This course is the first core curriculum course to be developed online for the Trager Community. While there is no substitute for in-person learning, COVID has provided the opportunity to use the internet for connection and continuing education. For the past 6 months, The US Trager Association has offered well-attended Mentastics classes weekly on ZOOM. Many instructors are developing seminars on various topics and the effort has been well received by both the public and the Trager community.
This 8-week professional and/or personal (lay) training seminar, offers 24 hours of continuing education toward the Trager Practitioner Certification program and Licensed Massage Therapist credit through the NCBTM. It includes 16 hours of ZOOM conferencing, and 8 hours of fieldwork which is supervised by the instructor. Each student will create a personal practice journal reviewed at the end of class; have a private tutorial with Judy; and create short videotapes while teaching a small group and leading a session for the Judy to view and give feedback. These projects will provide the participant with many opportunities to enhance their skills for self-care, self-awareness, and how to share Mentastics with others. Novices to professional caregivers are welcome.
If you are unknown to Trager, your introduction through this class will be rich and personally rewarding. There are options for you to consider when the class ends, perhaps finding a practitioner and getting a session, or maybe you will decide to enter the training program. Judy will share options and look at next steps decide next steps. If you are a professional bodyworker or medical practitioner, you will learn new techniques that can be used immediately to increase your presence and ease when with others, professionally and personally. Discussion regarding how to integrate what you have learned in your practice will be arranged. We will discuss ways in which movement in the form of Mentastics can improve and empower your clients to care for themselves better, improving their health and well-being.
Mentastics movement, tablework, and communication skills are part of the “three-legged stool” that I envision as the hallmarks of the Trager® Approach and the International Trager Training Program. Our approach to wellbeing and vitality combines physical, mental, emotional and spiritual realms of attitude and behavior. This 24-hour, online Mentastics course is but one course in the entire Trager Training Program, a 226-hour, well-monitored course of instruction. This course focuses on self-care through movement and imagery and is designed to teach you (and through you, to teach others) a method to restore and maintain the agelessness of body and mind. Mentastics, often called “Moving Meditation” or “Moving Medicine”, can be adapted to all bodies, and all positions (sitting, standing and lying). It is subtle, effective and life changing. The movements can be very large and playful, or so small that no one can see that they are being done.
“Trager Mentastics are for those who are seeking something better and deeper for their body and mind.” - Milton Trager
The term Mentastic is a coined expression meaning “mental gymnastics”; mentally directed movements intended to free the body from tension and unconscious holding patterns. Mentastics, done over time, rewire the central nervous system, layering new and more fluid ways of being in the world. Calming the central nervous system is essential for optimum health. Self-care using a regular Mentastics practice invites the magnificent neuroplastic response of healing and regeneration that was unknown until recently.
The cost is $450 per person. Our community has a tradition of offering half price to students who have taken this class with any instructor in the last 5 years. Please choose that option when you register. Scholarships may be available through the USTA or your region if you have already a confirmed student in the training program. Payment plans are available, but you must contact Judy to register if you need this option.
Course overall objectives:
Participants will have a solid understanding of the work of Milton Trager and the role Mentastics movement explorations play in improving our health
All participants will deepen their understanding and use of Trager Mentastics movement to facilitate greater awareness in the body and mind
Participants will enhance their self-care while working with others
Participants will learn the use of presence to apply to their current practices/careers
Students will receive a certificate for 24 hours of continuing education on completion of the class
Class Format
16 hours zoom class (2 hours per week x 8) consisting of facilitated Mentastics explorations, discussions, breakout sessions, homework, supervision on the following topics:
Definitions and characteristics of Mentastics
Hook up, pause and impulse to move
Framing a session, taking the lead (self and other)
Mentastics for balance, fluidity, and self-healing
Standards and Scope of Ethical Practice
Communicating the feeling of Mentastics
Group leadership and dynamics
Continued self-care and development (next steps)
8 hours of self-study to accomplish the following:
Weekly dedicated time for personal Mentastics and a short, reflective journal entry immediately after the experience (approximately 30 mins weekly x 8 minimum) to be reviewed by instructor week 8.
Videotape Mentastics practice session with one client in two different positions, sitting, standing or lying. This video will be between 8-12 minutes.
Prepare and teach a 15-minute Mentastics class with minimum of 3 persons. You may use classmates for this and record on zoom or in person.
Compete a one-hour individual Mentastics tutorial with Judy between weeks 6-8.
To receive your continuing education certificate, all sessions and class assignments must be completed
Technical Requirements
We will meet weekly on ZOOM. You will need a good internet connection, a computer, laptop, or iPad with a camera and microphone. Cell phones do not provide enough options to fully participate. Call the instructor if you are uncertain.
Class will be open 15 minutes before the start time, please sign in to check your connection and technical functioning. Learn the ZOOM app before the class is in progress, find the video/mute options.
Plan to attend the entire 2-hour segment each week.
Classes will be recorded and available to class participants for make-up or review.
New to ZOOM? It is relatively simple, and here is their support link: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-video-tutorials
Create a quiet space, privacy, no pets, children etc.
We will take one short break midway through the class
Who should attend?
Students in the Trager Training Program currently:
This course can be taken any time during your practitioner training.
Service providers and medical professionals:
If you are a service provider, these concepts and techniques will be useful to you in many situations. Self-care skills will increase your ability to connect with your clients and maintain presence during your sessions.
Lay persons taking the class for self-care and self-development:
If you are a lay person, your own use of this approach to wellness will benefit yourself and those around you. You will be required to complete the program and practice sessions the same as everyone else, even if you do not plan to go further. This class can be used as a stand-alone class, and you are welcome to discover your path within it.
For new students:
Student membership dues for the United States Trager Association are $100 payable with the first training. To gain credit for this course, you must complete the Certification Program Student Application (request from your instructor), get a session from a Practitioner and have them sign the form. Send your application fee to the United Stated Trager Association within 30 days of the training. (You do not need to pay this unless you wish to begin the Trager Training Program.)
Reading Requirements and Resources:
https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/complementary-alternative-or-integrative-health-whats-in-a-name
Trager, M, Trager Mentastics: Movement as a Way to Agelessness, Station Hill Press, 1987
Trager for daily life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2bzOcMKY4g for Trager Practitioners
Proctor Gallagher Institute on Imagination https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkL9eRJlnic
Blackburn, J, Hooking up-the power of presence in bodywork. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (2004) 8, 114–121 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bdf8f5036099b2eb8d2b5ad/t/5c5c44f96e9a7f7629cac41a/1549550842449/JBMT_Hook-up_Article2.pdf
Rosemary Broccoli video Milton and Hook Up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-QBI4Y-ARU
BIO: Judy Fasone, is a Sr. Trager Practitioner, Mentastics Teacher, Trager Tutor and Instructor Trainee. Judy has been in private practice for 24 years. Judy’s personal and private practice focuses on self-care as health care. She empowers her clients to use their internal and external awareness, integrating the body, mind and natural environment that surrounds us for self-healing and wellbeing. Judy has 30 years of nursing experience in a variety of fields, and is a Board- Certified as an Advanced Holistic Nurse and Board -Certified as a Health and Wellness Nurse Coach. She lives and works in Columbus Ohio.
"Judy is an amazingly dynamic instructor and lovely energy to work with." - Terri McIntyre, CA practitioner
“Mentastics movements have gotten me out of the ruts to see more capacity of me. I am eating better, more aware of posture and movement.” - Gayle Miller, Financier
“Judy facilitated Trager sessions (individual and group) in the warm water pool at McConnell Heart Health Center. These sessions helped participants increase their body awareness, improve their quality of movement and enhance their relaxation experience by learning how to tune into the body’s needs. The gentle movements helped to release pain and tension patterns. Many participants found this very helpful. I highly recommend trying a Trager session with Judy.” - Lisa Drugan, Aquatic Team Leader, Ohio Health
“Judy provides the most wonderful healing experience that integrates body and mind. She is highly intuitive in her work, models compassion and gentleness and reminds me as a caregiver to give myself the compassion that I so easily have for others. The concepts of her work are simple, the outcome is as deep and expansive. Judy wisely guides me as I learn to heal and care for myself.” - Nurse practitioner at Ohio Health
“I have benefitted from Judy’s soft, loving touch and her compassionate, open heart.”