Frequently Asked Questions

Regular FELDENKRAIS(R) Guild accredited trainings are 160 days over three and one half years. Your training is 90 days over two years and two months. How can your training provide the same, or better outcome, as you claim?

This is a very good question. We are accustomed to believe that more is better and for many things in our lives that is true.
This training program is primarily focused on the biological process of learning. In biological processes longer is not always better. Every process needs to have enough time to form and mature, as with a child learning to crawl, or speak. However, the opposite can also be true. You will not want to stop a baby that is already crawling from spontaneously pulling himself up to standing. No one will tell the baby,“don’t stand up, you should wait longer before you are ready.” On the contrary, everyone will be thrilled for that child and will delight in his progress.
Ms. Baniel, after 20 years of training people, realized that 160 days of basic training was too long and unnecessary. Most adults, over the years, lose touch with their original capacity and vibrancy of learning. Rather than accommodate to a more sluggish learning process over an extended period of time, Ms. Baniel brings trainees to learn at the rate and intensity found in babies and children.
Ms. Baniel structured this training to powerfully access the trainees' ability to learn. Within a few days the trainees begin to explore their new found skills and knowledge. By the end of the 90 days, they are fluent in the field, the same way a child learns a language.

So what are the Mastery programs?

The mastery programs are a direct continuation of the basic 90-day training. When students graduate the basic training they have acquired a new profession and are ready to practice.
However, as with other fields that encompass great knowledge, like medicine, music, art, sports etc., there is plenty room to continue studying, to specialize and to become masterful.
The practitioner has the opportunity to acquire more and more knowledge and skill, specializing in three important areas of great demand that enhance one another: Children; Vitality and Anti-Aging; and High Performers.

How soon can I start practicing Transformation Movement Lessons (TML) and Functional Synthesis (FS) as an Anat Baniel Method Practitioner?

You are encouraged to begin teaching the Group TMLs after the first or second segment, either with your current clients in your existing profession, or with friends and family that do not have severe health issues. Ms Baniel believes that her training is like learning a new language that includes new theory, understanding, knowledge, skills and personal growth, so just like a child, she would like her trainees to immerse in this new field and safely experiment with it until they master it.
As for FS, the hands on work, those who are already therapists are encouraged to integrate what they have learned in their practice as soon as they feel comfortable doing so. All others are encouraged to practice on healthy friends and family. After successful graduation from the 90 day training, they may begin to charge for such lessons.

I’m already a professional working with people (PT, PTA, OT, MT, Speech Therapist, Psychotherapist, Music Teacher, Acting Teacher, special needs children teacher etc.), do I have to switch professions in order to utilize what I have learned in the training?

Not at all. You will find out that within the first few days you will be able to start applying the principles and techniques you learn in the training with your clients. Ms. Baniel’s commitment is to teach her trainings in such a way that her trainees have great freedom to creatively apply what they learn in both their professional and personal lives.

If I take this program, will my services be covered by health insurance?

By taking this training you become a teacher, not a medical health professional. Most insurance companies, at this time, will not cover such services. However, at times, Ms. Baniel’s work with special needs children, musicians and neurologically impaired clients were covered by their health insurance. Hopefully over time, the insurance companies will realize the great savings they can have by supporting improved health through educational means.

I suffer from pain due to old injury (e.g. whiplash, falls, breaks, back surgery, repetitive motion injury, partial paralysis and more), can I still participate in this training?

Usually yes, unless your condition makes it dangerous or too demanding for you to participate in the movement lessons. Your physician will be the one to make that call. However, numerous people who came in with such trouble and limitations found the training process helped them heal physically, mentally and emotionally in miraculous ways.

I heard that the method is good for people with neurological problems. I am a young and fit person. Will this training be of any interest to me?

Absolutely yes. Ms. Baniel’s passion is to help people reach their personal best. The process of growth and acquisition of skills is the same whether you are a handicapped child, a healthy child, a brilliant athlete or musician, or suffering from some of the typical aging symptoms. Ms. Baniel structures her training in such a way that every single participant finds a wealth of personal transformation and growth for themselves. Even those who came in for strictly professional reasons are amazed at their own accomplishments in their ability to move, feel, think, create and relate.

I am a Yoga teacher and a personal trainer, is this training something I should look into?

Absolutely. All exercise modalities work by telling and showing people the movements they should do. They are also shown the “right” way of doing any given movement. In other words, instruction and imitation are the primary tools to try and get people to acquire new movement skills. In this method and training you will learn the process by which anyone can learn to do a movement based on the person’s internal sensations and feelings of themselves, rather than imitation.
Anyone who ever tried to make a stiff 40 year old twist around themselves in sitting into a Yoga position, knows how painful and hopeless it can be. Anyone who tried to make a baby that can’t crawl for some reason, crawl, knows the hours, days and months of repeated attempts that fail. In this training you will learn to unlock the underlying process and requirements for any brain to learn something it couldn’t do before.
Obviously if you are in a field where you are a movement teacher of any kind, this method will move you to a whole new level that cannot be found elsewhere today.

I have no desire to practice the Anat Baniel Method. Can I join this training for my own personal goals only?

Yes. The training program is a remarkable opportunity to immerse in this life changing process. Private lessons, tapes and seminars are wonderful ways to benefit from the Anat Baniel Method. This training is the most intensive opportunity to do so. Ms. Baniel has had parents, grandparents, teenagers, lawyers,musicians, athletes, and psychologists, young and old, join her trainings for their own personal reasons with no intent of becoming practitioners. Some have changed their minds and are practicing now, all have had their lives transform for the better.

If I join, am I obligated to complete the training?

No. You may leave at anytime, as you wish. Your tuition will be reimbursed to you on a prorated basis.

Can I take parts of the training in other trainings?

Since Ms. Baniel training is so different in structure and content from all other trainings that follow a much earlier model, the transition between other trainings and hers is not recommended. However, anyone from other trainings can participate in this training if they join within the first or second segment.

I am over 55, is this training for me?

Unless you have severe medical or emotional considerations, the answer is yes. You will love it. Vitality and Anti-Aging is an area of specialty of Ms. Baniel. She has proven that at any age people can become full of life, energy and intelligence.

I am planning on taking this training, is it a good idea that my husband does it with me?

If your economical and family situation permits, it is absolutely fabulous for husband and wife to take the training at the same time. You will both grow together, support each other in the process and understand what each of you is experiencing. Frequently after the husband or wife took the training, the other spouse joins the following training.

The Anat Baniel Method and FELDENKRAIS(R) Method are amazing. How come so few people have heard of it?

The work is becoming better known every day, and with your help it will grow even more quickly. Anat Baniel is very well known among highly specialized members of the medical community, including world renowned neurologists, osteopaths, and researchers. As one of the original trainers appointed by Dr. Feldenkrais, she has trained thousands of practitioners worldwide. She has a thriving private practice, which is booked four months in advance. Her seminars are always full. Many of her recent graduates have opened private practices or have brought the work to their existing careers. They have been able to do this because they are not only exceptionally well trained, but also receive special training and support to help prepare them for a thriving practice. Public knowledge of the work is growing very quickly and there is great need for qualified practitioners. Anat Baniel is working hard to train practitioners to fill this need. You can be one of the people who helps to bring this incredible work to the world.

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