July 14, 2023
News FOR and ABOUT the MEMBERS of FGNA
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September & October: 2023 FGNA Annual Conference Series
The 2023 FGNA Conference will be honoring our trainer community. Nine trainers will be offering workshops on Zoom in September and October as a Conference Series. This new format will make it easier for practitioners to plan ahead and make space in their schedule to attend this year's Conference. Attendees will have the option to participate in the workshops live or via recording.
*Conference recordings for selected sessions are included in registration price.
*If you are registering in Canadian Dollars (CAD), please register as normal. All Canadian issued credit cards automatically convert the registration prices to CAD.
September 8
Creativity, The Feldenkrais® Way! A fundamental aspect to healthy living, aging well & life enjoyment. Donna Ray: 9am - 12pm PT
Uncovering Possible Gaps in Our Students' Self-Image Arlyn Zones: 1pm - 4pm PT
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September 22, 2023
Enhance your Abilities by Knowing and Loving Yourself Mary Spire: 9am - 12pm PT
Developing an ATM® Workshop with Mind Mapping Deborah Bowes: 1pm - 4pm PT
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October 6, 2023
What I Have Learned in 80 Years and What I Haven’t: The Wisdom of Connection Donna Blank: 9am - 12pm PT
Moving From Your Center Larry Goldfarb: 1pm - 4pm PT
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October 7
The Feldenkrais Method and the Art of Non-Doing
David Zemach-Bersin: 9am - 4pm PT
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October 20
The Complexity, Depth & Range of the Feldenkrais Method® Roger Russell and Jeff Haller: 9am - 4pm PT
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As a reminder, the deadline for Early Bird Registration rates is August 6. Workshop recordings for the sessions you purchase will be included with registration!
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We have some exciting news to share with you! We will soon be implementing Single Sign-On (SSO) for all FGNA benefits. This exciting change is designed to make your life easier by providing a single username and password for both feldenkraisguild.com and feldenkrais.com. You will be using the username and password you used to renew your membership this past Fall!
What does this mean for you?
- No more juggling multiple login credentials to update your Practitioner profile/events, and member information (including renewals)!
- Update your Practitioner information in one location instead of two.
- Seamlessly move between feldenkrais.com and feldenkraisguild.com.
What do you need to do?
While most of the work is being done behind the scenes, we encourage you to complete a couple steps to make sure you are getting the most out of your membership benefits!
- Log into your profile on feldenkraisguild.com with your username and password you created to renew your membership this past Fall. Once single-sign on is launched, this is where you will update your Practitioner listing that is integrated into your FGNA membership profile. You will no longer need a separate login for feldenkrais.com.
- We ask that you update your photo and your Practitioner Information as that is what will be seen on the Practitioner Search Directory for the public, people are more likely to click on your listing if a headshot is included.
- Add your website to your profile. This will increase the chances of the public contacting you.
- A step by step guide to update can be found at the link below.
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Volunteer Spotlight: Chrish Kresge
Interviewed by Kate Conroy
Q: How did you come to volunteering for FGNA?
A: I was born in Europe, which is not a volunteering environment. I trained in Feldenkais® in Boulder, Colorado at a time that my husband, Peter, and I lived and worked in Africa and Europe, doing Feldenkrais with voice training. About seven years into being a Feldenkrais practitioner my husband died. I moved to DC and I had to sort of get myself established and was looking for something more than being a practitioner, which can be a lonely profession. I started volunteering in my FGNA region (2006), and became a regional co-representative, which felt like a place of belonging. That naturally expanded in North America and in Europe to communities with which I shared a language, like German and French, from my home country of Switzerland, which was so great.
Q: You're so involved now, how did that evolve?
A: I was recruited to the FGNA board and chaired a majority of the conferences from 2006 - 2019 or so. Through that I met so many of the trainers, wonderful, talented, rock star teachers. It’s been such a privilege to connect with all these amazing people. On top of that, I learned so many administrative skills, communication approaches, and I learned how to author a web site, for instance; it's unbelievably time consuming, but it was really fun. I use these skills in all aspects of running my practice and my life.
Q: What is the human need that volunteering serves for you?
A: My board work became a very strong (affirming) part of my identity. I now also realize the value of volunteering can be to address a fundamental desire that we have to be of use, or to get attention by doing something that is good. I do a lot of theater, and from that I know that many actors need to be seen. Volunteering is an opportunity to be seen and make connections with wonderful colleagues. Especially at conferences, when you’re rolling around on the floor together, just being primates again, it creates something very special.
Q: How do you continue to flourish as a practitioner?
A: Through this work, I became very close with other board members and trainers who have become, in a sense, my family. Recently I even did a second training. I started studying with Jeff Haller in his ideal organization/ profound strength program. From an athletic perspective it focuses on principles of ground, support and equal and opposite force. I mean all those physics principles that are so powerful in our work were made very clear.
Q: What do you see in yours and FGNA's future?
A: All along I’ve maintained my commitment to the board work. We’re currently working at expanding the leadership and volunteer base, which is very exciting.
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Special Elections & Call for Nominations Your Professional Organization Needs You!
OPEN POSITIONS:
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Become part of our leadership team that steers our presence with membership and the public, our affiliation with other Guilds, and our legislative voice in government relations.
FGNA Members who are Guild Certified Feldenkrais PractitionersCM or Certified Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement TeachersCM are eligible to serve as Directors.
Current Opening
Director 6 - Q3 2023 – Q3 2026 (will take office Q3 2023)
This seat is available as soon as we hold an election.
Director 1 - Q3 2024 – Q3 2027
Director 4 - Q3 2024 – Q3 2027
Those elected to Director 1 and Director 4 positions will begin attending Board meetings Q1 2024 as Directors-Elect, while they are mentored by a designated Board member.
Nominating Committee Jan 1 2024 - Dec 31 2026
FGNA Members who are Guild Certified Feldenkrais PractitionersCM or Certified Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement TeachersCM are eligible to serve as Directors and on the Nominating Committee.
For these positions, nominations will close ten days after the Annual Meeting.
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Write for SenseAbility
Every month, the FGNA publishes a new issue of SenseAbility, a newsletter to educate the general public about the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education. The newsletter currently has a subscriber list of almost 12,000 readers.
When your article is published, you will also be featured with a headshot photo, your 100-word bio and website information. You can also offer a recorded ATM® lesson or other valuable resource to introduce readers to your teaching.
We are currently looking for contributions for our September issue on "Aging Gracefully"
SenseAbility has a wealth of valuable resources for your clients every month, whether or not you are a contributing writer. You can share individual articles that will be relevant to themes you are working with or invite clients to subscribe to SenseAbility by sharing this link with them: https://signup.e2ma.net/signup/1973237/1936572/
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Spotlight on Legislative Advocacy
Your Guild staff, volunteers and colleagues have been hard at work protecting your right to practice!
Massachusetts
S.191 and H.282 seek to require licensure for the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education and other professions as “alternative healing therapies”. We successfully opposed identical bills in 2021. Thanks to our members, staff and allies’ participation, since 2016 we’ve successfully foiled attempts to remove our exemptions from massage therapy licensure requirements in Massachusetts.
On July 10, 2023, the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure held a hybrid in-person and virtual hearing on the bills for over two hours. You can view the hearing here. More than 40 people testified in opposition to the bills, including four Feldenkrais® practitioners and FGNA Government Relations Administrator Andrea Wiener. Notably, there was no testimony in support of the bills – not even from the sponsors. There were also no cosponsors for the bills. In a meeting earlier this year, the Attorney General’s staff confirmed to us that the bills are not a legislative priority for them.
A big thank you to all members who participated: Eve Boltax, Susan Goldfischer, FGNA Massachusetts Government Relations Liaison Misha Forrester, and Mara Yale! And many thanks to all who submitted written testimony. The committee received an avalanche of email and letters in opposition to the bill.
We’re optimistic that the bills will again be laid to rest. The committee is not required to take further action until February 7, 2024, when they need to report the bills out favorably or unfavorably, issue a study order or discharge to another committee.
Questions? Contact Government Relations Administrator
Andrea Wiener: andrea.wiener@feldenkraisguild.com.
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Nancy Haller, President, Sue Seto, Vice President, Erik LeSeur, Treasurer, Fariya Doctor, Secretary, March Dolphin, Director 3, Sue Robuck, Director 5, Mercedes Von Deck, Director-Elect
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The following are service marks, trademarks, or certification marks of the Feldenkrais Guild® of North America in Canada: Feldenkrais GuildTM, Feldenkrais®, Feldenkrais® Method or Feldenkrais MethodTM, Awareness Through Movement®, ATMTM, Prise de conscience par le mouvementMD, Functional Integration®, FITM, L'intégration fonctionnelleMD, Guild Certified Feldenkrais TeacherTM , GCFTTM, Guild Certified Feldenkrais PractitionerTM, GCFPTM, Certified Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement TeacherTM, CFATMTTM, Friends of FeldenkraisSM , Feldenkrais JournalTM, and FGNA Feldenkrais Method Logo.
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