The other day my friend and colleague, Robbie Ofir, asked me to be a part of this year’s celebration of Moshe Feldenkrais’ birthday, 6 May 2022. An eminent physical therapist and Feldenkrais trainer, Robbie is coming out of (semi-) retirement to give a talk entitled: Is the Feldenkrais Method a Spiritual Practice, and Was Moshe a Spiritual Man?
Here is how Robbie described what he’s going to address:
Moshe prided himself on searching and finding concrete answers to how things work, in particular human function. However, he drew on many aspects of spiritual teaching in his talks - from the Baal Shem Tov to Gurdjieff. Was it paradoxical or an elusively obvious process? We’ll weave through the ambiguity of what we mean by Spiritual and try to clarify with movement, thinking, feeling, and sensation the answer in the best we can to the question: “Was Moshe a spiritual man, and is the Feldenkrais Method a spiritual practice?”
At Robbie’s request, I will follow his talk with an experiential Awareness Through Movement class. I will aim to illustrate the ideas he offers by exploring Moshe’s classic prayer lesson.
This live event, which is sponsored by the Feldenkrais Guild of North America, starts at noon on the sixth of May. The cost to members of the FGNA is $20.00 and $35.00 for non-members and the general public. Registration is not yet available, but you can mark your calendars now. Please keep your eye on the FGNA website for information about signing up.
As you may know, I have long been intrigued by how prayer and ATM both use movement as a means of altering consciousness. My interest in the subject inspired me to expand on the lessons that Moshe created using the prayer hands positions in classes and training programs. From what I learned, I taught a series of workshops that shared the title The Peculiar Power of Prayer. (You can purchase the recordings of the most recent version here.)
I will be teaching a couple of new lessons based on Jewish prayer practice for the local Santa Cruz community. Sponsored by Chadeish Yameinu Jewish Renewal and Lifelong Learners of Temple Beth El, these classes are happening in person and online.
This workshop happens over two consecutive Sunday afternoons:
March 27th and April 3rd
From 3:30 to 5:00 PM (Pacific time) each day.
You can attend either:
- In-person at the Temple Beth El.
- Located at 3070 Porter Gulch Road, Aptos. CA.
Participation is limited to 20 people. - Via Zoom
The suggested donation is $35 for both classes.
No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Enrollment is for the live workshop only.
To register, please go to https://www.cysantacruz.com/feldenkrais.
Registration is open until 6:00 pm Pacific time on Wed, March 23rd.
Credit where credit is due:
- I based the image on a photo from myjewishlearning.com.
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