download the PDF - Feldenkrais

Esther Thelen Research Symposium & Feldenkrais Method Conference
Embodying Neuroscience:
The Feldenkrais Method ® in
Human Development, Performance & Health
Dr. Michael Merzenich
Keynote Address
Friday, August 31 th
7:30 pm
2012
August 30–September 5
San Francisco Bay Area

You are Invited!
We invite you to attend a special event focusing on neuroscience and highlighting the synergy of theory and
practice in the domains of human development, learning, and performance.
The program for this exciting interdisciplinary Esther Thelen Research Symposium and Feldenkrais Method
Conference includes:
• the biological and evolutionary basis for the distinctive learning abilities of the human species
• processes of learning and development throughout the human lifespan
• research methods applicable to embodied practices
• educational and therapeutic applications of the Feldenkrais Method
• and much more!
Why Attend?
For scientists, researchers, and scholars:
• Experience concrete and actionable
translations of your knowledge into
effective practice
• Renew your inspiration and creativity by
finding possible collaborations in new avenues
of scientific exploration and discovery
For professionals in the fields of human
development, performance, and health:
• Meet individual and organizational needs
more capably and cogently, with your new
insights from our interdisciplinary community
of experienced teachers of the Feldenkrais
Method
• Gain valuable resources, ideas, and
applications rooted in neuroscience,
embodiment studies, and philosophy, through
the Feldenkrais Method
• Earn up to 43 educational programming
contact hours
Photo courtesy of Feldenkrais Institute, Tel Aviv, Israel
EMBODYING:
to make concrete and perceptible
NEUROSCIENCE:
the study of the nervous system for an understanding of
human thought, learning, emotion, and behavior.
The idea of “embodied neuroscience” offers rich insights, a
rewarding challenge and opportunities for scientists, teachers,
and health care providers. The Feldenkrais Method® of somatic
education is an avenue through which scientific understanding
of learning, thought, emotion, and behavior becomes
EMBODIED – concrete and perceptible. Numerous
applications include human development,
performance, and health.
Symposium and Conference Goals
1. To facilitate dialogue, encourage collaboration, and
amplify respect through the mutual sharing of diverse
perspectives from practice and research.
2. To enhance successful health care practices, grounded
in scientific knowledge, by increasing appreciation of the
complexity of human development, performance, and
health.
3. To enrich practice and understanding through the
integration of experience (educators and clinicians) and
knowledge (scientists).
4. To explore neuroscience themes through Feldenkrais
lessons.
THE FELDENKRAIS METHOD ®
The Feldenkrais Method® is a form of experiential education
that improves daily actions and human functioning. The Method
uses gentle movement and directed attention to create personal
change, through group classes (Awareness through Movement®), or
individual sessions (Functional Integration®). The Feldenkrais Method
is based on principles of biomechanics, neuroscience, and a practical
understanding of learning and human development. The Method
is named for its originator, Moshe Feldenkrais, DSc (1904-
1984), a Ukrainian-born physicist, judo expert, mechanical
engineer, and educator.

Esther Thelen Research Symposium
Thursday, August 30- Friday, August 31, 2012
More than forty years ago, Moshe Feldenkrais argued that the human brain was plastic across
the life span, and that behavior, including cognition, is embodied. Behavior
emerges from our interactions among sensing, moving, feeling, and thinking.
Since then, a distinctive group of movement scientists, psychologists, neuroscientists, biologists,
philosophers, educators, and health care providers has created a multidisciplinary synthesis of
research, theory, and practice that establishes the embodied foundations of learning and development.
This integrative, interactive understanding captures the development of human behavior, whether a person is
acquiring those behaviors for the first time, recovering from illness or injury, or adapting to the challenges of life.
The Esther Thelen Research Symposium offers a landmark opportunity to learn from and dialogue with some of the
ground-breaking scientists and scholars who have fostered this change in perspective.
Named after the developmental psychologist and Feldenkrais Practitioner Esther Thelen, PhD (1941 -2004), this
Symposium reflects her commitment to principled scientific inquiry, professional and personal development, and
translational actions that foster societal change.
Our program will include:
• The amazing and evolving range of the self-organization of human behavior: An overview of science
• The human brain’s special and distinctive learning capability: An evolutionary perspective
• NEW movement science findings on learning, variability, individuality, and processes of change: Developmental
studies of human movement
• Quantitative and qualitative research methods: Toward an integrated, non-reductionist approach for body awareness
practices
• Experiences of embodiment: The philosopher’s point of view
World-class presenters:
Georg Striedter, PhD, professor at
the University of California-Irvine:
What’s Special about Human Brains?
Jill Whitall, PhD, professor at the
University of Maryland-Baltimore:
An Alternative View on Neurological
Recovery and Rehabilitation: Learning to
Use the Arm Again After Stroke
Alva Noë, PhD, professor at the
University of California-Berkeley, and City
University of New York: You Are Not Your
Brain!
Jane Clark, PhD, professor at the
University of Maryland-College Park:
Through the Lens of Development:
Order and Disorder in Action
Michael Turvey, PhD, professor
emeritus at the University of Connecticut: Esther
Thelen Memorial Lecture: Ecology and Dynamics of
Modern Development
Wolf Mehling, MD, associate
professor at the University of
California-San Francisco: Researching
Body Awareness
Catherine Kerr, PhD, assistant
professor at Brown University: Keeping
Body Awareness in Mind: Top-Down
Modulation of Sensorimotor Brain
Rhythms as a Therapeutic Mechanism

2012 Feldenkrais Method® Conference
Friday, August 31 – Wednesday, September 5
Keynote Address
Friday, August 31, 7:30 – 9:00 pm
Michael Merzenich, PhD, Professor Emeritus, University of California-San Francisco, and
Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Posit Science.
“On the Path to Integrated Recoveries:
Brain Plasticity Bases of the Development and Restoration of Impaired Brain Systems”
Symposium Track Conference Workshops
Nine talented Feldenkrais ® Practitioners will extend the
Symposium themes into embodied practice in the
Feldenkrais Method ® during the Feldenkrais Method
Conference. They will be joined by many more
colleagues to present a rich, week-long opportunity for
learning and networking.
Fostering Fluency
Lawrence Goldfarb, PhD
Neuroplasticity: What Have You Done for Me Lately?
Frank Wildman, PhD
The Intelligence of Moving Bodies
Carl Ginsburg, PhD, and Luci Schuette-Ginsburg, Dipl. Ped.
Getting Precise with our Complex Brains
Dav Clark, MS, PhD cand., and Dwight Pargee, MS
A View from the Beginning
Sheryl Field, MA
Updating the Self-Image
Cliff Smyth, BA, MS Cand.
Attention, Breath, Sensation...The Tools of our Trade
Arlyn Zones, MA
Other Workshops Open to the Public
In addition to the Symposium track workshops, the
Conference program includes:
Too Strange To Be Believed:
The Foundations of Reversibility
Michael Krugman, MA
Maintaining Mobility:
the Feldenkrais Method and Multiple Sclerosis
Susan Dillon, MA, and Beth Rubenstein, MS, PT
Deepening our Somatic Dialogue:
Shaping Actions into Behavior
Sonja H. Sutherland, MA
Thinking and Sensing:
Motor Learning Theories and the Feldenkrais Method
Karol Connors, MPT
The Dynamics of Body Image
Susan Hillier, PhD
Continual Improvement
Stephen Rosenholtz, PhD
Research Mentoring
Pat Buchanan, PhD, and Jim Stephens, PhD, PT
For the complete schedule and workshop descriptions, visit:
www.feldenkrais.com/events/conference/2012_public/workshops
2012 Conference Program Committee Esther Thelen Research Committee
Roger Russell, MA, CFT, PT, Chair Pat Buchanan, PhD, ATC, PT, GCFT, Chair

Accommodations
Venue:
San Mateo Marriott San Francisco Airport
1770 S. Amphlett Blvd.
San Mateo, CA 94402
Special Conference Group Rate: $109 per night
Book online at: http://cwp.marriott.com/sfosa/feldenkraismethod/
Book by July 9
Travel:
Only 10 miles south of the San Francisco International Airport.
Plan a short vacation in the Bay Area, on the coast of Northern California or Big Sur.
Visit our website for more information about the venue and the surrounding area:
www.feldenkrais.com/events/conference/2012_public/about
Continuing Education:
Up to 43 educational programming contact hours are available, which may assist professionals with meeting licensing/
certification requirements.
Space is limited:
EMBODYING NEUROSCIENCE features outstanding presenters and a fascinating theme.
It will fill up fast. Secure your space now!
For further information, contact:
Feldenkrais ® Educational Foundation of North America (FEFNA)
Website: www.feldenkrais.com
503.221.6612 or 800.775.2118
Email: conference@feldenkraisguild.com
Registration
Symposium: $300 (includes lunch both days, networking reception Thursday night, and keynote)
Conference: $475 (5 days)
$135 (1 day)
$75 (half day: Monday, September 3)
Keynote: No charge for Symposium or Conference attendees. $20 at the door for others.
Register online:
www.feldenkrais.com/events/conference/2012_public/register
Or call 800.775.2118, x. 125
The following are registered service marks, collective or certification marks of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America: Feldenkrais ® , Feldenkrais Method ® , Functional
Integration ® Awareness Through Movement ® , Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher ® ; and The Feldenkrais Guild ® ©2005, Rosalie O’Connor. Used with permission.
. The following are trademarks, service marks or certification
marks of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America: ATM ® , FI SM , Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner CM , Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement Teacher CM and Feldenkrais.

Feldenkrais ® Educational Foundation of North America
5436 N. Albina Ave.
Portland, OR 97217 USA
Address Service Requested
Esther Thelen Research Symposium
2012 Feldenkrais Method Conference
Embodying Neuroscience:
The Feldenkrais Method ® in
Human Development, Performance & Health
Co-sponsors:
Dr. Michael Merzenich
Keynote Address
Friday, August 31 th
7:30 pm