Zoe Birch

I used to hate movement.

I was the last kid to be picked for kickball, and I hid at the end of the line during softball. Yup, uncoordinated and terrified, that’s me.

Fast forward to grad school in Washington, D.C., where, not unsurprisingly, I was in tons of pain. I was told to join a gym, which I did, but it didn’t help. Back in New York, I had a stressful corporate job and struggled just to get through the day with immense amounts of pain. Often, I couldn’t walk two blocks without getting a cab.

After trying everything (you know the drill—doctors, PT, orthotics, medication, acupuncture, massage, private yoga, private pilates, and crying a lot), I found a workshop on Feldenkrais.

It was so slow and incremental and surprising that even I could do it! I felt successful. More confident. Happier. I began attending weekly classes on the Upper West Side. I felt better, but I had no idea why.

So, without any idea of what I was getting into, in my late twenties and desperate, I joined a professional four-year training with Dennis Leri, who trained with Moshe Feldenkrais.

When I began to use self-awareness and sensory feedback to inform my own life, I discovered I could fine-tune my choices to reflect empowerment and inspiration instead of stress and struggle.

I was hooked. After years of pain, the magic of Feldenkrais helped me wake up and feel more clearly how I moved. Over time, my movement became easier, which liberated my life in ways I never could have imagined. For more on my training experience, read About Zoe: Radical Self-inquiry.

Who I work with

I’ve seen hundreds of people just like you change their lives for the better after becoming aware of how they move.

I help everyone from high-performance athletes to stroke victims; people born with cerebral palsy to people worried about falling; people on their tenth spine surgery to desk workers who want to feel better at the end of the day.

In New York City, I taught at the Chelsea Piers gym, Bridge for Dance studio, the Feldenkrais Learning Center, the Tribeca Feldenkrais Center, and more.

Later, I moved to London, UK, where I lived for four years managing a natural health center. Then I moved to North Wales where I completed a year-long silent Buddhist meditation retreat.

Now, I live in Boulder, Colorado, where I have an amazing rescue dog, Jasper. Jasper does agility, nosework, dock diving, and more! Dog training is like people training. It requires connection, focus, a calm nervous system, and a balance of the four D’s: distraction, distance, difficulty, and duration. It’s the same with a Feldenkrais lesson.

In addition to my (now!) love of movement, I love language. My background includes a bachelor and master’s degree in linguistics and international affairs from New York University and George Washington University. I’ve been lucky enough to travel to over eighteen countries and live in Morocco, Tunisia, and the UK, as well as many cities across the U.S.

Literature is my first love. For many years, I worked in publishing in NYC before becoming a Feldenkrais practitioner.

Certification

Feldenkrais is taught only by Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioners® who have completed 800-1000 hours of training in a four-year program approved by the Feldenkrais Guild® of North America and the International Feldenkrais Federation in Paris. Feldenkrais practitioners must be re-certified every year.

In addition to renewing my certification annually for over twenty years, I have completed over 600 hours of advanced training in sensorimotor development. For the last twelve years I have taught advanced trainings and run mentor groups for new practitioners.