Jae Gruenke
Jae Gruenke, GCFP, has focused on applying the neuromuscular re-education techniques of the Feldenkrais Method® to the needs of runners since 2002. A Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitionercm, Jae works one-on-one with runners ranging from novice to competitive, with concerns including reducing aches and pains, recovering from serious injury, learning basic running mechanics, preventing injury, and improving efficiency and speed.
Hellgate Road Runners track workout.
Photo courtesy Jared Mestre.
She also runs her own series of public workshops for runners, and has taught private workshops sponsored by the Nike Central Park Track Club, the New York Flyers, New York Road Runners Foundation’s Team for Kids, the Joe Running Team, Equinox Health Club, Columbia University Medical Center’s Student Wellness Center, and Williams College.
A runner herself, Jae currently holds a position as Assistant Clinical Professor in the Physical Therapy Program at SUNY Downstate Medical center, where she is involved in research on running economy. She has been a member of the Feldenkrais Guild since 1999 and an ACE-Certified personal trainer since 1998. In addition to her work with runners, she offers in-home fitness and movement training for seniors and those with special needs through her company, Intelligent Exercise LLC. She was fitness columnist for New York Spirit Magazine from 1999-2002 and her writing on movement and physicality has also appeared in the Village Voice, American Dance, The Park Slope Reader, and on the Motion Channel of IndiePlanet.com.
Jae graduated magna cum laude from Williams College in 1992 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Working as a professional dancer from 1992-2003, she performed with a number of New York City-based companies. At the time of her retirement from dance in 2003, she was a senior company member of Sarah Skaggs Dance.
Julia Pak
Julia Pak, MBA, GCFP, is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitionercm specializing in helping athletes perform at high levels and helping those with chronic pain, injury, and other neuromuscular difficulties return to functioning. Born and raised in Russia, Julia came to the Feldenkrais Method with a background in track, mountaineering, skiing, and rock climbing. As a runner, her current focus is marathons.
Julia currently holds a position as Assistant Clinical Professor in the Physical Therapy Program at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, where she is involved in research on running economy. In addition to her work with adult athletes, Julia has a special interest in working with children. She is pursuing advanced study and practicing Feldenkrais® method for children with special needs at the Field Center for Children’s Integrated Development. She also teaches weekly classes at the Feldenkrais Learning Center.
Prior to becoming a Feldenkrais Practitioner, Julia worked as a financial systems analyst for Fortune 500 companies. Studying and teaching the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education appealed to her love of movement, her analytical background, and her intuitive sense that one must work with the whole rather than only individual parts.