The big four-oh

Soon after I graduated from the Amherst Feldenkrais teacher training in 1983, I established Mind in Motion as a business. I chose the name because I appreciated and embraced all the meanings I found in those three words: that human movement is not simply mechanical; how action implies intention — and with it, sensation, feedback, and a systemic orientation; what we call “mind” is not static, it is, by its very nature, dynamic; and that meaningful change can be brought about by mindful motion. 

In my first few years of practice, I taught an ongoing class, taking breaks for holidays and over the summer. Soon after, I began to teach series about specific themes, often in response to questions and requests from students or colleagues. Intrigued by addressing action and awareness at work, I developed programs for office workers, bus drivers, groundskeepers, musicians, actors, equestrians, and others. I have taught alone and with other colleagues in courses for the public, professional conferences, teacher training programs, and elsewhere. I studied, reflected on, deconstructed, discussed, and taught many classic lessons — and series — several times over, several dozens of times, and some many more times than that.

If I had followed standard business practices, I would have focused on one specific product or specialized in one market. Instead, I created different curricula by exploring various themes, like the action of the spine, praying, or deepening your practice, experimenting with changing the environment, such as doing lessons in a doorway or with a roller, and expanding on the essential aspects of Moshe’s method, for instance, early developmental movement, moving from your center, and breathing.

I found today’s birthday candle photo on Pixabay; it was taken by Hans.