Roots · Lineage
Feldenkrais and the Anat Baniel Method®
Where ABM™ NeuroMovement® comes from, what it shares with the Feldenkrais Method®, and where it goes its own way.
The Short Version
The Anat Baniel Method® NeuroMovement® grew directly out of the Feldenkrais Method®. Anat Baniel studied with Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais and worked closely with him for more than ten years before developing her own approach.
So if you've done Feldenkrais lessons and found them helpful, a lot of what happens in a session here will feel familiar: the slowness, the small movements, the attention, the sense that nothing is being forced. The difference is in how the work is organized and taught.
Who Was Moshe Feldenkrais?
Moshe Feldenkrais (1904–1984) was a physicist, engineer, and one of the first Europeans to earn a black belt in judo. After a serious knee injury, he turned his scientific training on his own movement — and arrived at an idea that was well ahead of its time: that how we move is something the nervous system learns, and can keep learning.
Rather than treating the body as a machine to be fixed, he worked with attention, curiosity, and gentle variation, so that the brain could find easier ways of doing things on its own. He taught through group lessons (Awareness Through Movement®) and individual hands-on lessons (Functional Integration®).
What Carries Over
The core of both approaches is the same: change happens through learning, not correction. In practice, that means:
- Movements are small, slow, and comfortable — never pushed into pain
- Attention to what you're feeling matters more than doing it "right"
- Less force makes it easier for the brain to notice differences
- Sessions are fully clothed, often on a padded table, with gentle hands-on guidance
- The goal is new options for the nervous system, not a fixed exercise routine
Where ABM™ NeuroMovement® Differs
Anat Baniel took what she learned and built a distinct method around it, with its own training, principles, and language.
| Feldenkrais Method® | ABM™ NeuroMovement® | |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Developed by Moshe Feldenkrais from the 1940s on | Developed by Anat Baniel, building on her years working with Feldenkrais |
| Framework | Teaches through a large body of movement lessons and hands-on work | Organized around the Nine Essentials — conditions that help the brain learn, such as slowness, variation, and attention |
| Framing | Awareness and self-organization through movement | Explicitly framed around neuroplasticity — the brain's capacity to change |
| Training | Practitioners certified through accredited Feldenkrais trainings | Practitioners certified through Anat Baniel Method® trainings |
Where I Fit In
I'm a certified Anat Baniel Method® NeuroMovement® Practitioner, working with adults and adolescents in Brooklyn and virtually. I'm not a certified Feldenkrais practitioner — but the Feldenkrais roots run through this work, and through the way I think about every session.
If you're looking specifically for a Feldenkrais teacher, the Feldenkrais Guild® of North America keeps a directory of certified practitioners. If you'd like to try something closely related — or you're not sure which fits — I'm happy to talk it through.
Feldenkrais®, Feldenkrais Method®, Awareness Through Movement®, and Functional Integration® are registered service marks of the Feldenkrais Guild® of North America. Rewire is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Feldenkrais Guild®.