Brigitte Kawakami was hit by a car while crossing Kalanianaole Highway in 1980, and life as she knew it changed. Although she didn’t break any bones, some of her vertebrae were misaligned and she was destined to live the next 27 years in pain.

“The nagging pain just wouldn’t go away,” Kawakami said recently.

Prior to the accident, she led a vigorous, healthy lifestyle. Growing up in Austria, alpine hiking and downhill skiing were among her favorite activities. And when she came to Oahu in 1976, aerobics, walking and yoga became her chosen activities to stay fit and healthy.

A kindergarten teacher in Austria, she had come on a vacation and decided to make Hawaii her home. She now works designing Asian-inspired clothing.

The pain in her spine launched her on a long search for relief. Kawakami tried Rolfing, Pilates, chiropractic care, yoga, shiatsu and massage to alleviate the pain. “All of them helped, but only for a few days, and the pain always came back,” she said.

But in 2007 a friend suggested she try the Feldenkrais Method, a series of gentle movements that help realign the body and create mental awareness. After only eight months she was pain free, she said. Kawakami was so accustomed to the pain that it surprised her by its absence.

“I came home one day and had no pain,” she said. “I was looking for the pain because my brain was so used to it. Something needs to change in the brain, and when you do Feldenkrais, it does.”

She enjoyed Feldenkrais so much that she decided to get a teaching certification in 2012. Now Kawakami teaches individuals and groups at the Still & Moving Center in Kakaako. Teaching seemed a natural extension of what she was doing.

“Feldenkrais is my life,” she said. “I figured if it helped me this much, I can help others. It’s good for everyone, and not just for pain. It’s for anyone who is curious and wants to get to know themselves better. When people gain a deeper understanding of their body through Feldenkrais, magic begins to happen.”

The movement program was designed in the 1940s by Moshe Feldenkrais, a Russian-born physicist, judo expert, mechanical engineer and educator. He studied psychology, neurophysiology and health-related disciplines as he merged and refined his ideas, which he spread through organized classes.

Changing old habits and self-image takes place by generating an awareness of the way the body moves, Kawakami explained. Feldenkrais works by teaching people to move more efficiently, changing habits that have been picked up over the years, she said.

“By doing the movements slower and reducing the muscular efforts, it becomes possible to make fine distinctions about what you’re doing and to become aware of the physical organization, movements and actions,” she said. “Awareness is the key.”

Feldenkrais can be done standing, sitting or lying down.

Kawakami likes to start classes on the floor since it can support the body and allows it to release muscle tension.

“You don’t have to fight gravity,” she said. “We spend so much time sitting and standing that we lose our ability to really let go and relax.”

In class the movements include reaching, turning, crawling and moving from a seated to standing position. In real life those movements translate to bending down to put on socks, reaching for a book on a shelf, looking over your shoulder while parking a car and rolling out of bed in the morning, Kawakami said.

“I practice Feldenkrais every day,” she said. “I find it fascinating. … It will change your outlook on life. And it’s improved my balance and agility.”

She encourages her students to look in the mirror after class to see whether they appear younger through the practice.

“They may notice that the tension is gone from their face, or their eyes shine brighter as a result of self-awareness and letting go of the things that they’ve been carrying around,” Kawakami said.

As for her own age, the Windward Oahu resident will only say this: “I’m more agile than I was as a child. I’m getting younger all the time.”

For more information about the Feldenkrais Method taught by Brigitte Kawakami, visit the Still & Moving Center online at stillandmovingcenter.com.