Hi, I’m Suzi.

Owner of Mindful Movement. My studio is located in a beautiful, wooded northern suburb of Chicago with walking paths that lead to Lake Michigan. 

I am an Experiential Sensory Movement Specialist, a highly sought after national and international practitioner, teacher, educator, coach, mentor, presenter and creative force. For more than 20 years I have worked with babies, children and adults with neurological challenges, providing unimagined futures and boundless possibilities. Yes, together we can open renewed hopes and dreaming.

I offer coaching for parents that invites better family dynamics, well being and open communication. I also have an incredible referral network of leading experts in the fields of visual processing and brain mapping, auditory processing, reflex integration, pediatric speech-language, including pre-speech and feeding disorders, nature therapy, craniosacral therapy and life coaching.

It’s my mission and passion to help those with neurological challenges to discover their full potential and gain hope and a renewed belief in themselves or their children. I create the conditions for learning to take place and help expand an individual's perception of themselves and the world around them.

I am a lover of movement in all its expressions. I know that my absolute belief in our ability to learn and grow, paired with my wonder, insatiable curiosity and sensitivity assures that the partnership between us and/or your child will be highly beneficial. 

Perhaps it is my love of asking questions, without seeking final answers, that enables me to work so effectively with the brain. Or maybe it's my ability to listen between words, feel between movements or become the felt-sense of my clients that allows for their incredible evolution as well as that of their families/teams. 

Yes, I love nurturing growth and flourishing as well as celebrating the beauty of our individuality. No surprise, perhaps, that I began my professional career in horticulture.

I am a twin. My brother and I surprised my mom by arriving six weeks early. My brother was given a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy, which affected his right side and caused developmental delays. 

When I was four years old, I watched my brother get carried out of the house to a vehicle with bright flashing lights. I was told he was going to a hospital. He had underdeveloped lungs, trouble breathing and pneumonia. This was only one of his many hospital stays. 

At age five, I began attending my brother’s PT sessions. I helped my mom, who was a nurse, with his exercises and as I got older, I became the one who helped him with his exercises. 

I was impacted deeply by my brother’s experience through many areas of my life. I thought I was going to be a physical therapist; however, the more I got into it, the more I found that it wasn’t for me. 

My movement career started as a certified group aerobic dance instructor, certified Pilates teacher and educator and a Gyrotonic Expansion System® practitioner.

After a number of years in another field, an “angel” told me about the Feldenkrais Method® of movement. After attending an initial five-day workshop, I knew I had found the modality I wanted to train in that would optimally help babies, children and adults as well as their families. 

In the Feldenkrais Method®, I recognized the container of kindness and humanity that allowed both me and those I worked with to flourish. In addition, the imperative that we, as practitioners, not work from protocols but rather dance with and expand what is alive and already possible matches my conviction that there is a unique path forward for each of us.  

I am a certified Feldenkrais Method® practitioner and certified Anat Baniel Method NeuroMovement® practitioner. I worked on the ABMNM® teaching staff as an assistant trainer and trainer for nearly a decade.

My perception, beliefs and inspiration are heavily influenced by my 30 years of study with movement and sensory teachers and specialists, as well as extensive experience with the Focusing Method and with non-violent communication and conflict resolution leadership programs.

The principles I learned in Suzi’s foundation workshop have formed in me an internal blueprint that guides my thinking, orientation and observations as I work. It has helped me see my clients’ patterns of organization more clearly and be more effective in choosing what to do next and with what intention. She makes the learning environment rich and fun with lots of hands-on personal attention. I came away feeling empowered with new insights and I could see the results immediately through my work. Suzi has a gift and passion for teaching and it shows! 

— Adrienne P., ABMNM® practitioner 

As a parent and an ABMNM® practitioner, I have been able to interact with my child in short sessions with noticeable results. My child is moving with more ease, using more of her spine and using her arms and hands in a new way. Suzi has guided me along this path with her expertise while honoring my intention as a mother. She taught me how to listen better to myself, which, in turn, makes me a better practitioner. I am grateful for her care, honesty and investment in me and my family.

— Carolyn M., ABMNM® practitioner