Want to embrace a ‘new’ movement this fall?

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This article was published 31/07/2017 (2993 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Four giant letters fill the second-storey windows of 987 Portage Ave. at Sherburn, spelling “Y-O-G-A.”

But for three years now, Prana Yoga owner-instructor Sandra Stuart has been offering her studio on Thursday afternoons to a different discipline and teacher.

Starting again in September, Gisèle St. Hilaire — one of four certified Feldenkrais practitioners in Manitoba — will be leading weekly Awareness Through Movement lessons in our neighbourhood.

These lessons were developed by Moshé Feldenkrais (1904-1984), who combined his professional understanding as a physicist, engineer, judo master and teacher to found a “method” to help individuals learn to move more easily.

The lessons explore the body-mind connection. The aim is for students to learn to move with “effortless effort” by undertaking, and focusing thoughtfully on, deceptively simple movements.

St. Hilaire holds a degree in physiotherapy from the University of Manitoba (1991) and has practised in that field. The Feldenkrais Method, however, is something different. “It’s not based on a therapeutic paradigm,” she said.  “We (in the Feldenkrais Method) don’t ‘assess’ and  ‘treat.’ Further, we are not primarily concerned with muscles and joints and tissues.

“We are interested in learning to move better. We do this, for the most part, by guiding (each student’s) attention to particular sensations and details about themselves to help them discover their self-limiting habits and to help them discover better ways to move with grace, efficiency and power.”

As in yoga class, students wear comfortable clothing, work barefoot and are asked to stand, sit, kneel and lie down on studio-supplied mats. Also, the teacher provides incisive commentary and explanation.

But the Feldenkrais Method is different from yoga. The teacher doesn’t demonstrate movements, which each student must “find” rather than emulate.

“In yoga,” Stuart said, “we lead students to assume poses and have them consider their breath, which changes when they are in these different, interesting shapes.”

Yet, she’s found from attending St. Hilaire’s classes that, “In Awareness Through Movement, like yoga, the mind is stilled by paying attention to sensations of the body and breath, noticing the habits of a lifetime.”

Awareness Through Movement lessons would appeal to, “anyone who wants to move with greater ease,” St. Hilaire said, “anyone interested in developing self-awareness and, practically speaking, (able) to get up and down from the floor with reasonable ease.”

Also, able to climb the flight of stairs from Prana’s street-side entry to the bright, spacious studio.

For more information, see: pranayogawinnipeg.ca and sunyatamovementstudio.com (St. Hilaire’s St. Vital studio).

Gail Perry is a community correspondent for Wolseley. She can be reached at: gailperry.writer@gmail.com