Feldenkrais Method Professional Training

Trainings begin with an emphasis on ATM verbally directed floorwork. As the Training progresses, and the students learn about the Method and their own bodies, the emphasis shifts toward learning FI, the hands-on style of Feldenkrais work. Some people only take the first 2 years of a Training, which covers most of the ATM work. This option results in most of the personal growth (next paragraph) but does not confer certification as a Practitioner.

A Feldenkrais Training is well known as an intense personal growth experience. People often "store" their emotions in their bodies. These "somato-emotions" take the form of changes in posture and movement patterns due to increased muscle tone in the shoulders and other places. A common result of Feldenkrais work is a relaxation of these habitual patterns of holding the body (you learn new postures and movement patterns), and the emotions that are associated with the old, chronic holding patterns are released to consciousness. Some people experience a Feldenkrais Method Professional Training as emotionly wild and with rapid and profound personal changes, but most people seem to experience noticable but more subtle and gradual personal changes.

There are different formats for Feldenkrais Method Professional Trainings. The traditional format (used by Moshe) involves meeting once a year for 4 years, each session lasting about 2 months. Many Trainers are breaking that up into 2 or 3 smaller segments which may fit better with your schedule. The 2 month trainings are said to be emotionally more intense than the spread-out versions.

People can make up lost time in a Training, or join a Training late (up to a year late in most Trainings), by making up the lost time. This can be done by attending another Training or by getting tapes of the ATMs done during the missed time. I personally wouldn't use tapes to make up a Training. For one thing you have to pay for the Training time that you missed and that's very expensive for tapes! My other reason is simply my opinion that live Trainings are better than tapes.

Trainings typically cost about $3,300 per year, plus housing and food. It can be an expensive undertaking! But on the other hand, there is nothing like a Feldenkrais Method Professional Training for personal growth and a new career, all rolled into one!

There are many highly qualified Feldenkrais Method Professional Trainers worldwide. Based on my personal experiences I can recommend three excellent Trainers:

Dennis Leri

Dennis is the man I have the most experience with. He is inquisitive, perceptive, and exceptionally respectful of individual freedom. He has that smooth, monotone "Windham Hill" voice for delivering ATMs in a deeply meditative style, which I enjoyed immensely. Dennis is an exceptional choice for your Training if schedule and location allows. Dennis is starting a Training in northern California that runs from June 9 to July 28, 1997, and meeting in June/July for the next 4 years. Contact Gay Sweet Scott, Program Coordinator, at Semio Physics, P.O.Box 40472, Berkeley, CA 94704-4472 or Tel/Fax: (510) 450-0808 for more information.

Yvan Joly

Yvan conducts his Trainings in Montreal, Canada, in both French and English (usually not simultaneously, but every-other Training). Yvan's background is in psychotherapy (MSPS U. Montreal), cognitive sciences, 10 years experience in organizational development and group dynamics. Yvan's Trainings have a definite personal growth emphasis. It was Yvan who explained to me the basis for the emotional upheaval and personal changes that often accompany Feldenkrais work. I found Yvan to be very fair and unfailingly empathic during his facilitation of small groups and he serves as an excellent role model in that regard. Yvan will begin a bilingual English and French language Training in Montreal beginning in 1998. Contact Yvan at (514) 529-5966 (fax and voice) or email yvanjoly@compuserve.com for additional information.

David Zemach-Bersin

David's classes are simply fun! He has a way of orchestrating an entire week, feeding you the pieces of the puzzle but witholding the tie-ins until the last few hours of the last day when he weaves it all together into a coherent whole. His ATMs are magnificent. David is well known as a premier teacher of FI, but I did not know enough about FI when I took his classes to fully appreciate this. For current Training schedule Call 1-800-765-1907 or visit http://www.feldenkrais-resources.com for more info.