Publications- Somatics

This page contains descriptions of and links to PDF versions of publications related to somatic learning, the Feldenkrais Method and the Anat Baniel Method for Children. There is a separate page containing articles related to organizations, organizational health and organizational development.
From the Ground Up: Revisioning Sources and Methods of Leadership Development.
In Melina, L. (Ed.) (2013). The Embodiment of Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey Bass/Wiley.
Mindfulness practice and a particular form of embodied learning (the Feldenkrais Method) can be sources for new perspectives on leadership development. These two areas offer deep ways to connect to the ground, both physically and in terms of the fundamental ground of being—something that leaders rarely receive in today’s forms of management education. This chapter provides an introduction to both the Feldenkrais Method and mindfulness as methods relevant to leadership education, based in the author’s experience as a teacher of Feldenkrais and years of study and practice of mindfulness.
Increasing Leadership Integrity through Mind Training and Embodied Learning.Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 2010, 1, 21–38. © 2010 American Psychological Association, DOI: 10.1037/a0018081. (18 pages)
Published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, this article offers foundations for an integrated approach to leadership integrity consultation, using both somatic learning methods and practices for training the mind, known as lojong in Tibetan Buddhism. As the abstract states: “Embodied learning and mind training are grounded in similar perceptions about the importance of attention and awareness for developing effective, powerful action in the world. … The paper describes these methods, identifies how they have been addressed in research, shows how each has been used in consulting, and suggests that they may be used together synergistically within processes of leadership development.”
Kittens and Technology Marketing: A Somatic Approach to Career Coaching. Somatics, 2007, 15(2), 29-38. (8 pages)
Intriguing case study, showing how effectively somatic awareness can be used within career coaching to evoke major change in a person’s life.  As the student described what she had learned, “What I do now with my body makes me more comfortable in the rest of my life. …  I don’t feel compelled to do things perfectly.  I don’t feel guilty.  I feel more peaceful and my friends comment about this.”
A Systems Approach to Learning and Change – Cindy’s Story. Somatics, 2004, 14(3), 14-23. (10 pages) [3.5mB PDF file]
This poignant story shows how somatic learning can transform a person’s way of relating to people and life.
Awareness Through Movement Lessons as a Catalyst for Change.The Feldenkrais Journal, Winter, 2003, pp. 39-46. (6 pages)
Dr. Goldman Schuyler developed and taught a graduate course in “The Art of Change” that introduced students to using Feldenkrais principles as a source of change in both their personal and work lives.
What Kind of Change Enables Transformation? Sociological Practice Newsletter, American Sociological Association. Winter, 2002. (3 pages)
Dr. Goldman Schuyler presents her thoughts on how the Feldenkrais Method can be used to create a vivid experience of significant change via our bodies and somatic learning. This article, written for sociologists, discusses the possibility that if we enable people to experience and sense that they can change habits and patterns that seemed immutable, we can teach them how to generate their own simple and highly effective mental models for change leadership.
Enhancing the Lives of People with CP and other Developmental Disorders. In Touch: A quarterly publication of the FELDENKRAIS GUILD of North America. Winter 2002, 15, pp 1-4. (4 pages)
This article describes a colloquium that Dr Goldman Schuyler presented at a national professional meeting, based on a pilot research project that she conducted with adults with severe cerebral palsy. The research showed that the participants learned to relax, gained increased control over their bodies, eliminated or greatly reduced pain, felt increased ability to do what they wanted in their daily lives, and felt increased self-awareness.
Reflections from the Mountain— Paradigms for Change. OD Practitioner, Organization Development Network. 30(1), 18-26. (9 pages)
A severe skiing accident catalyzes new perceptions about the relationship between how people learn through movement and how change occurs in organizations.
Everyday Miracles: Understanding The Feldenkrais Method.The Association for Transpersonal Psychology Newsletter, Winter 1984. (2 pages)
Dr Goldman Schuyler describes the Feldenkrais Method, focusing on transpersonal aspects of the work, including similarities to meditation.
Fitness: Maybe It’s All In Your Mind. HOLOS, Spring 1983. (2 pages)
How the Feldenkrais method can support the development of “High Performance Organization – a state of overall internal organization which allows an individual to assimilate information and carry out actions with the greatest effectiveness.”
Transforming Our Intricate Body/Mind. New Texas, July-August 1981. (2 pages)
Description of the Feldenkrais Method that discusses how it is grounded in individual awareness and can contribute to societal change.