By: Mary Susan Chen, PT, GCFP Dominic attended Functional Integration® lessons to smooth out his violin playing. He had recently joined a trio and wanted to improve the quality of his performance. During a summer trip to Cape Cod, he and his family dined in an old train car converted into a restaurant. He protected his daughter as they descended …
The Sit to Stand Escalator
By Jean Elvin, MFA, GCFP Sitting down or standing up from a chair – what could be a more common daily action? Unwittingly, many people have the erroneous internal image of standing straight up from the chair, without inclining their weight over their feet, omitting the sense of counter-balance between the hips, shoulders and head. Clients may be aware that …
The Soma Sings!
By Carol McAmis Photo by Simon Maennling on Unsplash How are human beings able to create different sounds so that no two singers or speakers sound alike? How do we learn to coordinate our ear, tongue, jaw, and expressions to accomplish this? Why is the relationship of the tongue, jaw and mouth so special and amazing for human communication? Moshe …
Meeting Emotions with Empathy
By Margaret Rinaldi Photo by June Wong on Unsplash Two weeks after my Feldenkrais® training ended in August 2001, I taught my first public class on 9/11/2001. I was in Boulder, Colorado, with twelve earnest, freaked out people on my converted living room floor. I’d called around to cancel the class but people wanted to be there. What I saw …
Anger, Aggression, Love and Learning
By Molly Tipping Photo by JR Korpa on Unsplash A number of years ago a client, Daniel, who I had been seeing for pain and anxiety following a car accident, asked me “What is the Feldenkrais® perspective on anger?” When we first spoke about anger, my response was general and not altogether different from what I might say on anxiety. ‘It is …
Making the Impossible, Possible
Photo Credit: Emma Matthews Barbara Leverone In late February this year, I remember watching the disturbing images from Italy about this new and dangerous virus. I was teaching a Child’Space® training segment in Buenos Aires – should I finish the segment early and fly home? Were there going to be travel restrictions? Was it even safe to fly? I did …
Witnessing the Joy of Choice, Online!
An interview with Kathy James IT: Kathy, how did you shift your practice when in-person classes were no longer an option? Can you describe what that process was like for you? Before the pandemic I had never taught online. My only experience with Zoom was Feldenkrais® committee meetings, so I had already set up a Zoom account but hadn’t used …
Give a Lesson, Receive a Lesson
By Nancy Haller, MA, GCFP, Certified Feldenkrais® Assistant Trainer A common question from my students is “Who works with You?”. My answer is you do, my student. Moshe Feldenkrais connected Functional Integration® teachings to a dance between partners. It is a synchronization of two systems in mirror-like movements, each building on the previous ones with pacing and timing conducive to …
Creative Connections Through Your Tongue, Jaw, Throat and Pelvic Floor
By Carol Lessinger Have you ever been on the floor doing an ATM® lesson when your body responded in a way that was totally new to you? Were you astounded? Every time? That was my experience one morning when I was playing with coordinated movements of my tongue, neck, jaw and pelvis. My play was inspired after I began listening …
Knowing and Doing
By Ralph Strauch As practitioners we engage in two different, but interrelated, types of activities, which I’ll call knowing and doing. Are there different ways of organizing these activities, and the relationships between them? Perhaps there is a different way of thinking about what we do as practitioners, and ways that you might apply that thinking in your work. Knowing …