Awareness Through Movement group classes

Awareness Through Movement (ATM) classes, are offered to groups of students and each one usually lasts about 40-60 minutes. The majority of classes take place lying down comfortably on a mat on the floor, often lying on the back or the side, sometimes on the belly. There are also classes in sitting on the floor or on a chair and in standing too.

Each class presents a series of movements that fit together like a puzzle that informs a particular function (like walking, standing, sitting, reaching, etc). The functional movements that a particular class explores may sometimes be easy, sometimes they are challenging. Whichever the case, these larger movements are broken down into small manageable steps and presented without any outside pressure to succeed at anything in particular.

How are the classes taught?

One characteristic of the method is that you are never told or shown how to do a movement correctly. The teacher's job to guide the students verbally through the various steps that form a class, continually adapting their instructions so that everyone is brought along through the intended progression without anyone being singled out for praise or correction. Often, students will close their eyes to shut out the distractions of vision to better focus on their inner world of sensation.

Many times you are presented with a few different choices as to how to put together the various ingredients for a particular movement. One of the strengths of the method is that you are encouraged to make the choices yourself, guided by your own inner sense of what feels most comfortable and easy. Again the teachers job is to fine tune their instructions so that simply attempting the movement makes the answer clear - the teacher sets up the conditions and you can't help but learn.

Whatever movements you are exploring, you'll be encouraged to work within the comfortable easy range with which you already move. By avoiding discomfort and strain, you'll give yourself the freedom to listen to all the sensations that accompany your movement that are normally drowned out by being focused on achieving some outward goal.

Am I fit enough to participate?

Remember that the idea here is to learn to coordinate our movements so that we can use our whole selves efficiently to do what we want to do. We are not seeking to "exercise" or "strengthen" a particular muscle group but rather to reorganize and refine our neural control over the whole pattern of movement through the self. In other words, the method speaks to the nervous system.

Best of all, since the method is speaking to the nervous system, you don't even have to get the movements right for them to have an effect on your well-being. Sometimes simply asking the question with directed awareness is enough to start a process within your nervous system which will leave you feeling better, and often when you a return to a particular movement, you'll find it has got easier without you even thinking about it.

Do I have to wear anything special?

There's nothing special you need to wear or bring, just comfortable warm clothes and maybe a blanket: "comfortable" so that you are free to give full attention to physical sensations you have as a result of the movements you'll be exploring; and "warm", since the movements are often small and slow, warm clothes and even a blanket can help since feeling cold will also prevent you giving full attention to yourself as you move - you won't often find yourself sweating in a Feldenkrais!

 

 

 

• The Feldenkrais Method
• Awareness Through Movement
• Functional Integration
• Moshe Feldenkrais
• One-Day Workshops

Awareness Through Movement (ATM) workshops and classes

I teach monthly one-day Awareness Through Movement (ATM) workshops in Espoo (Vanhakartano) and from October 2007 onwards will offer some weeklyclasses in the centre of Helsinki (Töölö) - I offer occasional one-day workshops in Bern (Switzerland) and Vienna (Austria)
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I also offer one-to-one Functional Integration (FI) lessons in Espoo and Helsinki
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