Congratulations to our new FGNA Director 4 Katherine Wiesman, and to March Dolphin Director 3 and Maxine Sidenfaden Director 2 on being re-elected and to May Nassar our new member of the EthicsCommittee and to Kira Charles our new member of the NATAB.  

Katherine Wieseman

Director seat #4 - FGNA Board of Directors Seat #4 - Term: Q3 2024 - Q3 2027 (Begin Immediately)

Maxine Sidenfaden

Director seat #2, - FGNA Board of Directors Seat #2 - Term: Q3 2025 - Q3 2028

March Dolphin

Director seat #2 - FGNA Board of Directors Seat #3 - Term: Q3 2025 - Q3 2028

May Nasser

Ethics Committee seat #1 - Ethics Committee Member - Elected Seat #1 - Term: Jan 1, 2025 - Jan 1, 2026

Kira Charles

NATAB seat #2 - NATAB Member-elected Seat #2 Term: Jan 1, 2025 - Dec 31, 2027

Do you know someone who would like to learn about becoming a Feldenkrais® Practitioner?  Training programs in California, Michigan, New Mexico, New York and Argentina are now accepting applications.

Our website has helpful information, including:

There are 3 items of interest this month to highlight for our membership. First, the FGNA Board wishes to congratulate and welcome the 2024 election ballot winning candidates.

Kudos to the FGNA nominations and elections teams for a smooth election cycle. However, we are still in need of a few more members to help out on the 2025 Nominating  Committee and 2025 Conference Committee. If you are interested in contributing a few volunteer hours a month on a committee or on another FGNA project simply reach out to membership@feldenkraisguild.com.

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Secondly, the Board will be holding their “Face 2 Face” meetings throughout November. This is an immersive 4 days of dialogue amongst the Board members, and our management team, and each of our committees. Together we review their portfolio for this past year, 2024, address their challenges,  bring into focus their goals for 2025, and offer a forum to present ideas and projects for the benefit our members and the overall vitality of the Guild. Your input is welcomed, please contact your Regional Representative or the CORR chairperson corrchair@gmail.com.

Lastly, the Policy Committee began review of six policies related to publications and communications in December 2023, over the past 10 months the committee consulted with the Journal editorial team and with Jane Johnston of the communications and website teams as they endeavored to update and revise the policies. Both FGNA policies  E1.6.4.1 Publications  and E1.6.4. 6 Mailing List Policy and Rates were  unanimously approved by the Board on October 28.

Sincerely,

Maxine Sidenfaden

Pausing from a tour of regions’ libraries because this info is so timely! Region librarians collaborated to significantly change how FGNA members borrow resources from the FGNA Library System. Simpler and more streamlined! This Library Nook article describes what to do. Download detailed instructions file with text and images. Overview only below: 

Additional notes: You can re-sort the FGNA Inventory of Library Resources according to that which you want to pay attention. You can quickly find item of interest using a “find” function built into the online spreadsheet.

Access library system  https://www.feldenkraisguild.com/page/interregion-library

… or … find library link anytime through the FGNA Membership Portal’s Resources tab, then click the library link.  

Questions?  Contact your region’s librarian if about your region’s library ‘branch.’ Contact Katherine Wieseman (feldenkraisnwlibrary@gmail.com) if about library system in general.

Don’t forget to renew your membership by November 18th  

🟡Extensive discounts

🟡Early Bird Membership Renewal

🟡FGNA Conference Discounts

🟡Discounts on Region Events

https://vimeo.com/fgna/practitionersearch?share=copy

Publicize your practice

Find a Practitioner

List your classes and workshops

Publications

FGNA Journal

Region Newsletters

How to find membership benefits on our website

https://vimeo.com/fgna/supersizeclip?share=copy

A Note About Footnotes 

Here is an easy and clear way to clarify our Method to the public.   

Here is where you can find your service marks for you to easily cut and paste it into your promotions and documents. 

https://cdn.ymaws.com/feldenkrais.site-ym.com/resource/resmgr/pdf/02-20-21-sample-sm-footnote.pdf 

A statement from the Service Mark Guidelines. 

'... a statement acknowledging FGNA’s ownership of the service marks and/or certification marks being used must be included in the document or website, except in cases such as business cards, where it is not possible due to space constraints.'  

Remember to renew your certification so you can continue to use the FGNA service marks. 

In the October 13th CORR meeting, regional representatives greeted the new representative for the Northern California-Northern Nevada region, Kwan Wong.

CORR approved the third quarter report of its activities for the FGNA Board and discussed dates to meet with the Board in November. CORR also reviewed the role of CORR-Board Liaison. We heard about the successes of the workshop titled "Tailor-Made Lessons" and discussed ways to thank the teachers. There was a brief discussion about regional librarians’ ideas about digitizing materials in the library, and we look forward to a full report.

CORR's priority for workshops will be in-person workshops (although some will need to be online/Zoom), and thus CORR plans to review the ways we can provide additional financial support for members to attend CORR-sponsored workshops. Other future plans include updating old procedural and policy documents.

Countless Volunteers have helped to collect, preserve and publish Moshe Feldenkrais' original teachings. That means YOU can learn directly from the master and originator of The Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education himself!

Visit www.feldenkrais-method.org/materials - loads of free materials as well as items essential for your practitioner library. All proceeds support the production of new archival materials and the translation of existing materials into other languages. Remember to use your FGNA IFF discount coupon code for 10% off!

Thanks to all who attended the September 19 Zoom Café, and participated in the discussion of The Educated Heart, by Laura Allen and Nina McIntosh. In the café, FGNA members became acquainted with the book and discussed the impact of professional boundaries on their work, together with members of the Ethics Committee. The Educated Heart is a wonderful resource for teachers of the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education in understanding and navigating complex ethical boundaries and professional principles.

Listen to the recording here.

The Educated Heart is readily available for purchase online. Search for the 5th edition, which contains new content covering boundary issues related to the Internet.

If you have questions about FGNA’s Ethics program, or the process set forth in the Grievance Protocol, please contact the Ethics Committee Chair: ethics@feldenkraisguild.com  

All is quiet on the legislative front. If you have any questions, or would like to volunteer in this area, please contact Government Relations Administrator Andrea Wiener: andrea.wiener@feldenkraisguild.com.