Hi Students!
People ask me all the time if Feldenkrais can help them with… (fill in the blank). Today I would like to begin answering some frequent questions that I am asked. If there are any learning experiences that any of you would like to share with others on this blog, please let me know and I will include it next time.
Can Feldenkrais help reduce the occurrences of Migraine Headaches?
I will answer this from my own personal experience. In my twenties, I used to get migraines whenever I became stressed out. Luckily, I started to get trained to become a Feldenkrais Practitioner when I was 28 years old, and this was the beginning of helping myself. Through the Feldenkrais Method, I discovered that the way I held my head to the right side was a major contributing factor to my migraines. I also learned that my right eye was my dominant eye as well as the eye that I could see more clearly out of. Because I used this eye more it made me side bend my head to the side most of time. When I became tired; tried too hard; or was over stressed; this pattern would intensify. And this is when I would get a migraine.
I learned about my movement patterns. I learned about what I did to create these patterns. Through Feldenkrais classes and sessions I learned how to find the mid-line with my eyes; to move my head using all of myself; and to strengthen my left eye. I say this now, with tremendous gratitude, that I have had only two or three migraines in the last 12 years! The few times that I did develop a migraine, it did not last long because I knew how to help myself. The last one that I had, literally only lasted one hour because I got down on the floor and explored some Feldenkrais lessons and by the end of the lesson it was gone! I can’t express in words how grateful I am to have the knowledge and awareness to help myself in this way. I know that anyone that has experienced a migraine will understand my gratitude.
Sincerely,
Donna