High Level Athletes & Performers

High Level Athletes & PerformersThe Anat Baniel Methods℠ (ABM) and Feldenkrais Methods® can be transformative for high-level performers in a variety of fields including music, dance, and athletics. These methods have two very important functions that can help improve performance. First, by engaging the brain in the process of movement and awareness, the work can help to break through old patterns, enabling the body to re-organize in ways that are more conducive to performance. And second, they speed and ease recovery from injuries, many of which are caused by ineffective or harmful habits.

Breakthroughs in Performance:

“Judith Dack’s work has helped tremendously to awaken singers to their calm and reliable singing core. Having found such balance, it’s been a difference that’s made all the difference.”

Dr. Darryl Edwards
Associate Professor & Head of Voice Studies
Faculty of Music, University of Toronto

It is not uncommon for athletes to reach a plateau in their training. They find themselves working just as hard, caught in the “no pain, no gain” myth, but not experiencing the same improvement. Movement becomes habitual, struggle sets in, and the brain is no longer engaged in learning and upgrading.

Judith Dack – an ABM and Feldenkrais practitioner with a background in performance, utilizes awareness and movement, gentle touch and manipulation, to disrupt movement patterns, teaching the elite to feel and sense more clearly, and introducing new ways of using the whole body in training and performing that is experienced as immediate improvement.

Recovering from Injury

“As a composer of film and television music, I use my hands at keyboards all day, every day. Over the past year I started experiencing quite bad pain and stiffness in my right forearm and shoulder. A friend recommended the Feldenkrais method to address this problem, and I found Judith Dack at Uptown Studio. After a few of months of Feldenkrais sessions with Judith, I am working virtually pain free. It’s quite a remarkable feeling to play instruments with a new looseness and freedom of movement. Feldenkrais has even had an effect on my creativity. I can highly recommend this method.”Recovering from Injury

John Welsman
Music Composer for T.V. and Film

Performers and athletes may be able to avoid some of the repetitive strain injuries that often plague careers. By using the Feldenkrais and ABM proactively, they will discover new, more effective ways of using their body that help them avoid injury. However, some injuries are inevitable, and it’s important to treat them as effectively and quickly as possible. To avoid pain we often develop patterns of compensation that are neither healthy nor helpful. These can prevent us from full recovery. Using these methods, this cycle can be interrupted, engaging the brain in helping the body to heal.

Dr. Feldenkrais was motivated to develop his method in large part as the result of an injury. His study of the relationship between the brain and the body provide the foundation from which these methods are drawn. He was able to forego a risky and painful surgery, by undertaking a process of movement re-education. This process can be applied to almost any injury, often with astonishing results. Most clients see improvements in function and mobility, while those who are experiencing severe or chronic pain often find that it is reduced. These results can be seen before the treatment is complete, as the brain starts to upgrade its organization in relation to the body.

If you are interested in what Judith Dack can do to improve your performance, please contact us or phone us at 416-481-2381.