Getting Grounded Gracefully©: Effectiveness and Acceptability of Feldenkrais in Improving Balance

Abstract

The Getting Grounded Gracefully© program, based on the Awareness Through Movement lessons of the Feldenkrais method, was designed to improve balance and function in older people. Fifty-five participants (mean age 75, 85% women) were randomized to an intervention (twice-weekly group classes over 8 wk) or a control group (continued with their usual activity) after being assessed at baseline and then reassessed 8 wk later. Significant improvement was identified for the intervention group relative to the control group using ANOVA between-groups repeated-measures analysis for the Modified Falls Efficacy Scale score (p = .003) and gait speed (p = .028), and a strong trend was evident in the timed up-and-go (p = .056). High class attendance (88%) and survey feedback indicate that the program was viewed positively by participants and might therefore be acceptable to other older people. Further investigation of the Getting Grounded Gracefully program is warranted.

Intervention of Self-Monitoring Body Movement has an Immediate Beneficial Effect to MaintYasudaain Postural Stability

“…In conclusion, the present study showed that self-monitoring has in itself some beneficial effects for the improvement of postural stability when maintaining the stability is challenging. This conclusion supports an intuitive understanding of the importance of self-monitoring when performing physical exercises [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22].…”

Immediate beneficial effects of self-monitoring body movements for upright postural stability in young healthy individuals

“…Similarly to the effects of yoga and soft gymnastics, practicing the Feldenkrais Method (Connors et al, 2009;Vrantsidis et al, 2009) and Tai Chi (Xu et al, 2004;Li et al, 2008) has been found to improve postural control in older participants. Both exercises are characterized as sequences of slow movement aimed at the improvement of body awareness.…”

“…A typical finding was that such activities were beneficial to counteract the deleterious effect of aging (Gauchard et al, 1999;Connors et al, 2009;Li et al, 2009;Vrantsidis et al, 2009). For instance, Gauchard et al showed that, in comparison to performing bioenergetic physical activities, including jogging, swimming, or cycling, practicing relatively slow physical activities, such as yoga or soft gymnastics, was more effective for older participants to improve their postural control when participants closed their eyes.…”

Temporal adaptations in generic and population-specific quality of life and falls efficacy in men with recent lower-limb amputations

“…Examples of the 10 items assessing indoor activities are getting dressed and bathing; crossing roads and using public transport are examples of the 4 outdoor activities assessed. The mFES has been used in empirical research investigating falls within a community-dwelling elderly population [31], improvements in fall rates in the elderly via training [32], and in analyses of the effect of fear of falling on gait in the elderly [33].…”