Goodbye to the Feldenkrais Center of Movement
& Awareness at 98 Chenery Street

We first began planning to open a Feldenkrais Center in October 1987. This would be the first of its kind in the area and possibly the country. The founders were Deborah Bowes, Julie Casson Rubin and Lynn Sutherland. The center opened in January 1988, thinking we might last a year or two, and now here we are 32+ years later…and…letting it go. We were fortunate to have many skilled Feldenkrais Teachers work with us throughout the years. In 1996, Cliff Smyth moved to San Francisco from Melbourne, Australia and joined the practice.

Closing the Feldenkrais Center was a difficult decision. Our sadness, we know, is shared by many of our students and clients. We are finding comfort in remembering all the wonderful teaching, learning, and experiences that have been part of the fabric of our lives and others.

We want to acknowledge and thank everyone for adding to the good vibes we’ve had here. Teachers, clients, students, cleaners, repair people, and admin helpers. It’s been three decades of offerings to support healing and awareness.

Our clients and students often said that they felt better and calmer just walking in the door. We will miss this space and the feeling of being in it. Below is a list of who has filled the Center with great teaching, energy and love since 1987.

Read more below to see the list of who worked at the Center, what kinds of Feldenkrais events were held, and the various workshops and groups that met there.

It is quite a history!

Feldenkrais People –
Thank you

Jane A’Hearn, Ruthy Alon, Deborah Bowes DPT, Annie Borgenicht RN, Vicky Brown-Ravano, Heidi Carlsen, Julie Casson Rubin, Laurel Condro PT, Katharina Darvas, Bonnie Dundee OT, Jean Elvin, Carolyn Fleg, Kathy Flock, Niles Freebury, Evelyn Freebury-Miller RN, Andrew Gibbons, Gail Gordon PT, Stephen Grant PhD, Karen Ingebrigston, Kei Kaneshiro, Sarah Kowalski, Michael Krugman (RIP), Jennifer Lee, Dennis Leri (RIP), Abby Miller, Susan Miller RN, David Moses (RIP), Deborah Quilter, Paul Rubin, Laura Scheufele DPT, Marcia Scott, Kazu Shibao, Cliff Smyth PhD, Lynn Sutherland, Lori Thompson Sweet PT, Felicia Trujillo, Iris Urbassek, Gail Wetmore, Kwan Wong, Arlyn Zones

Feldenkrais Offerings
– 1987 to 2020

Workshops with FCMA teachers explored writing, mind mapping, singing, breathing, baby development, movement and touch for moms and babies, walking, back pain, legs, ankles, shoulders, eyes, face and jaw, neck, sleeping, hands and arms, repetitive strain injury, strength, embodied activism, meditation, empathy, resilience, hips, knees, feet, pelvic floor, sitting, voice and moving gracefully, and more.

People Who Helped Us – Thank you

Thank you to our office helpers: Phaedra Freeman, Cheryl Meyer (RIP) and Maryann Razzo. Thank you to San Francisco Day Laborers for help moving stuff in the basement many years ago and when we got the new carpet. Todd of Totally Clean and Omar Hernandez for friendly service, Marvin Esquivel, master carpenter, fixer of all things, Cherie Fehrman for interior design color and consultation, and Gary Silverstein for beautiful graphic design over many years.

Thank you to the initial owners of the building, Gilmartin & Company, who took a chance on us and remodeled the empty space for free in 1987. It was the start we needed.

Thank you to our students, clients, supporters and referral sources. We wouldn’t have been able to do anything without you!

More events and groups who met at FCMA –1987 to 2020

  • Aloha Uke Squad weekly practice

  • Beverly Stokes Amazing Babies Workshop

  • Bioenergetics Weekly Study Group

  • Book Signing for Mindful Spontaneity with Ruthy Alon

  • Child’Space Workshops

  • Continuum Workshop

  • Feldenkrais Advanced Trainings with Julie Casson Rubin, Deborah Bowes, Cliff Smyth, Paul Rubin

  • Feldenkrais Guild of North America Regional Meetings

  • Feldenkrais Guild Training Accreditation Board Retreat Meetings

  • First Feldenkrais Bay Area Study Group, and many other Feldenkrais study groups that followed

  • Functional Optometry with Dr. Sam Berne

  • Halloween Dance Party for James Lick Middle School students (once was enough!)

  • Holiday Craft Sales for local POC craftswomen

  • ISSE Feldenkrais Training Make-Up sessions

  • Middendorf Breathwork with Nell Smyth

  • Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction with Alison Shore

  • Mind-Body Skills classes with Cliff Smyth

  • Pain Monthly Study Group led by Dr. Dorothy Waddell (RIP) and Patti Boucher

  • Peer Counselors monthly family Play Days

  • Performance preparation space for Fat Chance Belly Dance Students

  • Psychotherapy with Patti Boucher

  • Rebirthing sessions with Elliot

  • RSI workshop with Deborah Quilter and Cliff Smyth

  • Self-defense training for the Rainbow Sisters Soccer Team

  • Sounder Sleep System Training with Michael Krugman, and classes with Jean Elvin and Kathy Flock

  • Suffering & Delight Chronic Pain Study group

  • Tai Chi Chu’an Classes with Deborah Bowes

  • Theater rehearsals with Charles Alston, Sachiko Nakamura (RIP), Brenda Aoki and Louis Jordan

  • Ukulenny Ukulele Workshop

  • Voice workshop with Cynthia Lin

  • Wisdom Sun Buddhist Sangha

  • Yoga classes and workshops with Dawn Summers

Deborah Bowes and Cliff Smyth, October 20, 2020

FelFFEdldenkrais Awareness Tnlgjn movement classes NOw online: See Schedule Page