*Courtesy of the International Feldenkrais Federation
| Time (PT) | Activity |
|---|---|
| 8:00 – 8:45 AM | Morning ATM® lesson
The Musicality of Being How you relate to others begins with how you relate to yourself and your world. When you're comfortable, the ground feels solid under your feet, your breath flows, and you feel welcomed by your surrounding environment. But finding the same comfort with others is trickier. Each one of us "moves to the beat of a different drummer", so we have to adjust for each new person we meet. For some, this is not a natural skill - but it can be learned. Music - the combining of many sounds into a single voice that moves us - is a valuable metaphor for human interaction. In this workshop, we'll discover how the rhythms and melodies of our bodies and minds can be joined harmoniously. In times of crisis, there is perhaps nothing more important we could do than remind ourselves how to face each other, open our hearts, and find common ground. Presented by: Seth Dellinger & John Vervaeke Open to: All Audiences Practical Practice, Magical Results Details coming soon! Presented by: Mary Jo Healy Open to: All Audiences Understand the Old to Change the New Details coming soon! Presented by: Moti Nativ Open to: All Audiences |
| 8:45 – 9:00 AM | Break |
| 9:00 – 9:15 AM | Welcome Remarks |
| 9:15 – 10:15 AM | Keynote Presentation Details coming soon! |
| 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM | Workshops
Honoring History Through New Creation Picasso knew how to draw realistic figures before he played with the forms, Keith Jarrett played his scales before he improvised. Paris believes that in order to create new ATMs and FI structures one has to have a deep understanding of the 'no principal' principals in our work. Through examination of (doing!) classic ATMs we will explore what fundamental principles make a lesson a Feldenkrais lesson as opposed to nearly pleasant movements. Expect an invigorating lively day! Presented by: Paris Kern Open to: Trainees & Practitioners The Past, Present and Future of Treatments for Back Pain Didi von Deck, MD, GCFP, began studying the Feldenkrais Method® while competing internationally in ballroom dance in the 1980’s. Her love of science and learning led her to medical school, and her love of movement and dance convinced her to specialize in orthopaedic surgery. By combining her understanding of orthopaedics and human anatomy with her knowledge gained from years of studying dance, yoga and Feldenkrais, she brings a unique perspective of working with her students in order to improve their functioning and well-being. She teaches Awareness Through Movement classes and Functional Integration in the Boston area and practices orthopaedics at the Cambridge Health Alliance. Presented by: Didi von Deck Open to: All Audiences Discovering the Unexpected – With Feldenkrais Initiation of Central Patterns in Humans “Functional Integration turns to the oldest elements of our sensory system – touch, the feeling of pull and pressure; the warmth of the hands, its caressing stroke.” —Moshé Feldenkrais In this presentation, I will report about my thirty years of research with people who have Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) based on my book Discovering the Unexpected (see bio). Having worked extensively with this population, I will share my insights such as:
Presented by: Helga Bost Open to: General Public, Trainees, 3/4th year Trainees, Feldenkrais® Practitioners |
| 12:00 – 12:30 PM | Break |
| 12:30 – 2:00 PM | Workshops
Moving Together: Movement, Learning and Community for Memory Loss Do you know someone living with memory loss? Join us to explore the importance of using fundamental Feldenkrais ® principles to meet the unmet needs of people living with memory loss and their caregivers. Discover how to use basic Feldenkrais strategies to enhance your effectiveness with this population and how to support the caregiving relationship from a systemic perspective. Learn about these Feldenkrais practitioners at the forefront of integrative health research in the PLIE and MOVING Together programs funded over the last 10 years by UCSF, Alzheimer’s Association, VA, DoD, and NIH-SBIR. Experience MOVING Together, a fun, engaging, online, group movement program designed specifically for people living with cognitive decline and their caregivers using patient-centered and relationship-centered care models. Learn how and why the program integrates functional movement patterns with present moment body awareness, music and social connection, how to participate in an MT research study, and how to become a MOVING Together Instructor. Presented by: Allison Klinger, Jennifer Lee, LeeAnn Starovasnik, & Chris Stribling Open to: All Audiences The Power of the Hip In ATM Caroline Feig and Joe Miller will share interesting and playful ways to understand hip injuries, and appropriate ways to work with hip health in Awareness Through Movement. By integrating the Feldenkrais Method with modern concepts of Motor Control and Physical Therapy, participants will come away with a deeper understanding of why ATM has helped so many people to resolve their hip issues. Presented by: Caroline Feig & Joe Miller Open to: All Audiences The Power of Awareness in Wheelchairs: Lessons for the Future from 20 years of a Feldenkrais Program in a Cerebral Palsy Day Learning Center For 20 years, we’ve offered a weekly class and individual lessons at a center for people severely impacted by cerebral palsy and other neuromotor challenges. As part of a wellness program that includes massage and yoga, our small team of Feldenkrais practitioners has developed meaningful ways to work with these students – most with significant cognitive and physical limitations. We will share nuances of how we work with participants in wheelchairs who can barely move or speak. These [nuances] will include insights about building rapport, pacing, bringing in humor, innovative approaches to classes, and working with institutional staff. Useful for practitioners and current students who wish to support this population, perhaps creating new programs – as well as for members of the public interested in helping such programs to exist. We look forward to sharing our skills and experiences with you! Presented by: Oliver Bayley, Marianne Constable, Kathryn Goldman Schuyler, & Jan Hetherington Open to: All Audiences |
| Time (PT) | Activity |
|---|---|
| 8:00 – 8:45 AM | Morning ATM® lesson
Sphincters A baby spends many years learning how to coordinate the sphincter network. In this lesson we work with the eyes, the mouth, the throat and tongue, the respiratory diaphragm and the pelvic floor sphincters. These ideas are inspired by Ruthy Alon’s Sphincter Workshop and also from Deborah Bowe’s Pelvic Floor Health ATMs. By bringing our awareness back to our sphincters and integrating their movements with each other and other parts of the body, especially the spine, we can alleviate unnecessary tension as well as improve tonus in the system that may be lacking. This ATM was developed for a series of lessons I am doing in my classes called “Baby Steps” that brings the student through the necessary developmental stages toward the final ability to walk upright. Presented by: Francie White Open to: All Audiences Practical Practice, Magical Results Details coming soon! Presented by: Mary Jo Healy Open to: All Audiences Understand the Old to Change the New Details coming soon! Presented by: Moti Nativ Open to: All Audiences |
| 8:45 – 9:00 AM | Break |
| 9:00 – 10:30 AM | Workshops
A General Theory of the Feldenkrais Method® (Series Part 1) Every Feldenkrais lesson is individual and deeply personal, offering unique qualities of subjective experience. This personal experience can be understood through science. Starting with curiosity science brings questions into focus, leading to systematic exploration and coherent theories of human movement. However, many people seem to think that theories are abstract, formal and boring. Not so. An informed theory of the Feldenkrais Method® can be surprisingly practical. A general theory of the Feldenkrais Method® can guide us to unexpected ways to understand and creatively apply Feldenkrais® lessons. I will outline multiple scientific perspectives of Moshe Feldenkrais’ body of work and show a unified framework that brings the potential of each lesson into clear focus. This will be a thinking workshop with short, puzzling, experiential interludes to throw open the door to curiosity. This presentation will be in tandem with Jeff Haller’s Meeting the Choice Points in Functional Integration Presented by: Roger Russell with Jeff HallerStribling Open to: Feldenkrais® Practitioners Understanding and Identifying Breathing Pattern Disorders It was The Feldenkrais Method that helped me discover that there wasn't just one way to breathe. However, I still struggled with understanding and identifying why I was having so much trouble with breathing. After studying the science of breath and becoming a Buteyko Instructor all the pieces came together. By honoring the beauty of self-awareness and self-discovery in the Feldenkrais Method, I look to the present theories of Breath Sciences to help future students deepen their understanding and enhance their abilities to self-regulate with breath. Breath is everything and a cornerstone to our health and well-being. Presented by: Fariya Doctor Open to: All Audiences Polyvagal Theory and Feldenkrais Details coming soon! Presented by: Ed Feldman Open to: All Audiences |
| 10:30 – 11:00 AM | Break |
| 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM | Workshops
Meeting the Choice Points in Functional Integration® (Series Part 2) Functional Integration is a living, evolving moment by moment process. In every Functional Integration lesson there are moments of decision, where we meet the choice points of a lesson. The nature of this workshop is to look for those moments that leverage a lesson to help people find their own resources; to be with their history and emotions in creative ways. This is the art of being with another person and to help them become functionally skillful; integrating their nervous and Musculo-skeletal systems to support their ability to thrive. A person’s ability to be comfortable in their life develops from the inside out. Therefore, understanding this process of seeking physical integrity and emotional dignity comes with your own trust in your Awareness Through Movement practice. We will explore, experientially, how your own self-development manifests in your self-organization in Functional Integration lessons so that you can support change for other people who seek your help. This Presentation will be in tandem to Roger Russell’s presentation of A General Theory of the Feldenkrais Method® Presented by: Jeff Haller with Roger Russell Open to:Feldenkrais® Practitioners The Five Rings Approach for Neuro-Somatic Reprogramming: ATM and FI expanded and viewed through body movement pathways Details coming soon! Presented by: Josef DellaGrotte Open to: All Audiences Pandemic Strategies for ATM Teaching The past two years forced us to go back inside and "workshop" our careers. In this presentation we will update Moshe Feldenkrais' ideas on imagination and touch for ATM class teaching and learning in the Zoom age. Presented by: Frederick Schjang Open to: All Audiences |
| 12:30 – 12:45 PM | Break |
| 12:45 – 2:15 PM | Workshops
Aptitude in Organizing Organization in your physical environment is similar to organization as the kinesthetic concept we use in the Feldenkrais Method®. Untangling a mega mess begins one morsel at a time, starting with what's 'tackle-able' and following the thread of where that leads; letting solutions emerge along the way by trying out ideas in the physical. We start the sorting process by examining what's there - getting acquainted with the resources you already have available to you, a chance to reflect on where you've come from, and whether artifacts are still relevant. Then, you set up systems to enhance your present experience, as an active agent in making space for the future that is pleasing to you - laying robust foundations to be ready to both recognize and respond to opportunities that present themselves. Sound familiar? Where in life at large can you transfer the learning to? A guided chance to start self-organizing your next evolution. Presented by: Shona Lee Open to: : General Public, Trainees, 3/4th year Trainees, Feldenkrais® Practitioners Perceptions from the Feldenkrais Floor Details coming soon! Presented by: Luz Stanton Open to: 3/4th year Trainees, Feldenkrais® Practitioners Session details coming soon! Presented by: So Jung Park |
| Time (PT) | Activity |
|---|---|
| 8:00 – 8:45 AM | Morning ATM® lesson
Awareness Through Movement® and Somatic Meditation The Feldenkrais Method® provides a unique way to enhance connections throughout the body-mind. ATM lessons, in particular, offer tangible ways to use neuromuscular and skeletal systems as resources to promote efficient and elegant functioning. In so doing, ATMs also heighten sensory awareness of the body’s “communication channels.” This session will use the heightened sensory awareness of an ATM lesson as a ground for somatically oriented meditation. Going beyond basic mindfulness, participants will explore how different regions of the body can serve as inner resources for each other to foster a sense of wholeness and well-being. Presented by: Dan Clurman Open to: All Audiences Practical Practice, Magical Results Details coming soon! Presented by: Mary Jo Healy Open to: All Audiences Understand the Old to Change the New Details coming soon! Presented by: Moti Nativ Open to: All Audiences |
| 8:45 – 9:00 AM | Break |
| 9:00 – 10:30 AM | Workshops
Embodied Mindfulness "Embracing the Present" -- bringing attention to the present moment creates a foundation for learning in Awareness Through Movement® lessons. Of all the gifts I have received over the 25 years of exploring and teaching ATM®, learning to slow down, listen to my body, and bring acceptance to my experience of the moment without judgment are among the most valuable. ATM has also helped me reduce stress, move better, feel better, and "Reach for the Future" by making choices from a more embodied, grounded, authentic part of myself. In this experiential workshop, I will guide you through an ATM lesson with embodied mindfulness practices woven throughout. We will explore how ATM lessons can support you in cultivating being present with yourself and your experience of the moment with less judgment and more kindness. Presented by:Marcia Giudice Open to: All Audiences ‘Going' Through the Motions vs. 'Growing' Through the Motions: A Feldenkrais Corollary for the Neuroplastic Adjustment of Working Body Schema At present, popular culture embraces solution-oriented activities for common ailments via fitness instructors and varied health experts - with added expectancy that viewers automatically imitate, follow, or emulate them. However, when we intend a movement or action, we habituate and default to what we automatically or already do – thereby merely just ‘Going through the Motions.' In contrast, Feldenkrais-based levels of change envelop a higher order – but how? Honoring our past, the works, and writings of Feldenkrais protégé and teacher Yochanan Rywerant (1922-2010), shed light upon updating and improving our central neural processing via his proposing the concepts of ‘Corollary Discharge’ and ‘Efference Copy.’ Rather than going through mindless repeated motions, we can instead differentiate and grow. Reaching to the future, this workshop provides a comprehensive overview for understanding and communicating the systemic and neuroplastic adjustment of background body schema – and in a manner more transmissible to our clients. Presented by: Tim Sobie Open to: All Audiences Feldenkrais Legacy Forum: Where Are We in 2022? This 90-minute session will update the community on the activities of the Feldenkrais Legacy Forum in 2021. The working groups have been active, developing various outreach project proposals. The working groups themselves have spawned subgroups, oriented to developing additional projects. Details of proposals being considered will be shared. Currently these include setting up a fundraising process, supporting development of a Feldenkrais documentary, exploring collaborative learning projects to bring practitioners together, and outreach to more diverse communities. Through the chat, participants will have an opportunity to engage in additional discussion on where / how to continue furthering our mission of “transformation of Feldenkrais educational models; outreach through the expansion of professional dialogue skills; and support of research on the fundamental principles and practice of our method”. We are moving toward building a stronger, visible, and diverse professional membership, allowing for greater visibility in North, Central, and South America. Presented by: Liza Brickey-Weaver, Alice Friedman, Marina Gilman, Jeff Haller, Jim Stevens, Elinor Silverstein, Lisa Walker, & Anna Wolf Open to: General Public, Trainees, 3/4th year Trainees, Feldenkrais® Practitioners |
| 10:30 – 11:00 AM | Break |
| 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM | Workshops
Pulled Into the Present - Sensing Mass, Orbits and Bones This workshop helps coordinate the ease with your chest, shoulders, head, and neck. You will use a stone or weight held in your hand to simulate the effect of an orbit around the body. Working with a stone in this “orbit practice” helps clarify core skeletal connections. The forces of the Sun, Moon and Earth give us the gravity we need for life and movement. The orbits of these large bodies in space shape our seasons, biorhythms, and sense of time: past-present-future. The application of the rock brings expanded awareness to classic Feldenkrais “clock” lessons. This workshop draws from three Feldenkrais and Nature Awareness series that explore how to work with gravity and using the pull of forces on the body for improving alignment and ease. If you struggle with focusing on the past or worrying about the future, this workshop will help you move into the present with amazing ease. Presented by: JAnnie Thoe Open to:All Audiences Embracing Our Present Self to Reach Toward Our Future Self In these past two years of limited physical connection with other people, we had the opportunity to be more comfortable and adept with our own touch. When I think of reaching to the future, the way we use our hands as witness in the present is of the utmost importance. In this workshop, you will learn many of the self-touch processes created by Ruthy Alon, one of Moshe Feldenkrais’ first students. In doing these processes, you will find more optimal organization through breath, movement, and imagery. By refining your own sense of touch while doing these movements, you will heighten your experience of connecting with yourself which also helps you better connect with others in both Awareness Through Movement and Functional Integration lessons. We honor the past by keeping the legacy of our great masters and mentors alive. Presented by: Anna Haltrecht Open to: All Audiences |
| 12:30 – 1:00 PM | Closing Circle |