training

This weekend, one of my classmates pontificated about having searched high and low for a web log from a student going through (or having finished) Feldenkrais practitioner training.

"I can get on the FGNA website and read all about what Feldenkrais work is, I can go get a lesson and experience what it is, but somebody's blog would have been so nice when I was trying to find out what it would actually mean to BE IN a training program."

So, silly me, I should start one right? My make-shift "website" is actually a blog formatted site since it's free, easy and aesthetically pleasing. Here goes.

I'm now approximately one and one-quarter years through my training at the Baltimore/DC program, a program in it's thrid class, directed by David Zemach-Bersin. I wager that my classmate did more research on her choice of program than I did; my decision was based on the trivial criterion of starting time. I took a big gamble with that, but it's ended up pretty well. The Chicago training (much closer to Madison) won't start again until 2009, and I wanted to start sooner. I was in school (still am) chinking away at prerequisite course work for a master's of Occupational Therapy, and hoped to finish my Feldenkrais training and MOT around the same time, and hit the ground running with both.

Actually, since I entered the training late (I missed three sessions) I am about to round the one-year mark. That first visit last February was tough. I didn't know anything about the city of Baltimore save for it's geographical location and it's infamous crime rate per USA Today headlines, which is a dubous statistic. I had some trouble with my accommodations. I underestimated the idealism of some of my classmates, and found myself forced to spend a small fortune at Whole Paycheck for a weekend's worth of groceries because my hosts refused to direct me to the "conventional" grocery stores. I guess that friends don't let friends drink soy milk with carageenan. I had the disconcerting sensation that some of my classmates got the idea that just because I was from the dairyland and had trouble finding a place to stay I must be an untutored, milk-fed country bumpkin. (Hey what the hell would be wrong with being a country buympkin any way? So what if I am?) And of course, there was the utter confusion of lying on the floor for hours on end, while David excercised his torturous expertise in drawing one lesson out over four days. I was traumatized. Maybe country bumpkin was appropriate after all. My connecting flight home from a Milwaukee layover was on a Beech 1900; there are 24 seats, the cabin and cockpit are seperated by saloon doors, the plane had propellers, we had to board from the fridgid tarmack because a jet way is too tall for that plane, and if the aircraft weren't full we might have been cryogenically frozen while the heater warmed up. It was not a smooth take-off in lake Michigan's midwinter gusts. After the events of my first trip to Baltimore, I was just happy to be going home. (Note: the small planes are where the airline puts the young cute pilots. Words to the wise.)

If at first you don't succeed... go back and give it another whack. I won't go into too much detail about the year that followed, but it suffices to say that it's worth it to struggle a bit to make it work. In sum, I've learned to rest better. If that seems small, the difference a year has made is in knowing that in theory and being able to recognize it and observe it in practice. It's not the sort of discovery that the field of medicine teaches, in training nor in practice; though I feel it will make me a better clinician, researcher and advocate for patients in addition to it's obvious place in my Feldenkrais work. This is true because, as Dr. Feldenkrais demonstrated again and again, in this work it is not sufficient only to facilitate a particular learning experience. In the course of a lesson, a learner gains insights large and small about learning processes, which generalize to the whole body when the person stands up at the end. I'm finding my lessons generalize to my whole person; I notice when I'm pushing unnecesarily to accomplish any task. Mental processes have become more flexible, I am easier with myself while practicing music and singing, and even the sedentary tasks of studying for hours on end has become easier to manage.

This spring I'll begin work on my Master of OT here in beautiful Madison, a transition which may or may not spell delay for my Feldenkrais training. I also sing in a band here in Madison, which has suffered neglect under these heavy financial and time commitments... it's an uncertain time. I hope that I can continue the training without a break, however it may be wise to take my optional one-year reprieve between years one and two. More on that later.

Thanks for reading, and please visit again!

-Kristen Kehl

Welcome!

This is the "official website" of my budding Feldenkrais practice. No classes are currently scheduled, but please check back in the future. Some things to keep in mind:

1) I am a second year student, which means that I am ONLY allowed to practice teaching ATM's until August of 2008, at which time I will receive ATM certification and must begin charging for lessons. Practice lessons are held periodically with enough interest.

2) If you need a Functional Integration (FI) lesson, please refer to the Feldenkrais Guild of North America's website to locate a practitioner in your area. Alternatively you may e-mail me and I will refer you to someone. I will not be certified to give these lessons for another 2 to 3 years.

Thanks for visiting, and take care.