Sharon Knieper
Over a decade ago Sharon came to the Feldenkrais Method seeking to avoid surgery. Fast forward and while the surgeries still happened and challenges with pain continued, she discovered a method that helped unwind the creaks, bends and odd habits that had accumulated over the years…
Awareness Through Movement® Teacher
Over a decade ago Sharon came to the Feldenkrais Method seeking to avoid surgery. It wasn't the first time she faced surgeries and this time she knew she wanted to do it differently, so she popped into some classes. Fast forward and while the surgeries still happened and challenges with pain continued, she discovered a method that helped unwind the creaks, bends and odd habits that had accumulated over the years. The ways of being - physically, mentally, emotionally - that had made her feel less like herself were exposed as things that could drop away. They were not permanent. And after each ATM practice she felt less stuck, more calm, open and quite simply - better. Knowing the path to self-discovery and learning is never a straight line; she has recently become an ATM teacher with the hopes of giving others an opportunity to explore the method while also deepening her own practice.
Shekinah-Glory Beepat
Shekinah-Glory began studying 5 Lines Fitness and the Feldenkrais Method in 2017. She was immediately caught off-guard by her improved physical insight and coordination and the resulting increase in her strength, speed, and stamina. Since then, Shekinah-Glory has embraced the Method to deconstruct patterns of movement and thought and to cultivate a nurturing learning environment within herself. She practices 5 Lines Fitness as a daily reminder that we are our most powerful when we enable and employ our full selves…
Work/Education: Movement Instructor and Facilitator; B.S. in Marketing Communications from Emerson College
Movement Background: Life-long student of Isshin Shorinji Ryu Okinawa Te (Okinawan Karate); Aikido; bike commuter, open water swimmer, trail runner, tree climber.
About: Shekinah-Glory began studying 5 Lines Fitness and the Feldenkrais Method in 2017. She was immediately caught off-guard by her improved physical insight and coordination and the resulting increase in her strength, speed, and stamina. Since then, Shekinah-Glory has embraced the Method to deconstruct patterns of movement and thought and to cultivate a nurturing learning environment within herself. She practices 5 Lines Fitness as a daily reminder that we are our most powerful when we enable and employ our full selves.
Motivation: “I have always sought to challenge the boundaries of my own capabilities. With 5 Lines Fitness and the Feldenkrais Method, I have learned that I can exceed my limitations when I am not repeatedly pushing against them.”
Taylor Mitchell
Taylor Mitchell is a Chicago-based choreographer, performance artist, and dance educator. He currently serves as Artistic Director of MitchellMovement, his own project, while fusing his unique voice of contemporary dance with aspects of physical theatre/clowning technique. Currently, Taylor enjoys integrating Feldenkrais® ATM® as an exciting new part of his offerings in creation and movement…
Awareness Through Movement® Teacher
Taylor Mitchell is a Chicago-based choreographer, performance artist, and dance educator. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from The University of Arizona (2014) where he received the Creative Achievement Award for numerous works of choreography presented by the UA Dance Ensemble and also worked with the Department of Theater. Taylor has performed/choreographed/taught professionally across the city of Chicago, as well as other national and international projects. He has presented work at the Kieler Woche Festival (2017) - one of the largest summer festivals in Northern Germany and the Harvest Contemporary Dance Festival in Chicago (2018, 2019, 2022). He has also served as an Artist in Residence with Washington and Lee University (2019), Southeast Missouri State University (2018, 2021), The University of Louisiana Lafayette (2019), and Keshet Center for the Arts (2018). He currently serves as Artistic Director of MitchellMovement, his own project, while fusing his unique voice of contemporary dance with aspects of physical theatre/clowning technique. Currently, Taylor enjoys integrating Feldenkrais® ATM® as an exciting new part of his offerings in creation and movement.
Joshua Wolk
Josh is the founder of 5 Lines Fitness. Josh was amazed when Feldenkrais helped him discover that his most deeply embedded movement habits could be changed. It was then that he began a decades-long study of neuroplasticity and its transformative potential. Josh's capacity to effect so much change …
“The work I've done with Josh has made my body feel ten years younger.”
– Tom Cocotos, Visual Artist
Education:
J.D. from Boston University, B.A. in Political Science from Amherst College
Movement Background:
6th degree black belt in Aikido, ordained instructor of ancient Japanese shinto exercise and meditation form
Founder:
5 Lines Fitness
Certification:
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner (CM)
Feldenkrais Guild of North America, 1994
About:
Josh became interested in Feldenkrais after realizing that his sessions in the Method were vastly improving his Aikido practice. After years of striving to embody a culturally foreign way of moving in a traditional Japanese apprenticeship, Josh was amazed when Feldenkrais helped him discover that his most deeply embedded movement habits could be changed. It was then that he began a decades-long study of neuroplasticity and its transformative potential. Josh's capacity to effect so much change in people rests on his study, practical applications, and deep understanding of bio-mechanics. Through confident yet gentle touch, he communicates with a nervous system in a way that inspires that nervous system to reorganize for the better.
Motivation:
Josh says, “The Feldenkrais Method has taught me how to make my most difficult struggles into my most powerful assets. I wouldn't be capable of helping others if I didn't know what it was to struggle with pain, habit, and the seemingly impossible task of changing our most deeply rooted tendencies.”