All of the subjects I teach are available online.
I am using Zoom, which means that a recording of your lesson is included in the fee, and is yours to keep.
*All group class fees are ‘suggested-rate-or-any-donation-welcome’
All booking is via direct contact with me, by email or call – all my contact details are here.
Please note that a brief description of all my regular classes appears here first, and thus this list may not be in a sensible order, date-wise!
You will find more detailed descriptions of all my regular online classes on this page.
Awareness Through Movement Online Classes on Zoom*
Tuesdays @ Noon
12 pm – 1.00 pm BST
£10 per class, or any donation welcome
This class is a general class and suitable for all levels of ability – we sometimes have time for a group chat afterwards for anyone who does not need to dash away. I find that these chats are very valuable for deepening all our understanding of what Feldenkrais is all about.
Thursdays @ 6pm/5pm*
6 pm – 7 pm BST
This is a very gentle class and particularly suitable for anyone with chronic issues with injury, pain, or fatigue.
£10 per class, or any donation welcome
*Regular attendees will receive all the recordings even if they miss a class, and we are currently switching between 6pm and 5pm BST as is convenient for the majority of the attendees
These are ongoing classes, so the intention is for you to commit to attending on a regular basis: once a week is good, twice a week is better. Feldenkrais is about learning to learn; these are skills that you will develop over time with practice, and the benefits you will experience are also cumulative.
One reason I am so enjoying teaching on Zoom is the facility to share a recording of the class so you can build up an archive of lessons to explore whenever you wish.
FaceBook: Feldenkrais & Embodied Voice, HumanSong––Self-Expression & Performance
Your Potent Inner Voice
Sensory Self-Awareness for Self-Healing
Wednesday Evenings
7–8.30 pm BST / 1–2.30 pm EDT
Online + Recording
£15 – or any donation welcome
These extended evening classes focus on my Feldenkrais-based self-healing strategies, and the recordings are intended to make it very easy for you to develop these skills for yourself. I am exploring the evening format with the intention of supporting better sleep as well as pain relief and self-calming. I do realise that those of you joining us for elsewhere at different times of day may not be looking for such a soporific experience!
*Please note that you can choose to join us for the first hour only, particularly if that would make joining the class regularly more manageable for you.
Dr Stephen Porges PolyVagal Theory provides an explanation for the efficacy of breath and voice practises at a neurological and evolutionary level. Our nervous system is focussed on our safety, and our sense of safety is fundamental to our sense of wellness. The vagus nerve manages both our older reptilian stress management circuits and our newer mammalian circuits, and we can use the management of our to soothe ourselves, increase our sense of safety, and shift our nervous system into our rest-and-recuperation mode – the neurological state that switches on our self-healing mechanisms, and helps to promote our physical and mental resilience.
Every time we inhale we briefly stimulate our sympathetic state-of-readiness (known as our fight-or-flight mode), and then, as we exhale again we shift back into our rest-and-recuperate mode – so all we need to do to soothe our nervous system is to exhale for a little longer than we inhale – it is that simple. This is I am sure the reason why there is so much evidence that singing is proven to be good for the health. When you examine the evidence you quickly discover that it is all based on research into communal singing, but once you understand Porges theories then you can easily see how to use these practices in a way that is effective even when you are singing while home alone.
Summer Schools 2024
I am teaching two summer schools this year on the theme of effortlessness – a week focussing on our voice, and then two weeks focussed on our whole being.
BOOKING IS BY EMAIL – as it is for all my workshops!
Contact Details Here if you want to reserve your place on this, or any of my online workshops. Please note that you can always let me know that you are interested in a particular workshop or course, and then confirm with me closer to the time, once you are certain.
Effortless Voice
…freeing your natural, authentic voice
July 1st – 5th
Online + Recordings & Notes
2–3.30pm* BST ~ 9–10.30am EDT ~ 6–7.30am PDT
*Please note that the daily start time of this course will vary – potentially it will run one hour earlier on both Tuesday and Friday. I hope this flexible start time is not too frustrating!
£100 (suggested fee, or any donation welcome)
In this workshop we will be fine-tuning our sensory-motor and auditory awareness, and learning to steadily reduce all the the entrained and habitual constrictions and constraints inhibiting our expressive vocal self – our vocal structures, respiratory structures, diaphragms and sphincters, and the fascio-musculo-skeletal system that together form the physical foundations of our natural resonance and expressive power. We will focus specifically on lowering effort in every aspect of voice production in order to find our free-est most spontaneous voice, in every day life as well as in performance.
Effortless Being
Discovering lightness, grace, and flow…
August 5th–9th, and 12th–16th
Online + Recordings & Notes
2–3.30pm* BST ~ 9–10.30am EDT ~ 6–7.30am PDT
*Please note that the daily start time of this course MAY vary – potentially it will run one hour earlier on both Tuesday and Friday. I hope this flexible start time is not too frustrating!
£200 (suggested fee, or any donation welcome)
As quantum physicists are fond of saying, gravity is a surprisingly weak force, and yet the aging process seems to unavoidably and steadily force us downwards as if it were irresistible. When we move in a “well-organised” way we barely notice the muscular power we are using – each action morphs smoothly into the next, requiring only our clear intention, not our exertion. This is because when we move in a well-organised way the bones are supporting as much of our weight as they can, leaving our muscles free to respond to our intentions spontaneously and fully. Sadly, much of what we do on a daily basis becomes habitual, uninspired and unaware, so that we huff and puff and sigh and groan our way through the necessary activities of the day, hauling ourselves out of bed, collapsing into chairs and struggling back out of them, grunting as we pick something up from the floor (having braced ourselves in order to be able to bend down in the first place), and grunting again as we reach upward to change a bulb or access a shelf. The elegant design of the human structural design allows for each of these actions to blend easily into the next until we are making all our transitions in a way that has the effort-free fluidity of dancing. This Summer School will explore the many possible ways that you can apply the concept of effortlessness to all your daily activities.
WHY NO EARLY BIRD RATES?
My online teaching is of a more intimate nature than my recent courses for Feldenkrais Access. I do not have a numbers limit as such, as many people choose to sign up for the recordings-only and so far I have been able to interact directly with those on screen without it being too awkward. I like to be very flexible with my pricing, and if you are on a low income I am very happy to accept ANY DONATION YOU CAN AFFORD, and this does not need to be negotiated, all I ask is that you let me know if you cannot pay anything at all. This means that there is no need to pay a long way in advance to get a discount if you need one.
‘Daily Class’ Immersive Courses
…are currently on hold until Autumn
Once a month I usually teach a week-long course of daily classes – these are currently on hold, and will be resuming in June with a series of Summer Schools.
Why Come Along To An Immersive Class?
I am keen to make the benefits of regular lessons available to as many people as possible, so once a month I teach a week-long course of daily classes on a particular theme, and in the Summer I teach two Summer Schools, one with a general theme and one with a vocal theme.
You do not need to be able to make it to every class in order to sign up for my immersive daily courses – if you miss a particular session you will have the opportunity to catch up before the next one, as you will receive your recordings and any extra materials I am providing each day as we go along. This means you are welcome to simply join us whenever you are free throughout the week.
You are also welcome to sign up to receive the Course recordings and extras even if you are not able to join us live at all. I am scheduling intermittent Q&A sessions on Zoom in different time slots, with the intention of giving more people access to the individual attention which I am keen to include as an essential element of all my online teaching. Please note I am always happy to respond to individual voice-message questions on WhatsApp. Please do get in touch with me if you would like to chat about any of my classes, or to make a booking.
Potent Voice Sunday Workshops
Potent Articulators
Intensity, Clarity & Rhythm = Consonant Power!
April 21st
Online + Recordings & Notes
2 pm – 5 pm BST [9 am – 12 pm EDT]
£40 (suggested fee, or any donation welcome)
In this workshop we will be exploring all the various consonant sounds – voiced and vibrant, voiceless and airy, fricative and sustainable, abrupt and plosive, guttural and deep – as powerful approaches to freeing up tensions in our lips, tongue, face, jaw, and inner throat.
One simple way to understand how the human voice works is to recognise that vowel sounds are vibratory, melodic, and sustainable by their very nature – perfect for expressing the universal language of deep feeling and empathy – and that consonants turn that stream of pure emotion into actual language, transforming sound waves into coherent communication. Consonants provide the punctuation, the staccato, the syncopation that infuses voice with the pulsating rhythms that enable us to synchronise our actions, within and without; to breathe and move in harmony with each other, both emotionally, and physically.
Discover Your Full Vocal Range
Enriching your highest and your lowest notes
May 19th
Online + Recordings & Notes
2 pm – 5 pm BST [9 am – 12 pm EDT]
£40 (suggested fee, or any donation welcome)
Human voices can access four registers, each with a distinctive sound quality, but with overlapping pitch ranges and of widely differing usefulness for singers and other performers. The most available and flexible is the modal register and it is this voice that singers and actors strive to extend and enhance. This is the register we all use naturally for speech and it is by far the most rich and resonant of the four, but we are often aware of the other possible sounds we can make and may experience the change in register from modal to falsetto as a real barrier to developing the higher notes that singing usually demands.
The very high “whistle” register and the low beating of the “fry” register may not be very useful in performance but they can be enormous fun, and developing the extremes of your range can be a great tool for enhancing the core of your performing voice. Falsetto is not without its uses, and for many singers learning how not to slip into it unawares is an instant way to produce a richer more mature sound.
In this class we will explore all the registers and play with the different possibilities they offer. Increasing your range naturally requires that you learn how to protect yourself from injury by learning how to retract your false vocal folds and“open” your throat so this technique will also be included in the day.
Please do contact me with any questions you may have, and note that BOOKING IS BY EMAIL, so you can contact me via this link if you want to reserve your place for any of my online events.
You are also always welcome to sign up for the recordings and notes of any course should you be unable to join us live.
…All online sessions include recordings and notes. For more details click here for workshops, and here for regular classes…
Individual Vocal Training Sessions
Rather than lower my standard rate for one-to-one sessions online, which is £70 for a 75 minute session, I am offering one-to-one online sessions as “suggested fee or donation”, for the time being. The extra time is necessary for discussion and feedback. I can accept payments via BACS, and, if that is inconvenient for any reason, PayPal.
Functional Self-Integration Lessons
I am still exploring ways to share my self-healing Quintessensual Consciousness practice. While this is still in the development stage I am offering a special rate of £40* for individual online sessions. This is a version of Feldenkrais focussed on pain and stress relief.
There are more details on my Home page, and several articles about it in the Writing area of my website. Do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss with me whether this form of meditative training might be of help to you.
*Suggested-fee-or-donation rate applies.
Many years ago I recorded a short lesson about breathing – here is a link to this lesson in the archive on the Feldenkrais UK Guild website – enjoy!