Feldenkrais® · Rohnert Park, Sonoma County
Move with more ease, and less pain
Gentle one-to-one lessons in a quiet home studio in Rohnert Park. For pain that has not resolved, for balance you can trust, and for moving well at any age. Fully clothed, hands-on, never forced.
Not sure if this is right for you? Call (707) 583-9472 and ask.
You have not lost the movement. You have forgotten it.
Muscles do not tighten on their own. Your nervous system holds them, and after enough years of holding, it stops registering that it is doing it. The muscle feels stiff. It is not stiff. It is being held, and you can no longer feel your own hand on the switch.
That is why stretching buys you twenty minutes and then it comes back. Stretching pulls on the muscle. It does not reach the part of you that is doing the holding.
A Feldenkrais lesson goes to the switch. You move slowly and gently, with close attention, until the movement is something you can feel again. Once you can feel it, you can change it. That is why the change tends to stay.
A great deal of what gets filed under aging is this, and it can be learned at any age.
Group class in Sebastopol
Release Your Neck & Shoulders
4 Thursdays from October 29 · 9–10 AM · $20 drop-in · Sebastopol
Same method, done as a class. You follow spoken instructions on a mat instead of being guided by hand.
The Feldenkrais Method®
The Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education uses gentle movement and directed attention to help you find easier, more effective ways of doing what matters to you. You can expand your range of motion, improve flexibility and coordination, and rediscover your natural capacity for graceful, efficient movement. Because how you move is how you move through life, these changes often carry over into your thinking, emotional balance, and problem solving.
The Method draws on physics, biomechanics, and a practical understanding of how humans learn and develop. As Moshe Feldenkrais put it, “We move according to our perceived self-image.” As your awareness grows, habits and unnecessary tension become visible, and new options appear. That sensitivity is what lets you live more fully, efficiently, and comfortably.
There are two ways to experience the work.
Awareness Through Movement® lessons are taught in a group, with students following the teacher’s verbal guidance.
Functional Integration® sessions are one-on-one lessons in which the fully clothed student is guided through touch, movement, and words.
What a lesson is like
Sixty minutes, one to one. Here is the whole thing, so nothing is a surprise.
First 10 minutes
We talk. What do you want to do more easily, and what gets in the way? I watch you do a few ordinary things, like standing up, turning, or reaching, so I can see how you currently organize yourself.
The next 40
You lie fully clothed on a low padded table, wider than a massage table. I move you slowly with my hands. Your job is not to help or analyze. It is only to notice where your bones are moving. Nothing is forced. Most people find it deeply restful.
Last 10 minutes
You stand up and walk, and we see together what changed. I usually give you one small thing to play with at home. Nothing that needs discipline.
What people notice
Turning further to look behind you, without the effort
Standing and sitting without bracing
Fuller, quieter breathing
Steadier walking on stairs and uneven ground
Less pain, and less of the guarding that feeds it
More range in dance, sport and martial arts
What clients say
“Working with Vered is a joy. The beautiful, soulfully slow pace brings me to a peaceful place. On a scale of 10, I feel an 11.”
As a trigger point myotherapist, I feel the profoundly calming, integrating, soft energy of the Feldenkrais process as a completion of the other body/mind treatments in my own healing. Working with Vered is a joy, and I am able to trust completely how the beautiful, soulfully slow pace brings me to a peaceful place. Those deeper, often hidden and stuck, encapsulated body experiences are given allowance and new freedom to let go, in a soft, flowing way that lasts.
“The session was so lovely. I felt very safe and very comfortable as Vered moved my body in ways that felt attuned and intentional.”
The movement felt very educational for my body and really boosted my proprioception and body awareness. I have noticed that I am more grounded on my feet. I have had ankle issues that began from a very bad sprain when I was 13, and I am 30 now. I am walking differently and just feeling force move through my body differently. It is really amazing, and the change has been lasting.
From my experience with Vered, I think Feldenkrais is a very beneficial modality. From a body awareness and neuromuscular reeducation standpoint, I feel a tremendous benefit, and I feel like my body is more intelligent with how it organizes force transmission through my joints. I’m excited to experience more with Vered and deepen my body’s understanding of movement.
What it costs, and how many you need
Private lesson
One to one, in the Rohnert Park studio
$120 / 60 min
Most people notice something after the first lesson. If Feldenkrais is going to make a meaningful difference for you, you will usually know by the fourth to sixth. That is a small, checkable commitment, and I would rather you knew it upfront.
Three or four lessons is where the change tends to start holding on its own.
Questions people ask
Including the ones most people are too polite to ask out loud.
Who you will be working with
Vered Ben-Dor
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner since 1994 · Rohnert Park, California
I trained for four years at Emerson College in England and qualified in 1994, which means I have been doing this work for more than thirty years. Underneath it sit decades of Tai Chi, Qi Gong and dance, which is where I learned to watch how a person actually moves.
I see clients one to one in a quiet studio at my home in Rohnert Park, and I have taught in Sonoma County wellness settings for years.
Book a session
Pick a time that works for you, or call first if you would rather talk it through. Rohnert Park, close to Cotati, Penngrove, Petaluma and south Santa Rosa.
