Our Staff

David Zemach-Bersin

Co-Director David Zemach-Bersin is one of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais’ original American students and studied closely with Dr. Feldenkrais from 1973-1984 in the U.S., Europe, and at the Feldenkrais Institute in Israel. He has been involved with the practice and development of the Feldenkrais Method for more than 30 years, and is one of the world’s foremost Feldenkrais Teachers and Trainers. With Elizabeth Beringer, David founded Feldenkrais Resources in 1983. Feldenkrais Resources is the primary publisher of Dr. Feldenkrais’ English language books and audio programs, as well as programs from the world’s leading Feldenkrais Teachers and Trainers. In 2005, David co-founded The Feldenkrais Institute of New York. In 2007, he also co-founded The Feldenkrais Research Foundation, a non-profit devoted to initiating and supporting scientific research on The Feldenkrais Method. The first projects of The Feldenkrais Research Foundation will be to look at the efficacy of The Feldenkrais Method with multiple sclerosis, scoliosis, and recovery of mobility from mastectomies.

David is the long time Educational Director of the New York City, and Washington, D.C./Baltimore Feldenkrais Method Training Programs. His programs attract students from across the U.S. and Europe, and the faculties are composed almost entirely of teachers who studied directly with Dr. Feldenkrais. David has taught in Feldenkrais Training programs throughout the U.S. and Europe, and teaches popular post-graduate courses for Feldenkrais practitioners. Since 1977, David has maintained an ongoing and varied private practice working with a diverse population including those with severe movement limitations, neurological problems, children, seniors, world-class musicians, dancers, actors, and those in chronic pain. Since 2004, David has been teaching the Feldenkrais Method each summer at the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival in Marlboro, VT. David is a Honors graduate of UC Berkeley, with extensive post-graduate work in physiological psychology, and is the co-author of Relaxercise (HarperCollins), a popular introduction to The Feldenkrais Method. In addition, he has authored many Feldenkrais audio programs for both the public and Feldenkrais Teachers.

For many years David has been involved in the development of clinical and workplace applications of The Feldenkrais Method, and has taught courses for physical and occupational therapists throughout the United States. David has served as President of The Feldenkrais Guild of North America, and for nearly a decade sat on the Training Accreditation Board of The Feldenkrais Guild of North America. He lives with his wife and three children in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. For Functional Integration lessons on the East Coast in the New York or the Philadelphia area with David Zemach-Bersin, please contact: (215) 230-9208 or The Feldenkrais Institute at (212) 727-1014.

Marek Wyszynski

Institute Co-Director and Co-Founder Marek Wyszynski is a licensed Physical Therapist, a Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner and a former supervisor for the Lenox Hill Hospital’s New York Pain Treatment Program. He studied and worked with the world renowned physician Dr. Hans Kraus (the pioneer of trigger-point therapy and president Kennedy’s back pain physician). Since 1991 he has worked with people suffering from acute and chronic pain. Marek’s article: A Structured Physical Therapy Approach for Treating the Muscular Components of Chronic Pain Syndromes was published in The Journal of Back & Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation. He is also a former national fencing champion (Poland) and coach. Marek is the Director of Physical Therapy and Feldenkrais NYC (click here to visit the website).

Mark Hirschfield

Mark Hirschfield, M.F.A., G.C.F.P., graduated from the Feldenkrais Professional Training Program with David Zemach-Bersin in 2003.  He is a full-time Faculty Practitioner at the Feldenkrais Institute and has taught the Feldenkrais Method throughout New York City.  Mark helped create the Alexander Yanai Project, a weekly series of Awareness Through Movement lessons drawn specifically from classes Dr. Feldenkrais taught for many years on Alexander Yanai Street in Tel-Aviv, Israel.

Mark has helped clients with a myriad of issues, ranging from back and shoulder pain to eye strain and neurological problems.  He enjoys working with students who want to explore the possibilities inherent in the Feldenkrais Method for general self-improvement (physical, mental and psychological), heightened awareness and an improved sense of well-being. For many years Mark was a professional actor and theater director and is well versed in tailoring the Feldenkrais Method to the needs of performing artists.  He is a graduate of UCLA and Florida State University, is an expert rated skier and is enthusiastic about sharing his insights about how the Feldenkrais Method can be applied to improving everyone’s abilities.

Sheryl Field

Sheryl Field, the Executive Director of the Field Center for Children’s Integrated Development, is a certified Feldenkrais practitioner and teacher with more than 20 years of full-time clinical experience using Functional Integration to improve the functioning of children with motor disorders.  Sheryl trained with Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais in Israel and in the United States. An Assistant Trainer in the Institute’s Professional Training Program, Sheryl is one of the few Feldenkrais practitioners in the world who has extended the method to working with infants and children.

During her 20 years of experience using the Feldenkrais Method of Functional Integration, Sheryl has observed much greater improvement in children with motor disorders than is currently reported with other therapies. She has recently submitted a research proposal to the National Institutes of Health to test the efficacy of the Feldenkrais Method scientifically.  Sheryl is also an assistant trainer in the Feldenkrais professional training program with David Zemach-Bersin.

Anat Meiri

Anat Meiri is a certified Feldenkrais practitioner on the Institute’s faculty. Anat started her Feldenkrais professional training in 2003 in Berkeley, CA, and moved to New York in 2006 joining the New York Professional Training with David Zemach-Bersin. She has danced professionally since 1995 with the Rina Schinfeld Dance Theatre in Tel-Aviv and with the Deborah Slater Dance Theatre Company, Papas and Dancers and the Peck-Peck Dance Ensemble in San Francisco. Anat teaches individuals and classes and mentors dancers at the Institute.  In her mentoring work she combines her experience as a dancer with the philosophy of learning and teaching gained from The Feldenkrais Method to help dancers achieve their potential.

Deborah Bowes, PT

Deborah Bowes, PT, is a Feldenkrais Trainer and has worked closely with David Zemach-Bersin for many years.  She is known for her clarity and depth of clinical experience gained from over 25 years of teaching in private practice, schools, hospitals and clinics. Starting as a Physical Education teacher in 1973, she has always been intrigued by the relationship between learning, movement and self image.  Deborah received her Physical Therapy degree from Columbia University in 1975 and became a Feldenkrais Practitioner in 1987.  She is co-founder of the Feldenkrais Center for Movement Education in San Francisco where she maintains an active private practice teaching the Feldenkrais Method to adults and children. Deborah has taught widely in Feldenkrais training programs since 1993, was Director of Somatics at the Delayed Recovery Center in the Occupational Health Clinic of Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Francisco.  She brings an avid interest in the neurosciences to her teaching, and lives with her family in San Francisco, California.

Lisa Shufro

Lisa Shufro is a Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner.  She first came to the Feldenkrais Method to get her injured shoulder “fixed” so that she could get back to her “regular life.” She soon discovered that the Method offered a way of thinking and acting that led to more than good posture…for her, it opened the door to a more fulfilling and joyful life. Inspired to become a teacher, Lisa trained with David Zemach-Bersin at the Feldenkrais Institute in New York City. She continues advanced studies with Sheryl Field to help children with motor development disorders, such as cerebral palsy.

Lisa’s vision is to incorporate thinking from the Method into the workplace, to help businesses achieve greater success with less effort. She currently works at Walker Digital, a business innovations company based in Stamford, CT. Lisa is also an accomplished violinist, and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Yale University.

Sarah Daskal

Sarah Daskal was born in Romania, and is a graduate of David Zemach-Bersin’s second Montclair Feldenkrais Method Professional Training Program in 2003. She is also a graduate of several Bones for Life Trainings with Ruthy Alon (one of Dr. Feldenkrais’ first Israeli students). Sarah is an enthusiastic and experienced Practitioner, and teaches classes and offers individual Functional Integration lessons on Mondays at the Institute.

Tamala Bakkensen

Tamala Bakkensen is a graduate of the Feldenkrais Professional Training Program in New York. She also holds a BFA in theater and music from Florida International University and a Master’s of Fine Art from the University of California, San Diego. She has performed in regional theater, in New York, and on television, as well as traveled to Bali to study dance and mask making. In addition to teaching public classes and workshops at the Institute and SUNY Purchase, she works with private clients. She has also taught movement with the School for Film and Television and acting and public speaking at UCSD.

Connie Rotunda

Connie Rotunda, a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner^CM, trained with David Zemach-Bersin. She holds an MFA from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory. A professional actor and director, she has worked regionally and Off Broadway, created and performed sketch comedy with Alarm Dog Rep, as well as performed and taught as a guest artist. Ms. Rotunda has taught Feldenkrais workshops and classes in a variety of settings throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan, actor movement workshops at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory, the Metro Playhouse and the Northeast Theatre Conservatory.  Formerly the Lead Teacher of Movement at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, Connie currently holds the position of Assistant Professor in the Theatre Arts Department at the State University of New York, New Paltz.

Dayana Henwood

Dayana Henwood is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, and the Administrative Director of the Institute’s Professional Training Program, directed by David Zemach-Bersin. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Dayana began studying the Feldenkrais Method in 1995. A classically trained pianist, Dayana moved to the U.S. to continue her music studies in jazz and composition in 2004. Her interest in movement combines music, theatre training, modeling for sculptors and painters, and performance art as a living statue in South America, Australia and the U.S. Dayana is also a serious student of the Japanese martial art of Aikido and enjoys interlacing Aikido principles into her Awareness Through Movement classes. In May 2010 Dayana gave birth to her first daughter, Sofia Joia. This experience increased her awareness of the importance of trusting our physical intelligence; and strengthened Dayana’s interest in development, neuroplasticity, and how to apply Feldenkrais to our everyday lives. Dayana loves working with parents and babies as well as musicians and anybody interested in using the Feldenkrais Method to improve their quality of life.

Zoe Schieber

Zoe Schieber is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner.  She has an Anthropology Degree from Tulane University with a concentration in primatology which informs her perspective on the Feldenkrais Method.  While in New York she continues to pursue her passion for dance as a professional dancer with Eva Dean Dance and as guest artist of Third Rail Productions.  She also choreographs and teaches dance to children in the public and after school programs through Young Dancers in Repertory.

Zoe uses her varied experiences and knowledge to engage herself with the Feldenkrais Method and brings this engagement and understanding to her students.  Zoe has a keen interest in Autism and looks forward to working with students of all ages with varied neuro-muscular difficulties whether congenital or acquired through life’s trials and tribulations.
 

Kathy Yates

Kathy Yates is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner^cm with 13 years experience working with students of all ages, with a range of challenges including chronic pain, neurological issues, anxiety, breathing and voice. Her background in the field of movement and voice includes 25 years as a dancer, and actress, and teacher. Kathy has taught classes and workshops at health clubs, JCC Manhattan, 92nd St Y, and Montclair State University.

Additional certification includes: Kinesthetic Anatomy with Irene Dowd, Reiki II practitioner, Anat Baniel Method for Children^cm. Kathy is currently enjoying working under Sheryl Field at the The Field Center Children’s Clinic and has been greatly influenced by and continues to learn from her original trainer, Russell Delman, who now teaches and trains professionals in the Embodied Life®

One of Kathy’s greatest pleasures is guiding students in a journey of exploration and discovery in self-healing and enhanced self-image–and seeing them enjoy the process!

Aliza Stewart, M.Mu., GCFP (Guest Faculty)

Aliza Stewart, M.Mu. was trained as a concert pianist and performed extensively in Israel, England and the U.S. She holds a teaching degree and Artist Diploma in Performance from the Rubin Academy in Israel. Her search for more efficient, relaxed movement patterns at the piano brought her to Moshé Feldenkrais in 1980. She completed her Feldenkrais training in 1987 and and is now a Trainer, working in Feldenkrais Professional Training Programs around the world. Aliza has worked closely with David Zemach-Bersin since 1995 and helped organize his first Baltimore program in 1997. Aliza is well known for applying the Feldenkrais Method to her work with musicians. She teaches Feldenkrais classes and graduate courses at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and at the Mannes College of music in Manhattan. She is also in residence at the Yellow Barn Music Festival and the Marlboro music festival. In her private practice, both in Baltimore and in New York, she works with a wide range of clients, including children and has an active teaching and lecturing schedule. Aliza lives in Baltimore with her husband Delmar, a violist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Dennis Leri (Guest Faculty)

Dennis Leri has worked in and directed Feldenkrais^® Professional Training Programs around the world and is widely regarded as an innovative and inspiring teacher. He is a graduate of the first U.S. Feldenkrais training program and worked closely with Dr. Feldenkrais from 1973-1984 in the U.S. and at the Feldenkrais Institute in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Dennis’ accessible and challenging teaching style reflects training in Western and Eastern philosophy, psychology, and the martial arts. He studied personally with Milton Erickson and his Buddhist studies began as a student of Jiyu Kennett Roshi in 1971, and Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche in 1972.  For the last few years he’s been a student of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.  He has 30 years of experience in Japanese and Chinese martial arts and Chi Kung. In addition, Dennis compliments his teaching with the Neuro-Epistemology of Francisco Varela, Humberto Maturana and Heinz von Forester.  He has published numerous articles on the Feldenkrais Method^® and directs the Berkeley FPTP. Dennis lives, with his wife Maria, in Marin County, California.

Paris Kern (Guest Faculty)

Paris Kern has been a Feldenkrais^® Practitioner since 1992, and has studied and worked with David Zemach Bersin for the past 14 years. As the Primary Assistant Trainer in the last two Baltimore Feldenkrais Training Programs she has been a consistent presence with the students and brings a compassionate and light hearted manner to her work. By sharing the knowledge she has gained as a Practitioner and mentor to new Practitioners, she teaches people how to be independent and self sustaining in their own growth.

Paris came to the Feldenkrais Method^® in 1988, as a professional musician who had been suffering pain so severe that she had to cancel concerts. Searching for relief, she attended a one day Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement^® workshop. Her response to the exercises was so profound that she felt as though she was coming home. She was impressed with how the Feldenkrais Method was a system based on a profound understanding of human function, intelligence, learning, and behavior, and how Dr. Feldenkrais’ theories addressed her as a whole human being. After taking a series of private Functional Integration^SM lessons and a few Awareness through Movement classes she able to return to performing music without pain.

Paris’ background as a traditional and contemporary folk-singer helps her bring a spontaneity to her work, which she blends with the solid experience she has developed from 22 years of learning, practicing, and mentoring. She teaches in Feldenkrais Training Programs, and travels widely, teaching equestrians with her program, ‘Riding with the Whole Self’.  Paris lives in Baltimore with her husband and son, and maintains a full-time private practice, working with both adults and children.

Anastasi Siotas (Guest Faculty)

Anastasi Siotas was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. His academic training at the University of Melbourne earned him a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Biology, a Masters in Education and a Masters in Movement and Dance. Anastasi has worked as a scientific researcher in cell biology and as a modern dancer before undertaking training in the Feldenkrais Method in 1992. He moved to New York in 1997, where he completed a Master Certification in Neuro Linguistic Programming. In 1999 he began to study Neuromuscular Re-education and Kinesthetic Anatomy with choreographer and author, Irene Dowd with whom he continues to study. He is also trained as a Certified Movement Analyst and teaches the anatomy and kinesiology courses for the Laban/Bartenieff Institute for Movement Studies in New York.

Anastasi works for Mind in Motion and has been a tutor Practitioner in three Feldenkrais Training programs in NYC. He is also a teacher of Bones for Life^®, Walk for Life^® and Change Your Age^®. He has presented the Feldenkrais Method in gyms like Equinox and NY Sports Clubs, and at the 3rd Street Music School Settlement, The JCC Manhattan and Gotham Physical Therapy, where he also sees people for Functional Integration^SM lessons. Anastasi is a regular presenter at Feldenkrais conferences, as well as providing ongoing mentoring for Feldenkrais Practitioners.

Alan Questel (Guest Faculty)

Alan S. Questel is known for his clarity, creativity and down to earth style of teaching as he brings a depth of understanding, humor and a gentle human perspective to the learning of the Feldenkrais Method.  Trained by Dr. Feldenkrais and a 1983 graduate of the Amherst training program, he teaches worldwide in Feldenkrais Professional Training Programs and has directed or co-directed trainings in New York, California, Arizona, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Perth, Australia and Malmo, Sweden.  He has taught at Princeton University, S.U.N.Y. College at Purchase, the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology, the New York Open Center and Mother Teresa’s Shishu Bhavan-Home for Disabled Children, Calcutta, India.  An actor before becoming interested in the Feldenkrais Method, Alan worked and toured with Jerzy Grotowski and Paul Sills. He is the creator of Pregnant Pauses - Movement for Moms and his upcoming training programs are in Malmo, Sweden and Cali, Colombia. Alan makes his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Something for Everyone

We've got what you're looking for: Nine open level classes, three beginner classes, two intermediate level classes and one community class.