How Feldenkrais Differentiation 'Works'

In a Feldenkrais differentiation, we take muscle systems that typically work together, get them to work cattywumpus from their habitual pattern, and then put them back together again.

Sometimes there’s a big change in the organization. An example is when you differentiate your psoas and diaphragm. At the start, you might have had a habit of engaging your diaphragm to ‘help’ with the psoas. (In most cases that’s superfluous, inefficient, maybe even injurious over time.) After a differentiation, maybe you’ll rarely go back to that pattern.

A different example is looking over your shoulder. Eyes turn, shoulder girdle moves (I sure hope it does), cervical spine rotates, maybe even the breath engages. After we differentiate that, all those systems may continue to work together, but it is as though they were glued together at the start and now, instead, they are cooperating – a much more nimble and adaptable relationship.

Expect lots more on differentiation.