“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” The quotation seems like vintage Moshe Feldenkrais. However, it’s actually by Maya Angelou. The recent protests around the world have renewed attention on social justice issues; and specifically at this time, systemic racism. Many in our community and in our spheres of influence, including …
Tech Plus Touch Connects You to Your Clients
As the realities of current constraints to our habitual ways of practicing the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education become apparent, new growth opportunities in learning and day-to-day business practices are in front of us. Online tools and apps can bring your livelihood up to business standards your clients are used to dealing with every day, while streamlining many details that …
A New Path Out of Anxiety
by Zoe Birch, MA GCFP I wrote this article a number of years ago, inspired by Moshe’s quote about aggression being a behavior, not an energy. In today’s challenging and reactive climate, it is worth revisiting this idea of aggression as a behavioral expression of helplessness, impotence, and anxiety. The antidote to impotence is the potent use of self from …
Could You Unmute Yourself? Stories from the Front Lines of Online Events
Online teaching offers so many opportunities to embody the principles of the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education. Flexibility. Resilience. Learning from mistakes. How many times have your students tried to ask a question while muted? We thought we’d explore some of the challenges and gaffes that teachers encounter as we enter the brave new world of teaching online. We hope …
What Have You Learned from Teaching Online?
We wanted to know what our colleagues were learning since the jump online, so we reached out to Ray Sylvester, Vita Kolodny, Cathy Paine, Nancy Linsley, and Bob Chapra to hear about their experiences. Bob Chapra, Philadelphia PA: 1. You can’t beat the overhead 2. People who live a distance away can attend, and the convenience of working at home …
Business and Personal Development: What’s Next?
We’ve done an extraordinary thing. Think about it. In just a little over a month’s time, culture and society have undergone a dramatic transformation. The economic, psychological, and logistical challenges of the time, and their effects, will reverberate far into the future. So what have WE done? We are adapting. It’s a process. We Feldenkrais® practitioners have received unique and …
Successive Approximations: Larry Goldfarb on the Opportunities and Constraints of Online Learning
As many of us are learning to teach online, we thought we’d touch base with one of our community pioneers in online learning, Dr. Larry Goldfarb. Larry was an early adopter of technology, driven by curiosity. “The path to where we are now with online learning sort of started by happenstance,” Larry said. “During the Strasbourg Feldenkrais® Training (back in …
Checklist of Best Practices: Options as You Move Forward
While we can’t cover everything here, we hope these pointers will get you started as you shift to a “new normal” in your practice. In this article you will learn how to communicate with your clients, investigate Zoom and the basics of online teaching, and how to communicate with your venues — so you can continue to practice, maintain your …
Business Essentials: Headshot and Bio Basics
by MaryBeth Smith, MM, GCFP As you and your work in the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education become better known in your local community and beyond, the day may come when you are invited to do something outside of your office or studio. Imagine that you are invited to: Give a presentation about the Feldenkrais Method to a club, community …
Feldenkrais® Practice for Winter Doldrums
by Robin RogerTrainee Awareness Through Movement Teacher® Winter in Toronto is not only bone-chillingly cold, (minus 23 C/-9 F with the wind chill yesterday), snowy (15 cm/5 inches of snow on Saturday) and slippery (The Toronto Rehabilitation Institute has the WinterLab, devoted to research on preventing falls under winter conditions) it is also grey. This week (as I write, it’s …