I haven’t traveled much in recent years, but when I do travel, I book an individual Feldenkrais session with a local Feldenkrais Practitioner whenever possible. So far, in addition to the wonderful Feldenkrais sessions I’ve experienced in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, I’ve also been lucky enough to have sessions in Florence and Venice, Italy, Santa Barbara, Hawaii, and most recently, Mexico City.
Seeing a Feldenkrais Practitioner while traveling gives me a special insight into a place I’m visiting. Typically I get to see a place I wouldn’t ordinarily see, meet a local I wouldn’t ordinarily meet, talk shop with a colleague I wouldn’t ordinarily meet, see how other practitioners run their businesses, and experience a session of my favorite modality. I end up feeling better and am able to enjoy my travels all the more after a Feldenkrais appointment.
Before traveling to Mexico City in August 2022, I got in touch with Bay Area Feldenkrais Trainer Stephen Rosenholtz who teaches and has taught in Mexico for many years. He gave me some recommendations of Feldenkrais Practitioners in Mexico, and I ended up seeing Maria del Carmen Hernandez Martinez, also known as Mariacarmen. I got in touch with Mariacarmen over email and had a bit of back and forth with her - using Spanish that I learned back in high school - to set up an appointment.
It was my first time in Mexico City and I don’t know the neighborhoods. She told me her office was a bit far from where I was staying. I took an Uber over and met her secretary who let me know when “la doctora” was ready. Mariacarmen has a large office and appears to have a busy practice in which she sees children and adults.
I used my imperfect Spanish as we talked a bit about what I’d like to work on that day before I got on the table. I’ve always loved receiving Functional Integration (FI) Feldenkrais lessons known as Integración Funcional (IF) in Spanish. Since becoming a Feldenkrais Practitioner myself, I’ve realized that if I saw 100 different Feldenkrais Practitioners for 100 Functional Integration lessons, no two lessons would be exactly the same. Not only would no two be exactly the same, most would be incredibly different from every other.
True to that theory, I had unique and lovely IF with Mariacarmen. We worked on the position of my jaw and she guided me in something known as in Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement (ATM) exercises as “seesaw breathing.” Air is moved from the chest to the diaphragm, back and forth, creating up and down movement of a seesaw in one’s expansion of air from the chest to the belly. This was really interesting for me, as it was something I’d experienced only in ATM classes and never before in an FI (or IF).
Not only did I learn and experience things I’d never experienced before in any previous Functional Integration lessons, I also felt a lot better afterwards. Travel can be stressful on the body and the nervous system, and this is a great way to take care of oneself during a trip. You can find Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioners by searching the guild websites in the area you’re traveling in. Feldenkrais sessions while traveling have enhanced my travels immensely, so this is a tradition I intend to continue. If you would like to experience a Feldenkrais session in the Bay Area, click here. to get in touch with me.
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