How I Came to Teach Anat Baniel MethodⓇ NeuroMovementⓇ

My personal healing journey

Remember those 5 Things You Never Knew About Back Pain? I have to confess, I didn’t know them all before my own injury. All I knew was that my shoulder hurt more and more every day. Then one day, my arm gave out from under me during a handstand.

At the time I was an avid yoga student. I practiced several times a week, totally in love with this form of mindful movement. Without any obvious cause, however, my right shoulder and arm began to bother me.

Instead of doing less yoga, I did more. I was completely onboard with the conventional wisdom that increasing strength and flexibility can treat physical pain.

When my fall revealed that I was experiencing nerve damage, I sought medical help. Doctors told me that without surgery I would lose the use of my arm.

Determined not to go under the knife, I tried occupational therapy. Despite my resolution, my condition continued to worsen. It even started to become difficult to hold a pen to write. The pain was constant, and I could not sleep. Desperate, I agreed to surgery.

Imagine my dismay when surgery failed to make any difference for me!

I raced from doctor to doctor, tried several bouts of physical therapy, and even bought gadgets promised to bring relief by strengthening just the right muscles. Heat, ice, ultrasound, rest - none of it brought lasting relief. And when the last doctor in the line-up offered a prescription for yoga, I had to laugh. It felt like no one could help me.

Luckily, I stumbled upon an Alexander Technique (AT) teacher. (Wait - isn’t this story supposed to be about Anat Baniel MethodⓇ NeuroMovementⓇ?! Yes, yes! I’ll get to that in a moment.)

In doing research for my clients, I had read about AT. It postulates that it might very well be our own movement habits that cause our pain.

Sure enough, after a few lessons to change my posture, I began to feel better. I could sit for longer and walk faster without bringing on my shoulder pain. Things were beginning to look up.

They continued to improve when I found a FeldenkraisⓇ Awareness Through MovementⓇ (ATM) class. FeldenkraisⓇ is a method of somatic education. It offers yet another, less prescriptive way to change your movement habits. With ATM lessons I could lie down on the floor, move around a bit, and get up feeling like a different person. Suddenly I was changing even more quickly and with more lasting results.

In my quest to find more ways to help my nursing clients, I had already identified FeldenkraisⓇ and Anat Baniel MethodⓇ NeuroMovementⓇ (ABM) as powerful modalities for brain change to help people move better, feel better, and think better.

Anat Baniel MethodⓇ NeuroMovementⓇ was founded by Anat Baniel, a student of Feldenkrais. For many years Anat Baniel traveled and worked with Feldenkrais. She continued to develop his work to be even more potent, keeping pace with current developments in neuroscience.

When the local FeldenkraisⓇ teacher left town, I decided to take the leap and embark upon ABM certification.

So many people have stories similar to mine. They struggle going from practitioner to practitioner without finding an answer to their problem. I’m very privileged to have been able to help some of them.

If you have a story similar to mine, please reach out, I’d love to hear from you!

Categories: My Story, Natural Pain Relief, Testimonials