Harmonizing in Functional Integration

with David Zemach-Bersin

In this remarkable film, David Zemach-Bersin demonstrates a highly innovative approach to Functional Integration. During nineteen FI encounters with Feldenkrais Practitioners in Devon, England, David shares a radical three-dimensional way of working that can be extremely effective and full of insights for the serious Feldenkrais Practitioner.

Almost like a two-person dance, this dynamic approach is efficacious for both Practitioner and student. It allows the Practitioner to work with the student’s essential adaptations to gravity and to support and move the student within and outside their polygon of sustentation, while sitting. And, it gives the student a bright and vivid opportunity to experience their skeletal support system, explore new options in movement, and respond in a way that improves their organization, mobility, and sense of well-being. This series exemplifies high-level Functional Integration.

Nine-hour program includes:

• Nineteen FI demos with commentary and explanation
• Five ATM lessons
• Three lectures
• Lifelong access to the program
• Option to download videos 

Functional Integration Demos:

1. Moving the Whole Self from One Vertebrae
2. The Counterbalancing Spine
3. Basic Self-Organization
4. The Relationship Between the Adductors and the Abdominals
5. The High Yield of Doing Less
6. Using the Jaw to Restore the Movement of the Neck
7. Lengthening Through Shortening
8. Arching Through Rounding
9. Restoring Symmetrical Counter-Balancing
10. The Attraction to Symmetry
11. Expanding the Quality of Sensation
12. The Teleceptors Organize the Head and Neck
13. Expanding from Zero
14. Finding the Best of the Person
15. Potentiating Action
16. Rounding to Stand Tall
17. Sensing Variance in the Spine
18. Individuating the Cervical Spine
19. The Interplay Between Vision and Organization

ATM lessons included (audio-only):

1. Articulating the Cervical Spine
2. Spiral Movements of the Spine
3. The Dynamics of Weight Shifting
4. As Above, So Below
5. Spirals with Ultra Lightness

Lectures included:

1. The Path to Soft Hands
2. The Spontaneous Self Organizing Property of Biological Systems
3. Alleviating the Problem by Relating to the Whole

About David

Senior Feldenkrais Trainer David Zemach-Bersin met Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais in 1973 and studied with him for over ten years in the U.S., England, and Israel. He also studied extensively in Israel and the U.S., with Gaby Yaron and Yochanon Rywerant, both of whom graduated from Dr. Feldenkrais' first training program. Other influences on his work have been Yang form Tai Chi, Aikido, meditation, systems biology, and phenomenology. He has maintained a private Functional Integration practice since 1977 and is recognized for his contribution to strengthening Dr. Feldenkrais’s legacy. A graduate of UC Berkeley with two years of post-graduate work in physiological psychology, David has created numerous audio and video programs for both Feldenkrais Practitioners and the general public and is the co-author of Relaxercise (HarperCollins). He is a past President of FGNA, and a co-founder of Feldenkrais Resources and the Feldenkrais Institute of New York. David has directed seventeen Feldenkrais Professional Training Programs and teaches advanced trainings around the globe. Since 2020, he has been teaching primarily online and has worked to synthesize his thinking and the profound benefits of Dr. Feldenkrais' ideas in programs for both Feldenkrais Teachers and the public,  most of which can be found at FeldenkraisAccess.com. David would like to acknowledge his debt to Mark Reese and Dennis Leri, whose intellect and friendship he greatly misses. David and his life partner, Kaethe, live in the Farmington Valley area of Connecticut.