Three Questions To Ask Awareness Through Movement Instructor

(and what I would say if you were asking me)

 

Why did you choose the Feldenkrais Method as a way to explore neuroplasticity?

I have never been able to meditate to directions to become aware of my breath or muscles or just notice the world around me. My amygdala couldn’t (and still can’t) bring itself out of fight or flight with that that kind of language. Phrases like “Open your heart to the universe” make it even more reactive.  Moshe Feldenkrais was a physicist and engineer who had an understanding of the stages of motor development in children via his pediatrician wife.

He  developed the method to  relearn to walk after a knee injury that could have left him wheelchair bound. Awareness Through Movement does pay quite a bit of attention to breath

What trainers led your certification  program and what did you learn from one on one interactions with them?

David Zemach-Bersin, Aliza Stewart, and Paris Kern.  In my first year, at the beginning of Functional Integration lesson, I blurted out to Aliza that having to cope with having a child with a neurological disability and she bluntly and kindly told me that was bs. Paris spent three years reminding me that my mind and body were connected and not separate until I understood it. David would subtly and explicitly encourage my confidence and remind me that my own neurological difficulties are an asset as an Awareness Through Movement, not a hinderance.