M. Cohen- Nehemia identified the Mitzvah Mechanism and developed the Mitzvah Technique to activate the Mitzvah Mechanism.

Born in Jerusalem, Nehemia as we call him, danced and choreographed with the renowned Inbal Dance Theatre in Israel. During this time he became interested in body misuse and developed skills for helping dancers deal with injuries and postural difficulties. Additionally he worked in physical rehabilitation at a hospital in Israel.

Nehemia worked and conducted research with the late Israeli physicist Dr Moshe Feldenkrais who developed the Feldenkrais Technique.  He spent five years in London, England studying the Alexander Technique, qualifying as an Alexander Teacher. He realized that the Alexander Technique relied too heavily on mental directions and that there was a natural and physical way to help the body recover from its daily body misuses.

The above background knowledge and experience with all of these disciplines plus Nehemia’s own insightful research provided the ingredients for ground breaking advancements. Extensive studies were conducted by Nehemia of the rippling spinal motion and movement patterns of young children, animals, Inbal dancers and the nomadic Bedouin of the Sinai Desert. It is through this research that he identified the Mitzvah Mechanism, our upward rippling spinal motion, which is the body’s innate ability to realign and rebalance itself during sitting up, standing up and walking. He selected the word Mitzvah to convey this good deed for the body.

In the late 1970s Nehemia founded the Canadian Centre for the Alexander Technique in Toronto. Then in the 1980s he founded The Mitzvah Technique Centre and Training School also located in Toronto.

Susan Green was among the graduates in Nehemia’s first graduating class. Susan highly refined her quality of hands on work uniquely through 25 years of continuous studies with Nehemia, attaining a deep understanding of the Mitzvah Technique through active participation in its evolution. During this time Nehemia pared down the Mitzvah Technique discipline to practical essentials. This enables people to uniquely correct the source of their problems through direct application of Nehemia’s Mitzvah Technique exercises and discipline during daily activities.