My Story

I work primarily with two groups of people:

• busy professionals to improve their posture and workplace ergonomics so they can move through life with ease and poise.
• musicians and performers who feel limited in their artistic expression due to physical or mental blocks and want to overcome injuries or performance anxiety so they can perform with ease and poise.

I do this through teaching practical anatomy and hands-on movement exploration during custom tailored one-on-one sessions, as well as teaching group Awareness Through Movement® classes.

How did I get here?

I’m a professional flutist who has been teaching movement and practical anatomy to musicians since 2012. Like most musicians, I’ve had my share of day jobs. I know all about the repetitive stresses of sitting at a desk and staring at a screen all day. Most of my day jobs have been in Information Technology and Management Consulting.

Recently, a close relative had to get lumbar fusion surgery. I did not know that she was suffering and experiencing so much pain that she felt like surgery was the only way to go. It turns out that she’d been having back problems for many years. Decades of working at a desk without an ergonomic setup, ignoring discomfort until it turned into pain, and then tolerating that pain for a long time did not help. I wish I could have started working with her even 2 years earlier. I keep thinking that I could have helped her avoid surgery if I could just turn back the clock by a few years. I started working with her a few weeks before her scheduled surgery and it was too late. I realize that spinal fusion surgeries are pretty common these days but it’s still a major operation with a lengthy and painful recovery period. It’s been so hard to see her continue to suffer as she recovers from the procedure.

Now I’m on a mission.
It didn’t have to be this way!

If I can help more people move easily and without pain, I need to do it. I can teach folks how to sit and work with good balance, posture, and poise. I can help them avoid major surgeries caused by poor self-use later in life.

I’ve been learning about anatomy and movement since 2005. I started by taking Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais lessons as well as studying functional anatomy. By 2012, I was teaching a course called “What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body.”

It all started in 2005

That’s when I finished my masters degree in flute performance. And as I was about to play my final recital, I was ready to sell my flute and quit. I had practiced so intensely, with immense tension, for 3-5 hours every day that I started to feel numbness and nerve pain in both arms. The nerve pain was accompanied by blurry vision and neck pain. It wasn’t the pain that made me want to quit though. I was unable to sing through my instrument. I was unable to express myself through the flute to make the music I wanted to make. I was working so hard that my fingers couldn’t move quickly and my air didn’t flow through the instrument.

Luckily my friend Laura introduced me to an Alexander Technique teacher right before I graduated. That summer I started my journey of recovery and relearning how to play the flute without tension.

I completed my 3.5 year-long Feldenkrais Teacher training course in August 2019 and became a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner^CM.

As a Registered Professional Member of the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association, I meet the high Standards of Practice and uphold the Code of Ethics. For more information visit www.ISMETA.org

About the Feldenkrais Method®

The Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education uses gentle movement and directed attention to help people learn new and more effective ways of living the life they want. You can increase your ease and range of motion, improve your flexibility and coordination, and rediscover your innate capacity for graceful, efficient movement. Since how you move, is how you move through life, these improvements will often enhance your thinking, emotional regulation, and problem-solving capabilities.

The Feldenkrais Method was developed by Moshe Feldenkrais, a scientist, engineer, and judo master. The method is taught in two different types of lessons: Awareness Through Movement® group lessons and one-on-one Functional Integration® lessons.

All of the Feldenkrais lessons involve gentle and enjoyable movements to gain better awareness and discrimination

• Increase your ease and range of motion.
• Improve flexibility and coordination.
• Reduce pain and anxiety
• Improve athletic performance
• Rediscover the freedom of movement most often associated with childhood.