The Finnish line

Larry Goldfarb

Larry Goldfarb

· 2 min read
Mind in Motion - The Finnish line

Oppia ikä kaikki
[All the years are full of learning]
— Finnish folk saying

While working on my doctorate in Kinesiology, I attended a classmate’s birthday party. I couldn’t get my conversation with one of the other celebrants about the Feldenkrais Method of neurophysical education and what it offers out of my head; when I got back to my place in the wee hours of the morning, I wrote it down.

After working on it independently for a few days, I asked my student and neighbor, the writer and singer Norma Marder, to edit the account of that conversation. With her insight and guidance, I polished Felden-WHAT? before publishing it in Telekinesis, the bi-annual newsletter I sent to Feldenkrais teachers worldwide in the early 1990s. 

Since then, colleagues translated the article into Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, and Russian. Today, I received an email informing me that a group of Finnish Feldenkrais teachers and trainees completed translating the piece. (This collaborative effort is a testament to the shared interest and dedication of the international Feldenkrais community.) I offer my heartfelt gratitude to the members of the group—Päivi Nikula-Väisänen, Piia Surakka, Johanna Lapinniemi, Iina Kautiainen, and Marko Seppälä—who did the work and to Raisa Vennamo for instigating the project.

Instead of using a standard copyright, I chose to license the article and its translation under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This decision was made to encourage you, MIMO members and other colleagues, to share, reproduce, publish, and distribute the article. As long as you attribute the work and make it available under the same conditions, that is, with the Creative Commons license, you are free to do so.

You’ll find the original English version and the translations here.

Image

For today’s post, I used a photo by Baptiste Valthier that I found on pexels.com. I adjusted the size and made minor changes to the original image.

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Responses:


  • Larry Goldfarb -July 17, 2024

    Thank you, Ann-Kristin!



  • Larry Goldfarb -July 12, 2024

    Thanks, Suzi!



  • sabine-schmid-blackaby Schmid Blackaby -July 13, 2024

    Thanks Larry! As always I appreciate your generous sharing of your insights and wisdom. Sabine



  • Vicky Brown-Ravano -July 17, 2024

    Hello Larry, I first read your article Felden-WHAT? soon after it was published. Ever since then, I've been glad you wrote it and shared it so generously. Felden-WHAT? both answered questions and gave a useful introduction about the method I had encountered after training at Amherst. I'm sure it was helpful to many over the years. It was a brilliant, fun response and description, each time I have read it I have wanted to let you know how much I have enjoyed it. At each re-reading I smile once again. Many thanks! Vicky



  • hillgren@sbcglobal.net -July 12, 2024

    Thanks, a wonderful article. Ann-Kristin



  • Norma Leistiko -July 20, 2024

    I have family in Finland, really all over the North. Yea for translations. Russian too?! Where is Jerry Karzan? Isn't he Educational Director of the Training in Russian? He never answers my emails. I don't expect an answer. We are all so busy. Happy your blog is so continuous and interesting, Larry. Norma



  • Larry Goldfarb -July 17, 2024

    Thank you so much for letting me know you've been a fan of 'Felden-WHAT?' for so long, Vicky. Much appreciated! Larry



  • Larry Goldfarb -July 17, 2024

    Hello Norma - Thanks for appreciating the translations. Hope your family enjoys the Finnish version of "Felden-WHAT?"



  • suzi-marks Marks -July 13, 2024

    Wonderful Larry, thank you!



  • Larry Goldfarb -July 14, 2024

    Thank you, Sabine!


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