Feldenkrais – Child’Space

I learnt about the Feldenkrais method some years ago, and I found it to be the best way to resolve tension and help me recover from injuries, by retraining my habits.

It was something that had a great impact on me, and helped me to feel better within myself.

My background is dance, and I also teach movement lessons to children. Working with children was for me the connection with the Child´Space Method. If we observe and direct the developmental monitoring process of a child at an early age, we can detect possible problems and therefore be more likely to offer a solution.

This method includes studies in Neurology, Pediatrics, Psychology, Communication and Observation of Developmental stages and functions.

The “Child’Space” Method takes its name from an approach to interacting that respects a child’s space, as when she is exploring on her own, and adjusts activities to suit her pace and temperament.

The “Child’Space” Method is based on teaching parents how routine activities and play with their babies can stimulate development of motor, cognitive, emotional and social abilities. Learning experiences in a child’s first year lay the foundation for a lifetime of intentional movement and social interaction. The language of touch and movement communicated by the parents during this time is internalized in the child’s brain and influences everything that follows. Using this method we work with the ability to regulate and coordinate the movement, by working with the nervous system and the coordination of movement.

Early introduction to touch, movement, and face-to-face communication contributes to the environment of a baby’s sensory, motor and social development, and frequently brings immediate improvements to a child’s life.

Later, these children will better prepared for such motor challenges as jumping, holding a pencil and playing with a ball, and this has great social and psychological significance.

The “Child’Space” Method has been developed by Chava Shelva.

Through decades of working with clients of all ages using the “Feldenkrais Method”, Dr. Shelhav has come to understand that the roots of many problems experienced by adults can be traced to infancy and early childhood.

She developed the “Child’Space” Method to give children a solid foundation for lifelong learning and social competency.

It is a method of movement re-education, named after the man who developed it, Moshe Feldenkrais.

The Feldenkrais Method® is a way to teach movement. It´s particularly recommended for people who are experiencing some kind of limitation, something that is interfering with their daily life or obstructing progress or performance. This method helps you to explore the ways in which you move, how that relates to the problem, and how you could move differently to resolve the problem.

It’s an educational approach, it isn’t a medical treatment. The Child’Space Method teaches how to recognize warning signals, such as an infant who does not raise his or her head, lie on his or her stomach, roll over, or sit by him/herself; or walks clumsily. Early intervention helps prevent developmental and behavioural problems.

Parental involvement is a critical issue when working with children.

Parents are taught how to monitor their baby’s development and fulfil his or her physical and emotional needs.

The method’s approach to working with parents provides them with a sense of security and contributes to a healthy child-parent relationship, and to the relationships within the extended family as a whole.

Individual sessions (child and parents): The session contains a series of very gentle guided movements staying in the range of ease at all times. The child will repeat those movements accompanied by his parents. I do not use massage or manipulation. I help them to create movement habits through contact and communication.

Group sessions: For many parents, the knowledge and expectations that guide their parenting may at times conflict with their seeing a child’s individual needs. “Child’Space” helps parents by teaching ways to observe their babies and to support their development, especially during the first two years from birth to independent walking, which current research has shown to be the foundation for development and learning throughout life.

By learning to attend to small details of how their children act and learn, parents also come to a better appreciation of their children as individuals.

Every session includes activities engaging multiple factors that are simultaneously developing for that particular age.