2024 Summit | Awareness Heals
May 4th – May 8th Free & Live Online Event
Have you ever felt like you needed a whole new body, filled with a generous dose of joy?
Discover how to release the struggle so that you can move better and feel better – claim your free seat now!
DATES: May 4 - 8 Free and online!
Find Freedom through the Move Better, Feel Better Summit
When you join the Move Better, Feel Better Summit you’ll get access to an extraordinary lineup of presenters (more on that below) who will help you gain new insights that you may have thought impossible, in these areas:
- Balance
- Walking
- Running
- Back Pain
- Chronic Pain
- Migraines
- Trauma
- Loneliness
- Joy
- Grief
- Daily Activities
- Osteoarthritis
- Osteoporosis
- Presence
How will this happen? Surprisingly, it’s not in a way you may expect. The sessions are live, dynamic and unpredictable, and presenters will show you how to explore possibilities through:
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Knowledge
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Releasing the Struggle
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Power
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Pleasure
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Fascia
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Accessing Your Inner Healer
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Consciousness
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Wisdom
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Neurological Diplomacy
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Efficient, Comfortable Movement
Presenters bring their wealth of experience in an incredible diversity of fields, including Neuroscience, The Feldenkrais Method®, Mindfulness, Ritual, Yoga, Neurolinguistic Programming, Bones for Life® and Corrective exercise.
Join us as we explore the power of neuroplasticity and awareness, and guide you to new possibilities.
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This DYNAMIC, LIVE virtual event is somatics at its best. You will discover a whole new way of playful, easy movement as you build the skills of listening to and respecting what your body is saying.
Tired of pre-recorded sessions? This year’s Move Better, Feel Better Summit sessions will be held LIVE. And you know what that means … ANYTHING can happen! You have the choice to attend live, or watch on limited-time replay.
This is our 8th Summit. We know what we are doing. Still, you might be thinking, you have come to the first seven, what could be new? We have secured all new Summit speakers. Each of these new-to-the-summit experts are experienced thought leaders, authors, and somatic professionals.
Let these experts in body/mind movement guide you to a new understanding of yourself. Through riveting talks and short explorations; allow yourself to experience how awareness heals.
Keynote Speaker: Neil Theise
The Boundless Body: Complexity, Consciousness, and Being
Dr. Theise will take you on a scientific journey, into how our complex physical beings are woven from the processes of biology, chemistry, and quantum physics, using principles of complexity theory that show the universe to be a self-organizing, self-generating system. In doing so, they can re-experience that sense of connection with which we are born, understand how consciousness relates to existence, and appreciate how Wisdom – understanding the true nature of reality in keeping with all contemporary science – leads to Compassion as a fundamental expression of our lives.
Neil Theise is a professor of pathology at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Through his scientific research, he has been a pioneer of human liver pathobiology, adult stem cell plasticity, and the anatomy of the human interstitium as a body-wide communication network. Dr. Theise’s studies in complexity theory have led to interdisciplinary collaborations in fields such as integrative medicine, consciousness studies, and science-religion dialogue.
Understand the somatic power of making the impossible, possible… like never before
The Move Better, Feel Better Summit will help you uncover insights into the way you use your brain, which influences pain, physical limitations/injury, and emotional challenges that you may be facing.
Join us to learn how harnessing the power of neuroplasticity allows you to make the impossible, possible.
“What I’m after isn’t flexible bodies, but flexible brains. What I’m after is to restore each person to their human dignity.”
~ Moshe Feldenkrais
What’s holding you back?
Have you ever felt as though you’d just like a whole new life? A new body that you feel you can work with, rather than battle with? How about a little dignity?
You’re not alone.
And now you can access important pathways so that you can get what you need, as you learn “from the inside out”.
It’s a journey like no other, full of healing through awareness.
We’ll explore Awareness Through Movement, the Feldenkrais Method, Yoga, the Mystical, Voice, Corrective Exercise, Ritual, Community, Mindfulness, NLP, Anatomy and Consciousness.
Different to the prescriptive approach you have seen elsewhere? Yes!
During the 5 days of the Move Better, Feel Better Summit you will weave a new story for yourself; one in which health can spontaneously arise … and one that may contain a few surprises!
It’s natural to think “this can’t help me; I’ve tried everything.” But that doesn’t allow for the stories of change that pour in from participants who have attended in previous years.
The beauty of the Move Better, Feel Better Summit is that you can attend from your own home. You can join us live for the sessions that interest you, and that fit your schedule.
And you can participate from where you are currently at in terms of your physical, mental and spiritual health.
After the Live presentations, watch any that you couldn’t attend on the 48-hour replay so that you don’t have to miss a thing.
Meet the amazing teachers making it all possible:
May 4
Neil Theise
The Boundless Body: Complexity, Consciousness and Being
The Boundless Body: Complexity, Consciousness and Being
Join Dr. Theise on a scientific journey, into how our complex physical beings are woven from the processes of biology, chemistry, and quantum physics. He will use principles of complexity theory that show the universe to be a self-organizing, self-generating system. In doing so, we can re-experience that sense of connection with which we are born, understand how consciousness relates to existence, and appreciate how Wisdom – understanding the true nature of reality in keeping with all contemporary science – leads to Compassion as a fundamental expression of our lives.
Neil Theise
Neil Theise is a professor of pathology at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Through his scientific research, he has been a pioneer of human liver pathobiology, adult stem cell plasticity, and the anatomy of the human interstitium as a body-wide communication network. Dr. Theise’s studies in complexity theory have led to interdisciplinary collaborations in fields such as integrative medicine, consciousness studies, and science-religion dialogue.
Julie Casson Rubin
Everyday Ease: Unleashing Comfort Through the Feldenkrais Method
Everyday Ease: Unleashing Comfort Through the Feldenkrais Method
Most of life happens in everyday moments and tasks. How we come to those moments with our whole being creates the quality of our daily experience. Hundreds of Feldenkrais lessons offer resources to improve our ease, efficiency, and safety when sitting, standing, walking, going up and down stairs, and doing household chores. These normal activities can be done with increased awareness and comfort by utilizing simple resources. This session will include a Feldenkrais lesson that uses a chair to help us learn about finding comfort in sitting and standing.
Julie Casson Rubin - CFP, Feldenkrais Trainer
Julie trained with Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais in his first North American teacher training program. Since graduating in 1977, she has been in continuous practice in San Francisco, offering group and private lessons. Since 1985 Julie has taught and co-directed Feldenkrais Method training programs worldwide.
Evan Osar
Balance and Walking: The Missing Key
Balance and Walking: The Missing Key
Balance and walking are key aspects of living independently and for longevity. The loss of thoracic rotation impacts both balance and walking, leading to increased risk of falls, medical dependency, and decreased quality of life. In this interactive workshop, you'll discover how to quickly assess and improve thoracic rotation. Additionally, you'll leave knowing how to educate and empower your clients to improve their balance and walking.
Evan Osar - DC
Dr. Evan Osar is an internationally recognized speaker, author, and expert on posture, exercise, and performance. Dr. Osar’s mission is to empower health and fitness professionals and help them collaborate with medical professionals in providing an integrative, lifestyle-based solution to the healthcare crisis. He has authored, Corrective Exercise Solutions to Common Hip and Shoulder Dysfunction, and Amazon #1 best seller, The Psoas Solution. He developed the Integrative Movement System™, an evidence-based approach to optimizing posture, movement, and performance while reducing risk of injury. Dr. Osar is currently in private practice and is an adjunct faculty member at Rocky Mountain University of Health Sciences.
Edward Yu
The Uses and Misuses of Biomechanics in the Sport of Running
The Uses and Misuses of Biomechanics in the Sport of Running
Decades of technological advances in the field of biomechanics have allowed researchers to collect, tabulate and otherwise quantify data in increasingly sophisticated ways. This has contributed, in part, to a seemingly endless stream of expert tips for how to run more efficiently. As the technology improves and new findings continue to emerge, however, the question of how accurately and precisely people are able to follow any given set of tips remains a burning issue. Unless we address this issue—one that is rooted as much in control as it is in learning—we are liable to (continue to) misuse the science, applying it in ways that are overly reductionist and therefore, more appropriate for machines than for humans.
Edward Yu
Edward Yu is a former competitive runner and triathlete, as well as a 7th generation lineage holder of Gao Bagua under grandmasters, Ge Guoliang and Li Xueyi. After three decades of making forays into various martial arts, including boxing, kickboxing, taichi, aikido and judo, he has decided that it’s sometimes better to run for your life. His published works include, Slowing Down Faster: A Sense-able Approach to Movement (North Atlantic) and The Mass Psychology of Fittism: Fitness, Evolution, and the First Two Laws of Thermodynamics (Undocumented Worker Press). Edward currently teaches in China and Europe, working primarily with professional athletes, dancers, martial artists and musicians.
May 5
Jonathan Rosenthal
How Yoga Affects the Brain: Stress, Migraine and Trauma
How Yoga Affects the Brain: Stress, Migraine and Trauma
Scientific research on yoga is exploding, with over 1,500 randomized controlled trials currently published. In fact, for migraine, relaxation exercises derived from yogic practices currently have level A evidence (the highest level) for preventing migraine, similar to first-line medications. We will discuss how yoga affects the stress pathways of the brain, the pain pathways of migraine, and the emotional memory pathways of trauma, with an emphasis on how we know what we know and how we can use it to help people.
Jonathan Rosenthal
Jonathan Rosenthal, M.D., is a board-certified neurologist and clinical neurophysiologist in New York City. He specializes in monitoring the brain and nervous system during high-risk surgeries. He is also an avid student of yoga. He hosts the Neuroscience and Yoga Online Conference to help students transcend misinformation and improve how they practice, teach, and advocate for yoga. He conducts research on neurocritical care, epilepsy, neurophysiology, and is working on building a research program in yoga interventions in medicine.
Pedro Goucha Gomes
Embodying Awareness: A Reflection on How Mindfulness Meditation and the Feldenkrais Method Complement Each Other
Embodying Awareness: A Reflection on How Mindfulness Meditation and the Feldenkrais Method Complement Each Other
While Mindfulness Meditation and the Feldenkrais Method are very different practices, they also share many underlying principles. In this talk I will be exploring some of their similarities, distinctions, and how from my personal experience they can complement each other and allow a person to move better through life.
Pedro Goucha Gomes
Pedro is a certified teacher of the Feldenkrais Method and MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction). He has a private practice in Portugal and organizes workshops and retreats, where he brings together different approaches to well-being, creativity, personal growth and environmental awareness. Pedro was a professional dancer with companies such as the Stuttgart Ballet and the Netherlands Dance Theatre. He choreographed for several years and is a regular guest teacher in dance companies in Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, Japan among others. Pedro lives in the Portuguese countryside with his wife and their two children.
Rev. Dr. Joanne Avison
From Biomechanics to Biomotional Beings: The New Language of Living Fascia
From Biomechanics to Biomotional Beings: The New Language of Living Fascia
For 400 years, the Western world has been under a spell of biomechanical metaphors to explain, assess and teach human movement. It has conjured up ideas of human bodies as compression organizations, of levers, joints and stacked bones to describe the musculo-skeletal system. Unfortunately, biomechanics is the wrong metaphor to describe any aspect of the living human being. There is nothing mechanical about humans. In this talk we will consider the natural biomotional intelligence of our animated, connective tissue, liquid crystal matrix – which is a whole other branch of physics and re-writes the books on posture, assessment and beings in motion.
Rev. Dr. Joanne Avison - DSS, Yoga Therapist, Structural Integration Practitioner/Teacher
Joanne Avison is an author, illustrator and specialist in fascia, myofascial movement and manual therapy. The 2nd edition of her book Yoga Fascia Anatomy and Movement precedes a new illustrated series including Myofascial Magic in Action, Fasciategrity – the Magical Interface, The Heart-centered Embryo and Somatic Archetypes. Through archetypal awareness, Joanne teaches how fasciategrity redefines the unified nature of human form and self-expression through everyone's unique movement patterns. An ordained minister, Joanne's doctorate in Spiritual Science includes study and practice as teacher / practitioner of Restorative Yoga, Surat Shabd Yoga, Structural Integration and Sacred Contracts - archetypal patterns and the movement of magical inner awareness.
Ralph Hadden
Your Pelvis: Power, Pain, Pleasure and Consent
Your Pelvis: Power, Pain, Pleasure and Consent
Your pelvis is the vital center of human life. It is where new life is created, where it is cradled, grown and ushered into the world. Biomechanically, the pelvis is the base for powerful, efficient action. It is also a key location for sexual pleasure. Conversely it can be a source of restriction, pain, discomfort, and shame.
We will discuss all these aspects of the human pelvis and consider clever and intriguing strategies for healing, repair and enhancement. And we will consider Kegels, control, rats on treadmills, consent conversations in bodywork and the problem of portraying intimacy in the movies.
Ralph Hadden - BA, CFP
Ralph Hadden is a Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner and member of the Australian Feldenkrais Guild Inc. He has over forty years experience in movement and body therapies as a practitioner, teacher and trainer of teachers. He has been teaching Feldenkrais since 1988 and is accredited as an Assistant Trainer.
Ralph practices Feldenkrais in Melbourne, Australia and has taught nationally and internationally. He was editor of Feldenkrais Australia, the journal of the Australian Feldenkrais Guild Inc., from 2012 to 2018. His recent book is Your 14 day Pelvis Program.
May 6
Andrea Tutt
Celebrating Lopsidedness with Bones For Life
Celebrating Lopsidedness with Bones For Life
In North America, we are surrounded by a culture that centralizes a uniform aesthetic as commercially acceptable. We are bombarded with physical and medical ways to ‘fix’ or ‘correct’ any misalignment or perceived imbalance. To untangle this bias within oneself requires a deep unraveling of personal and medical labeling. An externalized classification defines an internal identity, and completes a self-image so ingrained that reimagining oneself as whole with imbalance rather than broken or not working is transformative.
Andrea Tutt
Andrea Tutt has taught acting, dance and movement studies in many established training facilities in Canada, New Zealand, and USA. Currently residing in Cincinnati, Andrea serves on faculty in the theatre/music and theatre/dance departments at NKU, and CCM at UC. Andrea runs Attune Movement - a Pilates and movement studio focusing on functional and integrative movement. Andrea regularly teaches on wellness retreats, and was honored to join the faculty of “Sempre Sano, Forever Healthy” in collaboration with the Center for Integrative Health and Wellness at UC in Cincinnati, Spring Island South Carolina 2018 – 2023, as well as Tuscany Italy in 2019. Andrea is an advanced certified Yoga and Pilates teacher, trained Bones for Life Practitioner and Trainer, and the proud mom of two incredible kids. Andrea completed her Masters in Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts at Goddard College, Vermont in January 2020.
Quanita Roberson
The Gifts of Embodying Grief and Joy
The Gifts of Embodying Grief and Joy
There are lots of gifts in deepening our relationship with grief and joy. We live in a culture that has forgotten how to grieve. We live in a culture that has forgotten that we have a relationship with grief - grief isn’t just an event to get past. We have forgotten that until we empty out what we no longer want there is no room for the new to come in. Join us in exploring grief and remembering your relationship to it.
Quanita Roberson
There are lots of gifts in deepening our relationship with grief and joy. We live in a culture that has forgotten how to grieve. We live in a culture that has forgotten that we have a relationship with grief - grief isn’t just an event to get past. We have forgotten that until we empty out what we no longer want there is no room for the new to come in. Join us in exploring grief and remembering your relationship to it.
Sue Seto
Does Osteoarthritis Mean the End to Comfortable Movement?
Does Osteoarthritis Mean the End to Comfortable Movement?
Dealing with osteoarthritis can be tough and may make you wonder if you'll ever feel comfortable again or be able to do things like gardening or playing with your kids on the floor. Taking care of your joints is crucial. From the Feldenkrais viewpoint, we'll look into getting the most out of activities that support joint health. We'll see how this approach promotes smooth and gentle movements that suit your comfort. We'll also explore finding the right balance and learning to comfortably increase your range of motion where possible. A slow and easy lesson will be offered to provide experience in finding comfort.
Sue Seto
I am a Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner™ in practice since 2017 and Canadian Director of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America Board since 2019. In my Feldenkrais® practice, I help with joint replacements, mobility issues, neurological concerns, balance, posture, gait, chronic pain and fall prevention. I have spent many years applying the Feldenkrais Method™ to physical activities that promote both bone health and joint health. Often, Osteoporosis and Arthritis require different movements for improvement. This may present challenges in finding opportunities for a safe and meaningful movement practice. My lessons focus on both Arthritis and Osteoporosis friendly movements.
Seth Dellinger
The Feldenkrais Method as a Wisdom Practice
The Feldenkrais Method as a Wisdom Practice
The Feldenkrais Method is often described as a "movement practice." Yet, while this dynamic approach to self-development uses movement as its primary vehicle for learning, the thinking that guides it can be applied globally. Let’s consider how the principles of ideal movement and the special learning strategies used in Awareness Through Movement can be applied to our thinking, our relationships and other realms. Furthermore, how can what we learn in a Feldenkrais class be used throughout the course of a busy day? How can we combine Feldenkrais with other practices to cultivate wisdom and live a better life?
Seth Dellinger
Seth Dellinger is a multi-faceted teacher of the healing arts and creator of the 16-week group coaching program, Grounded Connection. He works with creative entrepreneurs, professionals and artists wanting to liberate themselves from chronic discomfort, disconnection and burnout so they can bring their best ideas to life. Combining somatic, meditative and relational practices with “Anytime/Anywhere” strategies to bring presence into daily routines, Seth teaches clients how to “fall in love with life” again. He views the Feldenkrais Method as “a wisdom practice disguised as a movement practice.” He loves to support people working for a brighter future for humanity.
May 7
Sarah Templeton
Getting Your Act Together with the Feldenkrais Method
Getting Your Act Together with the Feldenkrais Method
If you’re learning to sing, act, or present yourself, and not getting results, it could be your movement that's holding you back. Improving the movements of your body to be more inviting, clear, and expressive can help you finally crack the code to becoming an impactful and successful presenter, singer, or actor. When we think about good posture, or gesturing, or breathing, we are really just talking about movements, and we want them to be relaxed and reliable, with a lot of variety and spontaneity. I have made it my life's work to help singers, actors, and presenters become confident, expressive, and impactful performers primarily using the Feldenkrais Method. Let’s talk about how Feldenkrais can be the ‘missing link’ for you in your voice and presentation training.
Sarah Templeton - M.Music, GCFP
Sarah Templeton is a singer, voice teacher, and Feldenkrais® Practitioner. In her 25-year teaching career, through her unique combination of voice and movement work, she has helped thousands of singers, actors, and speakers find their potential. She helps presenters, singers, and actors go from disempowered, monotone, tense, and misunderstood, to poised, expressive, confident, and crystal clear, so that they can give dynamic, impactful performances.
Eve Boltax
To Come Home to Yourself
To Come Home to Yourself
In the age of the loneliness epidemic and technology overload, there are increasingly more ways to feel disassociated and out of touch with oneself. How do you come back to yourself? How do you begin to know yourself and allow for change? When you think of coming back to yourself, what do you imagine? This talk explores how the Feldenkrais Method® deepens our self-connection and intuition. Bring a notebook and a pen or pencil. The title of this talk comes from a poem by John O'Donahue.
Eve Boltax
Eve Boltax is a musician and guild-certified Feldenkrais practitioner primarily based in Boston. Her work has been described as magical, bold, calming, and steadfast. In addition to having an active individual practice and teaching regular group classes, she hosts the Somatic Musicians Lab, an online practice community for musicians. She regularly collaborates with Gaga movement language teacher Ana Harmon offering combined Gaga + Feldenkrais workshops. In the past year, she has guest taught at the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival and Harvard University. Eve graduated from the Boston Feldenkrais Training in 2020 under the direction of Aliza Stewart and assisted by Tiffany Sankary. She continues to perform professionally as a violist and teach violin to children.
Joshua Wolk
The Neuroscience of Exercise, Movement and Mood
The Neuroscience of Exercise, Movement and Mood
New concepts in neuroscience radically alter the way we understand the integration of movement, exercise, mood and emotion. Many ideas that underpin the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education, some of which once seemed radical and even outlandish, are now gaining acceptance in modern neuroscience. We will discuss how recent scientific developments support much of what Moshé Feldenkrais taught as well as where some of his ideas need to be reconsidered. What does all this new science mean for our endeavor of improving well-being through Awareness Through Movement, exercise and mindfulness?
Joshua Wolk
Josh Wolk, a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner since 1994 and an Aikido instructor since 1991, specializes in working with brain injury, neurological problems and improving fitness and high-performance activities. Josh has developed a system of exercise informed by Feldenkrais and martial arts called 5 Lines Fitness. It is designed to integrate the entire person in movements ranging from light to vigorous. The system provides functional situations in which to apply and further explore improvements that come about from Awareness Through Movement and Functional Integration.
Itay Ganot
The Body as a Mystic Healer
The Body as a Mystic Healer
After years of practical research I can say that the intelligence in the body is an infinite portal for self-healing. The ability of the body to support and produce awake states of consciousness is like an act of real magic. When we agree to meet the body from an innocent place, and treat it as a canvas of sacred geometry, we can transform physical, emotional and epigenetic pains. The body is a temple. It is the most creative gene for holistic healing.
Itay Ganot
Itay Ganot is a multidisciplinary artist, graduate of the Israel Theater Academy and a member of the Institute for Modern Theater Research in Berlin. Today, after a decade of intensive practical research, Itay Ganot has developed a wide range of innovative structures for changing states of consciousness by means of psycho-magical rituals and the science of mystic movement keys. Thus creating a new synthesis of Art, Society, and Healing through community.
May 8
Raz Ori
CHRONIC PAIN: Untangling the Ties That Bind Movement, Body Image and the Visual System to Our Perception of Pain
Chronic Pain: Untangling the Ties That Bind Movement, the Body Image and the Visual System to Our Perception of Pain
Our body-image is a construct of our brain, shaped and influenced by our personal experience. Understanding the components that influence our body-image, and how our brains use these components is a door into shifting our perception of our-selves and the quality of our actions. The intimate link between body-perception and movement-perception has many ties with our visual system and the use of our eyes. In many ways, we see our-selves in action, thus our subjective point of view influences how we act. This ongoing process is a dynamic one, adapting and changing in relation to the influences acting on us both from our internal and external environment. Yet, what do we do when our brains lock on a specific perception and lose the ability to adapt and change, as happens with pain or limitations? By exposing the ties between movement, body-perception and our visual system, we have the potential to reshape our self-perception and our sensory experience of movement. In this session, Raz will explore the internal "vocabulary" that our brains use to form our self-perception, and show us how to awaken the plasticity of our brain.
Raz Ori - Feldenkrais Trainer, Educational Director
Raz Ori is the Educational Director for the Ann Arbor 2 Professional Feldenkrais Training Program. Raz has been teaching world-wide in Feldenkrais Trainings in Israel, the US, Germany, Italy, South Korea and the U.K.
He graduated in 2001 from the Tel-Aviv Feldenkrais Professional Training Program, and trained for two more years with Yochanan Rywerant, one of Dr. Feldenkrais’ first students.
Raz runs The Ramat-Aviv Feldenkrais Center where he teaches Awareness Through Movement classes and gives individual Functional Integration lessons.
Raz gained clinical experience working for 15 years at Clalit Integrative Medicine, part of Israel’s largest public health provider. He has also worked at the Sheba Medical Center with disabled war veterans suffering from chronic pain, phantom limb pain, PTSD, and head injuries.
Raz lives in Tel-Aviv with his wife and children.
Delmar Davis
3E Change: Life Transformation with Ease
3E Change: Life Transformation with Ease
Delmar Davis
Delmar Davis is a life coach, fitness trainer, clinical massage therapist, and NLP practitioner who trained with Larry Wells in his first certification class over a decade ago. He is founder of the End the Fight wellness approach and author of End the Fight to Get Fit. His life direction explores how we may reclaim our innate health and vitality by finding greater ease and joy in the essential actions of wellness.
Cynthia Allen
Back Pain: The Pathway Out When You Feel You've Tried It All
Cynthia Allen
Medications, injections, physical therapy, stretching, surgery ... even after trying just about every traditional approach, some people continue to have slightly nagging to downright debilitating back pain.
Learn the pillars and myths of back health. Discover why a somatic education approach can make a difference and experience gentle movements that can start you on a new path -- a path of possibilities realized instead of life getting smaller. Whether your pain is a minor nuisance or a significant obstacle, gain insights and tools to reclaim control and enhance your quality of life.
Cynthia Allen - GCFP, STMI
Cynthia Allen launched the first Feldenkrais® Awareness Summit in 2018. She is the creator of the Your Learning Body Community, a published researcher on the effects of the Bones For Life® approach for the elderly and co-creator of Integral Human TM theory. Cynthia is a partner in Future Life Now in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband, Larry Wells.
End Note Panel
David Zemach-Bersin, Alan S. Questel, Larry Goldfarb, Arlene Klein Frederick E Schjang, and Cynthia Allen
Bringing It All Together…
Endnote Panelists
Cynthia Allen, David Zemach-Bersin, Arlene Klein, Larry Goldfarb, Frederick Schjang, Alan S. Questel
The Arc of Change: Somatics, Consciousness, and Being in the Digital Age
Join us for a lively discussion about where we have been. That’s right, we will drill down to cassettes, DVDs, and the occasional YouTube video. To the digital age with reels, Zoom, chats, and live streaming. What may the future hold?
This isn’t just about technology but also what it offers in accessibility to people in need and its impact on the field of somatic education—good and bad.
The audience will be invited to participate in this discussion.
Immediate Access to these Bonuses Upon Registration
The Power of Coordinating Your Chest and Spine
An Awareness Through Movement lesson with Feldenkrais Trainer, Raz Ori. You can change your physical and emotional capacity right now.
With gentle, clear guidance, discover how you can better integrate your torso, spine and head. Experience sensing, feeling, thinking and acting the Feldenkrais way during and AFTER the lesson.
Voices of Experience: Navigating Life's Journey
Sit back with this beautiful eBook and your favorite warm beverage and drink in these pearls of wisdom. The summit experts reflect on their own lives and offer you a gift: the gift of experience, the gift of devoting their lives to a path of growth, knowledge, and helping others move and feel better.
The Power of Coordinating Your Chest and Spine
An Awareness Through Movement lesson with Feldenkrais Trainer, Raz Ori. You can change your physical and emotional capacity right now.
With gentle, clear guidance, discover how you can better integrate your torso, spine and head. Experience sensing, feeling, thinking and acting the Feldenkrais way during and AFTER the lesson.
Voices of Experience: Navigating Life's Journey
Sit back with this beautiful eBook and your favorite warm beverage and drink in these pearls of wisdom. The summit experts reflect on their own lives and offer you a gift: the gift of experience, the gift of devoting their lives to a path of growth, knowledge, and helping others move and feel better.
Why Should I Sign Up For The
Move Better, Feel Better Summit?
The Move Better, Feel Better Summit is your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join LIVE to learn from an unmissable panel of Somatic Speakers, each bringing you content that will help you explore what is possible for your own experience.
Somatics? It’s the term that describes focusing on your inner experience as you move your body. More than just a buzzword, our speakers will reveal the true underpinnings of improving movement of mind and body.
There is an enormous difference between somatic education, and somatic movement. The sessions are live, dynamic and unpredictable, and include experiential explorations.
Each day’s replays will be available for 48 hours so that you can re-watch the sessions that you find most valuable, and access ones that didn’t immediately fit your schedule.
Your Move Better, Feel Better Summit Hosts
Cynthia Allen launched the first Feldenkrais® Awareness Summit in 2018. She is the creator of the Your Learning Body Community, a published researcher on the effects of the Bones For Life® approach for the elderly and co-creator of Integral Human TM theory. Cynthia is a partner in Future Life Now in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband, Larry Wells.
Lavinia Plonka is an assistant trainer of the Feldenkrais Method®, a lead instructor of the Emotional Body® and founder of Kinesa®. She is an internationally recognized master teacher who combines somatic movement intelligence with her deep studies of ancient wisdom, mythology, and the creative process.
Inclusion Matters
Diversity, equity and inclusion are at the heart of everything we do. We value the innate wisdom of historically marginalized people, of all racial, ethnic, sexual, physical, neuro-diverse and neuro-typical people, and all capabilities.
We honor and learn from the lived experiences of each unique individual, and our mission fosters work that facilitates better movement and feeling for all.
YOU are welcome.
What past participants say about the Move Better, Feel Better Summit
I found many of them extremely rich and bringing such quality: Anatomy, improvisation, writing, reflection. Wow! There were some moments when it felt like a dream to be able to have such an opportunity to slow down and think, feel, listen, observe and share.
I have already felt subtle changes or acuity in perception; not only physical but also personal and cognitive. There was some kind of a shift in my way of being and engaging within my own reality. I really want to thank you.”
Are you ready to embrace a life of greater movement, vitality, and well-being?
Don't miss your chance to be part of Move Better, Feel Better 2024, where you'll discover
the power of movement to transform your life.
Event Schedule
Experience a Day of Transformation with Engaging Workshops, Inspiring Talks, and Dynamic Movement Sessions
The Boundless Body: Complexity, Consciousness and Being
Join Dr. Theise on a scientific journey, into how our complex physical beings are woven from the processes of biology, chemistry, and quantum physics. He will use principles of complexity theory that show the universe to be a self-organizing, self-generating system. In doing so, we can re-experience that sense of connection with which we are born, understand how consciousness relates to existence, and appreciate how Wisdom – understanding the true nature of reality in keeping with all contemporary science – leads to Compassion as a fundamental expression of our lives.
Everyday Ease: Unleashing Comfort Through the Feldenkrais Method
Most of life happens in everyday moments and tasks. How we come to those moments with our whole being creates the quality of our daily experience. Hundreds of Feldenkrais lessons offer resources to improve our ease, efficiency, and safety when sitting, standing, walking, going up and down stairs, and doing household chores. These normal activities can be done with increased awareness and comfort by utilizing simple resources. This session will include a Feldenkrais lesson that uses a chair to help us learn about finding comfort in sitting and standing.
Balance and Walking: The Missing Key
Balance and walking are key aspects of living independently and for longevity. The loss of thoracic rotation impacts both balance and walking, leading to increased risk of falls, medical dependency, and decreased quality of life. In this interactive workshop, you’ll discover how to quickly assess and improve thoracic rotation. Additionally, you’ll leave knowing how to educate and empower your clients to improve their balance and walking.
The Uses and Misuses of Biomechanics in the Sport of Running
Decades of technological advances in the field of biomechanics have allowed researchers to collect, tabulate and otherwise quantify data in increasingly sophisticated ways. This has contributed, in part, to a seemingly endless stream of expert tips for how to run more efficiently. As the technology improves and new findings continue to emerge, however, the question of how accurately and precisely people are able to follow any given set of tips remains a burning issue. Unless we address this issue—one that is rooted as much in control as it is in learning—we are liable to (continue to) misuse the science, applying it in ways that are overly reductionist and therefore, more appropriate for machines than for humans.
Jonathan Rosenthal
How Yoga Affects the Brain: Stress, Migraine and Trauma
Scientific research on yoga is exploding, with over 1,500 randomized controlled trials currently published. In fact, for migraine, relaxation exercises derived from yogic practices currently have level A evidence (the highest level) for preventing migraine, similar to first-line medications. We will discuss how yoga affects the stress pathways of the brain, the pain pathways of migraine, and the emotional memory pathways of trauma, with an emphasis on how we know what we know and how we can use it to help people.
Pedro Goucha Gomes
Embodying Awareness: A Reflection on How Mindfulness Meditation and the Feldenkrais Method Complement Each Other
While Mindfulness Meditation and the Feldenkrais Method are very different practices, they also share many underlying principles. In this talk I will be exploring some of their similarities, distinctions, and how from my personal experience they can complement each other and allow a person to move better through life.
Rev. Dr. Joanne Avison – DSS, Yoga Therapist, Structural Integration Practitioner/Teacher
From Biomechanics to Biomotional Beings: The New Language of Living Fascia
For 400 years, the Western world has been under a spell of biomechanical metaphors to explain, assess and teach human movement. It has conjured up ideas of human bodies as compression organizations, of levers, joints and stacked bones to describe the musculo-skeletal system. Unfortunately, biomechanics is the wrong metaphor to describe any aspect of the living human being. There is nothing mechanical about humans. In this talk we will consider the natural biomotional intelligence of our animated, connective tissue, liquid crystal matrix – which is a whole other branch of physics and re-writes the books on posture, assessment and beings in motion.
Ralph Hadden – BA, CFP
Your Pelvis: Power, Pain, Pleasure and Consent
Your pelvis is the vital center of human life. It is where new life is created, where it is cradled, grown and ushered into the world. Biomechanically, the pelvis is the base for powerful, efficient action. It is also a key location for sexual pleasure. Conversely it can be a source of restriction, pain, discomfort, and shame.
We will discuss all these aspects of the human pelvis and consider clever and intriguing strategies for healing, repair and enhancement. And we will consider Kegels, control, rats on treadmills, consent conversations in bodywork and the problem of portraying intimacy in the movies.
Andrea Tutt
Celebrating Lopsidedness with Bones For Life
In North America, we are surrounded by a culture that centralizes a uniform aesthetic as commercially acceptable. We are bombarded with physical and medical ways to ‘fix’ or ‘correct’ any misalignment or perceived imbalance. To untangle this bias within oneself requires a deep unraveling of personal and medical labeling. An externalized classification defines an internal identity, and completes a self-image so ingrained that reimagining oneself as whole with imbalance rather than broken or not working is transformative.
The contradiction of celebrating differences and the consuming impossibility of ‘fixing’ is not without tension. Ruthy Alon, Bones for Life creator, increases this learning edge with the concept of Neurological Diplomacy. With Neurological Diplomacy, we accept the gifts of the side labeled as faulty. For practitioners, it can feel like our challenges are stacked up against us. For movers who identify with a fixed atypical structure, it presents a radical contrasting path to self-understanding (and increased movement possibilities) and even harder, surrender.
Quanita Roberson
The Gifts of Embodying Grief and Joy
There are lots of gifts in deepening our relationship with grief and joy. We live in a culture that has forgotten how to grieve. We live in a culture that has forgotten that we have a relationship with grief – grief isn’t just an event to get past. We have forgotten that until we empty out what we no longer want there is no room for the new to come in. Join us in exploring grief and remembering your relationship to it.
Sue Seto
Does Osteoarthritis Mean the End to Comfortable Movement?
Dealing with osteoarthritis can be tough and may make you wonder if you’ll ever feel comfortable again or be able to do things like gardening or playing with your kids on the floor. Taking care of your joints is crucial. From the Feldenkrais viewpoint, we’ll look into getting the most out of activities that support joint health. We’ll see how this approach promotes smooth and gentle movements that suit your comfort. We’ll also explore finding the right balance and learning to comfortably increase your range of motion where possible. A slow and easy lesson will be offered to provide experience in finding comfort.
Seth Dellinger
The Feldenkrais Method as a Wisdom Practice
The Feldenkrais Method is often described as a “movement practice.” Yet, while this dynamic approach to self-development uses movement as its primary vehicle for learning, the thinking that guides it can be applied globally. Let’s consider how the principles of ideal movement and the special learning strategies used in Awareness Through Movement can be applied to our thinking, our relationships and other realms. Furthermore, how can what we learn in a Feldenkrais class be used throughout the course of a busy day? How can we combine Feldenkrais with other practices to cultivate wisdom and live a better life?
Sarah Templeton – M.Music, GCFP
Getting Your Act Together with the Feldenkrais Method
If you’re learning to sing, act, or present yourself, and not getting results, it could be your movement that’s holding you back. Improving the movements of your body to be more inviting, clear, and expressive can help you finally crack the code to becoming an impactful and successful presenter, singer, or actor. When we think about good posture, or gesturing, or breathing, we are really just talking about movements, and we want them to be relaxed and reliable, with a lot of variety and spontaneity. I have made it my life’s work to help singers, actors, and presenters become confident, expressive, and impactful performers primarily using the Feldenkrais Method. Let’s talk about how Feldenkrais can be the ‘missing link’ for you in your voice and presentation training.
Eve Boltax
To Come Home to Yourself
In the age of the loneliness epidemic and technology overload, there are increasingly more ways to feel disassociated and out of touch with oneself. How do you come back to yourself? How do you begin to know yourself and allow for change? When you think of coming back to yourself, what do you imagine? This talk explores how the Feldenkrais Method® deepens our self-connection and intuition. Bring a notebook and a pen or pencil. The title of this talk comes from a poem by John O’Donahue.
Joshua Wolk
Employing the Neuroscience of Exercise, Movement and Mood
New concepts in neuroscience radically alter the way we understand the integration of movement, exercise, mood and emotion. Many ideas that underpin the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education, some of which once seemed radical and even outlandish, are now gaining acceptance in modern neuroscience. We will discuss how recent scientific developments support much of what Moshé Feldenkrais taught as well as where some of his ideas need to be reconsidered. What does all this new science mean for our endeavor of improving well-being through Awareness Through Movement, exercise and mindfulness?
Itay Ganot
The Body as a Mystic Healer
After years of practical research I can say that the intelligence in the body is an infinite portal for self-healing. The ability of the body to support and produce awake states of consciousness is like an act of real magic. When we agree to meet the body from an innocent place, and treat it as a canvas of sacred geometry, we can transform physical, emotional and epigenetic pains. The body is a temple. It is the most creative gene for holistic healing.
Raz Ori – Feldenkrais Trainer, Educational Director
Chronic Pain: Untangling the Ties That Bind Movement, the Body Image and the Visual System to Our Perception of Pain
Our body-image is a construct of our brain, shaped and influenced by our personal experience. Understanding the components that influence our body-image, and how our brains use these components is a door into shifting our perception of our-selves and the quality of our actions. The intimate link between body-perception and movement-perception has many ties with our visual system and the use of our eyes. In many ways, we see our-selves in action, thus our subjective point of view influences how we act. This ongoing process is a dynamic one, adapting and changing in relation to the influences acting on us both from our internal and external environment. Yet, what do we do when our brains lock on a specific perception and lose the ability to adapt and change, as happens with pain or limitations? By exposing the ties between movement, body-perception and our visual system, we have the potential to reshape our self-perception and our sensory experience of movement. In this session, Raz will explore the internal “vocabulary” that our brains use to form our self-perception, and show us how to awaken the plasticity of our brain.
Delmar Davis
3E Change: Life Transformation with Ease
We know what we want to—and should—be doing for our good health, wellness, and life fulfillment, but struggle to get started and to stick with the actions that reliably bring them about. So we end up in that stop-and-start cycle of enthusiasm and frustration that is all too familiar. Join Delmar Davis as he reveals the simple NLP-based mechanism behind his End the Fight approach for finding ease, joy, and perpetual momentum in the essential acts of wellness.
Cynthia Allen – GCFP, STMI
Back Pain: The Pathway Out When You Feel You’ve Tried It All
New concepts in neuroscience radically alter the way we understand the integration of movement, exercise, mood and emotion. Many ideas that underpin the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education, some of which once seemed radical and even outlandish, are now gaining acceptance in modern neuroscience. We will discuss how recent scientific developments support much of what Moshé Feldenkrais taught as well as where some of his ideas need to be reconsidered. What does all this new science mean for our endeavor of improving well-being through Awareness Through Movement, exercise and mindfulness?
Panel Discussion
David Zemach-Bersin
Alan S. Questel – GCPT
Larry Goldfarb – CFT, MSME, PhD
Arlene A. Klein
Frederick E. Schjang
Cynthia Allen – GCFP, STMI
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