Joanne Olecko, MSc, GCFP^CM

My path to the Feldenkrais Method^® was anything but direct—and I think that is part of what makes it so meaningful to me.

It began with a childhood fascination with the brain: how it works, how we learn, and what happens when things go wrong. That curiosity became more personal in my teens, when I began to wonder what was the source of many of the difficulties I experienced—persistent myofascial pain, back and neck pain, migraines, sleep-disordered breathing, and more ankle sprains than I can count.  It took me decades to understand that hypermobility was the underlying thread. 

What followed was a long apprenticeship as a patient. I worked with chiropractors, physical therapists, acupuncturists, and numerous medical specialists. Each helped in some way, but I was still searching for an approach that could help me understand how the pieces fit together.

Eventually, my GP—a wonderfully thoughtful internist—referred me to a Feldenkrais practitioner. That referral introduced me to a way of thinking about movement and learning that would reshape my life. I began to see that no single specialty held the entire answer. The picture was more complex—but the possibility of participating actively in my own learning was also more empowering.

My desire to understand pain shaped my professional life as well. I studied biomedical engineering at USC, specializing in neuroengineering, and then spent nearly two decades in clinical research working with people living with severe neuropathic pain, as well as people living with movement disorders. My work focused on neuromodulation—technologies such as implantable spinal cord and brain stimulators designed to alter activity within the nervous system.

It was fascinating and important work. It also gave me a front-row view of both the power and the limitations of sophisticated medical tools—and of how complex meaningful, lasting change can be.

Yoga and mindfulness meditation became another thread in my journey. In 2020, I completed my RYT-200 teacher training at Downtown Yoga under Kate Coughlin. I was drawn to the quiet precision of its Iyengar-influenced practice and to what that practice asks of your attention. Teaching yoga deepened my appreciation of movement as a form of learning, not merely exercise.

The Feldenkrais Method® ultimately brought these threads together.

The lessons helped me practice yoga without repeatedly overstretching vulnerable joints, improve my balance and stability, and find practical ways to settle and support my nervous system. Over time, I slept more restoratively, experienced fewer migraines, and found myself moving and living with greater ease and confidence.

I returned to activities I loved—skiing, running, kayaking, hiking, and traveling—without the same fear of setting off another cycle of pain.

My background in neuroengineering gave me a scientific framework for something I was experiencing firsthand: the brain is not fixed, habits are not destiny, and meaningful learning remains possible throughout life.

In 2024, I graduated from the four-year Kelowna Feldenkrais^® Teacher Training Program under Educational Director Julie Peck and became a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner^CM through the Feldenkrais Guild^® of North America.

After nearly two decades in clinical research, I chose to step away from engineering and begin a new professional chapter.

Today, I teach the Feldenkrais Method^® in the Tri-Valley and remain endlessly curious about what becomes possible when people are given the time, attention, and conditions to learn from themselves.

-Joanne