From the Editors
Every year, thousands of people undergo joint replacement surgery to get a new lease on life. For example, in 2020, 800,000 knee replacement and 498,000 hip replacement surgeries were performed. The number of these procedures, as well as primary and reverse total shoulder arthroplasties, are on the rise, in part because of the aging of the population and the increased efficiency of prosthetic technologies and medical knowledge.
In this edition of SenseAbility, our contributors explore how the Feldenkrais Method can be a powerful support for a person going through joint replacement at every stage of the process. By working privately with a practitioner and incorporating the practice of Awareness Through Movement® into one's own routine - especially during recovery - one can maximize the feeling of one's own autonomy, even when surgical intervention is a necessity.
Stacy Barrows, who is both a Feldenkrais® practitioner and a physical therapist, shares her expertise and common questions that come up when working with clients with joint replacements in her interview with Joe Webster. Becci Parsons tells the story of helping a client with a recent knee replacement to discover a feeling of "embodied ownership" of her new joint. Jane Johnston, a Feldenkrais practitioner, who has personally undergone five different joint replacements, tells her story.
Jane, Joe and Seth
