Yochanan Rywerant did not create his own method, nor did he use trademarks.
This was a deliberate stance.
He taught what he referred to as the Feldenkrais Path—without additions or reinterpretations. As a teacher, his aim was to clarify and develop aspects of the work that Moshe Feldenkrais left incomplete—not by intention, but by necessity.
This included the conceptual articulation and pedagogical foundations of the profession as a systematic inquiry into action and its refinement.
To distinguish this from later reinterpretations—such as those that frame the work primarily as “movement teaching”—I use the term Classical.
Classical Feldenkrais designates a direct line from the original sources in Hebrew and English, and is firmly rooted in the theory and practice transmitted by Moshe Feldenkrais and Yochanan Rywerant [among others].
The term Classical signals continuity of a living tradition—formed in early Tel Aviv and sustained with clarity and precision.
An important principle:
Feldenkrais said that as teachers we do not imitate actions, rather we fulfill principles.
Index of contents
| § | Theme | |
|---|---|---|
1 | The meaning of classical Feldenkrais | |
2 | MF's foreword in Teaching by Handling | |
3 | Interchanging in FI's | |
4 | More about the foreword | Go to page |
PARAGRAPH 1
Why Classical Feldenkrais?
Classical Feldenkrais is an indivisible whole, grounded primarily in the writings and practices of two trainers: Moshe Feldenkrais z”l and Yochanan Rywerant z”l.
Moshe Feldenkrais’ writings constitute the original source. They are interpreted, supplemented, and completed through Yochanan Rywerant’s work. In a manner consistent with Jewish tradition, the written is complemented by the oral and by practical interpretation—most concretely through the many recordings in which the principles they developed are articulated in practice.
In three articles in this section (numbers 5, 6, and 7), I analyze material from two Hebrew books by Moshe Feldenkrais. The first is the epilogue to Autosuggestion, The Thought and the Deed (1929). I have corrected the existing translation.
The second is the extensive theoretical section combined with twelve refined model ATM lessons drawn from years of teaching at Alexander Yanai. I translate the Hebrew title as Improving the Ability: Guidance and Deed (1967). I have produced new translations and demonstrate clearly that the expression Awareness Through Movement is a translator’s cliché that inadequately reflects the comprehensive theory underlying both the practice and the learning process.
Yochanan Rywerant published a textbook in Functional Integration, Teaching by Handling: The Feldenkrais Method. It was completed during Moshe Feldenkrais’ final years and is therefore approved and included in the original body of literature. I discuss this work in depth in article 9. Rywerant also authored the training curriculum Acquiring the Feldenkrais Profession, which spans and synthesizes many years of experience in teacher training between 1974 and 2000. In addition, he published the monograph Corollary Discharge: The Forgotten Link; Remarks on the Body–Mind Problem, addressing a central and decisive function of the brain that is directly engaged in the lessons.
Both Moshe Feldenkrais and Yochanan Rywerant were active authors until their deaths. All their other publications—in text, audio, and video—are therefore also included.
To follow my reasoning about Classical Feldenkrais with ease, the reader needs access to the books in English (or other languages) to which I refer. I assume that trained teachers already have these works on their bookshelves.
I am Hebrew-speaking, trained in English, and teach in Swedish. Living within the triangulation of several languages, I share with my two teachers a sustained interest in words and their precision. On this basis, Hebrew has become a necessary reference, providing a broader and more exact understanding. From this position, I can demonstrate the carelessness—at times astonishing—of those who have assumed, as a matter of course, the mantle of Moshe Feldenkrais’ legacy.
The Hebrew original language forms an integral part of my argument. I will do my best to bridge the uncertainty for readers who are less familiar with how meaning inevitably shifts in translation and how such shifts can open the door to alternative interpretations. This requires a flexibility of mind—one that can be cultivated through practice.
Jewish civilization, culture, and religion use the same texts and images, with or without belief in God. Just as every person is unique, so is each relationship to these texts. Judaism has no creed. I draw on Jewish religious references from a secular standpoint; in this professional context, they are not intended to imply any religious commitment.
Classical Feldenkrais also distances itself from the personality cult that has developed around Moshe Feldenkrais. Referring to him by his private name—often by people who never met him—and treating him as a quasi-religious figure with a legacy of speeches obscures the sober examination of the profession and its theoretical and practical sources. Such modes of address have evolved to grant authority through anecdote and proximity—“I was there”—rather than through reference to objective material. Remarkably, this continues largely unquestioned more than forty years after his death.
The awareness correlates between intention to achievement.
PARAGRAPH 2
Here I present evidence of the close working partnership between Moshe Feldenkrais and his assistant Yochanan Rywerant. Moshe Feldenkrais wrote a foreword to Rywerant’s textbook Teaching by Handling.
I maintain that this foreword was written to provide direction for the future—for readers, trainers, and teachers alike.
The ailing and elderly Moshe Feldenkrais is unequivocal in his address to us, expressed from within a Jewish tradition of thought that was largely unknown and often incomprehensible to most teachers and trainers in the United States and elsewhere.
Yochanan Rywerant began to formalize and conceptualize material on Functional Integration already during his own training as a teacher in Tel Aviv between 1969 and 1971. Later, during the San Francisco training (1972–1975), he was encouraged by Thomas Hanna to compile this material into a comprehensive and essential textbook. The book was not completed until after the Amherst training of 1980–1981, which Moshe Feldenkrais was unable to finish. It was published in 1983, near the end of Moshe Feldenkrais’ life. He died on July 1, 1984.
The foreword states:
"Yochanan was a teacher of physics in one of the best schools in Israel.
He was at that 28 years running.
Later he joined the Feldenkrais School.
He worked 13 -1/2 years within close quarters in the same room in which I worked.
He has his own “handwriting” like all the others.
Everyone learns the Method without imitating his teacher.
Yochanan is not imitating anybody.
This book in front of you should be re-read several times.
That way you are likely to get most of the goodness of the book.
Good luck!"
PARAGRAPH 3
During the first Stockholm training (1986–1989), Yochanan Rywerant explained how he and Moshe Feldenkrais used to alternate giving Functional Integration to the same client.
One would begin, and the other would complete the session. They did so in silence, following the internal and consistent logic of a lesson. Afterwards, they discussed what they had done.
Moshe Feldenkrais also proceeded in this way with other teachers. The difference is that Moshe Feldenkrais and Yochanan Rywerant did so over many years. The textbook offers insight into what the two men thought about and discussed in this context.
In the following video, Yochanan Rywerant describes this practice.