Courses, workshops and individual lessons to help you move more freely and live life to the full

Life is inseparable from movement. Without movement, life simply cannot happen. Movement-for-life presents a programme of courses and lessons in the best methods available to help you move more easily and naturally, free from tension, stress, discomfort or pain. They include the Feldenkrais Method, CFR (Cortical Field Reeducation), Pilates and other forms of bodywork.

Movement-for-life events all take place at Casa Ana, the beautiful mountain retreat in the Alpujarras, Andalucia, southern Spain.

Individual sessions in CFR are always available at Casa Ana. Simply contact Anne Hunt at info@casa-ana.com for booking information. The next Movement-for-Life residential workshop, entitled Walking With Pleasure, takes place in August. This is the first in a series of courses which will be announced later in the year, details below:

Walking with pleasure

Rediscover the ease and joy of walking …unwind at a heavenly mountain retreat in Southern Spain.

Dates: Wednesday 6 — Sunday 10 August 2008

Feldenkrais and CFR: The methods and what others say

Workshop teachers: Carol Lessinger and Anne Hunt

Accommodation: Casa Ana in Las Alpujarras, Andalucia

Information & bookings: Prices and how to book

• Is your walking pleasurable or uncomfortable?
• Would you like it to be more enjoyable?
• Would you like to walk with less effort and more ease?
• Does walking feel like an expression of your aliveness?

As children, after we had accomplished the great feat of learning to walk, walking became just part of “the way we are”. As adults, we rarely wonder how well we move, or how we could improve our walking. Often, as the years go by, accidents or illness intrude upon our ability and our movement becomes less spontaneous, less free and sometimes even painful.

This workshop introduces you to the Feldenkrais Method and CFR (Cortical Field Reeducation).

“The exercises are so ingenious and so simple"
Yehudi Menuhin

These revolutionary techniques use rich, gentle, intelligent movement sequences to help you improve your walking at any age or fitness level. We’ll move out of old, restrictive habits into new areas of choice and learn how we can improve the way we move for as long as we live.

The Feldenkrais Method and CFR (Cortical Field Reeducation)

Feldenkrais and CFR are revolutionary methods for improving the body’s ability to move. Both use experiential learning and increased awareness of movement to improve the individual’s flexibility, co-ordination and posture, leading to ease and comfort in everyday movements.

This form of learning was pioneered by Dr Moshe Feldenkrais, a physicist and judo expert who devoted 40 years of his life to understanding movement and human functioning. CFR was developed in California in the 1980’s by Harriet Goslins, after training with Feldenkrais.

What others say about Feldenkrais and CFR

“Feldenkrais is the most sophisticated and effective method I have seen for the prevention and reversal of deterioration of function. We’re condemning millions of people to a deteriorated old age that’s not necessary”.
Margaret Mead Ph.D. Anthropologist

“During the CFR intensive, I noticed decreases in pain not only in my neck, but also in my lower back, knees and feet. In traditional physical therapy, I fought my body (and feared re-injury); in CFR, I found my body (and let it relax)…”
Leanora Perri

“Feldenkrais has studied the body in movement with a precision that I have found nowhere else. He perfected hundreds of exercises of exceptional value.”
Peter Brook, Film and Stage Director, Author

“The exercises are so ingenious and so simple.”
Yehudi Menuhin

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The Teachers

Carol Lessinger trained with Feldenkrais and has been giving Feldenkrais workshops for over 30 years at institutions, including The University of Utah. For the past 10 years, she has co-led CFR workshops with its founder, Harriet Goslins. Carol is devoted to the role that movement plays in health at every level of consciousness.

Anne Hunt’s background is in classical and world music. She first came across CFR in 2001 when seeking medical help for a shoulder injury. Impressed and heartened by the results of a CFR workshop she continued practising CFR and in 2005 she began a practitioner training in California with Harriet Goslins. Anne’s aim is to develop CFR in Europe through a somatic education programme at Casa Ana in southern Spain.

Casa Ana

Casa Ana is an exceptionally beautiful mountain retreat in the Alpujarra region of Andalucia, Spain. It offers stylish and comfortable accommodation for small groups, delicious meals and quiet spaces for personal work and for workshops. The 400 year old house is surrounded by terraces and gardens and the scenery and tranquillity are unsurpassed. More information on the house and its facilities is available on this site.

In between workshop sessions there will be time to enjoy being in this most beautiful part of Spain. There are walks starting from the front door of Casa Ana; majestic mountain scenery; swimming; and endless opportunities for siestas in the Casa Ana garden.

Las Alpujarras

The Alpujarras is a stunningly beautiful mountain area on the southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada range in Andalucia. It is situated about 90 minutes drive south from the historic city of Granada, and the same distance north of the Mediterranean sea.

To explore the Alpujarras is to step back in time. For many centuries the area was populated by the Moors who left their mark on the landscape: everywhere you look there are terraced fields, mediaeval mule paths and an incredibly sophisticated, hand-constructed irrigation system with hundreds of kilometres of water channels (acequias) and tiny reservoirs (alberquas). For a thousand years these have provided water from the high sierras to every village and every meadow, almond grove and vegetable garden in the area. This system is still in use today.

The Alpujarras is famous for its white villages, clinging precariously to the mountainsides. This too shows the legacy of the Moors: the jumbles of flat-roofed, rammed earth dwellings are not seen anywhere else in Spain but closely resemble the building style of the Atlas mountains of Morocco.

For anyone who enjoys walking, horseback riding or mountain biking, the Alpujarras is a paradise of winding paths and stunning views. It is also renowned for the abundant variety of its flora and fauna - the Sierra Nevada is home to more than 2,100 plant species, over 80 of them unique, and many rare species of butterflies, insects, and birds. At certain times of the year you can see 65 - 70 different species of butterfly in a week.

See elsewhere on this site for more information about the area, about its local amenities and on how to get to Casa Ana in Las Alpujarras.

Prices

Workshop price: EUR 485.

This includes accommodation for 4 nights, meals and tuition fees. It does not include flights or airport transfers. Rooms are shared with one other person. Single rooms are available for an additional EUR 15/20 per night (subject to availability).

Carol Lessinger will also be available at Casa Ana for private work with individuals from 10th to 13th August. Cost: EUR 70 per session (lasting up to 90 minutes) or EUR 240 for four sessions (1 per day), plus board and lodging from EUR 60 per night.

How to book

In order that the workshop leaders can give maximum personal attention to each participant, there are only 8 places available on this workshop. Early booking is strongly advised.

To book a place or for more information contact Anne at Casa Ana, tel: 0034 958 766 270 or email: info@casa-ana.com

 

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