Alan Freebury

After my first few years practicing Tai Chi and helping people improve relationships within their structure (Rolfing) I began my studies of Awareness Through Movement (ATM), the work of Dr. Feldenkrais. I was delighted by how ATM lessons opened my ability to sense what I was doing. Ida Rolf called her work "Structural" to emphasize that we were working with the connective tissue system in relationship to gravity, a key to balance and health. Her colleague, Moshe Feldenkrais, called his approach "Functional" to emphasize the role of our nervous system in learning, discovering options. They agreed that structure and function were inseparable aspects of integration.

I have practiced Tai Chi since 1972 in the lineage of Yang Cheng Fu (with students of Dong Ying-Chieh, Cheng Man-Ching, Chen Wei-Ming, Choy Hok Peng and Yang Sau-Chung).

After graduating with Honors at UC Berkeley (Comparative Studies of Human Development) I began Rolfing (Structural Integration), apprenticing with Ida Rolf and completing my Advanced Rolfer Certification with her in 1976.

Further studies in the 1970s with Dr. Feldenkrais, Ruthy Alon, Gaby Yaron and Mia Segal led to becoming a Feldenkrais Practitioner with Elizabeth Beringer, a Master Practitioner with Mia Segal and F.I. Assistant in Feldenkrais trainings in Europe and America. My work is informed by my Buddhist practice and 17 years as a Paramedic Firefighter and teaching emergency medicine in San Francisco.