Once when teaching abroad somewhere he didn’t understand the language, Larry Goldfarb was getting interrupted by the translator every time he used the generic phrase “a lesson,” which, it turned out, he did quite often. Each time, the translator wanted to know if Larry was to an Awareness Through Movement® lesson or to a Functional Integration® lesson. 

The more he’s taught Moshe’s method, the more Larry has come to understand these modalities to be the same educational approach applied in different ways. The strategies and tactics are identical; it’s the techniques that change depending on whether students move themselves or someone is being guided by a teacher’s hands. 

One of the unfavorable consequences of our handy, but ultimately misleading, nomenclature is that few colleagues offer individual ATM® lessons or, if you prefer, “verbally-guided FI® sessions.” This kind of convoluted nomenclature is only made necessary when we insist on drawing a solid line between these educational means.

That’s why Larry uses the term “lesson” generically and why he prefers to simply say that “It’s a lesson.”

If we consider Moshe’s promise — that we can learn to help ourselves — then one-to-one ATM teaching is a key strategy. It’s such a wonderful way to give our students the experience of their capacity to help themselves. It’s also great for coaching them in getting better at learning on their own. These things happen easily during an individual ATM lesson and in a small, semi-private class setting. Unfortunately, for whatever reason or reasons,  there are teachers who haven’t considered these possibilities or haven’t daren’t to give them a go . . .  yet. 

Perhaps it is the numbers game and the desire to get more students to attend their classes that’s precluded teachers from realizing the advantages of offering smaller semi-private ATM classes. These benefits include the students getting more personal attention and individual instruction, especially when the class goes slightly longer than the usual hour, and the teacher being able to charge a premium for the tuition.

Perhaps it’s because of the notion that “during a hands-on session, we touch but don’t talk and during a class, we talk and don’t touch.” This misguided generalization never described the way Moshe actually taught: he talked during his FI sessions and touched students, albeit selectively and infrequently, during ATM classes. We should also consider those individual FIs during which he guided the student in the manner of a personal ATM lesson. 

Whatever the reason, perhaps this might be the moment to up your game and improve what you offer students. 

If so, then you’ll be glad to know we are offering Larry’s latest advanced ATM program, IT’S A LESSON (IAL), about how to teach ATM one-on-one well. Whether you are new to doing this approach or you’re ready to get better at what you already do, whether your interest is teaching individual lessons or working with a student during a class, IAL covers what you need to know. 

Over three consecutive Sunday workshops, Larry will lay the conceptual groundwork and unpack the practical skills you need to be a more engaging and effective teacher. To make the abstract concrete, you’ll watch him give a one-to-one lesson; afterward, you’ll debrief what happened with Larry and your classmates and have a chance to get your questions answered. 

Larry’s invited Becci Parsons, a Feldenkrais® teacher and dancer from Seattle who’s specialized in giving individual ATMs for over 30 years, to join him for an interview and discussion. She’ll be sharing her down-to-earth, pragmatic approach to integrating touch and verbal guidance in custom-designed personal lessons.

During the workshop, you’ll get to put the ideas into action and develop your skills. You’ll be participating in breakout groups during which you’ll be doing interactive learning laboratories with the other participants. In addition, you’ll receive recommended videos and readings to expand your learning as well as homework to do between the weekly meetings and after the course is over.