May is Posture Month
Early Bird Deadline is Thursday for
The Easy Way to Better Posture;
Coming Soon:
Your Pain Free Neck and The Eyes Have It
Other May Workshops 
In This Issue
Early Bird Deadline Thursday: The Easy Way to Better Posture
Your Pain Free Neck: May 15th
The Eyes Have It: 2 Day Workshop with Mark
Upcoming May Workshops
Join Our Mailing List 

 

 

Greetings! 

 

Yes, indeed, May is Posture Month and we've got a lot of posture-related activities planned. The earlybird registration deadline is this Thursday for my workshop, The Easy Way to Better Posture, coming on May 10th. If you've got a few minutes, click here to take a look at my most recent blog post where I write in detail about my thoughts on the workshop and lay out my thoughts on how the Feldenkrais approach differs from some commonly held beliefs about "better" posture. Finally, if you want to deepen your experience, my regular Thursday ATM class on May 10th at 5:30 pm will be a "warm up" for The Easy Way to Better Posture that will directly follow. If you're available, you can attend the ATM and you'll have a four-hour workshop on improving you posture.

Keep in mind, that there are many, many components that go into finding each individual's own "best" posture. During the month of May, our teachers will focus most of our daily ATM classes on some aspect of posture and it may not be obvious in each class you attend exactly how the class relates to this month's theme. If you have any questions, feel free to ask your teacher. Have fun exploring!

On Tuesday, May 15th, Marek's going to teach Your Pain-Free Neck and he'll follow that up on May 31st with another related evening workshop entitled, Relax Your Shoulders and Arms.

Over the weekend of May 19th and 20th I'm looking forward to presenting a two-day workshop on Feldenkrais eye and vision exercises that I'm calling, The Eyes Have It: Improving Vision, Focus and Coordination. We'll do ATMs that will calm the nervous system in general and ease eye strain. Other exercises will focus on increasing your awareness of your eyes and the muscles that control them and still others will help you to better coordinate how your eyes work with one another and the reciprocal relationship between eye movements and moving the rest of yourself. You'll be amazed at how working with your eyes can have a wonderful affect on your whole being. I hope you can join me. It's going to be really fun weekend.

On Tuesday, May 22nd, Tamala will teach another Introduction to the Feldenkrais Method evening. This is the perfect opportunity to introduce those you think might benefit, as you have, from experiencing Feldenkrais. And if you feel you'd like more exposure to the fundamentals and principles that underlie the work you've been doing here, Tamala has a very thorough knowledge of those principles and an unquestionably clear and concise teaching style.

On Sunday, May 27th (not Saturday, as I said in last week's newsletter), Anat will offer a full-day workshop on how Feldenkrais can help with the Fundamentals of Dance. If you or anyone you know dances, professionally or recreationally, please come (or let your friends know) and join Anat for a Feldenkrais perspective on improving dance technique.

Finally, we're running a brief "sale" on Functional IntegrationSM sessions. Through this Friday, you may purchase up to three FIs for $85.00 each. To take advantage, you must click here and make your purchase online, in advance.

    

FI_Sale

To sign up online for any of our daily ATM classes, click here. To purchase books and audio programs, click here.These links are also accessible via our website.

  

As always, thanks so much for reading.  We hope to see you soon.

 

All the best,

 

Mark Hirschfield  

Feldenkrais Institute of NY


Earlybird Deadline Thursday! 
The Easy Way to Better Posture

Thursday, May 10th

with Mark Hirschfield

trees  

Everyone thinks they know what good posture is... and at times, this can be a problem.  We all have definite, but sometimes conflicting ideas of what good posture is, and how to get it. Most of us think that it involves a particular way of holding our torso, shoulders, head, neck, abdomen, etc. But what if posture didn't involve 'holding' at all? What if good posture could be achieved by organizing ourselves in a flexible, effortless and empowering way? That's what we'll learn to do in this three-hour Feldenkrais workshop, with a selection of Awareness Through Movement exercises created by Dr. Feldenkrais. These unique exercises offer innovative strategies to help you improve your posture and increase your overall sense of ease and well-being.

In this workshop you will learn to:

  • Sense and protect your skeletal alignment.
  • Improve your posture in both sitting and standing.
  • Become aware of your postural tendencies and confidant in your ability to change them.
  • Experience your posture as fluid and dynamic, and discover how easily it can change and improve.
Date: Thursday, May 10th
Times: 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Early Bird Tuition: $50.00 through Thu, May 03.
Regular Tuition: $60.00
Member Tuition: $30.00

 

To Register Online with a 5% Discount, click here.

 

Location: The Feldenkrais Institute
134 West 26th Street, 2nd Floor


Your Pain-Free Neck

with Marek Wyszynski

Tuesday, May 15th
 

 

When your neck hurts, everything suffers; from productivity and sleep, to balance and mood. Our head, neck, shoulders and arms move easily and comfortably when supported properly by the skeleton. But when your skeletal support is compromised, the muscles of your neck and shoulders become overburdened, exhausted, stiff and painful. In fact, tension in the neck and shoulders can also cause pain and stiffness in the hands, jaw, ribs, back, and head. 


This three-hour Feldenkrais workshop will introduce you to a gentle and intelligent way to improve the coordination of your neck and shoulders with the rest of your body. It's a small investment of your time and attention, that can yield great results. You'll learn to protect your neck in every day movements while turning, walking, reaching and sitting. The emphasis will be on giving you practical tools for recovering from, and avoiding neck pain. Participants will learn how to:

  • Relax your neck safely and easily.
  • Discover how your feet, hips, chest and abdomen can help to relieve the muscles of your neck and shoulders.
  • Integrate the movements of your spine and pelvis in order to protect your neck and shoulders.
  • Restore the pleasurable patterns of turning, bending and lengthening to your natural repertoire of movement.

Participants in Your Pain Free Neck on May 15th will receive 20% off the tuition for Relax your Shoulders and Arms on May 31st. Please call the Institute at (212) 727-1014 for this discount.

 

Date: Tuesday, May 15th
Times: 6:30 - 9:30 pm 
Early Bird Tuition: $50.00 through Tue, May 08.
Regular Tuition: $60.00
Member Tuition: $30.00

 

To Register Online with a 5% Discount, click here.

 

Location: The Feldenkrais Institute
134 West 26th Street, 2nd Floor

 The Eyes Have It - Improving Vision, Focus and Coordination
a Two-Day Feldenkrais MethodTM Workshop with Mark Hirschfield
May 19 & 20 

 

 

The biological importance of vision is paramount. Every waking moment, your brain is receiving ten times more visual information than from all four of your other senses combined. 


Thousands of years ago, our vision was one of our primary survival mechanisms and key to our ability to find sustenance and safety. Now, few of us spend hours scanning the horizon in order to hunt or flee from predators. Instead, we require our eyes to focus with great specificity on items much closer at hand; frequently, a screen of one sort or another. This change in visual purpose has come about much more quickly than our organism has been able to adapt. Consequently, many of us experience problems in the quality and clarity of our vision, without knowing how or why.

In this two-day Feldenkrais Method workshop you'll learn to use your eyes easily and effortlessly, more in line with the way nature intended. You'll also learn effective skills to help you to achieve better focus so that you can see more clearly in all situations. Improving your visual acuity will also improve your flexibility, coordination, and balance. As you improve the use of your eyes, you may find that many chronic aches and pains will begin to disappear.

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

  • How to reduce eye strain and maintain relaxed eyes.
  • How to move your eyes comfortably in all directions, and let go of the unnecessary effort that contributes to blind spots in the visual field, and effects the ways we use our body.
  • How to focus your eyes accurately from various directions and distances, and how to broaden your focus in order to take in more of the world around you.

Date: Sat and Sun, May 19th and 20th
Times: Saturday: 11:00 am - 5:15 pm
Sunday: 12:30 - 5:30 pm
Early Bird Tuition: $160 through Sat, May 12.
Regular Tuition: $190
Member Tuition: $(above less 20%) 

 

To Register Online with a 5% Discount, click here.

 

Location: The Feldenkrais Institute
134 West 26th Street, 2nd Floor


Upcoming May Workshops

Introduction to the Feldenkrais Method: The "Intro" Workshop for Everyone!
with Tamala Bakkensen
ATM_Trio 

We've designed a new three-hour format introductory workshop that will not only be great for newcomers, but also answer questions about the underpinnings of the Feldenkrais Method for those who have been around for a while.


Tuesday, May 22nd
More info 


Feldenkrais for Dancers:
Fundamentals of Technique

with Anat Meiri
 

Designed especially for dancers, this workshop will focus on anatomical and bio-mechanic fundamentals of dance technique that are not addressed in the typical dance class.


Sunday, May 27th
More info 


Relax Your Shoulders and Arms
with Marek Wyszynski
 

Finding greater ease in your shoulders and arms will pay great dividends.


Thursday, May 31st
More info