Image 1 of 1
October 25, 2025 - Intro to Optimal Movement Reeducation (OM)- Lower Extremities
Speaker: Rennie Maeda PT, MPT
Date: October 25, 2025
Time: 8:00am - 4:30pm
Location: Reischl PT; 3292 E. Willow St. Signal Hill, CA
CEUS: Pending 0.7CEUs
Cost: $200 for APTA members / $250 for prospective APTA members / Student APTA members $150
Speaker Bio:
After graduating from USC in 1988, Rennie completed innumerable courses on manual therapy and exercises. Rennie received his first OCS certification in 1995 and was introduced to the Feldenkrais Method (FM) around the same time. He found FM to be very effective and efficient for improving both the short and long term movement habits of his clients. He graduated from a four year Feldenkrais training program in 2005 and became a Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner (CFP). Rennie has been teaching other physical therapists and his clients about Optimal Movement and the Feldenkrais Method for the last 20 years. He continues to see private clients through Maeda Physical and Movement Therapy.
Course Description:
Optimal Movement (OM), developed by Rennie Maeda, PT, is a synthesis of the teachings of Moshe Feldenkrais with other past and present-day motor, cognitive, ergonomic, educational, and psychological scientists. OM is a simple way to dissect and improve all actions and movements encountered in the clinic. The main concepts presented are:
What is Optimal Movement,
What is Conservation of the Self, and
How to improve suboptimal movement patterns effectively and efficiently, with a 5-15 minute OM lesson in the clinic and a home program 1-5 minutes, once or twice a day.
This class is for novice to expert physical therapists who would like to improve their movement/neuromuscular observation and reeducation skills.
Course Objectives:
Describe how the teachings of Moshe FELDENKRAIS relate to OM and physical therapy.
Describe the concept of CONSERVATION OF THE SELF and its place in OM.
Describe how Optimal Movement adds value to physical therapy.
Explain how the treatment of the COMPONENTS of action (motor plan/coordination, sensation/perception, and perceptuomotor maps can be utilized to improve the client’s movements towards a more OM pattern.
Able to instruct a person to bring about AWARENESS and FOCUS their attention on salient aspects of an OM LESSON
Explain the concepts of EASE, COMFORT, and AWKWARDNESS and describe how they can be utilized to greatly improve the efficiency of learning new movement patterns.
Utilize the concepts and skills learned in the course to treat orthopedic clients with movement dysfunctions more effectively and efficiently.
In Person Course Schedule - Oct 25th
08:00 Introduction: Participants, Rennie, Moshe Feldenkrais
08:30 What is OM
Average Movement & PT, Skilled Movement & Susan Higgins, Optimal Movement
Components of action
Conservation of the Self: Awkwardness, Comfort, Ease, Mechanobiology
09:00 OM Evaluation
09:30 OM Treatment
Exploration and Discovery, Differential learning
No pain, No pain
Choose whether to work on function, components, or subcomponents
10:00 FUNCTION: Sit to Stand (reversibility: Stand to Sit)
COMPONENT: Alignment
COMPONENT: Motor plan- kinematics
COMPONENT: Centering
COMPONENT: Breathing
11:00 COMPONENT: Attenuating forces of landing Reaching to the floor
Used by FUNCTIONs of walking and running at heel/foot strike, jumping, hopping,
cutting, landing
SUBCOMPONENTS: LE eccentrics, spinal shock absorbers, breathing
11:30 COMPONENT: See Saw Breathing, 4 part breathing
12:00 FUNCTION: Stairs, jumping, hopping, cutting
COMPONENT: Alignment of LEs and trunk
Ability to attenuate forces
ACL protection
12:30 LUNCH
1:30 COMPONENT:: CALF LENGTHENING
Evaluation
Treatment Active stretching
Inhibiting the calf muscles
Activating the antagonists
1:45 COMPONENT LENGTHENING THE HIP FLEXORS
2:00 COMPONENT: Aligning the foot to the floor
especially relevant for chronic ankle sprains
2:30 SUB COMPONENT: ARTIFICIAL FLOOR (Priming sensation and perception in the foot)
3:00 COMPONENT: Raising and lowering the arches while walking
Awareness of COP during walking, moving the head to the sides
3:45 Over- and Re-VIEW of OM: Applying OM to movement dysfunctions of the lower extremities
Using OM for other functional movements- reaching, bending, balancing
4:15 QUESTIONS
4:30 END
Speaker: Rennie Maeda PT, MPT
Date: October 25, 2025
Time: 8:00am - 4:30pm
Location: Reischl PT; 3292 E. Willow St. Signal Hill, CA
CEUS: Pending 0.7CEUs
Cost: $200 for APTA members / $250 for prospective APTA members / Student APTA members $150
Speaker Bio:
After graduating from USC in 1988, Rennie completed innumerable courses on manual therapy and exercises. Rennie received his first OCS certification in 1995 and was introduced to the Feldenkrais Method (FM) around the same time. He found FM to be very effective and efficient for improving both the short and long term movement habits of his clients. He graduated from a four year Feldenkrais training program in 2005 and became a Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner (CFP). Rennie has been teaching other physical therapists and his clients about Optimal Movement and the Feldenkrais Method for the last 20 years. He continues to see private clients through Maeda Physical and Movement Therapy.
Course Description:
Optimal Movement (OM), developed by Rennie Maeda, PT, is a synthesis of the teachings of Moshe Feldenkrais with other past and present-day motor, cognitive, ergonomic, educational, and psychological scientists. OM is a simple way to dissect and improve all actions and movements encountered in the clinic. The main concepts presented are:
What is Optimal Movement,
What is Conservation of the Self, and
How to improve suboptimal movement patterns effectively and efficiently, with a 5-15 minute OM lesson in the clinic and a home program 1-5 minutes, once or twice a day.
This class is for novice to expert physical therapists who would like to improve their movement/neuromuscular observation and reeducation skills.
Course Objectives:
Describe how the teachings of Moshe FELDENKRAIS relate to OM and physical therapy.
Describe the concept of CONSERVATION OF THE SELF and its place in OM.
Describe how Optimal Movement adds value to physical therapy.
Explain how the treatment of the COMPONENTS of action (motor plan/coordination, sensation/perception, and perceptuomotor maps can be utilized to improve the client’s movements towards a more OM pattern.
Able to instruct a person to bring about AWARENESS and FOCUS their attention on salient aspects of an OM LESSON
Explain the concepts of EASE, COMFORT, and AWKWARDNESS and describe how they can be utilized to greatly improve the efficiency of learning new movement patterns.
Utilize the concepts and skills learned in the course to treat orthopedic clients with movement dysfunctions more effectively and efficiently.
In Person Course Schedule - Oct 25th
08:00 Introduction: Participants, Rennie, Moshe Feldenkrais
08:30 What is OM
Average Movement & PT, Skilled Movement & Susan Higgins, Optimal Movement
Components of action
Conservation of the Self: Awkwardness, Comfort, Ease, Mechanobiology
09:00 OM Evaluation
09:30 OM Treatment
Exploration and Discovery, Differential learning
No pain, No pain
Choose whether to work on function, components, or subcomponents
10:00 FUNCTION: Sit to Stand (reversibility: Stand to Sit)
COMPONENT: Alignment
COMPONENT: Motor plan- kinematics
COMPONENT: Centering
COMPONENT: Breathing
11:00 COMPONENT: Attenuating forces of landing Reaching to the floor
Used by FUNCTIONs of walking and running at heel/foot strike, jumping, hopping,
cutting, landing
SUBCOMPONENTS: LE eccentrics, spinal shock absorbers, breathing
11:30 COMPONENT: See Saw Breathing, 4 part breathing
12:00 FUNCTION: Stairs, jumping, hopping, cutting
COMPONENT: Alignment of LEs and trunk
Ability to attenuate forces
ACL protection
12:30 LUNCH
1:30 COMPONENT:: CALF LENGTHENING
Evaluation
Treatment Active stretching
Inhibiting the calf muscles
Activating the antagonists
1:45 COMPONENT LENGTHENING THE HIP FLEXORS
2:00 COMPONENT: Aligning the foot to the floor
especially relevant for chronic ankle sprains
2:30 SUB COMPONENT: ARTIFICIAL FLOOR (Priming sensation and perception in the foot)
3:00 COMPONENT: Raising and lowering the arches while walking
Awareness of COP during walking, moving the head to the sides
3:45 Over- and Re-VIEW of OM: Applying OM to movement dysfunctions of the lower extremities
Using OM for other functional movements- reaching, bending, balancing
4:15 QUESTIONS
4:30 END