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With the pandemic constraining travel and social contact, we have created new ways to offer the program and make use of the positive aspects of joining together from many distant places.
Update, Jan 20. Our hope had been that COVID guidelines would allow some gathering during the first segment, but this has not happened. Thus our first segment, February 28–March 20, will be online. As with most Feldenkrais trainings, we’ll begin by observing ourselves, immersing in our own somatic experiences. It’s an amazing opportunity to be safe at home while launching what will be an incredible journey. Watch a video describing the change. For future segments, we are still committed to a hybrid approach for the Kelowna Feldenkrais® Teacher Training. That means that those who can travel will come for an in-person experience and those who cannot participate in-person will join via the internet. This is because we anticipate that most foreign nationals will not be able to travel to Canada (see the Canadian Gov’t Notice.) Anybody in Canada who is concerned about travel is also welcome to participate online. We are confident that this first segment (the first of 12 segments), of the training will be deeply meaningful through the online experience as it contains a lot of Awareness Through Movement® lessons, and discussions neither of which depend on hands-on contact. The hands-on learning takes place later in the training when we will all be together in the same room. A great deal of thought and planning has gone into this. We have been teaching online for many months giving us the opportunity to pool our expertise and collective creativity. We have devised a high quality immersive learning format, ensuring that those participating remotely will experience the same quality of learning as those present in the room. The teaching and all discussions which will be broadcast online via Zoom will be recorded for later reviewing. The first segment will be taught by Julie Peck, our Educational Director via Zoom as she will be required to stay in Australia. Assistant Trainers Gisele St. Hilaire and Alice Friedman, will be onsite in Kelowna and online, providing all essential supports. Local needs will be handled by Sandra Bradshaw, and technical support by Rob Black. In future segments, those who can travel to Kelowna, will meet at the Royal Anne Hotel in beautiful downtown Kelowna. Of course, we will be following all local COVID-19 guidelines including maximum gathering size, distancing and mask wearing. Don’t forget that our training week starts on Sunday morning, finishing on Friday afternoon. You may ask, “How do I know I can be successful with online learning?” That’s a great question! We have anticipated those concerns and have a 5-step process for you to develop your online learning “muscles”.
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 We are sure you have many questions about the Training and we are happy to help.
We have held three live Q&A sessions and the recordings are now available online! Come to our free online course, About the Kelowna Training, register, and view the extensive print and video content. One key area of growth and development in Feldenkrais trainings is becoming adept at creating a quality learning environment for yourself and others.
If you are doing the distance training, it will be very important for you to have your room set up to facilitate your learning. That is, learning to manipulate your environment to your best advantage - for yourself and for the trainers. That means having enough room to move around on the floor, and even room to walk around, the camera…
Learning Time Suggestions
If you are concerned about your ability to learn online, here are five steps to develop your online learning "muscle":
In addition, consider a live experience:
You can also talk with our staff (click on the name to send an email): Alice, Gisele, Rob and Sandra. Or use our handy "contact us" form. Kelowna Feldenkrais Training Accommodation Resources
These sites/groups are provided as a resource to trainees for the Kelowna Feldenkrais Training. We do not endorse these sites or their rental listings. For more information, contact Sandra (click here)
Other Accommodation Resources
 Once upon a time a long journey began. In April 2018 Rob & Sandra were chatting over coffee in Kelowna. “What if we could have a Canadian training right in our own backyard,” we joked. Soon however the talking got serious and we began to envision a collaborative training experience that would allow participants to sink deeply into their experience with a web of support from the training staff.
A few weeks later Rob happened to be in Winnipeg and talked with Gisele - who was very interested in being part of a Canadian training. By autumn we were having almost weekly conversations about possible trainers, the location and the practical aspects involved in the organization. Key to having a successful training program was bringing in Alice, who had organized two trainings in Victoria, BC. Those trainings had post-secondary status with the BC government and she had been able keep the status current even after the last training finished in 2016. Having post secondary status made organizing the training in BC a no-brainer. The final member of our team would be the educational director and although we had a short list of very worthy candidates, Julie Peck stood out as the one who aligned most closely with our team philosophy of cooperation and sharing. We were thrilled when she accepted our invitation to be part of the Kelowna training. Once we engaged Julie, we were able to apply for accreditation with the North American Training Accreditation Board and also the Private Training Board of the province of British Columbia. We were working together at distances - Julie in Perth Australia, Sandra in Kelowna, Alice in Salt Spring Island, Rob in Calgary and Gisele in Winnipeg. We all had experienced various aspects of online learning but had no idea that the COVID pandemic would see many of these ideas put to use in ways we hadn’t dreamt would be necessary. In spite of a 9 months postponement the training began on February 28, 2021 with all the trainees participating from their own homes. We took a leap of faith 3 years ago and in spite of all the challenges were able to stay focused on the dream and provide a quality training program that is the first of its kind. We are the first training to offer the first segment completely on-line. As soon as it’s safe we will be meeting in Kelowna but in the meantime the richness of what we are offering in this training program is evident in the positive comments we have had from all the trainees. |
Disclaimer: Please note that in certain states, or countries, professional practice may be subject to licensing laws limiting their professional practice unless the graduate has (a) certain license(s) and that accreditation of this program by the Feldenkrais Guild of North America (FGNA) does not indicate that this program meets local or state laws for post-secondary or vocational training. Further, neither ATM™ nor FI™ may be practiced professionally until the person has graduated from an accredited training.
In Canada, the following are registered service marks or certification marks of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America: Feldenkrais®, Functional Integration®, Awareness Through Movement®, L´intégration fonctionnelleMD, Prise de conscience par le mouvementMD. The following are trademarks, service marks or certification marks of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America: ATM™, FI™, Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher™, Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner™, Feldenkrais™, and Feldenkrais Method™.