Louise Rothols, M.A.F.G. Certified
Feldenkrais Practitioner
Who Am I?
My first experience of the Feldenkrais Method was in 2001. I
was working in the UK and training to become a Kinesiologist.
I attended a one-day Feldenkrais workshop in London and had a
vague idea about what the workshop was about. The day began
with doing familiar movements, like rolling and progressed to
movements that were novel, if somewhat bizarre, in my way of
experience. My rational mind could not explain how this way
of moving on the floor could bring such vitality, exhilaration and
the feeling of transformation. My curiosity was piqued. This
workshop experience marked a major turning point in my life. It
changed the way I wanted to work.
I began attending 'Awareness through Movement' classes in East
London and soon decided that I wanted to learn and share this work
with others. I started training in the Feldenkrais Method in
2002.
During the next three years I enjoyed every moment of my time in
Biel/Neuchatel, Switzerland. I graduated in August 2005.
Back in Australia I set up a private practice in Melbourne's
inner-eastern suburbs for adults and children.
In 2007 I was introduced to the Anat Baniel Method. The following
year I visited Anat Baniel's Clinic in San Francisco where I was
able to observe her work and her colleague's work assisting
children to explore their learning potential through movement. I
was impressed with the scope of change that could be provided for
children with learning challenges.
I completed Anat Baniel's Child Mastery Program in 2010.
I currently work with infants to adults of all ages with a wide
range of learning challenges or physical discomfort. Together we
seek ways to open a learning path towards a clearer sense of self
and to improve the relationship of the physical to how one feels
about one's self. Experiential movement is the basis for
cognitive and physical change.
Children
I work with movement development.
Cerebral Palsy, Brachial Plexus Injury, Dyspraxia, Klippel Feil
Syndrome, Acquired Brain Injury, Down Syndrome, Genetic
Abnormalities and many other syndromes. It is not necessary to
have a diagnosis. You may just notice that your child is needing
help in certain areas and getting frustrated by not being able to
work something out.
When I start working with a child I am less interested in the
diagnosis/pathology than I am with where that child is in terms of
their development and how I can create a successful learning
situation that follows the child's interests or picks up where the
gaps are in the child's self-learning and awareness. The work is
play-based and aims to evoke deep neurological connections in the
brain to encourage maturation of the nervous system.
My role is to create ways to make this happen.
How can the work provide the most effective learning environment
for your child?
I recommend that initially you work intensively. Your child might
visit once a day a few times in the first week or come once a week
for e.g. three weeks. Following this initial intensive cluster of
lessons, we can then discuss the way forward.
Parents say that working in this way helps their child to be more
confident and more curious about the world around them. Working
over consecutive days or weeks allows us to build on relevant
themes individual to the needs that present on the day of the
session.