Group Classes & Workshops

The Abs

What They Don't Teach You at the Gym

Date: Tue, Feb 9th
Times: 6:30 - 9:30 pm
Open to: Public
Early Bird Tuition: $40 through Tue, February 02.
Regular Tuition: $50
Location: 134 West 26th Street, 2nd Floor

Dogma vs. Discovery // Compulsion vs. Choice

The advice surrounding the use and appearance of the stomach muscles is some of the most persistent in our culture. While there are many activities in life that require a strong, powerfully contracted stomach, there are many that benefit from your ability to relax the belly. Acquiring accurate and appropriate abdominal control can improve everything from balance and stability, to breathing and fluidity of your movement.  This workshop will help you sort out the myth from the reality, and give you a more useful repertoire of abdominal control. We’ll do three Awareness Through Movement lessons performed in an environment of inquiry and safety.
Participants will learn:

• How the abdomen relates to good posture.
• The difference between useful contraction and unnecessary “holding” of the stomach.
• How to integrate your abs into the work of the hips and pelvis.
• The reciprocal relationship between the lower back and stomach, and how chronic over contraction of the abs increases the compression of the lower back.
• Breathing and the abdomen: re-establishing a healthy relationship.

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.