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 fees are suggested-rate-or-any-donation-welcome
(Please note that the regular classes and workshops appear first, and thus this list may not be in a sensible order, date-wise!)
Awareness Through Movement Online Classes on Zoom*
Tuesdays @ Noon
12 pm – 1.30 pm BST
£15 per class, or any donation welcome
This class is a general class and suitable for all levels of ability – we usually 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 the understanding of what Feldenkrais is all about.
Thursdays @ 6pm
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 recordings and notes even if they miss a class
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.
UPDATE: up until now I have been considering these classes as potentially mix-and-match but it is now clear that is not how it tends to work out, so I have made adjustments to the pricing accordingly. Everything I teach online is available for a suggested fee, or a donation of your choosing, which means you do not need to negotiate it with me, although I would prefer to know if you would like to come along but are not able to pay anything. I am increasing my prices this Spring, with the expectation that anyone on a low income will continue to pay what they are able, without worrying about it.
The Feldenkrais Method is unique in design, and of all the versions of personal training that include a physical element, Feldenkrais is most like Tai Chi, where regular practise is good, and the more time you give to the process the more you get back. At some point you become someone who practises Feldenkrais, and at that point the benefits and the pleasures begin to accrue.
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.
Much of what I write about in my blog is intended to make the pleasures and possibilities of learning how to learn more apparent earlier in the process; here is a recent article on the subject.
I am using Zoom, and you will need to book with me in advance by email. Once you have confirmed I will send you a secure link to access the broadcast.
Do use the contact form if you would like more information, PLEASE NOTE MY REPLIES HAVE SOMETIMES GONE ASTRAY RECENTLY, SO I AM ASKING PEOPLE TO INCLUDE A PHONE NUMBER, JUST IN CASE…
You can also contact me on FaceBook via my main work pages:
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
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.
*NOTE NEW SHORTER TIME: I am aware that two hours was a long class, and have decided to shorten it to 90 minutes. Please note that you can STILL choose to join us for the first hour only, particularly if that would make joining the class regularly more manageable for you.
One seldom-discussed aspect of the potency of the voice is the influential presence of an internal voice, constantly commentating on our lives. The voice inside our own heads can be an ally or an enemy; for a while now I have been discovering how to train my inner voice to be a better ally in my on-going project of self-healing. Here is an introduction to the process, from an article on my website:
“Self-Hypnosis – also known as Autogenic Training – has been around for a long time. I first came across it back in the Eighties, in a book called Superlearning. This was at right at the beginning of my interest in meditation, and practising the autogenic sequences from the book were the closest I came to achieving the deeper states of inner calm that are reportedly the most effective brain wave frequencies for healing chronic conditions.
Thus, when a bout of chronic fatigue left me with fibromyalgic pain that did not easily respond to the mindful movements that had helped me free myself of sciatica in the past, my investigations brought me full circle, and this time I made a connection I had somehow failed to make before. I remembered that Moshe Feldenkrais was also interested in self-hypnosis at a similar age, except that – being the over-achiever he was – he translated a significant book on the subject into Hebrew, and boldly added his own thoughts in a 26 page commentary.
The book was The Practice Of Autosuggestion by the Method of Émile Coué (1929), and Moshe’s original contribution has recently been published as Thinking and Doing, A monograph by Moshe Feldenkrais. He retained his enthusiasm for these concepts throughout his life, attempting to republish his translation in 1977, and using the techniques he still valued to speed his recovery after his stroke. Article continues here…
This workshop will be ideal for anyone seeking to improve their own health and wellbeing, and the health and wellbeing of others.
You will need to book with me directly to get the Zoom link, and a recorded version of the lesson is included in the fee. Bookings are by email, or via my contact form.
This will be a very practical course and you will receive notes and supporting materials to help you maintain the improvements you experience from this immersive Awareness Through Movement experience.
Daily Feldenkrais: Immersive Classes
Belle Hand ~ Belle Foot ~ Belle Self
…Exploring Feldenkrais as a daily practice…
May 9th – 13th (Monday to Friday)
Online + Recordings & Notes
1 pm – 2.30 pm BST [8 am – 9.30 am EDT]
£75 / £50 (low income) ~ Or Any Donation Welcome
For some time now I have had in mind the development of a Feldenkrais “Form” – a process to offer those who work with me that can be explored on a daily basis in a fully Feldenkrais-y manner; not as “exercise”, not something that needs to be performed “perfectly” – or even “correctly”, nothing to needs to be reproduced by “rote” – a way to improvise effective Feldenkrais in a way that will be new and different every day.
This is an important part of my career-long ambition to enable a better understanding of Feldenkrais as a living practice. Currently the opportunities to “do” Awareness Through Movement are greater than ever before, and access to very many excellent teachers requires only a wifi connection and a suitable device. But that is only half the story; the ultimate goal of achieving “human dignity” and “unavowed dreams” requires that what we learn in class or on the table becomes fully integrated into our self AND our life, and that requires the capacity to improvise self-integration.
I have given away some of the plot in my title! I remember one trainer talking about the classic “Bell Hand” lessons sequences that Moshe introduced very late in the development of his Method. For me they were the lessons that changed my way of being emotionally as well as physically, as I began to use his soothing, undulating hand motion as a way to calm myself in anxious situations.
The concept of a “form” as a daily practice comes from Eastern martial arts, and before training as a Feldenkrais practitioner I had been learning Tai Chi with Simon Wyard, a deeply dedicated master whose style of teaching blended beautifully with that of my Israeli-born Feldenkrais trainers. He taught us the idea of developing “Wonderful Hand” – try as I might I cannot find out more about this concept as he presented it from my online research. Thus I am paraphrasing from 40 year old memories – and very happy to be better informed if you know more about this than I do – when I say that he talked of the forward motion of the hand in the Form as being perfectible through attention to the balance of yin and yang in the motion. I am aware that I am simplifying sophisticated concepts when I use the image of yang as forward motion and yin as backward motion; “good hand” might be 60% yang / 40% yin; “fine hand” might be 60% yin / 40% yang, however “wonderful hand” was the perfect balance of 50% yang / 50% yin. So I have rechristened this holistic and organic motion “belle”, as I feel the movement we will be learning is beautiful in the deepest sense. In this week we will explore the beginnings of a daily Feldenkrais practice with the potential to bring the joy of Feldenkrais into your everyday life!
Please do get in touch with me if you would like to chat, or make a booking
Potent Voice
Your Voice is a Unique Instrument
Sunday May 15th Online + Recordings & Notes
2 pm – 5 pm BST [9 am – 12 pm EDT]
£35 (suggested fee, or any donation welcome)
It is a commonly cited fallacy that we are born with a particular voice, hence the amazement every time some young singer with a good ear produces the kind of voice we associate with older singers of a different skin tone! What actually shapes the voice is a combination of our individual vocal structures and our muscular habits. Once you understand how these habits produce distinctive vocal qualities you will be able to discover and explore a greatly enhanced range of possibilities for your own voice, adding richness and colour to your both your singing voice and your speaking voice. I will also discuss in detail how to organise your practise time for maximum benefit and steady, reliable vocal improvement. Finally we will look at the stabilising of the torso required for both classical singing and belting. The fee includes detailed notes to make it easy for you to continue practising at home, and to minimise the need for note taking during the class.
Feldenkrais Fundamentals
Exploring Gentle Inversions
Improving the alignment of your neck & head
Sunday May 22nd Online + Recordings & Notes
2 pm – 5 pm BST [9 am – 12 pm EDT]
£35 (suggested fee, or any donation welcome)
The definition of “inversion” we will be exploring in this workshop is to have the hips and the heart higher than the head, in relation to gravity. This will give us lots of lovely Awareness Through Movement ideas to play with, and lots of fun moves to discover.
In Israel Moshe Feldenkrais is famous for teaching David Ben Gurion to stand on his head, and we explored this posture in depth in my training, free from any pressure to succeed. Although I had some satisfying experiences with what were initially rather awkward positions, I never overcame my undiagnosed dyspraxia in order to be able to stand on my head. I did learn to balance easily on my head and hands, with my knees safely bent, so my centre of gravity was still nice and low. I greatly enjoyed these lessons – they enabled me to begin to release the long term tension I had been holding deep in my upper back, shoulder girdle and neck. My posture improved, my neck tension eased, I developed more freedom of movement in my shoulder girdle, and I felt rather pleased with myself. The lessons that prepared us for the headstand were safe and enjoyable and ideal for anyone unlearning tension in these areas, or dealing with chronic issues such as headaches, neck and shoulder pain, and repetitive strain in upper limb joints – and of course, this being Feldenkrais, you are just as likely to discover greater ease in your hips and ankles!
We spend the vast majority of our waking hours sitting, standing or moving around in an upright stance and throughout the day our head remains balanced upright on the top of our spine without us having to think about it at all. The neck is a vital channel of communication for the nervous system between the brain-hub and all the extended branches of the nervous system, circulatory system, and the lymphatic system, throughout the whole self – naturally the neck is very strong! Because of this important role, improving neck use affects the wellbeing of our whole self, and for the same reason improvements to the functioning of our neck and upper body can take a while to establish, however, once established everything you do will be easier, and chronic pain and daily physical effort will lessen naturally.
Workshop details…
This workshop will feature lessons designed to increase the flexibility of, and encourage more fluid movement in, your upper spine, neck, shoulders and rib cage. We will use rotation, flexion, extension, and inversion to reawaken your natural elegance and poise.
Highly recommended for everyone, but particularly performers – musicians, singers, actors, dancers, martial artists – and anyone with issues related to the cranial functions, such as headaches, respiratory issues, balance issues etc.
More dates for your diary in June 2022…
Daily Immersive – June 6-10th – Theme TBA
Fundamentals–Sunday June 12th–Theme TBA
Potent Voice – June 19th –Theme TBA
…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!