Passionate about the pedagogy of delivering Feldenkrais to an open audience, Andrew Gibbons is intent on refining his craft. Andrew sees the potential for using Feldenkrais as a practice to level up your biological fitness to perform in all areas of your life. In introducing his explicit style of investigation into finding efficiency in movement quality, Andrew is not shy of designing lessons offering challenge to those willing to “engage” in the rigour of a learning experience. Far from just having an “experience” in a lesson, or even enjoyment in learning experientially, Andrew brings a desire as a teacher to provide a context and scaffold whereby the student begins to understand for themselves what the benefits of this practice can be. Andrew exploits the ATM context to build a movement experiment with specificity which asks students to engage in a way that heightens their responsibility as learners. He helps them to sense biomechanical principles for themselves, to make clear and deliberate movement choices and to learn to trust their own experience.

Andrew unpacks what it means to understand how to reflexively deliver ATM, in not only offering lesson structure but having the sensitivity to perceive the potential diversity of student response and experience requiring lesson adaptation. He discusses the layers of skill teachers need to refine to adapt and change delivery to make the precise details of how a lesson works accessible to as many people as possible. He does not hide from the need to give inherent value to each student ready to apply themselves within each lesson, demanding presence from both teacher and learner.

He gives a healthy blueprint for successful self-motivation as young ATM graduate teachers in bringing to life this ingenious Method of orienting people clearly and attentively to the way we “use” our bodies in movement - for whatever purpose we desire. Andrew’s enthusiasm brings richness to the conversation, challenging us to develop both with and within the Feldenkrais Method.

Andrew Gibbons: https://bodyofknowledge.me

Feldenkrais Moving into the Unknown: [email protected]

Hosted by: Heidi Carroll, Libby Murray, and Kym McGregor.