Virginia J. Yao, owner of Empowering Healing Journeys, LLC, will present a short talk on the Feldenkrais Method at Ethical Culture in Maplewood on Sunday, December 28 at 11 a.m. The audience will participate in a short Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lesson.
Yao will outline how Feldenkrais lessons train the brain to relearn sustainable movement patterns. In her own case, it helped her recover from a bicycle accident, which inspired her in 2008 to become a Feldenkrais practitioner. She works with teens, adults and seniors who want to move more efficiently, alleviate chronic or acute pain, or restore movement after injury or stroke.
The Feldenkrais Method was developed during the 1940s and 50s by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais and is based on his studies of human movement development to improve functional, integrated movement. The lessons teach students how to 1) develop their awareness of unconscious, habitual patterns that promote pain, poor balance and/or stiffness and 2) move more simply and efficiently. When students realize they have choices in movement, they begin to recognize and make conscious mental, emotional, spiritual and behavioral choices that align with their values and ethics. By living consciously, a person accepts responsibility for their healing, wellness and health and in turn, promotes building positive, healthy relationships with others.
Virginia obtained her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from UC Berkeley and her master’s and doctorate degrees at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of the Yeshiva University in New York City. She became a Guild-Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner in 2008 and taught Feldenkrais lessons at HealthWell Physical Therapy in San Francisco for 6.5 years and in her private practice. She attained her Clinical Herbalism certification in 2017 while working at the University of New Mexico Cancer Center in Albuquerque, NM. She was the Principal Research Scientist at PhageNova Bio, Inc. in Summit, NJ from 2018-2023. She became a Certified Healing Touch Practitioner in 2024.
Virginia J. Yao: “The Feldenkrais Method”
Sunday, Dec. 28, at 11a.m.
Ethical Culture Society, 516 Prospect Street
Free and open to all
