Welcome To
Our Organization
The Foundation of Movement Intelligence was incorporated in
Jerusalem, Israel in May 2008.
FMI Israel is a nonprofit organization established by Dr. Ruthy Alon, the
creator of an uniquely elegant and educational somatic approach to
movement. “Movement nature meant “ practical guide of how to
free yourself from compromised ways of moving by restoring organic,
optimal efficiency, and inner self correction.
This approach includes five interwoven programs each with a different
focus but all offering gentle, progressive, self-reliant and self- help
strategies for sustainable living. The programs BFL, Walk for Life, Chairs,
Mindful eating, and Solutions.
We are dedicated to promoting Dr. Ruthy Alon’s work and vision
through educational programs, classes and training to the general
public, as this was Ruthy’s request.
We aspire to encourage certification of future generations of teachers
and trainers, so we may offer to all “ The end result is that people rid
themselves of their limitations, move more gracefully and most
excitedly – they once again love to move. We call this restoration
Biological Optimism”
(Credit: FMI USA )
Ruthy Alon, PhD
Ruthy Alon
The Life of Dr. Ruth Allon
Ruth Allon (1930-2020) was born in Columbia. Her mother was Esther Kadosh, and her father was Shaul Kipnis. They changed their family name to Yardeni. Ruth was the second daughter in the family, and she had a younger brother. When she was two years old, the family immigrated again to the Land of Israel.
Ruth studied at the David Yellin teachers’ college in Jerusalem. In Israel’s War of Independence, Ruth joined the Palmach, and she served in the Jerusalem area, in Tzuba and in Qastel.
Ruth married Tzvi Allon, and they had two children, Guy and Iris.
In 1952, she began to study in the A.T.M. groups of Dr. Moshe Feldenkreis at the Alexander Yannai center. Moshe said about Ruth that “she has absolute hearing in her feet”.
In 1960, Ruth herself began teaching the A.T.M. groups. In 1967, Moshe opened in Tel-Aviv a first course of his method, “Awareness of the Way of Movement”. Ruth was one of the thirteen students of Moshe Feldenkreis. This group was called by him “the thirteen wonders” whom he trained to continue his ways in Israel and around the world.
Ruth earned the title “trainer”, and she began to teach the Feldenkreis Method in Israel (in Tzahal, in Jerusalem, in Tel-Aviv) and in the world. Afterwards, she developed her way of the Feldenkreis Method. From 1983, she began developing the program for “strengthening the bone” which at first was called “all my bones talk”. Eventually, she developed this program into the course that was named B.F.L “Bones for Life”. Later, she added more study programs such as the walking program with canes, W.F.L “Walking for Life”, “Chairs” for moving while seated and a program called “Eating Awareness”. A further development was her flagship program “Solution”, solutions for faulty movement and for improving one’s posture and for biological optimism. All her programs were called “movement intelligence”.
Ruth taught the Feldenkreis Method and her method in twenty-eight countries around the world – in North and South America, in the Far East, in Australia, in New Zealand and in Africa. She was a very highly-regarded teacher.
In 2005, Ruth published her book “Back to Natural Movement”. She earned her Ph.D in the United States, and she had work connections with NASA.
In 2008, she founded a non-profit organization for movement intelligence in Israel. In addition to this, Ruth founded abroad such an organization, called F.M.I.
Ruth died at the age of 91 at home in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ein-Karem (Madregot ha-Kfar Str 17). This was her home for 45 years, and she always loved coming home to her humble abode and to the wonderful garden with its trees and flowers which she cultivated. She bequeathed to us many writings, notebooks and study manuals, giving us much food for thought in continuing the teaching of her method.
Movement Intelligence
Movement Intelligence is a series of programs developed by Ruthy Alon, an early student of the Feldenkrais Method® with Moshe Feldenkrais himself. It takes the concept behind her Feldenkrais training and dives deeper into the idea of moving your body as nature designed it to move.
In Movement Intelligence classes, the focus is on fine-tuning the way you move into one which builds wear and repair instead of wear and tear. Expect your movements to be broken down to the subtlest of efforts while you’re learning about the way your body was designed to function. Using sensory motor feedback, you’ll pull together your movements and naturally organize in a way that is incredibly efficient, pleasurable, and sustainable. In short, by studying your movements you can modify and redefine them to work better for you with less pain, more flexibility, more strength, and with movement confidence.
