If Feldenkrais is about learning how to learn, then Awareness Through Movement is about investigating how YOU move, sense, think and feel during this process of learning how to learn.

Awareness Through Movement is done in a group setting with a qualified instructor verbally guiding you through the lesson. Lessons are typically 1 hour in length, but are not exclusive to this time period. More intensive forms of practice can be done in specialized day or weekend workshops. Lessons involve movement sequences that are based on developmental, structural and functional aspects of human movement. Movements are done in such a way that is gentle, comfortable and at your own pace. Lessons have the potential to evolve into more diverse and intricate movements that continually relate back to efficient organization and function of the human body.

Lessons typically take place on a floor in various body orientations such as laying down, sitting or kneeling. Lessons may also occur in full standing or sitting on a chair. Classes evolve based on the individuals learning. For example, a lesson may unfold in such a way that either explores the ground under you, or brings you to another orientation such as coming to sitting from resting on your back.

The Awareness Through Movement process involves moving, but most importantly it invites you to gain an awareness of how you and your nervous system act during a specific movement or movement pattern. This process of becoming more sensitive to your actions and bringing to the forefront of your attention your habitual responses to certain movements, allows you to gain awareness of what you do and what you do that is unnecessary for optimal movement to take place. During a movement, differences, subtleties and even uncertainties within this movement may arise for you. From these starting points you begin to really investigate other possibilities for yourself by finding new paths of organization through sensing, feeling, thinking and even imagining.

By paying attention to such detail you can begin to find out what you do that is unnecessary and perhaps causes more strain than is needed. For example, when you turn to look behind you, you may hold your breath and clench your jaw. Turning to look behind you does not require that you hold your breath and clench your jaw; you may do this without even knowing, causing unnecessary tension and perhaps even chronic injury. By learning how to focus your intentions into easier actions and eliminate unnecessary habits, new behaviors are formed and learning takes place.

Your role in this process is to be quiet enough to listen to what you do, refine your actions for easier movement and grow new efficient behaviors. From these lessons, we take with us a newly discovered movement, or perhaps and old movement with new nuances and greater awareness into our daily routines. The key is transferring what you learn in class into your daily living.