Lesley McLennan

I was 10 years old when I wrote my first book. I wrote, illustrated, and bound a small novella about a miniature rabbit who lived in a pine-cone. The next time, was profoundly different - a thesis for a Master’s degree - and though the subject matter was of great interest to me, the constraints of academic language had none of the joy of my first foray. There were thirty years between those two books, and now, twenty years later, I have come back to putting concepts about which I am passionate, between two covers. “Moving from the Inside Out” is for a wider audience than I had ever aimed at previously. It is also my first adventure in co-authorship. I have had the fortune of combining a field I am passionate about, with storytelling, and with friendship – a rich experience indeed. Our aim has been to present important, verifiable information for personal exploration, while also studding the pages with small stories that illustrate and humanise the journey of discovery into your own movement. This book has its feet firmly planted in Feldenkrais Method, a method which has fascinated me since my first encounter in 1984. I have played with, researched, studied and practiced this method ever since. Many of my most stimulating encounters and conversations have been a direct result of this. Yet unlike some extraordinary and gifted colleagues, I have never practiced this as a full-time profession. I have always maintained other streams of work and interest – the performing arts, investing, philanthropy, travel, photography, woodcarving, and the list could go on. While Julie brings laser like focus to our co-authored work, I like to think I have added colour and diversity as food for thought. Both Julie and I are Australian, but we live on opposite sides of our wide continent (Brisbane and Perth). Therefore bringing this work together has been an exercise in patience, passion and persistence. We sincerely hope you will enjoy the adventure of reading, be inspired to do, and give yourself time to feel the many possible outcomes of the ideas we are presenting.