as the Feldenkrais Method."
- Jim Stephens PhD, PT, CFP, member of physical therapy faculty at Temple University

About the Author

Moshe Feldenkrais, D.Sc., is the founder of what is today called the Feldenkrais Method. As a result of suffering debilitating injuries, Feldenkrais began an intense exploration into the relationship between bodily movement and healing, feeling, thinking, and learning. In the process of healing himself, Feldenkrais made revolutionary discoveries, culminating in the development of the method that now bears his name. There are two aspects to his method: an individual manipulatory technique of neuromotor education called Functional Integration and a group technique called Awareness Through Movement. His unique and subtle approach to facilitating human change and to improving functioning is spelled out in a number of influential books, including Awareness Through Movement, The Elusive Obvious, and The Potent Self. Dr. Feldenkrais was also the author of a number of books about Judo and one of the first Europeans to hold a black belt in the art. Today there are nearly four thousand Feldenkrais Method practitioners around the world. Moshe Feldenkrais died in 1980 and his insights continue to contribute to the development of the new field of somatic education and continue to influence disciplines such as the arts, education, psychology, child development, physical and occupational therapy, sports enhancement, and gerontology.

Carl Ginsburg, Ph.D. is one of Dr. Feldenkrais’s original students and holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry. He has been involved with the Feldenkrais Method for thirty years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Frog Books; 1 edition (September 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583941150
• ISBN-13: 978-1583941157
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,817 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #25 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Disorders & Diseases > Physical Impairments

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Master's 1st presentation of his Method's foundations, September 18, 2003

By 

Eli Guy "Feldenkrais practitioner plus" (jerusalem) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Body and Mature Behaviour (International Library of Psychology) (Library Binding)

I contend that rigidity [...] i.e., the adherence to a principle to the utter exclusion of its opposite, is contrary to the laws of life." Thus wrote Feldenkrais in this book in 1949, when he was 45 years old, already an expert in Judo and with a PhD in physics. In those years he settled for some time in Britain after having emigrated from Russia, where he was born, to Palestine, and then travelled to France, where he spent a few years studying science and training in Judo. The book presents the essence of his phenomenally wide perspective about re-opening the path for personal development.

He puts himself alongside the great masters searching for methods for cure from ailments, both physical and mental. His motto is learning, which he considers "the uniqueness of Man". Learning in the deep, dynamic, sense of perpetually creating and utilizing new options for experience and action. Continuous learning requires that we shall not forget that "...the principles we learn are themselves ephemeral and not absolute".

Here are the foundations of his approach presented to the intelligent reader. To read the book you must be willing to deal with a style of writing which, however demanding, goes straight into all topics which Moshe considered vital to his method.
A condensed description of the conditions of our existence, touching upon such topics as neurology, prehistory, child development, individual-society relationships, and more. A rare discussion of gravitation and the anti-gravity mechanism is followed by a discussion of the effects of emotion (especially anxiety and the attitude to sexuality) on posture and on personal patterns of movement. Here you can read one of Moshe's earlier presentations of the ideas that guided him through the development of his unique method and technique of therapy and instruction by direct contact with the nervous system. The aim is to re-tune it toward a gradual development of a personal style of action characterized by more freedom and elegance. If you are really interested in Moshe's ideas written in the personal, concentrated, somewhat arid style of his younger years, this book will be an exciting addition to your library for many years to come

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it, July 12, 2010

By 

elite fitness - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Body and Mature Behavior: A Study of Anxiety, Sex, Gravitation, and Learning (Paperback)

Every personal trainer should have to study Moshe. There should not be a choice. There is too much information that trainers do not understand and they can learn so much by studying these principles. If you want to seperate yourself from all other trainers read Moshe.