Annette Orphal (English)

Photo Frank Höfer ©

Bringing Emotionally Closer a Sense of Belongingness

Annette Orphal 

I grew up bilingually in France and Germany. Every few years I moved again to the other country. Finally I chose France and now live in Paris. I came across Feldenkrais during a youthful phase of seeking orientation. I was looking for something where I could link scientific interests and delight in dancing, and hit on the idea of studying psychology with the intention of moving later into dance therapy. That was at the time when I was completing high school in Germany. I went to university in France but often travelled to Cologne for courses in various dance therapies and body methods. It was also there that I came across the Feldenkrais method which I spontaneously liked best of all. The experience of a hitherto never felt deep inner joy, which suddenly arose and spread throughout myself, threw up questions I absolutely wanted to investigate: how could these experiences of movement bring to light such joie de vivre? At that time I was in my early twenties and had just completed the first stage of my studies. A year later I started a training with Myriam and continued with that alongside my psychology course. I finished in 1999 with the Feldenkrais training taking a little longer than my studies since I also had three children during that period, which meant that the Feldenkrais took five years. Afterwards as a psychologist I initially specialised in early mother-child interactions because of my own experiences, mainly with the first child.

I did some further training in psychological and educational assistance for parents with small children, studied therapeutic approaches, and then quickly established my own practice. It had become apparent that I can work most freely in such a set-up, developing my own approaches. In the meantime I work at a creche and two other children’s day-centres where parents who are not in full-time employment can bring their children for a couple of hours, half a day, or the whole day so as to have a break themselves. I work there as a psychologist but from the start have incorporated Feldenkrais at my employer’s request. Alongside that co-operation has developed with various local family organisations across the city, and I am helping establish joint projects for working with parents and offering them support. This mainly involves strengthening interaction between parents and children – and to bring that about I use the Feldenkrais approach. I mainly show parents how they can touch their children, convincing them that it’s good to allow children to sense themselves. And what parents discover in their children usually leads them to start getting interested in themselves and their own development as well. Then I’ve achieved my target as a “Feldenkrais psychologist”: accompanying people along the way of many open-ended questions where there is so much to be discovered.

The Guild work is important for me because I noticed fairly quickly that in this profession I can’t simply strike out on my own. I wanted to know about the context I’m in and where I’m establishing myself. Reading isn’t enough for me; I must explore this situation through my own activity. That is my personal strategy for getting to know the entire ‘Feldenkrais land’ better. Through knowing these surroundings better I also see more clearly where my own place can be and precisely what I am contributing – and why. This helps me in developing my own identity as a Feldenkrais teacher. I see that as paralleling the development of a child where the self also develops out of interaction with the environment.

The French Feldenkrais Guild was set up in 1987 and has 151 full members plus 107 student members. I belong to the executive and am responsible for international communications – originally the Euro-TAB Council whose secretary I was for the last three years. I’ve also been a delegate to the IFF since 2003. As far as Guild members are concerned, we’ve had around 150-160 full members for some years now, but they aren’t always the same people. There’s a core of people who remain from year to year, and then many who come and go again because there’s a lack of consistency within our Guild.

Through my international work I’ve now understood better what is missing in France. The greatest challenge is to strengthen a sense of personal belongingness in the French Guild. Some of our members have been there for ever, but there are also many who come with specific hopes which are not fulfilled and then they leave again. That’s how the number of our members remains constant while the total of Feldenkrais teachers in France is always rising. In my opinion, the greatest challenge is to ensure that people feel that they really belong together, thanks to the Guild. This really does involve feelings to a great extent. I see our task as providing processes which also bring members emotionally closer to this belongingness so that they feel it more clearly, and also feel they can become active there and themselves create this togetherness.

In my view, the IFF Academy Prisma Blue workshop offers a beautiful and highly effective example of how such processes can be structured. Together with Silke Bonardi and other colleagues, I developed and offered a shorter version at our annual assembly. Unfortunately only very few people were present, but they took part and were enthusiastic. Interest is growing too. In fact in a recent survey of members’ views, the wish for more belongingness was very clearly expressed. All the other well-known questions: how the Method can be made better known and how people can make a living from it – those are the other constants. But I don’t see them as providing a lever for change. It’s like the situation in Feldenkrais sessions. Someone comes because his shoulder is troubling him – but that doesn’t mean you work away at the shoulder ... If Feldenkrais teachers feel more togetherness, fire one another with enthusiasm, and start to take pleasure in doing more together, then they will bring more of the Method to the public. I simply don’t believe that the Guild is responsible for people getting more clients. Our members may expect that – but we don’t directly fulfil that expectation: just as in a Feldenkrais session ...

Copyright Annette Orphal and Uta Ruge

First published in Feldenkraisforum, volume 53, 2006