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Meet Jacki Katzman, WREN member and and owner of Movement Mentor!
1) Who are you and what is your business?
I’m Jacki Katzman, Bethlehem resident, Colonial Theatre volunteer, long-time WREN member. I am also a certified Awareness Through Movement practitioner, which means I help people move
better.
1) Tell me a little about yourself and how you came into this work.
Well… this is my 7th or 8th career; I lose count. I went to Smith College, studied biochem, earned an MBA, and came up in the age of corporate shoulder pads and little string ties. I did stints in med tech, market research, a couple of start-ups, with interludes as a gardener when everyone in tech got laid off. My last gig was as a high tech PR consultant, until I was ‘spit out at 50,’ moved up to Bethlehem, and never looked back. It was an exciting ride, but I was never fully myself.
I was pretty much a klutz growing up. I was terrified of gym class. I came to Awareness Through Movement, also known as the Feldenkrais Method, through a free class at the local yoga studio. During that first lesson, I was smacked by an a-ha moment, a that’s HOW you do it flash on how to get my heel down in triangle pose. Soon, weekly classes weren’t enough. I went in for the 800 hour training, which I did over 3 years in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
During that time, I left Boston to finally live full-time in my little Bethlehem house. COVID pushed me onto Zoom, which was great for me as my student base runs coast-to-coast. Most importantly, I’ve graduated from total klutz to enjoying sports and playing music. That’s because I have learned how to feel and listen to my body. I’m my own best coach. What I do now is part movement student, part performer, part teacher, part curriculum developer, part pattern analyst, part hands-on body worker, part lifelong student, and all of it is a blast.
2) How do you help your clients?
So many of us have lost track – because of time, overwork, injury or pain – of what we can and can’t do physically. I help people stay active in the bodies they have today. I teach weekly classes where students are guided to use gentle, subtle movements to notice (outdated) habits, try on new movement patterns, and find better ways of using their bodies. Our goal is to keep doing, even get better at, the things we love to do. I also give a few private lessons to help people jump start their recovery or rehab, or fine-tune their progress towards specific goals.
Some people I work with are golfers, skiers, yoginis and kayakers; musicians and artisans; and nanas who want to easily get up off the floor. For folks post-rehab, it’s a way to reintegrate the whole body after injury. When students get up after a lesson and do their best Audrey Hepburn walk, I know I’ve done my job.
3) Where can people find you / How can they work with you?
Take a class – in person or by Zoom. My current series is inspired by the freedom-seeking, rebellious “Hippie Chicks”: we’re learning alternative ways of lifting our chests, lightening up the weight over our hips, and using gravity to our advantage.
My (free, fun) weekly newsletter - I still have some of that PR person left in me. I blog about pelvic health, advances in neuroscience, cool things people I know are doing, etc. It’s all on my website and Facebook too.
I’ll be offering a free introduction to the “Core to Floor: An Introduction to a Strong, Balanced Pelvic Floor” on July 14, 9-10 AM. Check the WREN calendar for an update on location!
4) What is one message you have for our readers?
A few hours to tune into your body and take stock of how you are really moving can open up years of fun and pleasure. Why wait?
5) What's your favorite place or thing to do in the North Country?
Not fair! The North Country delivers way over our weight class. For music and film, of course it’s the Colonial (I am fully certified to pop the popcorn and greet concert guests). For baby goats and veggies, it’s Meadowstone Farm, and the Littleton Co-op for everything else. For hip music, the Loading Dock. The Trestle Trail up the Zealand Road is a short, sweet riverside walk. For beautiful gifts, WREN, of course.
6) What's your favorite thing at WREN right now?
I love the chicken coloring books by Sarah Rosedahl - my niece and I bond over them!
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