Mary Lou Stanley

Mary Lou received her degree in Physical Therapy from McMaster University in 1994 and has worked in private practice since then as a Registered Physical Therapist. She has continued to pursue post-graduate training in Physical Therapy in the areas of orthopaedics, sport physiotherapy, posture and muscle balance, core stability and breathing, Feldenkrais®, and NeuroMovement®. Mary Lou has extensive training in the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education. She studied directly with Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, completed the Feldenkrais Professional Training Program, and became a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner™ in 1983. Since then, she has taught the method and attended numerous advanced trainings.

Her interest in Feldenkrais’ work and what he was teaching, led Mary Lou to pursue a Masters in Motor Learning and Control from the University of British Columbia, where she did her thesis research with Dr. Ian Franks, the director of the Motor Learning and Control Laboratory in the Department of Kinesiology.

“Feldenkrais was a brilliant scientist,” says Mary Lou. “His quest to improve the human condition inspired me to learn more about the brain and how we learn – and control – movement.”

“My general physiotherapy training informs everything that I do,” she adds, “and the somatic methodologies that I’ve learned build on that foundation. When movement is made with attention, you start making changes in the brain. When you make changes in the brain, you can make changes to how you move.”

Mary Lou teaches Feldenkrais classes, as well as using the method in private treatment to facilitate better posture and breathing, improve coordination and muscle balance, and relieve pain for her clients, who range from athletes and dancers, to seniors.

She continues to train in leading-edge somatic methodologies. Mary Lou was certified as an Anat Baniel Method℠ (ABM) Practitioner (NeuroMovement®) for adults in 2015, for children in 2016, for vitality & anti-aging in 2017, and for high performers in 2018. ABM builds on the methods of Dr. Feldenkrais, using the latest research in brain plasticity.

As an Anat Baniel Method for Children℠ Practitioner, Mary Lou is trained to deliver treatments that have proven effective for children with developmental disabilities and special needs, such as cerebral palsy, ADD/ADHD, stroke and brain injury.

For further information please visit Mary Lou’s website at www.mlstanley.com.