Maryska Bigos, Program Coordinator, BMC® Certified Teacher since 1984   

As a kinesthetic learner for over 55 years Maryska has been informed by the body as her vehicle for witnessing within herself, and in others, the expression of mind through body consciousness.  Her teaching and private practice are based on the anatomical, physiological, psychological, and developmental principles of Body-Mind Centering® and the Feldenkrais® Method. These two approaches communicate with an individual's physiological systems as reflected in the organization and quality of their movement. 

Maryska began studying with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen at The School for Body-Mind Centering in 1979, after training and performing as a dancer for over 15 years. She became a BMC® practitioner and teacher, and an AMTA member in the early 80's. She has taught with Cohen and individually at venues across the U.S. and served on the faculty for many years to integrate BMC® with: dance at the American Dance Festival; yoga at Duke University Medical Center; the special needs of students at the Governor Morehead School for the Blind; bodywork and massage modalities at the Carolina School of Massage Therapy.  Maryska has maintained a private practice for 30 years and is certified in a variety of bodywork practices that reflect her interest in the intimate connections between development, body, mind, and movement. 

Lisa Clark, Education Coordinator, BMC® Certified Teacher since 1992

LISA CLARK, MFA, is a certified teacher (1992) and practitioner (1990) of Body-Mind Centering® (BMC). She served as Program Coordinator with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen of the Body-Mind Centering® & Yoga programs (1999-2004) and is an Education Coordinator and teacher of BMC® in the Somatic Movement and Infant Developmental Movement Education programs in North Carolina at the Kinesthetic Learning Center. She will be teaching in the BMC® practitioner program in Brazil (summer 2009) and is collaborating with Moveus in Germany as Educational Director of the up-coming BMC® & Yoga program in Europe (2010-2012).

Lisa has been teaching BMC® for over 20 years at venues such as Oberlin College, Ohio State University, Dennison University, The Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia University, Allegheny College, Meredith College, University of Illinois, Interlochen, the American Dance Festival, Omega and Kripalu Health Institutes. The ongoing development, training, teaching, and practice of BMC® is a great joy in Lisa's life. She lives in Chapel Hill, NC, where she teaches weekly classes and maintains a private practice.

Bob Lehnberg, Education Coordinator, BMC® Certified Teacher since 2000     

BOB LEHNBERG has been studying Body-Mind Centering® since 1984. He is a certified practitioner (1990) and teacher (2002) of BMC® who has been teaching experiential anatomy and physiology in schools of massage therapy and somatic practices for 19 years. His interest and practice of yoga led him to receive an Integral Yoga® teacher certification and become a frequent guest teacher while assisting Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen in SBMC's Embodied Anatomy & Yoga, and Embodied Developmental Movement & Yoga certificate programs in NYC. Bob began studying and practicing qigong in 1992, holds a certification from Supreme Science Qigong Center to teach Qigong Healing Level 1 which he teaches locally. He is a nationally certified bodyworker who has served in committee and board roles for NCBTMB for 15 years while maintaining a private practice in movement integration. Bob brings an improvisational theater background, including 13 years as a professional, to the experiential learning process of BMC®. His lightness and fun in the classroom is deepened by his degree in Biology (1980) and his ongoing studies in science that support his understanding and ability to clearly communicate the anatomy and physiology of the body. 

Janice Geller, BMC® Certified Teacher since 1985

I call my work Integrative Counseling which integrates Psychotherapy, Bodywork Therapy, Dance/Movement Therapy and Meditation. I am Licensed as a Professional Counselor (LPC), Massage & Bodywork Therapist (LMBT), Academy Registered Dance/Movement Therapist (ADTR), and completed advanced training in Authentic Movement with Janet Adler, PhD. I have trained and taught with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen since 1979 and became a Certified Body-Mind Centering® Practitioner, Teacher, and Infant Developmental Movement Educator.
I have been in private practice for twenty-seven years, working with adults, families, children, and infants. I am a mother of two sons and enjoy working with infant development and parent-child relationships. I work at The Center for Integrative Therapy, an NCBTMB approved provider of continuing education, I co- founded and presently teach at Duke University. I also work at Turning Point Adult, Adolescent & Child Center, co-teach IDME groups, and teach Baby & Me Yoga classes in Durham, NC. I was co-founder of Open Pathways, a Diagnostic & Therapy Clinic for able and disabled children in MA and have worked at the Infant Complementary Care Clinic in Chapel Hill, the Turner Family Therapy Clinic, and Hospice of Chatham County. I have taught at the University of North Carolina, Smith College, University of California-Hayward, Esalen and Omega Institutes, and other colleges and universities in the U.S. and Europe.

Ellen Barlow, BMC® Certified Teacher since 1985

ELLEN BARLOW is a native of the WashingtonDC area where she lives and works as a movement education specialist. Ellen studied modern dance as a child with Pola Nirenska, a former Mary Wigman company member, and then resumed her dance studies to complete a BA in Dance Education. She also pursued Hatha yoga training with Swami Vishnu Devananda to become a certified teacher in the Shivananda tradition. While in college her mentor and dance professor, Carol Boggs, introduced her to the work of Irmgard Bartenieff, F.M. Alexander, Mabel Elsworth Todd, and Lulu Sweigard. Together these influences directed her career toward movement as a healing art, a basis for learning, consciousness and wellness. She studied the Feldenkrais Method and Alexander Technique before meeting Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen in 1979. Ellen moved to Amherst, MA the next year to study Body-Mind Centering® and completed certifications to become a BMC® Practitioner in 1982 and a BMC® Teacher in 1985. Further studies included Zero Balancing, CranioSacral Therapy, and fitness training. The Body-Mind Centering® approach remains her primary influence.

Ellen is a Registered Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist with the International Movement Education and Therapy Association (ISMETA). Since 2001, when she began studying the GYROTONIC® System of Exercise, she has become a Certified GYROTONIC® Instructor. Currently, Ellen teaches GYROTONIC® and maintains a private practice.

Vera Orlock, BMC® Certified Teacher since 1992     

VERA ORLOCK, MFA, LMT (MA33441), NCBTMB is a certified advanced practitioner of Structural Integration (also known as Rolfing), an advanced practitioner of CranialSacral Therapy, and a certified practitioner and teacher of Body-Mind Centering®. She has synthesized these disciplines, along with her professional background in music, dance, somatics, and anatomy into her own unique approach to bodywork and movement re-education, called Integrative Body-Mind Practices. She is interested in how movement affects and is affected by development, perception, and learning and offers her work to individuals of all ages, from infants to seniors. Her work is helpful to those seeking more efficient body mechanics, relief from chronic pain, injury prevention and rehabilitation, and enhanced self-awareness and expression. 

Vera has been a core faculty member of the School for Body-Mind Centering® (SBMC) since 1992. She directed the SBMC Practitioner Certification Program in Berkeley, CA from 1999-2001 and is the educational director of the BMC® Practitioner Certification Program in France. Formerly an Associate Professor of Dance at Kansas State University and a Visiting Professor of Dance at Florida State University, she maintains a private practice and magical garden in Tallahassee, FL. 

BMCA and ISMETA Professional Organizations   

Join a BMCA
e-group with BMC® students and teachers in over 25 countries!

While a student and then as a graduate of our programs, you are eligible to join the world-wide Body-Mind Centering Association (BMCA).
Visit: www.bmcassoc.org to learn more.

Our SME and IDME programs are both approved by the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association (ISMETA) www.ismeta.org.
ISMETA membership grants eligibility for liability insurance coverage for you and your professional practice.