How we can work together
To learn more about my offerings, use the jump menu below:
Private Sessions
In a private session we will explore foundational movement patterns and explore how those movements could be done more easily or could feel better.
Through gentle touch and movement, possibilities expand for new movement patterns which are more comfortable, efficient, and useful.
The cues that I give are provided verbally and through touch, and are custom-tailored to the unique circumstances of each particular person.
The intention is for people to discover ease of movement from the inside out, rather than "performing" a movement or "doing a good job" from the outside in. In this way, there are no wrong ways to move, just options to explore.
When we’re mindful of the quality of our movement, our system self organizes and ease is restored.
Rates for private sessions are $90.
Awareness Through Movement® Group Classes
These classes are a type of movement meditation –– A movement puzzle of sorts is introduced. Participants are encouraged to move slowly and without using excessive effort in order to improve the coordination and ease of a movement. Attention to sensation is key.
As you learn to solve the movement puzzle, there is a shift at the level of the nervous system with some muscles being activated and others decreasing their activation. In other words, the synergy of muscle activation, which is directed by our nervous system, improves.
The result is greater ease in all your movement throughout your day, improved functional performance, and deeper self awareness.
Rates for group classes are $20/class or $75 for 4 classes.
Movement Works Group Classes
In these classes, I take a multidisciplinary approach, integrating Feldenkrais principles of movement and awareness with the Pilates repertoire of matwork.
You’ll be guided through body weight support exercises to build your coordination, balance, strength, and flexibility. Specifically you’ll be provided with cuing to bring awareness to how you are moving, what the sensations are. Ultimately you will self organize in a way that results in longterm changes,building a strong foundation for whatever activity you choose.
Rates for group classes are $20/class or $75 for 4 classes.
Practice Philosophy
Just like good, wholesome food, good wholesome movement nourishes and brings pleasure. What are some of the benefits of nourishing functional movement skills?
It’s funny that something so fundamental to every moment of our lives –– moving our bodies –– is put into such unnecessarily limited categories.
When we hear the phrase “moving our bodies” we usually imagine exercise first. That we need to work out and get in shape.
Or maybe when we hear the phrase “moving our bodies” it brings to mind limitations; Things like recovering from injuries through Physiotherapy or orthopedic surgery, or how wear and tear comes for us all at some point.
What if I told you that these immediate associations –– exercise, working out, getting in shape, rehabilitating injuries, wear and tear –– are a teeny tiny fraction of what movement is?
Movement is something that you are doing all the time. When you are cooking, sleeping, walking, and, yes, exercising. And unless you get on the couch and lay stock still and never get up again (and don’t breathe or blink or swallow…) you’re even moving when you lay on the couch!
That’s because you always have to negotiate your body in gravity. How you sit down, get up, walk, turn, transfer your weight, stand… These things all come with endless potential for nourishing movement, and they also come with ingrained movement habits.
Our learned habits tend to make us more tense and restricted as we move through our daily lives- whether chopping vegetables, playing pickleball, or simply getting up out of a chair.
Learning nourishing movement skills reintroduces ease into how your body moves through space in micro and macro ways.
This unlearning of habitual restriction and reintroduction of ease and grace allows for a body that has less injury, strain, tension and wear and tear. It frees up more energy and stamina.
And, importantly, it makes movement more fun again! Instead of laboring to get ourselves into shape, we can remember how delightful it can be to move. This is true even if we have limitations like a significant injury or a neurological condition.
So come play in the diversity of nuanced movement potential and learn the qualities of movement that can actually help you to feel better.
How I work with people
The intention is that you can learn through the Movement Works group classes. You can take a deeper dive into movement with the ATM classes which will enhance your ability in the Movement Works classes –– and any other exercise discipline or activity you choose!
To deepen your learning and ability further, or if you wish to focus on something specific, I also offer private sessions.
I bring three decades of experience to my work with clients, and am integrating my backgrounds in Physiotherapy, Pilates, and Feldenkrais. I no longer practice as a straight Physiotherapist or Pilates teacher, but instead work as a movement therapist interweaving all that I have learned in Pilates and Physiotherapy with my Feldenkrais training. I chose to call my approach Adara movement approach because Adara means beautiful and elegant. When we move well, it feels elegant and beautiful.
FAQ
What is Feldenkrais®?
Feldenkrais is a method of somatic (experiential) movement education that resulted from decades of study by a man named Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais. Feldenkrais was a brilliant physicist who turned his attention toward the body and behaviour. He recognized the indivisible relationship between our thinking, movement, sensation, and feelings (emotions). He used concrete movement sequences to demonstrate more abstract principles such as stability vs instability.
To do this he identified essentials of movement. In order to learn (retrain the nervous system), it’s necessary to consider these essentials. In his “Learning to Learn” paper, Dr. Feldenkrais outlines these principles. It includes things like going slow in order to go fast, avoiding the use of excessive effort or force, and seeking out a pleasant sensation when moving.
The participant learns how to self monitor, gradually becoming more sensitive to small changes, and therefore able to make more distinctions. This is important for several reasons. First of all, the more precisely you can sense what you’re doing, the more capable you are of doing what you intend to do. This attention also serves to expand the sensory cortex and in turn the motor cortex. In other words, attention is food for your brain.
Feldenkrais was one of the pioneers of Neuroplasticity, recognizing that what we do and how we do it can change our brain or nervous system. This is great news because it means that change is possible at any point in our lives. Poor habits can be exposed and replaced with habits that can serve us better.
Kris is my Holy Grail of therapists. She is Amazing, Brilliant, Caring and Dedicated. She is very easy to work with and so genuinely concerned with my recovery. Even my 6 year old granddaughter comments on my noticeable improvement.
Larry –– Lawyer