From our Board

Support from our Board of Directors

MBS CENTER – A VALUABLE GIFT TO THE WORLD COMMUNITY

Dr. Linda Tellington Jones, PhD. 2008

Establishing a non-profit center for the teaching and promotion of the Feldenkrais Method based on the work of Mia Segal would guarantee the continuation of this brilliant and important body of work, and be an invaluable gift to the world community of healing. To have Leora Gaster balancing the brilliant right-brain approach of Mia Segal with a new level of left-brain analysis could expand the Method to new levels of understanding that I am certain Moshe Feldenkrais would applaud and be proud of. A resource center, open to all, and housing study material and related methods would support Moshe’s vision of inspiring students of his method “to increase their potential and develop their own fingerprints.” I served on the first Feldenkrais Guild Advisory Board in San Francisco in 1978 and am honoured to support this effort in every way I can.

FELDENKRAIS WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE

Joel Teague, 2008

Every so often someone comes into the world with such a powerful idea that literally changes one's view, and takes your current way thinking, beyond it's present limitations into a whole new world of possibilities, such that you can never return to your previous limitations.
When my young daughter was not on the developmental road to walking, I, of course, sought help from many sources, and after much frustration when nothing seemed to work, a friend recommended that I contact Mia Segal.
We met with Mia several times, and her work with my daughter was so profound, that it literally shocked the people who had previously worked with my daughter.
Years later, when my daughter had another physical problem, Leora Gaster worked with her, and again, the people working with my daughter were shocked at the results.
Looking back, I was fortunate to have met the two top people in Feldenkrais, but many more people in the world, who have similar problems, have not had that same fortune.
Making this high level of Feldenkrais skills available to everyone...and, for future generations, is not only something that should be done, it's something that must be done. It is way too valuable to have this knowledge in just a few people’s hands, when it can take many, many people to a whole new level of possibilities.

FELDENKRAIS & HIS WORK

Albert Pope Hinkley, Jr., 2008

While living in Israel in the early sixties I came to know Moshe Feldenkrais and his work through Mia Segal, then wife of Maurice Segal, architect, in whose office I worked for two years. I became a "ben habeyit", or member of the family, and so came to know them all well. At the time Leora was rather more interested in ballet, as I recall, but, her interest shifted with time to the Feldenkrais Method. I not only saw the effect Mia had on her patients, who were treated at the house, but I heard their comments and, as many of them were friends, their praise. I also had a session or two with Moshe in which he showed, in the simplest way, how easy it is to control the body if you know what you are doing. As he, too, was at the house a great deal I got to know him as a person and was much taken with him. He had a depth and an awareness that was astonishing though in no way creating a distance. You knew he was special.
After I returned home to Virginia I met practitioners and some of their patients. When they learned that I knew Moshe and Mia, and later Leora, it was as though I had a direct line to Heaven. Once I had occasion to be treated by a local practitioner to excellent effect. Also, as an architect dealing mostly with private residential work I learned the importance of the individuality of each client and then bringing the client, the client's needs and budget and my own talents and viewpoint into a balance. I felt that this was, in a way, an intellectual form of Moshe's method of having the body, in all its manifestations, in balance.
Through various recent Segal family events I had the opportunity to catch up with Mia and Leora and to learn in more depth what was happening with the Feldenkrais Method. I was surprised to learn that it is not self-perpetuating, that it has not been codified and that there is no way for it to be taught in a broad and continuing way. Then I heard that, indeed, there are plans afoot to do all of the above through the new Feldenkrais Foundation. I declared myself an enthusiastic supporter.

MAXIMIZE YOUR RANGE OF EXPRESSION
Professor Uri Vardi, 2008

The Feldenkrais Method is the most effective method that I know which expands our ability to use ourselves efficiently. Musicians, who want to gain the ability to meet any composition's demands, must have a vast repertoire of movements that will give them the freedom to use their bodies with maximum efficiency. Most of us accept the ways we move as if they are a part of our genetic makeup, whereas in reality, we learned to move by trial and error, and our nervous system is wired according to our experiences. Unless we are challenged to question this wiring, and to explore new possibilities of movement, we limit our range of expression. As a Feldenkrais practitioner, I constantly challenge my students to explore new ways of moving while playing, and to correlate them with minute differences in the quality of sound. Through my experience, I have found that when students discover the power of becoming aware of minute differences in their movement, it is not only their sound that changes, but also their coordination, overall technical proficiency, imagination and self confidence.

MAINTAINING YOUR CAREER AS AN ARTIST

David Liebman-jazz saxophonist, 2008

"I have always thought that the principles of the Feldenkrais philosophy are very applicable to musicians who depend so much upon their body to execute what they hear and conceptualize during performance. This is especially true for artists who play on regular basis, so that injuries from over stressing can be avoided."

MBS CENTER, A VISION AND FUTURE OF EXCELLENCE

Dr. Walter Bauhoefer, MD 2008

I believe the Mind Body Study Center will be the meeting point for those concerned with the connected disciplines of neurosciences, biology, physiology, behavioural sciences, medicine, sports and music. The establishment of this center will bring a paramount benefit to many people and be instrumental in developing the multidisciplinary environment which is fast becoming valued as the only way forward.
No one ever working with the Feldenkrais method will forget the wonders which lie in the ordinary everyday and commonplace manifestations of the brain, the physiology of the muscles, nerves and yet undetected range of intelligence of the body tissues. A new world of information and holistic mapping in the body surfaces and depths is still to be furthermore discovered by the combined forces of open-minded, curious and scientific-based people.
“Man is made to move “was the slogan of my medical Ph.D. And it still is the motto for my entire life and thinking.
In his book: Body and Mature Behaviour, Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais opened my mind. There are a lot of yet unknown facts to explore: language development, emotional imprinting, body communication, to name only a few, which are intricately connected with the motor system and postural conditioning, so highly accessed with the Feldenkrais work.
The establishment of this Center with Mia Segal and Leora Gaster as the guardians and leaders of this method can provide a turning point encompassing the physical learning systems which affect every aspect of human life.
MBS Center must be likewise practical and scientific: learning by doing, knowing by reason.
My personal interest in the MBS is based in my strong desire to shed light on the connection between the involuntary and the voluntary system of the body.
I can see the Mind Body Study Center becoming a hub of excellence for people in all conditions, a busy central hub for developing and researching exciting innovative angles in behavioural-system connections, a pool and haven for new ideas.