Amrita Daigle

TRAGER® Approach Instructor from Québec City

Bonjour! Yes, my mother language is French. I master English as well, a lot because of my TRAGER involvement: I was our first instructors Gail, Sheila Merle, Gary, Carol, Cathy, Bill and Milton’s translator when they taught in my region in the 80s, I have served on many TRAGER committees, and I have been a communication facilitator between the TRAGER international administration and education bodies and my area peers.
I work in the field of somatic education since forty years. I was a yoga teacher and a massage therapist before becoming a TRAGER practitioner in 1983 and the first TRAGER instructor in Canada in 1991.
I have studied with Milton Trager one to three times a year over a period of fifteen years, and I have seen what looked like miracles appear under his hands. I was fascinated by the power of his work and puzzled by this ongoing inner question: what on earth is he doing to generate these spectacular results?! His words were always the same: feeeeel the tissue, it’s the mind I’m after, get out of the way, how should it be? It took me a long time before finding ‘’how’’ to integrate these magic keys in my practice.
My extended exposure to Milton’s being and a few specific crux experiences by his side have shaped my practice and my teaching.
I have learned how to work with pain in 1986, in Hawaii. I had badly hurt my hand the day before a training with Milton and I thought that I was not going to be able to participate. He received me in his office and he held my wounded hand so softly, barely moving for such a long period of time, that I profoundly perceived how most of his work was coming from his focused mind. The image of my hand in his is still vivid in me, un-swelling right in front of my eyes! I was able to carefully use it the next day, and working with pain has become one of my specialties!
I have understood Milton’s re-education strategy over time, and particularly while attending a Reflex Response training with him in 1987. I was then paired with Brian, a wonderful child living with cerebral palsy (you might have seen me in that archive video, available through your USTA Association). Witnessing Milton’s level of presence, kindness and creative responsiveness to this young boy was deeply transformative for me.
I hold our international development in my heart, thus I have often taken a leading role in major TRAGER projects:
- Coordinator of the TRAGER Education Initiatives Task Force since 2013
- Co-Creator of the TRAGER for Daily Life project – website available in 5 languages (tragerfordailylife.com) and promotional video available in 9 languages – you can see me teach in it! VIEW THE VIDEO HERE
- Instructor Committee Communication Coordinator during the historical transition from the Trager Institute administrative model to the Trager International one in 1999-2000
- Co-Creator of the TRAGER Handbook with Bill School and Sandra Berger in 1998-1999
- Co-Coordinator of the Instructor Committee with Gwen Crowell in 1995-1996
- Coordinator of the Trager Institute Personnel Committee in 1992-1994
I teach the Level I, II, III and IV and MENTASTICS classes, many one-day Continuing Education options, and three Level V trainings: ‘’Acute and chronic pain management’’, ‘’Movement re-education and brain plasticity’’ (the use of words in the re-education process, handling of resistance and persistent tension, ‘’outsmarting’’ the patterns to create genuine shifts), and a Master Class.
In my elective ‘’TRAGER Teaching Skills Coaching Training’’, participants receive crystal clear explanations of how TRAGER works. Their private practice becomes more focused and effective, and they build the needed competence to bring their work into the world. They deepen, consolidate and expand their current leading skills in a supportive environment, and they boldly grow in their educator role. This training content is tailored to meet the participants’ different levels of development — new and experienced TRAGER practitioners have felt as nourished by my customized accompaniment. It provides concrete tools to strengthen practitioners confidence to offer MENTASTICS movements or TRAGER for Daily Life classes, and it has been recommended as a prerequisite to the Teaching Evaluation Seminar for people wishing to progress towards teaching statuses.
I have trained TRAGER professionals in North America, in Europe, and in the Middle East. I love both teaching and receiving clients as well – one practice enriches the other. I would not know which one of these two work forms to choose as my favourite!