What it takes

During his lifetime, Moshe Feldenkrais experimented with different approaches to answering the question, “What does it take to become a Feldenkrais teacher?”

Dr. Feldenkrais’ first training program, held in Tel Aviv, lasted three years, met for a couple of hours every day of the week over three years, and focused entirely on individual Functional Integration lessons. Then he taught two summer intensives in California — one in Big Sur, at the Esalen Institute, and the other in Berkeley, in the early 1970s, which were exclusively about giving group Awareness Through Movement classes. 

His last programs, one in San Francisco in the mid-1970s and the other in Amherst, Massachusetts, which ran for four consecutive summer sessions, integrated the teaching of individual and group lessons.

All the programs followed a similar learning logic. Trained as an engineer and a martial artist, Moshe’s way of teaching was more martial arts master than university professor. He gave lectures occasionally, but classes were primarily based on learning by doing; his approach was far more experiential than didactic.

I started asking what it takes to teach Moshe’s method when, at 22 years old, I began studying with him. I couldn’t help but wonder if his remarkable capacity to help others overcome their limitations was unique to him. How could he see possibilities in others that they could not find for themselves? How does someone learn that? Is it possible to understand the inner workings of his approach? To develop the necessary observational acuity? To master the required skills and abilities?

By the time I qualified as a Feldenkrais trainer in 1994, I had been practicing for more than a decade. This central question continued to engage and inspire me as I taught in and directed programs in Australasia, Europe, and the US. I witnessed different teaching styles and course designs, collaborated with mentors and colleagues, discovered what works and what doesn’t, and developed and implemented diverse curricula.

About half of my work as a trainer has been presenting advanced seminars and extended postgraduate programs. The colleagues who studied with me ranged from those who were successful and wanted to continue improving to others struggling to understand and practice the method. What I discovered influenced how and what I taught in basic teacher trainings.

The most important things I learned are that the Method is, indeed, learnable and, equally importantly, that one size does not fit all.

You can find out more about the history and philosophy of professional education in the chapter I wrote about Training Feldenkrais Teachers in The Feldenkrais Method: Learning Through Movement by Chrish Kresge and Staffan Elgelid. 

I took the photo of the staircase above behind the Musée de L’Homme in Paris in April 2022.