Sonja H. Sutherland is a Guild-certified practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method®. Her background includes a Masters in Dance and intensive gymnastics training. She has taught movement classes to children, teens and adults for over twenty years. Sonja holds a black belt in aikido—a martial art form which focuses on a nonconfrontational, yet clear and direct approach to conflict resolution. She incorporates her Feldenkrais®, aikido and dance training to assist individuals and groups to resolve and dissolve their own movement concerns and develop more full and satisfying ways of moving through their lives.
Sonja maintains her private practice in the Berkeley area where she offers individualized Feldenkrais® sessions called Functional Integration®. Through gentle yet directive touch combined with verbal guidance, Sonja helps people to feel how they can function with greater awareness and ease. She also teaches weekly group Awareness Through Movement® classes, as well as leads workshops and retreats. In addition, Sonja is the Movement Specialist at Aurora Schoolwhere she teaches Creative Movement as part of the curriculum.
EMBODIED EDUCATION
- Feldenkrais Professional Training Program: Berkeley 1993-1997
- Aikido : 1995-present, shodan (black belt) 2001
- Dance—modern, ballet, contact improvisation: 1982-1996
- Somatic Psychology Studies (Stanley Keleman): 2000-present
- Yoga in India
- Gymnastics: Intensive training from age eight to sixteen
INSTITUTIONAL EDUCATION
- Feldenkrais Professional Training Program: Berkeley
- MA in Dance—Choreography and Dance Education: UCLA
- BAs in Psychology and German: St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN
