Alan S. Questel , GCFT/TCM*
SANTA FE, NM
Alan S. Questel is known for his clarity, creativity and down to earth style of teaching. He brings a depth of understanding, humor and a gentle human perspective to the learning of the Method and creates lively conditions for learning.
Trained by Dr. Feldenkrais (Amherst 1983), Alan has lectured and taught at hospitals, colleges and FELDENKRAIS® Professional Training Programs throughout the U.S., Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Japan, Taiwan and Canada, teaching people from all walks of life.
He has taught at Princeton University, S.U.N.Y. College at Purchase, the New York Open Center, the New Actors Workshop, NYC, The Institute for Transpersonal Psychology, Palo Alto, CA and at Mother Teresa’s Shishu Bhavan in Calcutta, India. An actor before becoming interested in the FELDENKRAIS METHOD®, Alan worked and toured with Jerzy Grotowski (My Dinner With Andre) and Paul Sills (Second City, Chicago and Story Theatre).
He became an Assistant Trainer in 1986 and earned his accreditation as a Trainer in 1994. He has taught in over 40 FELDENKRAIS® Professional Training Programs worldwide.
One of his great interests is the embodiment of creativity and he has developed a body of work for performers utilizing the FELDENKRAIS METHOD®. Alan sees the FELDENKRAIS METHOD®as a means for individual maturation, and aspires towards making this appreciable and concrete for his students both in training programs and in his practice.
Alan has directed and co-directed programs in Bronxville, New York; Marin and Sonoma Counties, California; Phoenix, Arizona; Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth, Australia; Malmo, Sweden; Cali, Colombia. He is currently Educational Director in Brussels, Belgium; Aurillac, France and Santa Fe, New Mexico where he makes his home.
Alan is also the creator of the DVD program ‘Pregnant Pauses-Movement for Moms’ and has produced 21 audio sets of public workshops in the FELDENKRAIS METHOD® and author of Practice Intentional Acts of Kindness…and Like Yourself More; and Creating Creativity-Embodying the Creative Process.
*GCFP/T-Guild Certified FELDENKRAIS© PractitionerCM and Trainer
Deborah Bowes DPT, GCFT
Deborah is known for her clarity and depth of clinical experience gained from over 30 years of teaching in private practice, schools, hospitals and clinics. Before the pandemic, she co-owned the Feldenkrais Center for Movement and Awareness in San Francisco, California. The center closed after 33years due to Covid-19 limitations. She is now working online teaching Awareness Through Movement classes, and intensive Feldenkrais learning courses for Pelvic Health, Chronic Pain, Self-touch for ‘touch hunger’, Abdominals in Action, Feldenkrais Fundamentals and Mind Mapping.
Her experience as a Feldenkrais Trainer includes work in over 35 programs in the US, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Germany, Belgium and Colombia. She brings the skills and knowledge from intensive study and practice in the field of somatics, from her education as a physical therapist and ongoing practice and study of Tai Chi Ch’uan, Qigong, yoga, sensory awareness, meditation, and dance. She holds a Doctorate in Physical Therapy and is adjunct faculty at Saybrook University, teaching Movement Modalities for Wellness.
She describes her practice philosophy:
“Feldenkrais Method® allows me to creatively work with all kinds of people of all ages, even in situations where it seems hopeless. Engaging people in a pleasant process of learning about themselves to improve the quality of their life. The improvement can be in any area of thinking, moving, sensing and feeling. My work nourishes me as well as my students.”
Susan Hillier
Susan Hillier is an experienced Feldenkrais practitioner as well as a certified Trainer and Education Director. She has taught in many Feldenkrais programs in the Asia-Pacific region and in Europe. She also teaches and researches in the area of clinical neuroscience (Professor of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, Adelaide, South Australia) and is the author of over 150 scholarly papers in the area.
Yvo Mentens
Yvo took his first Feldenkrais class more than 30 years ago. He graduated from the 2009 professional training in Paris with Myriam Pfeffer. He studied with some of Moshe Feldenkrais’ first assistants and alumni from the Amherst and San Francisco trainings. He is the co-founder of Feldenkrais Education and teaches in their professional training programs in France and Belgium. Yvo served as an active member of the European Feldenkrais organisation ETC, and as a vice-president of the International Feldenkrais Federation.
Before being a Feldenkrais practitioner, Yvo worked in varied professional domains. He holds master degrees in Criminology and Sociology and is a certified Pain Reprocessing Therapist. Previously, Yvo was a TV anchor on national Belgian television and worked internationally as an actor and theater director. Next to his private Feldenkrais practice, he is a professor of physical theatre, comedy and Feldenkrais at the renowned Paris National Conservatory of dramatic art.
He is known for his humor, empowering pedagogy and for the safe, inclusive and engaging learning environment he creates – a space where everyone can develop their own unique potential.
Stephanie Spink
Stephanie Spink is a Feldenkrais Trainer known for her clear and practical teaching style. With a background in Physiotherapy, she began studying the Feldenkrais Method in 1982 for both its personal and professional benefits. She became a Trainer in the Feldenkrais Method in 2010, enabling her to combine her passion for learning with facilitating the learning of others. When not travelling and teaching in trainings, she maintains a Feldenkrais Private Practice in Eltham, Melbourne. One of her passions is to facilitate the learning of others in order that they may be enabled to live their lives more fully, easily and with greater pleasure through self- understanding.
Kathy James
Kathy James draws upon diverse disciplines, including the Feldenkrais Method, Biology, Ontology of Language, Aikido and various other movement arts, offering a unique perspective about how to bring about meaningful change. She studied with Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais in 1980 and graduated from his last US Training in 1983. She is Assistant Trainer, has taught in many accredited Professional Feldenkrais Training Programs, leads workshops throughout the US and mentoring programs for Feldenkrais Practitioners and trainees. She holds a fourth degree black belt in Aikido and trained as a professional dancer for many years. Kathy lives in Petaluma, CA where she maintains a private practice and online classes.
Julie Peck
Julie Peck has been a Certified Feldenkrais Trainer since 2003 and is the co-author of the recently published “Moving From the Inside Out”. She finds her private practice, being an Educational Director, teaching in both trainings and advanced trainings, and sharing her experiences with colleagues, students and clients has allowed her personal learning journey to continue alongside theirs. Her particular joy is in finding ways to allow others to develop the ‘passion’ to direct their learning to find their ‘signature’ in bringing this work to others.
Arlyn Zones
Arlyn Zones (MA Theatre Arts) graduated from Dr. Feldenkrais last training program in 1983 and later helped to train students in more than 100 Feldenkrais Professional Training Programs worldwide. She has been the Educational Director for Trainings in Canada, the United States and Holland. Arlyn has been involved in teaching Public Workshops, Advanced Practitioner Trainings and the mentoring of Practitioners and Assistant Trainers for many years.
As a young practitioner she was invited to bring the Feldenkrais Method® into a special school for children with learning differences. She has also taught workshops for Pediatric Therapists as well as Feldenkrais® Practitioners on the application of the Method to the work with children and infants. She has maintained an ongoing private practice working with infants, children and adults for the past several decades.
Assistant Trainer
Pei-Jen Tsai
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, who graduated from Laban Center London. She received Outstanding Performance from BBC Talents 2000; she represented Taiwan and received the DanceWEB scholarship from ImpulsTanz Festival in Vienna Festival and collaborated with many European contemporary choreographers. Her stage experience includes Ariadone Butoh Company, himherandit.productions; U Theatre Taiwan. and Taiyuan
Puppet Theatre. In 2008, she completed the Feldenkrais Teachers Training in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After returning to Taiwan, she served as the translator for many senior Feldenkrais trainers, including Mia Segal, Leora Gaster, Ruthy Alon, Scott Clark, Paul Rubin, Alan Questel and Arlyn Zones. In 2019, she was trained in the Jeremy Krauss Appoach for special needs children in Japan. She has given workshops and lectures at Klassiski Listdansskolinn Iceland; Laban Center London; Butoh UK; Tainan University of the Arts; Somatic Department of Taitung University; Taipei Medical University; Huashan Arts and Culture Center; Core Pilates Center; 123 Dance Space; Cloud Gate Dance Studio; National Theatre summer program; Google Taiwan and Coasting Physical Therapy Center. Currently she is an assistant professor in the Dance Department of Taipei National University of the Arts, is the President of Feldenkrais Guild Taiwan, and provides functional integration lessons for performing artists, children with special needs, and educators in various fields.