Group Classes & Workshops

Summer Spine Essentials

Posture without Pain, Flexibility without Strain

Date: Tuesdays: July 13 and 27, Aug 10 and 24
Times: 6:30 – 9:30 PM each evening.
Open to: Public
Early Bird Tuition: $40 per evening 1-week in advance with code "SSESINGLE", $140 for all four evenings with code "SSECOMPLETE"
through Tue, July 06.
Regular Tuition: $50 per workshop
Location: The Feldenkrais Institute, 134 West 26th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10001
Cancellation Policy: For 3-hr evenings—credit toward a future event. For single and multi-day workshops—full refunds are available minus a $75 administrative fee, provided we receive your written notice at least 14 days before the starting day of the workshop. With less than 14 days notice, the Institute will credit your tuition, minus the administrative fee, towards a future workshop.

July 13:  “The Neck”

July 27: “The Thoracic Spine”

August 10: “The Lower Back”

August 24: “Putting it All Together”

Please note, at check-out you must indicate which of the workshop dates you wish to attend.

These four evening workshops will give you a healthier, happier and clearer understanding of how your central axis of movement and flexibility works best and what’s going wrong when it doesn’t.  The first three evenings will focus on fundamental movement patterns as seen through each of the major segments of vertebra:  the neck (cervical), the middle back (thoracic) and the lower back (lumbar).  The fourth workshop – “Putting it All Together” – will fold these patterns into the larger context of movements that involve the entire spine in harmonious action.  If you’ve never tried Feldenkrais before, this is the perfect introduction no matter your level of physical fitness.  The lessons will be taught with clear, simple instructions that show you how to fly below the radar of faulty habits and previous conditioning. You’ll learn:

• How to avoid patterns of effort that lead to injury and aggravate existing back trouble
• How to organize the head and pelvis for more harmonious effort
• How to integrate your ribs for easier flexibility
• Why strengthening the back requires lengthening the back
• Which patterns cause back pain and which create vitality and ease

Teacher: 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.

Teacher: Andrew Gibbons

Andrew Gibbons is a founding faculty member and the Creative Director of The Feldenkrais Institute. He maintains a private practice at the Institute where he works with a diverse population, including professional musicians, those with minor and severe musculoskeletal conditions, chronic pain and neurological problems. For the past two summers Andrew has taught the Feldenkrais Method for the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival in Marlboro, VT.  He has presented The Feldenkrais Method for doctors, physical and occupational therapists at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan and at the Doctoral PT program of SUNY Stoneybrook Medical School, for musicians in the Manhattan School of Music’s wellness program and in public programs sponsored by the NY Department for the Aging.  He trained and continues to work closely with David Zemach-Bersin, one of Dr. Feldenkrais first and foremost American students. Andrew is a graduate of both Columbia University (BA) and the Manhattan School of Music (MM). He is a trained classical pianist and has worked as a consultant for The New York Times and on the faculty of Physical Therapy & Feldenkrais NYC.