...BUT I CAN'T RELAX
Understanding Relaxation
for People Who are Stuck in Gear

Marek Wyszynski, PT, GCFP
Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Relaxation is a process, not a product. If you are stressed, if relationships, work and other "musts" prevent you from enjoying the downtime you do have, this workshop will provide you with both the tools and a practical experience of moving from tension to relaxation. The results can reward you with deeper rest, more relaxed attention and greater vitality .Participants will learn:

1. How to use pleasant, slow movements and breathing patterns to reset the balance of your nervous system
2. The relationship between bodily tension and your emotional state
3. Simple, immediate tools you can use anywhere, anytime to return yourself to a state of calm and clarity.

Marek Wyszynski (GCFP) is Co-Director of the Institute a licensed Physical Therapist, Feldenkrais Practitioner^cm and a former supervisor for the New York Pain Treatment Program at Lenox Hill Hospital. He studied and worked with the world renowned physician Dr. Hans Kraus (the pioneer of trigger-point therapy and president Kennedy's back pain physician). Since 1991 he has worked with people suffering from acute and chronic pain. Marek’s article: "A Structured Physical Therapy Approach for Treating the Muscular Components of Chronic Pain Syndromes" was published in The Journal of Back & Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation. He is also a former national fencing champion (Poland) and coach. Marek is the Director of Physical Therapy and Feldenkrais NYC

A FORCE UP + THROUGH
A Feldenkrais Workshop for Dancers

With Anat Meiri
Tuesday, Sept 9, 2008 *

Dancers must deal with two primal forces: the weight of the body pressing down into the floor, and the equal and opposite force that returns from the floor to propel the skeleton in movement. Many dancers struggle with how to direct the return force properly through the skeleton, so that you avoid the unnecessary muscular work that creates resistance and can make the body more difficult to move. The Feldenkrais lessons in this workshop will help you understand these fundamental principles in the context of dance technique. Participants will learn:

• How to exploit the elasticity of the skeleton, so muscles are more available for expressive gesture.
• The unsung role of the 4th & 5th metatarsal joints for balance and power.
• To explore dance technique from a fresh perspective.

* Dancers who attended this workshop in July may repeat the workshop for half price.

Anat Meiri teaches and mentors dancers at the Feldenkrais Institute.

Anat Meiri Anat Meiri is a certified Awareness Through Movement teacher and the manager of the Institute. Anat started her Feldenkrais professional training in 2003 in Berkeley, CA, and moved to New York in 2006 joining the New York Professional Training with David Zemach-Bersin. She has danced professionally since 1995 with the Rina Schinfeld Dance Theatre in Tel-Aviv and with the Deborah Slater Dance Theatre Company, Papas and Dancers and the Peck-Peck Dance Ensemble in San Francisco. Anat teaches Awareness Through Movement in classes and to individuals, and mentors dancers at the Institute. In her mentoring work with dancers she combines her experience as a dancer with the philosophy of learning and teaching gained from the Feldenkrais Method to help dancers achieve their potential.

SEEING CLEARLY
A Feldenkrais Exploration of Vision

With David Webber, GCFP
Fri-Sun, Sept 12-14, 2008

Vision is the primary sense through which we experience the world. Despite its importance, the quality and clarity of our vision can weaken and degrade without our knowing how or why. In this workshop you will learn to recognize and eliminate many of the most common habits which interfere with easy, effortless vision, and learn new skills which will lead you to see more clearly. You will find that improving your visual acuity not only will help your vision, but your flexibility, coordination, and balance will improve, as well. Many workshop participants find that old aches and pains disappear as the use of their eyes is transformed.

We will investigate three inter-dependent functions that help the eyes optimize vision; muscular effort, movement and focus. You will learn:

• How to lower the muscular tonus of the muscles that move the eyes, and feel what it is like to have relaxed eyes - one of the necessary ingredients for a quieter, more receptive nervous system.
• How to maintain fluid movement of the eyes in all directions, and to let go of the unnecessary effort that creates blind spots in the visual field, as well as effects common movements such as turning, bending and walking.
• How to focus the eyes accurately and without strain, while seeing from various directions and depths of focus.

For the general public, this workshop provides a fundamental step toward healing the eyes, improving vision, and seeing more clearly. For Feldenkrais practitioners this workshop will provide practical tools for assisting others to improve their vision and for learning how to integrate the use of the eyes into Awareness Through Movement and Functional Integration.

Friday Evening

The Friday evening session will provide a conceptual and experiential introduction to our weekend exploration of vision. Through discussion and two ATM lessons we will begin to recognize and eliminate habits of effort and strain that result, over time, in the degradation of our eyes and the quality of our vision.

The Weekend

The weekend sessions will grow organically out of the Friday evening introduction and provide a comprehensive exploration of the three visual functions and three related skills needed to improve vision: totally relaxing, freely moving and accurately focusing the eyes. Over the course of the full three-day workshop abilities in these areas will improve and grow more stable. The visual system will improve and integrate with the movements of the whole body-mind. Participants will learn practical tools and techniques that work. This will facilitate continuous post-workshop improvement in the health of the eyes, the quality of vision and actions in daily life. A handout will be provided at the conclusion of the workshop that will review essential points and provide a Mini-Lesson for post-workshop practice and self-discovery.

David Webber (GCFP) lost his eyesight suddenly in 1996, at the age of 43, due to a severe eye condition (uveitis), and was declared legally blind. Remarkably, he regained much of his vision by working with the practical principles of The Feldenkrais Method. Based on his own healing experience, he has been teaching Seeing Clearly ^(c) workshops worldwide, including presenting at the North American Conference on Natural Vision Improvement (2004), the 20th International Conference on Holistic Vision (Italy, 2005), and the 21st International Conference on Holistic Vision (Munich, 2007). With Carl Ginsburg, PhD., Feldenkrais Method Trainer, he has taught both public workshops and advanced trainings for Feldenkrais Practitioners

FOR THE FUN OF IT
This is Why You Do Feldenkrais

With Mark Hirschfield, GCFP
Tue, Sept 23, 2008

Some of the most powerful Feldenkrais lessons are just plain FUN! While there are many Feldenkrais lessons that specifically address flexibility, strength or balance, the context of the learning is the most important catalyst for improvement—and fun is a "master" ingredient. When learning and discovery are pleasant and satisfying, we quickly regain confidence, curiosity and pleasure in our movement and in our lives. In this evening, you'll do three ATM lessons purely for the fun of it—one of the most compelling reasons for doing Feldenkrais.

In this workshop you use these fun lessons to :

• Move in ways that you might not have since you were a child, with joy and abandon.
• Move in ways that may surprise you: "Wow, I didn't think I could do that!" And you'll end up feeling great.
• Come to a better understanding of how the sensations created by these "feel good" lessons can be manifested in other areas of your life, and in every lesson you do.

Most of us come to the Feldenkrais Method because we have a problem we want to solve: like an injury or a chronic condition. Some people, once their problem has been resolved, find the method has served its purpose and they move on. But as a learning discipline, the Feldenkrais Method can help you enjoy your self while you improve in every class you take. Dr. Feldenkrais said:

"If it is possible for a person to reach a condition in which he registers improvement every time he does something, there is no limit to his possible achievement."

Mark Hirschfield (GCFP) trained with David Zemach-Bersin and is a Faculty Practitioner at the Institute. He has taught Feldenkrais classes in various locations in Brooklyn, Manhattan and at Physical Therapy & Feldenkrais NYC where he helped create the Alexander Yanai project, a weekly series of Awareness Through Movement lessons drawn specifically from the transcripts of classes Dr. Feldenkrais taught for many years in Israel (on Alexander Yanai street). Mark’s professional background in theater, both acting and directing, as well as his personal pursuits of skiing and yoga help him draw on a wide experience for improving the self use of his clients.