Working with the Chest
October 24-26, 2026
11:00 AM-4:30 PM EDT • 8:00 AM-1:30 PM PDT
4:00 PM-9:30 PM BST* • 5:00 PM-10:30 PM CEST* • 6:00 PM-11:30 PM IDT*
Join us live online or via recording
Use code WORKING by July 21 for Extra 15% OffLearn how to work effectively and confidently with the chest-- an essential skill for mastery in Functional Integration!
Functional Integration has been David Zemach-Bersin's primary focus for fifty years — a passion ignited in 1973, when he watched Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais work with a severely disabled man during a seminar at UC Berkeley. Feldenkrais's approach was stunning: delicate and bold, intelligent and compassionate. Entranced, David abandoned his pre-med studies and threw himself into studying Functional Integration with Dr. Feldenkrais in Tel Aviv, San Francisco, Amherst, and London. He observed Feldenkrais give hundreds of hands-on lessons and was part of the team that filmed his Amherst Evening FI lessons. David developed his own FI “handwriting” over five decades in private practice and in his capacity as a Feldenkrais Trainer, articulating the art of Functional Integration for students over countless professional training programs and advanced trainings.
Knowing how to work effectively and confidently with and through the chest is essential for mastery in Functional Integration. The chest is the nexus, or center point, through which all movement transfers both upwards and downwards. Located at the center of the body, tension and disorganization in the chest and thoracic spine affect the freedom of all movement, in every direction. In this three-day advanced training, David is excited to share advanced strategies for working with the chest that he learned directly from Dr. Feldenkrais.
David will be assisted by Feldenkrais Trainer Raz Ori, who will be on hand throughout the workshop to offer added commentary on anatomy and biomechanics. Participants will receive materials for further study, including access to 4–6 hours of Functional Integration demonstration videos.
This Advanced Training is open for enrollment to all Feldenkrais Practitioners, as well as students in the fourth year of a Feldenkrais Professional Training Program (FPTP).
REGISTER NOWYou will learn:
~Soft tissue and skeletal techniques for working directly with the chest and the movements of respiration.
~How the movements of the chest and diaphragm reflect the state of the involuntary nervous system.
~How to improve the sympathetic-parasympathetic balance by changing the movements of the chest and diaphragm.
~Advanced strategies for refining, differentiating, and integrating the movements of the chest and breathing in every primary position.
~How to improve the relationship of the moving chest to the movement of the spine for well-organized movement.
~How the function of breathing is nested within the movements of the chest.
~How the freedom of the head and neck is dependent on the organization of the chest, and how improving the mobility of the chest helps optimize the relationship of the head and neck.
~How the freedom of the arms is dependent on the mobility of the chest.
~How improving the essential movements of the chest can help optimize the synergistic relationship between the muscles of the lower back and abdomen.
Feedback from Previous Advanced Training Participants
"Somebody once asked me why David's work is so good, and I would have answered that it is the simplicity. He knows how not to overload the nervous system. The first ATM in the Head & Neck Injury Recovery workshop was a game-changer for me. It showed me how working with just one or two vertebrae can shift everything, and I can get my pain to go away."
~Robin Luby-Schaefer
"A super workshop! David gave enough information to give me more confidence in working with people with head and neck injuries. The combination of David and Raz amplified the learning points. I loved the integration of Moshe's stories as a gift to those of us who did not know him personally."
~Lindy Ost
"Kudos on the pedagogy. Mirror neurons as well as all other parts full of gratitude!"
"This lesson gave me goosebumps, an immense pleasure to feel movement and freedom at the base of my neck."
"I feel so whole and free in my chest!"
"Such small movements in the ATMs and so powerful. Feeling grateful."
~Previous Participants
Meet David
Feldenkrais Trainer David Zemach-Bersin met Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais in 1973 and studied with him for ten years in the U.S., Europe, and Israel. David also studied extensively with Gaby Yaron and Yochanon Rywerant, both of whom were members of Feldenkrais's first training. He has maintained a Functional Integration practice since 1977 and is recognized for his contribution to strengthening Dr. Feldenkrais's legacy. A graduate of UC Berkeley with post-graduate work in physiological psychology, David has created numerous audio and video programs for Practitioners and is co-author of RELAXERCISE (HarperCollins). He is a past president of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America (FGNA), and for many years co-directed both the Feldenkrais Institute of New York and Feldenkrais Resources. David has directed and served as the lead teacher in sixteen Feldenkrais Professional Training Programs. He has been developing and teaching live and on-demand online programs for Feldenkrais teachers and the public since 2020 as the Director of FeldenkraisAccess.com. He lives with his wife, Kaethe, in the Farmington Valley, in Connecticut.
Workshop includes
- ATM lessons
- Discussions
- FI materials
- Post-workshop Q&A
- Lifetime access to recordings and option to download
Use code WORKING by July 21 to Save 15% Off Extra-Early Bird Price*
Choose your local currency and click the purchase button. Extra-Early Bird ends September 28.
Feldenkrais Guild members save an extra 10% with code WORKTEN
Feldenkrais trainees save an extra 20% with code WORKTWENTY
*Offer may not be combined other discounts or scholarships. Coupon code expires at 11:59 PM EDT on July 21.
*For those moving to Standard Time on Sunday, October 25, you will be joining us one hour earlier on Sunday and Monday than Saturday.
