My guest for this podcast is Dr. Frank Wildman. Frank was one of the first people in America trained by Moshe Feldenkrais to teach movement lessons based on his method. He has been teaching somatic education practices for more than four decades.

Frank has undergraduate degrees in biology and dance, and a doctorate in somatic psychology. He has studied with many teachers associated with the human potential movement, including Anna Halprin, Stanley Keleman, Gene Gendlin, and Will Schutz.

I became aware of Frank's work in the early 2000s, through his Intelligent Body series of movement lessons. It was my first real introduction to Feldenkrais, and remains one of my favorite sources of lessons. Frank is also the author of several excellent books, including A Busy Person's Guide to Movement, which I highly recommend.

A few years ago I was very surprised to receive a phone call from Frank out of the blue saying that he liked my writing. I was thrilled to hear that, and we've had some interesting phone conversations since then.

In this podcast we talked mostly about Frank's background as a dancer and his earliest introduction to Feldenkrais. We also talked about many other subjects that will be of interest to students of mind-body practices, including:

* how learning to become more aware of the body is like wine-tasting

* the different perspectives from which to sense the body, and how these may be different in sports, dance and therapy.

* how culture affects movement, including why Germans like the Feldenkrais Method

* the deep connection between habits of movement and habits of mind, and how to explore the possibility for forming new habits

* the potential drawbacks from having too much attention on the body, and the importance of having the right kind of attention

If you have any interest in mind/body practices, I'm sure you will enjoy this podcast.

Links

Here is a link to Frank’s website, where you can information about his books, audio lessons and other products.

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