Bones for Life® New Zealand
Move with greater ease, stability and confidence.
Bones for Life is a practical movement education program which improves how you stand, walk and move through life.
Using gentle, guided movements, you learn how to organise your body more efficiently, reducing unnecessary effort and strain. This work supports everyday activities such as standing with greater ease, walking with confidence, improving balance and moving more comfortably.
Because the movements are adaptable and exploratory, Bones for Life is suitable for people of many ages and abilities.
My Journey to Bones for Life
My own path to Bones for Life began after an arm injury in 2007. Even with many years of experience in movement therapy, it wasn’t until I took the Bones for Life training that I experienced significant improvement.
Reclaiming my own vitality after this injury showed me how powerful this work can be and inspired me to bring it to others. I am now a certified Bones for Life Teacher and Trainer, and a Walk for Life Trainer.
These programs were created by Ruthy Alon, a senior Feldenkrais trainer, and form part of the wider Movement Intelligence approach.
Bones for Life NZ
Bones for Life New Zealand is part of the internationally recognised "Bones for Life” method, practised around the world to support posture, balance, walking, and overall movement confidence.
I bring this work to Aotearoa with a direct connection to the international training lineage.
I offer Bones for Life classes, workshops and trainings throughout New Zealand and via Zoom, supporting people to move with greater ease, stability and confidence in class and everyday life.
How is Bones for Life Different?
Bones for Life teaches the foundations of dynamic posture by helping you organise yourself around your skeleton for greater support, balance and ease in movement.
Using gentle movement explorations, called processes, you learn to sense how your body moves and discover more efficient ways of standing, walking,and moving.
Unlike traditional exercise programs, the emphasis is not on forcing,stretching, or strengthening through repetition. Instead, the focus is on learning, awareness, and improving the way your whole body works together.
Many people experience Bones for Life as learning to move more intelligently, comfortably and confidently in everyday life.
The lessons use a variety of positions and surfaces, including the floor, walls,and chairs, to help you discover new possibilities for movement. Tools such as fabric wraps and small weights are sometimes used to create novel experiences that help shift habitual patterns.
Bones for Life is for people who are:
• Concerned about their posture or alignment
• Noticing changes in balance or stability
• Finding walking more difficult or tiring
• Experiencing discomfort in the back, neck, knees, or hips
• Finding it harder getting up and down from the floor
• Interested in supporting bone health, including osteoporosis concerns.
This work is for anyone who wants to rediscover their natural strength, improve stamina and flexibility, and experience greater ease and comfort in their body.
The movements are gentle, accessible, and easy to practise at home, and they can be simply integrated into daily life. The emphasis is not on exercising harder, but on learning how to move more efficiently, with less effort and less strain.
I’m passionate about helping people rediscover easier movement and experience greater comfort and confidence in their bodies.
Benefits may include:
• Greater balance and stability
• More dynamic, upright posture
• Easier Standing and walking
• Improved movement confidence
• Greater comfort in everyday activities.
• Increased awareness of support through the feet and skeleton
• A feeling of moving with less effort
The Bones for Life Symbol
The Bones for Life® symbol has a special connection to New Zealand.
The original carving was gifted to Ruthy Alon byFeldenkrais students during one of her visits to New Zealand. Created by Māori bone carvers, the amulet became a meaningful symbol for Ruthy and later inspired the logo for the Bones for Life® method.
Ruthy saw in the symbol many of the principles that underpin Bones for Life®. The circular form reflected the rhythmic patterns of walking and locomotion, while the vertical line represented our central axis and the dynamic organisation that supports upright posture and movement.
For Ruthy, the symbol expressed the integration of stability, flexibility, and freedom of movement. She chose it as the symbol of the Bones for Life® community and the Movement Intelligence programs, reflecting the possibility of learning natural coordination, balance, and vitality at any age.
"Please give me the flexibility in my joints, the strength to hold my axis, and the wisdom to know the difference." - Ruthy Alon
Useful Links/ Resources
Head to Toe videos
https://movementintelligence.org/videos/
Testimonials
If you would like more awareness of how your body moves and what small gentle movements can do to improve our inner vitality, Bones for Life and Christine's excellent style of teaching is for you!’ - Judy
I look forward to the BFL class; generally, I often feel 'stuck' in my sacrum area, but by the end of class I feel much freer, taller & balanced. I always sleep well. - Chris
I left the workshop feeling more balanced, grounded, and taller. I even had to move the rear vision mirror in my car.” - Heather
