Mitzvah Technique - History

History

M. Cohen-Nehemia, the originator of the Mitzvah Technique was born and raised in Jerusalem. There he studied classical, modern and oriental dance and was a member of the Inbal Dance Theater of Israel. Similar to F. M. Alexander who lost his voice as an actor and regained it through self discovery, Nehemia suffered major back problems as a dancer and gained functionality by successfully helping himself through his own experiences and research on body movement. He participated in training seminars for dance and physical education teachers at the kibbutz school which gave him insights into the relationship between body movement and body health.

Nehemia also studied anatomy with Dr. Yitzhak Farine of the Tel-Hashomer government hospital. This resulted in Dr. Farine inviting Nehemia to work at the hospital’s rehabilitation center. Nehemia was introduced to the Alexander Technique through a course given at the Tel HaShomer Hospital to medical staff. This introduction affected Nehemia’s work. Together with his wife Malka, they travelled to London where Nehemia spent five years qualifying as an Alexander Teacher at the London School as well as studying at F.M. Alexander’s studio. He concomitantly began developing his own version of the Alexander Technique that he called the Mitzvah Technique to emphasize the rippling motion of the body.

When Nehemia returned to Israel, he assisted Moshe Feldenkrais by introducing the Mitzvah Technique into the Feldenkrais Method. They worked together at the Tel HaShomer Hospital in the physical rehabilitation of wounded Israeli Defence Force soldiers suffering with severe back and spinal injuries. At the same time, Nehemia was taking classes given by Feldenkrais for teachers and actors. As a dancer and Alexander Teacher, Nehemia also spent years observing working bodies in action among animals, children, fellow Inbal dancers and the nomadic Bedouin. Out of these myriad experiences and observations came the fuller development of the Mitzvah Technique, emphasizing the natural rippling motion of the spine. Nehemia came to Toronto in the late 1960s where he established the Centre for the Alexander Technique that later became the Mitzvah Technique Centre. This centre has trained scores of Mitzvah teachers and treated thousands of clients who have come from around the world.