When the body and mind are harmoniously aware and working together, both function at their best. Children naturally discover an extraordinary sense, referred to here as the “Sensory Body” (SB), which transcends the traditional five senses. By integrating subtle physical inclinations with conscious thought, the SB enables individuals to navigate life through an enhanced interplay of internal and external awareness. This refined faculty of perception is attuned to the inner dimensions of physical experience. By blending insights from physics, neuroscience, psychology, and the innate joy children experience, WTM invites you to understand and embrace this unique perspective.

How does WTM work?

All methods are based on the Feldenkrais® method, developmental movement, and becoming more fully alive. The sensitivity of children are their greatest gifts, if you show them the operating system. The operating system is the “feeling creature,” not thinking creature, they are. For them, they feel “movement” as not just an action but a tangible guidance and insight.

Once the senses, actions, and thoughts unite in sensory perception, children learn to utilize their uniqueness. Motion of sensory impulses, together with attention, become their teacher.

How do we helped children? What’s the purpose? Why do children need to learn about their bodies?

Pick the Audience you are…

After twenty years of research and testing in elementary schools…
Parents report an enhancement of their children’s overall well-being.
Principal Danny Garcia, from our pilot school, praises about the improvement in social-emotional behavior and the elimination of bullying school wide.
Moreover, teachers say their academic performance boosted.

However, WTM is not about getting good grades, stopping bullying, or improving health. WTM is about learning from a place of the heart.

Does it sound too good to be true? Movement is also subtle impulses that gauge brain functioning (Mostofsky), and give insights to how children learn. In other words, behavioral patterns of somatic sensations prepare and guide perception (Dijkerman, H., 2007).  There is a massive gap between research and what we do in education and child rearing. WTM is one way to build a bridge between science and community, giving tangible ways to experience these theories and support children’s future. The main focus of WTM is to bridge a gap in education and research with a new strategy giving tips how to look at the child from within movement. 

Movement bridges the mind and body. It is the action of life that teaches us how to learn. Teach a child to feel their bodies, and what they didn’t understand about themselves comes clear.

Were the WTM techniques tested?

Yes. There was twenty years of research and testing of the WTM program.

For forty years studying mind-body connections and thirteen years in and out of schools, Catherine Mitchell and a team of educators, administrators, and child development specialists collaborated, refined, and tested the techniques with children.

Four elementary schools participated. Specifically, Kohala Elementary School (our pilot school) (2008 to 2016) and Hawaii Preparatory Academy’s (HPA) lower school were foundational in helping test the program.

Listen to Principal Garcia’s Testimonial

Watch the video for an overview of WTM