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Personal Details

Toni McWhinnie

Phone:: 04 475 3355; 021 178 2056
Email:: temcwhinnie@gmail.com
Website:: Toni McWhinnie

I have been teaching group classes since 2009. I was student in Feldenkrais classes for 10 years in Wellington before deciding to train as a practitioner. When I started attending classes it was to alleviate the physical impact of working long hours at a computer and also to explore a way to counterbalance the combined demands of the workplace and being the parent of young children. With a background in teaching at secondary and tertiary level, I became particularly interested in Moshe Feldenkrais’ ideas about how we learn. The classes provided the opportunity for me to learn about my habitual postural and movement patterns, and so to address my headaches and neck pains. The lessons also enabled me to realize that as I learnt to move more efficiently, and with more awareness, I would enjoy moving more. The realization that as we age we can continue to enjoy movement and exercise, is a great pleasure. My students come from all age ranges: from their mid twenties to their late eighties, and my classes emphasize the importance of breathing, awareness and enjoyment in the process of learning to move with more ease.

Class Details

18 Harrison Street, Brooklyn, Wellington 6021, New Zealand
Monday 10:30am - 11:30am
Group class held at the Community Centre
Wednesday 10:00am - 11:00am
Group Class Held at the Community Centre

Individual Session Details

Kelburn, Wellington, New Zealand
Individual lessons are also available by appointment.

Our client testimonials

"Now I can mix concrete again by hand, despite an old back injury."

- Norman
"Feldenkrais has improved the way I walk and helped with knee problems."

- K.B.
"Gentle and reflective sessions over 6 months helped me to stop fighting against an injury I thought could only be fixed by an operation. In many respects I function better than I did before my injury and I am a lot more aware of my whole body too."

- Robert L
“I have had back problems for several years, and could find no permanent relief for the pain. I also more recently had a knee replacement operation, but this unfortunately accentuated my back problem. But after several sessions my improvement has been amazing.”

- Norma
“My chronic shoulder pain is less and my hunch is a little less, my spine straighter and balance better.”

- Kate
"Since attending Feldenkrais classes, I have learnt how to use my structure better. Consequently, my back is so much better and I haven't needed to go back to the physio."

- Eila
"What a revelation. For the first time in my life I felt strong in my core and pelvic floor."

- Susanne M.
"My back is very curved and I used to need to use three pillows to sleep. Now I only need one and I am straighter and taller.”

- Judith
I had chronic back pain, brought about by poor posture and long periods of sitting/working at a computer. Over a series of gentle lessons, my posture has improved and my back straightened. I no longer have chronic back pain.

- Sharon S
"Feldenkrais represents a revolution in human health."

- Smithsonian Magazine
"Having trust that your skeleton will hold you rather than you holding your skeleton."

- Michelle
"I have back muscles that ripple like a lynx."

- B. Wood
" I have found that Feldenkrais has been most beneficial for me in my recovery from a stroke. My whole body is freeing up, my breathing and my balance have improved, all of which help me regain my confidence in life."

- Ross M.
“The Feldenkrais Method has added a whole new dimension to my overall health -- physical, emotional and intellectual. Classes have really helped with a serious form of OOS that produced chronic migraine-like headaches.”

- Alan
“I have cerebral palsy and used to fall a lot, maybe four times a week. Now it is a year since I fell and I am learning to cook and draw.”

- Yewtze
"After a massive stroke, Tristan has made incredible progress. He’s now walking pretty effectively is almost independent in daily care, has a much larger vocabulary and new snippets of his old personality keep revealing themselves. All in all a much, much better prognosis than anyone expected!"

- Janine for Tristan
"[Feldenkrais] is not just pushing muscles around, but changing things in the brain itself so that the person can gradually adjust . . . to what we call a normal image . . ."

- Karl Pribham, MD, PhD, Neuroscientist
"Feldenkrais has helped me move and rest more easily and with greater comfort. Classes promote my sense of well being, challenge me to keep on learning and refining what I have learnt and best of all, they are a pleasure."

- Kerry
"I am stronger, more flexible, and can move efficiently with less effort. I feel more comfortable with my body.”

- Nomi
Feldenkrais has also enabled me to continue enjoying my favourite summertime recreational activity at an age where many others have retired owing to muscular and other physical conditions.”

- Alan
"I am in my 70s and have done some Feldy classes for a few years and went with my daughter-in-law to Chi Gong and she couldn’t do the movements but I could.”

- Gwenda
"I reckon rolling is one of the joys of life."

- Joanne
"As a swimmer, Feldenkrais has given me an awareness of how important the hips/pelvic area is in my sport as well as life in general. As a short person, after attending Feldenkrais lessons, I walk taller."

- Mary Garner
“The key and joy of Feldenkrais is the self help aspect and that you can do it anywhere any time without special equipment.”

- Lynn
"I can't say enough good things about the Feldenkrais Method. I believe it's made the difference between continuing my competitive running career and retiring prematurely."

- - Chris Boyd, U.S. track and field champion
I’m a tennis player and a few years ago my right shoulder got really sore. With Feldenkrais sessions, the tension that had been in my shoulder was dissipating and I could now truly relax it. Now I’m am a convert to the Feldenkrais method. And the best thing about it all? Now I’m serving harder than ever.

- M. Turner
“The Feldenkrais exercises are ingenious and simple”

- Yehudi Menuhin, Concert Violinist
She has become a speed crawler.

- Kylie (mother of child with downs syndrome)
"Aiden has made huge progress since doing Feldenkrais. He is now jumping just like his sister."

- Kate (mother of child with global developmental delay)
Every week I see my child transform. Feldenkrais has facilitated a new life for my son."

- Diana (mother of child with downs syndrome)
"Her pain is pretty much gone. She doesn't complain any more. She is so much more coordinated together in her ordinary movements and in swimming."

- Patrick
I realised that there was something enormous taking shape in the Feldenkrais lessons. There would be a shift. A change. Something new. It was amazing to see how my son's walking has progressed in just 3 months time.

- Karen (mother of child with cerebral palsy)