Transformation of Trainings

More & Younger Practitioners: Trainings need to attract the younger generation and inspire them to pursue the Feldenkrais Method® as their career.

Competency: Basis for effective, well-rounded trainings. In today’s society, most professional education tracks offer certification based on a summative assessment. In a competitive market, offering this would attract more young people who want a career.

Funding: For market research, advertising, competency and training model development. New possible means of support for trainings.

Professional Dialogue: Ongoing education of all practitioners in communications, and a systematic way to introduce into the Method new trainees, who will continue Professional Dialogue in their profession as practitioners.

To capture their accumulated experience and wisdom, this past year the Transformation of Trainings (ToT) springboard group of the Feldenkrais Legacy Forum (FLF) interviewed 13 of the most experienced Feldenkrais Trainers within the North American Guild. (6 San Francisco, 5 Amherst, 2 Other)

Each was asked the same four questions.
Verbatim interview transcripts were prepared for each question, compiling all 13 responses.
The focus was on the ideas- therefore trainers were not identified by name.
Themes or common ideas were identified to aid in access.

The four questions

What are the essential qualities and characteristics of the Feldenkrais® work – without which it would not be Feldenkrais work and what distinguishes the Feldenkrais work from other professions?
What is essential to consider and do in Feldenkrais training to balance personal experience of the work with the development of professional competence in the work?
Where do you see the Feldenkrais work going?
Does training need to evolve to support that? If so, how?

The Legacy group has deep gratitude for the Trainers’ willingness to share their thoughts as part of the effort to preserve Moshe Feldenkrais’s work.

Each Trainer brought their perspective as it had evolved and was still evolving in their own journey. Their perspectives were often varied on the same idea. They were reflecting, not endeavoring to impose their truths on the community. They gave a gift to the community and to each individual to use in their own journey and their own reflections.