Mind in Motion – The Future of Feldenkrais

A revolutionary approach to optimizing human ability when faced with pain, neurological disability, or the challenges of every day life.

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Mind in Motion - Why Robots Fall Down Why Robots Fall Down

Moshe Feldenkrais presented monthlong 1973 training on teaching Awareness Through Movement in Berkeley, California. He commenced with a lesson about breathing. As far as I know, this is the only time he began a course or workshop focusing on respiration.

This unique starting point laid the groundwork for interweaving the role of breath throughout the rest of the program, which consists of what we now consider the method’s masterpieces. For instance, during the unique version of the classic “flexion” lesson Feldenkrais taught, he highlighted how breathing hampers or facilitates the rounding of the spine. Most lessons bring the breath to the foreground in one way or another, further illuminating its role in developing coordinated, effective action.

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Mind in Motion - Why Robots Fall Down Why Robots Fall Down

In 1993, I delivered the keynote address at Cybernetics in the Art of Learning, the American Society for Cybernetics annual conference in Philadelphia. The talk, titled Why Robots Fall Down, explored the link between cybernetics and human movement coordination, which was initially highlighted in Norbert Wiener’s Cybernetics in 1948.

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Mind in Motion - Floor Time #floortime

Most Feldenkrais classes start with the teacher asking students to lie on the floor and tune into their physical sensations.

This ritual invites you to shift your attention from whatever you were busy doing to noticing your physical experience in the present moment. You begin to sense the rhythm of your breath, notice the position of your trunk and limbs, and feel your contact with the floor.

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Mind in Motion - Neuroplasticity gets real Neuroplasticity gets real

The Let’s Get Real Movement Festival focuses on the practical tools the Feldenkrais Method provides for improving your life by harnessing your brain’s ability to change. Organized by Australian powerhouse, Angela MacMillian, who graduated from the teacher training program Alan Questel and I directed in Adelaide

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Mind in Motion - Seeing what’s missing Seeing what’s missing

Have you ever watched an animation of a horse in motion?

At the beginning of this video, you see an equine skeleton’s limbs moving sequentially. Sections of the spine — between the head and neck at the top and in the tail at the other end — ripple in a wavelike fashion. As you watch, muscle and soft tissue layers appear, followed by the skin, and eventually, the tail and mane materialize.

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Mind in Motion - Leap of Faith Leap of Faith

Before becoming a famous choreographer, when he and other black dancers were barred from ballet companies, Louis Johnson made a stunningly soulful short film. The first part showcases a joyous troupe of African American dancers performing on a New York rooftop; the second section is a more experimental film that superimposes evocative images on Johnson’s expressive solo.

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Mind in Motion - Pass it on Pass it on

Early Saturday, I met with a Portuguese Feldenkrais colleague on FB Messenger. He wanted guidance on working with a post-stroke student. He caught me up on their Functional Integration sessions, letting me know what worked and what didn’t. I pointed out where he’d done well, asked questions to fill in the picture, and, having gotten a sense of what he might have missed, discussed other tactics and suggested a few ways to proceed.

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Mind in Motion - Full spectrum Feldenkrais Full spectrum Feldenkrais

Featuring an international roster of teachers along with movies and music, the five-day 2024 Festival starts on Tuesday, 26 February. I am honored to be part of this innovative program again. This year, I will be teaching a mini-workshop this year on Saturday morning, March 2nd, from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM US Eastern time.

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Mind in Motion: It’s not magic It’s not magic

The first rule of magicians the world over is simple, “Never tell the secret.”

A style of teaching Feldenkrais lessons seems to follow the same mandate. It is as if any mention of how a lesson works or what it has to teach about how our human frame is built for moving well would ruin your experience or reduce — or perhaps even eradicate — its effectiveness.

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Mind in Motion - BrainBody Connection Brain-Body Interaction

If you’re interested in cognitive neuroscience and physiology and you’re going to be in Paris next month, you might be interested in the upcoming Brain-Body Interactions: Cognition conference.

On the 5th & 6th of March, the conference features talks, given in English, about current interdisciplinary research in gut-brain interactions, pain, placebo effects, and consciousness. On the 7th, the presentations will incorporate movement-based practices.

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