The minute we become an integrated whole,
we look through the same eyes
and we see a whole different world together.
— Azizah Al-Hibri
Seth Dellinger, a member of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America’s communications team, got in touch to ask if he could interview me about teaching Moshe’s method online. Before the pandemic, when many Feldenkrais teachers didn't want to teach online, he noted that I had already embraced it and asked me what made me think, back then, that it could work.
Because the lockdown took away the possibility of being in person with our students and forced a lot of practitioners to begin teaching online, Seth was interested in how I saw Feldenkrais principles applied when such an unexpected and drastic change of circumstances made adapting a necessity.
Seth asked me what lessons I had learned from teaching online for many years. He was curious about what doesn’t work online.
He wondered if I had coached others about teaching online. Looking forward instead of back, Seth asked, “Is learning to teach Feldenkrais online skillfully crucial to the future of the Feldenkrais Method?”
When we met for the interview, our conversation built on these questions and addressed the crucial topic of building community through online teaching. It was published in the July 2023 issue of the Guild’s members-only In Touch newsletter. You can check the YouTube video of our conversation here.
If you would be so kind, I’d appreciate you letting me know your thoughts and telling us about your experiences teaching and learning online in the comments section.
To experience the benefits of online learning, you might like to enroll in the 2023 Feldenkrais summer camp later this month.
I am presenting Foam Roller Revolution this year, which features a carefully curated series of rarely taught and transformative lessons designed to improve your ease, comfort, and upright posture while sitting and standing. The workshop features two Awareness Through Movement classes a day over four consecutive days.
For more information and to enroll, please click here.
The image above comes from the latest issue of the In Touch newsletter. A big thank you to Seth for making the interview happen!
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 on blog posts is available to anyone with a Mind in Motion Online account.
- 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.
- Want to share this blog post with a friend? You can email them the web address shown in your browser. Or share the post via social media by clicking on one of the following icons:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
[This license gives you permission to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially. You may also remix, transform, and build upon the material. You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.]
Responses:
Edith de Vries -August 05, 2023
Living in a remote area in The Netherlands, I would never have started doing ATM were it not for the pandemic, which brought online lessons. It has been a source of joy, connection and well-being ever since. I still cannot picture myself drving an hour and a half for a class and then driving back and feeling the effects quickly fade away (yes, please, a lesson on aware driving ?). And although I do have a lot of recordings from the online lessons, it still feels more real, valuable and in connection to join the class live and online and not only do it from recordings. Furthermore, the ATM online summits also have given me tremendous insights and classes, plus different styles and ways in which people teach. It has become within reach for me now. Otherwise I definitely would not have proceeded in learning. I can imagine teachers have a hard time teaching online, having to peer into dark-lit rooms, weird angles and seeing only parts of bodies, sometimes, but somehow the connection is made despite all this. I experience that if the teacher feels what she/he says, that is what is being transmitted and so it lands in my body. And sometimes a teacher gives an additional instruction on the basis of what she sees in one of the squares and I suddenly doubt ' is this said to me?' But it makes me instantly aware of what I was doing, sort of wakes me up. So thanks, teachers, for making the shift!
CarolHewitt -August 12, 2023
Sadly, I can’t make either session work … will a video version be available later??
Larry Goldfarb -August 15, 2023
Hello Edith - Thank you for speaking to one of the great benefits of teaching <em>Awareness Through Movement</em> online: that it makes classes available to people who, like you, would not otherwise be able to participate. While there are challenges to the teacher, it's a different context than teaching in person and, therefore, also offers it's own unique pedagogical advantages. You are so right when you write that "somehow the connection is made." That is perhaps the most suprising aspect and certainly the most precious.
Larry Goldfarb -August 05, 2023
Hello Kathy - I'm so glad that, despite your preliminary hesitation, you gave teaching online a go. Not being able to touch our students to clarify instructions is certainly one of the challenges of teaching over the Internet. As you said, it requires finding the right words, appropriate timping, and best variations, which, in turn, improves our ability to give instructions when we're in person. I keep thinking about what do I say, and how do I say it, so that each student feels that I am speaking directly to them. This is at the heart of the artistry of teaching, isn't it?
Kathy Yates -August 05, 2023
Hi Larry, In response to your question for reactions to teaching online: I was really happily surprised at how well this worked. I was skeptical at first, because I had felt it was helpful to be with the students and possibly use hands-on at certain times if I felt it could be beneficial. But I started thinking about the challenge of only verbally guiding Students—finding the right words and best variations for them to be able to discover new choices. I love the challenge of trying to find the clearest languaging, in the right timing. And I am still exploring this. I actually feel more engaged with the students on their path of self-discovery.
Larry Goldfarb -August 12, 2023
Hello Carol - The recordings will be available! If for some reason there's a poblem with video, then we will make the audio recordings available.
Larry Goldfarb -August 14, 2023
Hello Carol - The recordings will be available!
Please Log in to comment
