We are never too old to learn and live in our fullest capacity as our most potent self.

I welcome creating and facilitating programs and workshops targeting specific topics or themes. This kind of program allows for intensive examination and study in a specific area of interest in one session or in a multiple-session experience. A program/workshop may be for participants similar in age or for individuals of all ages, ranging from the youthful and energetic elementary age child to the spirited and contemplative elder community. Activities in a special topic program or workshop might spotlight movement sequences from Feldenkrais Method Awareness through Movement® lessons or other Feldenkrais® inspired teachings, music-movement games, mime, story-telling, journaling, art, and time for sharing of personal experience.

Since delving into my passion for the powerful connection between music and movement as pathways for learning, the special programs and workshops I offer have expanded from academic school and university level related topics to encompass specialties which are more experiential, holistic and interdisciplinary, targeting aspects of personal growth or development of leadership capacity and skills. Regardless of topic, I prefer using experiential learning; cultivating attitudes of playfulness and self-discovery; and nourishing connectedness and community amongst participants.

Innovative workshops which I hope to facilitate include:

1. “Feldenkrais Meets Tango: Artful Leading and Following” - because I love dancing Argentinean tango and I think that Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® experiences can help a dancer dramatically improve their dance
2. “Dancing Better Through Feldenkrais® Awareness” – because I think that the association of moving+sensing+feeling+thinking+awareness can help anyone who enjoys dancing, whether the form be social dances like east coast swing, west coast swing, salsa, hip hop, ballroom dancing; Nia fusion fitness; classical ballet or more modern varieties
3. “Exploring Leadership Wellbeing” - because tango-inspired games and the heightened self-awareness cultivated from Feldenkrais experiences can help illuminate how one views oneself and acts as a leader

I also look forward to designing and teaching Feldenkrais workshops for the general public or for specific age groups. These workshops are likely to last two or three hours and target one area, such as Moving With Balance and Stability, Finding Joy In Walking, and Core Essentials and Strength.

EXAMPLES OF PROGRAMS/WORKSHOPS KATHERINE HAS DONE

For a local chapter of P.E.O. (an international women’s organization whose primary focus is providing educational opportunities for females) – a short program integrating music and movement as a pathway for strengthening their sense of community and sisterhood.

For the 2013 Women of Wisdom Conference in Seattle, Washington, and local area community groups – the program “Playfully Exploring Self-Awareness in Community Connectedness” which integrated music, movement and Feldenkrais.

For a local church group – a program about the connection between movement awareness and overall well-being, introducing the women in a women’s church group to the usefulness of movement awareness and the Feldenkrais Method®.

For local health and wellness community groups – programs about the connection between movement awareness and overall well-being. “Recreate and Enliven Whole Body Movement the Feldenkrais® Way” was delivered for the July 2015 WOW! Working on Wellness Forum, a health education program of the Dungeness Valley Health & Wellness Clinic. The weekly “Elders Journeys Through Movement” program for the Lower Elwha tribal elders was funded through a grant received by the Lower Elwha Health Center in 2013–2014.

During past decades, at the request of local school districts, instructors of university classes, university departments and professional development centers – workshops on more academic and K-12 school-related topics. Whilst working at Western State Colorado University my numerous teacher professional development workshops ranged from being directly contracted with school districts, to being offered through grant-funded projects or under the sponsorship of Western State Colorado University Summer Teacher Institute. The diversity in topics reflects my eclectic areas of expertise: district-level coordination of standards-based curriculum mapping and assessment, games-based learning for teaching elementary school science and mathematics, use of problem solving and classroom discourse in elementary mathematics teaching and learning, effective teaching and assessment practices to support English language learners, student-centered science learning and teaching methods, effective mentoring, and technology integration for K-12 schooling. Colleagues at the university level also asked me to demonstrate effective strategies to integrate technology in learning, specifically novel uses of the web camera to support and enrich student learning as well as assessment as well as the use of classroom clickers (or student response systems) for classroom assessment.

PARTICIPANTS’ EXPERIENCES & TESTIMONIALS

Thank you so much for your class on the Feldenkrais Method at our June United Methodist Women’s meeting. We all learned a little more about our bodies and how we can move more easily after your presentation. Thanks again for your time to come to our meeting and share your knowledge. Barbara, United Methodists Women

I wanted to personally thank you for the very "moving" program you presented to our P.E.O. chapter. The love and energy that filled the room was amazing. Even though many of us have known each other for years, the love that poured out (sometimes in the form of joyous tears) was amazing. I was so moved that the next day I called my wonderful daughter-in-law and in the conversation suddenly found myself telling her how much I loved her being a part of my life and our family. So the love and energy goes on and on. Thank you, Dee, P.E.O.

I came to this movement-conversation workshop with some openness and willing to go where the exercises led me. For someone who loves to move to music, it would seem easy to engage in the exercises presented. Seeking a deeper level I found myself mentally focusing on several tracks. There is just listening to the music, and there is thinking about ways to move your body in all directions and levels, which is also physical exercise. To work with another person in mirroring our moves jointly is a challenge in itself. But in working with a partner, you also must incorporate them fully in the conversation. “Do I lead or do you? Am I saying something worthwhile? How does this music move our conversation? Can I read my partner in this dance conversation?” Such was my mental chatter. The music took me over and I moved into a prayer that so enveloped me that I took over the conversation unaware how my partner wanted to move into the lead.
We too often can become immersed in our own agenda or thoughts, unable to fully listen and let the other participate in the conversation, so as in life. Therefore, are we really open enough to hear the other? When our conversation in the workshop embraced each other, I found a oneness in movement and spirit that was very powerful. This dynamic happened to a number of us. I think that this kind of workshop can bring us to a new awareness to our own fears, dominance, closure, and inattention, as well as tuning our listening skills and heartfelt connecting with another person. Rosemary, P.E.O.

A very warm thank you for the wonderful program you did for out P.E.O. group! I am so glad we were able to have you present and introduce our members to movement, music and our unspoken language. Many had never experienced this (the older generation of “keep your feelings inside”) and it was truly an eye-opener – they were still discussing it at our April meeting! Thank you again for sharing your expertise and talents with us! Joy, Corresponding Secretary for P.E.O. Chapter

WANT TO LEARN MORE?

1. Radio Interview with Todd Ortloff, KNOP radio station in Port Angeles previewing the "Recreate & Enliven Whole Body Movement the Feldenkrais Way"
2. Recreate & Enliven Whole Body Movement the Feldenkrais® Way (Slideshow for the WOW! Working on Wellness Program of the Dungeness Valley Health & Wellness Clinic, July 2015)
3. Radio Interview with Kris Steinnes, “Voices of Women” Transformation Talk Radio, about Katherine’s 2012 Women of Wisdom workshop related to improving the quality of movement in life (minutes 0:00 to 14:00 of the program)

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