On the picture-is-worth-1,000-words principle, I’ll
leave this space for my students to depict the aspects
of my approach that they find most serviceable:
“Olivia is one of the most sympathetic people
I know, always complimenting. There’s nothing
you want to do more than go on because you’re
getting all this praise. I work in an academic atmosphere
where the opposite is the case; people are always
criticizing each other. Now I tell my own students
I hope they’ll have fun and I’ll do my
best to help them.”
“Olivia has a different touch from other Feldenkrais
teachers — firm and deep into the joint. She
makes connections between bodywork and feelings and
(with her training as a licensed psychotherapist)
she can also discuss them.”
“My emotional state was so tied to the physical
pain that it simply didn’t work for me to do
bodywork that kept them apart. Olivia helped my physical
and emotional symptoms simultaneously.”
“Basically it comes down to her hands. Olivia
gathers information with her hands as well as through
seeing and hearing. She goes in and spirals through
the fiber in a way that’s noninvasive, nonforceful,
and produces results; it helps decrease pain, shift
your body image, and give you more dimensions.”
“Olivia pulls in so many modalities: hands-on
skills, listening, reflecting, seeing, suggesting,
following, interacting, being mindful, being intuitive
and creative, having a sense of humor, and of course
her academic prowess. She’s got the muscle to
contain it all, so that each session is very different
and unique to each person.”
“I never felt I was in charge when I went to
a doctor. Here I feel that this is some sort of collaboration.”
“When I walk away from a session with Olivia
I feel like I’ve gotten four extra hours of
sleep and a few drinks.”
“This work gets to the core of things. It has
been very practical for real-world movements like
lifting, typing, walking, sitting down, and standing
up.”
“After Functional Integration, I felt the ground
much more and also a wave of self acceptance.”
“If you’re coming from an entirely different
mindset, Olivia can start with you there. She integrates
and bridges a lot of teachings without making anybody
feel uncomfortable.”
“It appealed to me that Olivia is a specialist
in trauma work. There’s a lot she can do with
voice if being touched feels like too much.”
“It has been a Godsend to have someone who
understands and can help me with the complex mental,
emotional, and physical components of being a performing
musician.”
“She gave me the tools to listen to my body
as I would a piece of music.”
“Olivia has a reputation for working wonders
upon stressed musicians.”
“She was an inspiration to me to enroll in
a Feldenkrais training program. Without her, I would
have been in an entirely different place.”
“In training teachers, she can be constructive
without shaming or blaming in any way and encouraging
without being overbearing. She is detail oriented,
very responsive on follow-through, and uses good teaching
metaphors. People feel heard, validated, and valued
members of the class.”
“Within the Feldenkrais community, Olivia is
the one who always expects that little bit higher
level of response, asks those extra questions, allows
the expectation to rise and then people come to meet
it. She brings us to a higher level.”
