Southampton Feldenkrais

23/09/2025

11/09/2025

Forget “No Pain, No Gain-Here’s Another Way

🌿 I know that living with chronic pain and anxiety can feel like being trapped in a body that no longer feels like you.

And simple things like getting dressed, reaching for a shelf, walking with ease, and enjoying time with friends can suddenly feel like huge challenges. The pain becomes a constant companion, and fear of moving only makes it worse. You may find yourself thinking, “What if I make it worse? What if my body just can’t do this anymore?”

You’ve probably tried so many things already, including physio, exercises, medication, “pushing through”, and maybe they’ve brought temporary relief, but not lasting change. It’s understandable to feel doubtful, even hopeless, wondering if anything will really help.

Here’s the thing: your body isn’t broken. It’s protecting you the best it can. But what if instead of fighting against it, you could learn to work with it?

I work with you,not on you so you can build a new relationship with your body. By slowing down, listening, and gently exploring your movement, you can teach your nervous system new patterns of ease instead of tension, of balance instead of strain, which is rooted in the Feldenkrais Method.

It’s not about pushing harder. It’s about learning how to move with awareness, so your body feels safe again. From this place, real change can happen:
✨ Reduced pain with more comfort and ease
✨ Confidence to move without fear
✨ Improved health and energy for daily life
✨ A sense of coming home to yourself

Can you imagine waking up and not waiting for the pain to kick in? Can you imagine walking through your day with more freedom, more trust in your body, and a little more joy?
If you’ve tried everything else and still feel stuck, maybe it’s time to try a different way, a gentler way. Your body is ready to learn, and it’s never too late to feel like yourself again.

💬 Curious to learn more? Message or DM me today to find out how we can work together.

28/08/2025

22/08/2025

😣 Are you 40 and above living with back pain that feels endless?

You want one thing: to move freely again without pain.
To be able to get out of bed without wincing, to walk without holding, and to be able to sit comfortably at work.

But instead…
⚡ You fear it’ll only get worse, or it’s just part of ageing.
⚡ You dread losing your independence.
⚡ You wonder, “Will I be stuck with this forever?”

So you try the usual fixes thinking this is the solution.
💊Painkillers.
✨Core exercises.
✨Treatments that help for a while but never last.

But deep down you still hold the belief that,
“My back is weak.”
“I just need to push harder.”
“I’ll always have pain.”

But what if the real problem isn’t your back at all?
What if it’s your old patterns of holding onto tension, injuries and accidents by guarding yourself that keep you locked in pain? 🌀

The shift begins when you see strength differently.
💫 Not about tightening muscles.
💫 But about your skeleton supporting you with ease 🦴.
💫 Letting your nervous system unwind.

I am a Feldenkrais Practitioner who works with the Nervous System, with expertise in anatomy. My teaching is focused on your safety, particularly for those with bone health issues.

With the Feldenkrais Method, your identity changes:
From “someone with a bad back”, you become “someone who can move with freedom and trust.”
And from thinking “I must fight my body” to “I can connect with my body.”

You are not broken. 💜
You just need a gentle new direction.

✨Come and join a September Class- Send a DM
✨ SouthamptonFeldenkrais.co.uk

01/08/2025

Do you wake up each day with that familiar ache in your lower back?

😔 You stretch… you rest… you try exercises, treatments, even painkillers.
And still, it’s there – quietly stealing your energy and joy.
I see you.
Back pain doesn’t just live in your spine – it seeps into your whole life.

It changes the way you move, the things you dare to do, and how you feel about yourself.

I’m Shirley Jeffers a Feldenkrais Practitioner here in Southampton 💛
I help people who feel stuck with their pain discover a gentler way to move with clarity and confidence, a way that doesn’t involve pushing harder or “just living with it.”

The Feldenkrais Method is different.
It’s not about forcing or fixing.
Instead, we use slow, curious movements to help your brain and body reconnect.
Through this gentle learning, your body begins to find balance again.

You start to move with more ease, and little by little, pain loses its grip.
Imagine walking, bending, or sitting without that constant pull in your back.
Imagine feeling lighter, freer… more you.

If you’ve tried everything and nothing has truly helped, maybe it’s time for a new way – one that works with you, not against you.
✨ Are you ready to take the first step towards moving without pain?

Send me a message today and let’s talk about how Feldenkrais can help you rediscover ease and joy in your daily life.
Because life is too precious to live in pain. 🌱

Send a DM or drop a comment if you’re interested below and would like to join a class.

07/07/2025

🌿 The Pain of Stress and Anxiety – and a Gentle Way Through

Are you suffering from stress and anxiety?

Stress & anxiety don’t just live in the mind, they can grip the body too. Do you experience a tight chest, shallow breath, clenched jaw, aching neck, tired back... sound familiar?

When we’re constantly on edge, our nervous system doesn’t get a chance to breathe. Over time, this becomes our "normal", but it doesn't have to be this way.

What if… there’s another way?

The Feldenkrais Method provides a gentle, intelligent approach that directly speaks to your nervous system. Through slow, mindful movement, you begin to soften the tension, feel your breath deepen, and find more ease in your body and mind. You can rewire your brain and unlock new possibilities to improve your condition.

By not forcing or trying to fix, you begin to listen to yourself more deeply.

When you start to move with curiosity instead of pushing through, your system begins to settle. You create the space for new patterns, for calm, for clarity.

That tight grip of stress? It starts to loosen.

That racing mind? Begins to quiet.

It’s not about trying harder. It’s about discovering how to move, breathe, and be with yourself in a new way — with kindness and awareness.

You can feel different. You can feel better. And it starts with the simple act of slowing down.

Curious to explore? Come and experience what’s possible with Feldenkrais.

Send me a DM or drop a comment below if you're interested in joining a class.

30/06/2025

Persistent neck and shoulder pain? You’re not alone.

I often meet clients who’ve been living with ongoing tension and pain in their neck and shoulders, especially those who spend hours at a desk or play sports regularly.

They’ve tried everything: massage, physio, stretching, painkillers. Temporary relief… but the tightness always creeps back in. It’s exhausting. Not just physically, but mentally too, and it affects your sleep, mood, and focus.

What if the issue isn’t just where it hurts, but how you move?

That’s where the Feldenkrais Method offers something different.

One of my clients told me, “I didn’t realise how much I was holding myself in my whole upper body just to hold myself upright.” Through gentle, mindful movement, they learned to sense how tension was showing up, and slowly, those patterns began to shift.

They felt freer. Lighter. More balanced. The pain? Gone.
No forcing. No stretching. Just learning to move in a more connected, effortless way.

If you've been stuck in a cycle of pain and nothing seems to stick, maybe it's time to explore a different path.

Curious? Let’s chat.

17/06/2025

10/06/2025

Meet Roger, one of my clients and the surprising key to his tennis comeback.

Roger is 50, active, and loves his tennis. For him, it’s more than just about fitness and staying sharp, he wants to stay healthy. But over the last six months, something changed. He started experiencing pain in his right hip and lower back, not just on the court, but when walking.

His doctor had ruled out anything serious; he had tried physiotherapy, chiropractic treatments, and the usual stretching routines, but the discomfort persisted.

He had become frustrated and said, “ I no longer feel like my old self, I am beginning got feel like an old man".

When we first met, I observed something small but important. Roger was collapsing into his right hip when walking. His chest was held tight and stiff, almost like he had forgotten how to move freely. I gently brought his attention to this.

What happened next is what I love about the Feldenkrais Method.

Over the next few sessions, we explored how his chest, pelvis, and head could move together and in opposition using his whole body. We got curious. We worked with different movement patterns, and slowly, Roger began to feel how the way he was holding himself affected his whole body.

It wasn’t about “fixing” the hip and back ; it was about learning how to move differently.

During one of our sessions, Roger said,” Aw, I can feel how turning my pelvis to the right restricts the way I move and hold myself”. How wonderful is that!

Roger had noticed this small shift. The pain had almost gone. His energy lifted. He felt lighter, more positive and yes, his tennis game improved too!

What changed wasn’t just his movement but the awareness that he could change.

That’s why I love the Feldenkrais Method. It’s not about pushing through pain or working harder. It’s about listening, sensing, and discovering new ways of moving with ease and clarity.

Roger’s story is a reminder: transformation doesn’t have to come from effort and strain; it comes from awareness, curiosity, and learning to move well.

That’s why I do what I do and why I believe Feldenkrais can be life-changing.

30/05/2025

JAGO
I came across Jago by accident and have fallen in love with his work. He was one of the reasons I visited Naples this year to see his work in the newly opened museum, located inside the church of Sant’Aspreno Al Crociferi, and I was not disappointed.

Who is this man? Jago is an Italian sculptor and Art Entrepreneur who was born in Frosinone in 1987. He attended Art High School and then the Academy of Fine Arts, from which he graduated in 2010.

He believes that “to sculpt something, you must first break it”.
His artistic research is grounded in the old traditional techniques, where he uses marble as his main material, dealing with the human condition of life: love, sorrow, anxiety, and ageing.

He has workshops in various parts of the world, but mainly lives between New York, Naples, Rome and the United Emirates.

22/05/2025

A Frozen Shoulder and the Path to Freedom: A Feldenkrais Story

Let me tell you about one of my clients. He came to me feeling frustrated, limited, and honestly, a bit hopeless. He had been struggling with a frozen shoulder for months. Simple things like brushing his hair, reaching for a mug in the cupboard, or even putting on a coat had become painful and difficult. The stiffness wasn’t just in his shoulder it had started to creep into his whole way of moving… and being.

Like many people, he had tried physiotherapy, yoga, Pilates stretches, and strengthening exercises, all with the mindset that he had to “push through” to get better. But all that effort was exhausting, and at times, it made things feel worse. He was tired of the battle with his own body.

That’s when he discovered the Feldenkrais Method.

In our first session, I invited him to lie down, relax, and do less. No pushing, no stretching—just sensing. We explored gentle movements that had nothing to do with the shoulder at first. We brought attention to his ribs, pelvis, and spine—areas often forgotten but deeply connected to how the shoulder functions. I could see the confusion on his face at first. “How is this going to help my shoulder?”

Each week, we continued with small, curious explorations. We moved slowly, with awareness. Instead of trying to fix the shoulder, we invited the whole body to join in—to support the movement so the shoulder didn’t have to work alone.
Bit by bit, something started to shift.

He began to notice that his shoulder moved a little more freely—not because he forced it, but because the rest of his body was learning to organise itself differently. He found new pathways for movement. The pain lessened. His breath deepened.
One day, he said, “You know what? I reached for my coat this morning and didn’t even think about it.”

That’s what Feldenkrais can do. It’s not about treating the “problem” in isolation—it’s about learning to move with clarity, curiosity, and connection. When we let go of the idea that strength comes from effort, and begin to sense where our support truly comes from (the skeleton!), movement becomes easy again.

He now feels freer, more confident, and more himself.

This is the kind of transformation I see often. It’s quiet, gentle—but powerful. A new way of being in your body, without the strain.

There really is another way. And it’s closer than you think.

12/05/2025

🌿 Mental Health Awareness Week 12-18 May 2025🌿

A gentle reminder that your mental well-being is deeply connected to how you move, rest, and sense yourself in the world.

When life feels overwhelming, our bodies often tighten, our breath shortens, and we move with tension we don’t even realise we’re carrying. This is where the Feldenkrais Method offers a fresh perspective.

Feldenkrais isn't about pushing harder or stretching further. It's about slowing down, sensing more, and becoming aware of how you move without judgment. Through gentle, playful movements, we begin to unwind patterns of stress held in the body. And with that, something happens: the mind softens too.

💫 What if mental clarity and emotional ease were just a few movements away?

By reconnecting to yourself in a kind and curious way, you begin to notice how tension, anxiety, and fatigue shift. You feel more grounded, more present, more yourself.

Mental health doesn’t have to be another thing to “work on.” Sometimes, it starts by listening to your body, your breath, your movement.

This week, I invite you to slow down. To be kind to yourself. To get curious about how you move through life—physically and emotionally.

And if you're curious to explore, I'm here to guide you through the Feldenkrais way 💛