Ira Feinstein: You became a physical therapist before you became a Feldenkrais practitioner. What drew you to PT?

Beth Rubenstein: Some of my earliest childhood memories were of my father’s illness, of him going to the hospital, coming home, being in bed. I grew up with an awareness of disability and sickness.  Multiple Sclerosis was a common discussion in my family. My father had MS, his brother died of it in the 30’s, and my sister in the 70’s.  

I gravitated to volunteer work in hospitals and worked with some children who needed help at home.  I was elated in high school when I learned that I could make a living helping people with physical difficulties. 

Ira: What was your path after PT school? 

Beth: I got a job as a PT, and I loved it. I wanted to learn everything and do everything. I was very interested in how the brain knew how to move. That fascinated me. I took a three-month Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) training— a stretching technique that can imp...

Note: Beth Rubenstein originally wrote the following article for the LA chapter of the MS Society.

Working with People with Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis has left its indelible mark on my family. My paternal uncle, Benjamin (for whom I am named) was diagnosed and died of it in the 1930's. In the 50s, the disease took my father two weeks after my fourth birthday. In 1986, it claimed the life of my sister, Susan. 

My family has been involved with the MS Society for as long as I can remember. As a small boy, my brother Eli walked house to house with the little box collecting for the MS “hope chest.” As a child, my friends and I charged money for our backyard shows and donated the proceeds. Today, my brother and I remain involved. I write and speak about MS to whoever will listen. My daughters and I have participated in the MS walk every year since they were born. 

When I was a young physical therapist in 1976, I started the first class for MS patients at UCLA. In 1991, af...

David Zemach-Bersin talks with Ira Feinstein about the importance of our shoulders, parasympathetic organization, and his upcoming course, Shoulder Rescue.

Ira: I’m curious why you decided to teach a new series focused on the shoulders. You’ve taught classes about shoulders before; what made you want to revisit this subject?

David: After I taught my previous course, I felt a sense of incompleteness around the subject. Our shoulders are a very important area. One of the things that has always interested me is the way in which they are connected to our involuntary nervous system. The rising and pulling up of our shoulders is directly connected to the sympathetic response of our involuntary nervous system to stress, anxiety, and fear and is often the easiest signal to observe that somebody has a history of anxiety and fear.

In my 50-plus years as a Feldenkrais Practitioner, nearly everyone I have seen maintains a high level of unnecessary contraction in their shoulders. This simple ...

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, Fall is quickly giving way to Winter. Losing daylight can cause a cascade of challenges: getting outside less can lead to becoming more sedentary, which can affect our ability to sleep soundly. Additionally, once the snow and ice arrive, we are at an increased risk of slipping and falling. To support you through these changing seasons, we're offering 40% off the following on-demand Feldenkrais programs: A Good Night's Sleep, Better Balance, & How to Survive Sitting through Monday, November 18. Find out more below!

A Good Night's Sleep

Are you or does someone you know having trouble sleeping? Feeling anxious and stressed? Our brain is concerned with keeping us safe. However, this means it sometimes reacts in ways that don’t help us to rest. Stress hormones are produced in our brain whether we are facing danger, or simply experiencing general anxiety. As stress hormones build up throughout the day, they can keep us from getting a deep, r...

by Ira Feinstein, MFA

I've lived with chronic pain for over two decades. The pain isn't wholly debilitating: I can go on long walks, ride a bicycle, and practice gentle yoga. But I avoid hikes with steep elevation changes. I move two large pillows around the house to use wherever I sit. And it's been a long time since I engaged in more intense exercises, like running. 

For fifteen years, I focused on curing my chronic pain. To me, 'curing' the pain meant being able to return to the bench-pressing, soccer-playing athlete I was before my back and arms started hurting. As my health insurance and budget allowed, I sought help from chiropractors, osteopaths, allopathic doctors, acupuncturists, massage therapists, and physical therapists. At best, the pain would abate temporarily, but I remained undeterred. I'd always thought that 'cure' was such a powerful word—reassuring in its definitiveness. "Once, I had this problem. Now, I don't," had a nice ring. But 'cure' proved to be an unhelp...

by David Zemach-Bersin 

While developing a series of Feldenkrais classes to help people improve the health of their joints, I've been remembering my teacher, Dr. Moshe  Feldenkrais. He had been a scientist, living in London and working in the highest level of physics, when he found himself unable to walk due to excruciating pain in his knee joints. Feldenkrais went to respected doctors hoping that they could help him but learned that due to the extent and type of damage in his knee joints, medical help was not likely. Faced with the prospect of having to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life, Feldenkrais turned his attention to the project of finding a solution to his painful predicament. He was determined, curious, and personally motivated as he focused on his studies.

With a keen scientific mind, Feldenkrais explored the fields of neuroscience, psychology, infant motor development, and physiology and made a series of discoveries about how our patterns of posture and movemen...

Ira Feinstein: How did you find out about the Feldenkrais Method?

Garet Newell: I was a graduate student at New York University in the Department of Dance, and Awareness Through Movement by Moshe Feldenkrais was one of our required reading books. This was in the mid-‘70s, and there were no teachers of the Feldenkrais Method in New York. So, I didn't have a chance to experience it, but I was impressed by what I read in the book.

Ira: What led you to become a practitioner?

Garet: After I finished my MA, I moved to San Francisco because I had done some courses with Anna Halprin, a dance and performance innovator, and I wanted to work with her. One night, I was at a meditation group I belonged to, and someone asked me if I’d met the Feldenkrais teacher who was there. I made a beeline for him and it was Jerry Karzen, a student in Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais’ first professional training in the United States.

I’d been having neck problems as a result of an accident, and I asked him for a les...

During our May Flash Sale, we're offering 40% off the following online Feldenkrais programs: 

• How to Survive Sitting: Learn to maintain your flexibility and freedom of movement while sitting! This seven-lesson program is designed to help you reduce the stress of sitting on your skeletal system and musculature. It is taught by David Zemach-Bersin. Sale: $71.40 (Reg $119)
• Reducing Your Body Pattern of Stress & Anxiety: A series of seven Feldenkrais lessons and seven short exercises designed to help you reduce symptoms of anxiety. Benefits include a greater ability to manage stress and improved overall well-being. Taught by David Zemach-Bersin. Sale: $71.40 (Reg $119)
• Posture for Life: This program by David Zemach-Bersin stimulates new neural pathways in your brain to support the development of healthy posture, freedom of movement, and a greater sense of well-being. Each lesson will help you to dissolve old postural habits. Sale: $89.40 (Reg $149)
• Liberate Your Spine: This origin
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