Open mouth. Insert Foot.

There’s an old joke that goes something like this:

“The only time I take my foot out of my mouth is to change feet.”

You could almost think this was some crazy, mixed-up, Bizarro version of PERFECTING THE SELF IMAGE (Lesson 8 from Awareness Through Movement by Moshe Feldenkrais). But “Open mouth; insert foot” is not now, nor has it ever been, an instruction you’re likely to hear — or utter — in any Feldenkrais Method® class, workshop, or training.

No, the joke came to mind because of idiom it plays off of and how it captured exactly what I was feeling yesterday: Clumsy. Embarrassed. Socially maladroit.

Early yesterday morning, after participating in the 8:00 AM AY a Day ATM® group and enjoying a cup of home-brewed cold brew coffee, I sat down at my computer and logged onto social media.

I knew that I needed to read and respond to people’s questions and comments about my online introduction to RETURNING TO THE SOURCE VI (RTTS VI). I wanted to do so before the live online meeting was scheduled to start at 10:30. Because it’s such an active forum, I made sure to check on the Facebook “Feldenkrais® Teachers around the World” group to see if were more messages had arrived since I’d checked last, the night before.

And, well, that’s where I found out about my unintended faux-pas.

DOH!

It turns out that the title I’d given my RTTS VI intro was incredibly — and unintentionally — similar to the name of one of Daniela Picard’s courses. Both Daniela’s course and mine are on the same subject: how to deepen your understanding — and improve your teaching — of Awareness Through Movement®.

I have no interest in stealing Daniela’s thunder nor raining on her parade.

Have you ever wondered why after the trainees complete the ATM teaching practicum halfway through their Feldenkrais® teacher training, the emphasis is entirely and solely about Functional Integration®? Sure, the curriculum includes one, two, or more ATM lessons a day, but the subject of becoming a better ATM teacher disappears entirely.

Are future ATM teachers supposed to learn their craft passively, through osmosis, by doing lessons?

Is teaching a group of students in any way that much easier and quicker to learn than working with one person hands-on?

As I wrote in my response on Facebook, I respect Daniela’s work and whole-heartedly appreciate her contributions to our International community. Beyond that, I consider us comrades in arms. We both understand this fundamental shortcoming in the classic Feldenkrais training structure, and we are doing something to rectify it. What’s more, we recognize that ATM classes have the potential of reaching and helping more people than Functional Integration will ever be able to. That’s why we’re committed to supporting our colleagues in becoming  ATM teachers!

If you missed my poorly named yet fascinating intro to RTTS VI, you can listen to or review it — along with the lively discussion that ensued — here are the links :

RTTS VI intro – Audio only
RTTS VI intro – Video

RTTS VI starts this week.

• If you’d like the RTTS VI class schedule and other details about this course, please click here.

 

• If you have questions about RTTS, please check out our detailed online FAQ about the course.

 

• If you’re more interested in doing ATM than learning about it, you can sign for the ATM mini-workshops only here.
  

 

• If you’re interested in a future edition of RTTS, please send an email to Jade at [email protected].
  That way we can let you know about the next course before it’s advertised.

So you know, the coupon for $50 off the course tuition — RTTSVIwebinar — that I presented at the end of the webinar has been fixed and is working now. Please note this code expires tomorrow, 15 January, at midnight Pacific time.
 

Your thoughts?
Please let us know your perspective! Add your comments, reactions, suggestions, ideas, etc., by first logging in to your Mind in Motion account and then clicking here.

Commenting is only available to the Mind in Motion Online community.

Join in by getting your free account, which gives you access to the e-book edition of Articulating Changes (Larry's now-classic Master's thesis), ATM® lessons, and more — all at no charge whatsoever.

To find out more and sign up, please click here.

Please share this blog post

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

This blog may contain one or more affiliate links. When you click on a link and then make a purchase, Mind in Motion receives a payment. Please note that we only link to products we believe in and services that we support. You can learn more about how affiliate links work and why we use them here