Aviva Steiner

Aviva Gabriella Steiner was born in 1930 in Budapest, Hungary. Her original name was Gabriella Fazekas. Her parents were followers of Béla Bicsérdi, and led a highly natural vegetarian lifestyle. They were among the leading sportsmen of Hungary, with Aviva’s mother winning several swimming championships. During her childhood Aviva often went with her father to the gymnasium, where he practiced gymnastics and acrobatics. Aviva actually began exercising before birth; her mother continued gymnastics and swimming while pregnant with her daughter. Later, in her early childhood years, Aviva personally took up gymnastics and ballet as well.

When Aviva was 5 years old, she became ill with a raging high fever of seemingly unknown origin. Doctors could not diagnose the disease, and there was no medication, drug, or remedy to treat it. However, Aviva managed to heal from this mysterious illness with simple gymnastic exercises. Her parents attributed healing power to gymnastics and swimming, which were, in fact effective, as shown in Aviva’s case.

During World War II Aviva’s young parents were killed in a concentration camp, but Aviva miraculously survived. In 1946 the barely 16-year-old Aviva was brought to Palestine with many other Jewish children orphaned during the war. In Israel, she studied at the Ben Semen boarding school. She was the student of Gertrud Kraus, the world famous dance teacher of the Israeli Opera House. Aviva continued her studies, and acquired an Education degree through the Kibbutz Seminars, from the University of Physical Education. Physical activity and sports played a central role in her life.

Aviva had several parts in performances as a dancer at the Opera House of Tel-Aviv. As a testimonial, her photo albums are full of photographs of her acts. Later, Aviva chose to dedicate her life to gymnastics and healing, leaving an acting and dancing career behind.

Aviva continued her studies following this new direction. She worked in Jerusalem as a PE (physical education) teacher, while in her free time she audited anatomy and physiotherapy classes at the Medical University. Apart from this, she also took up yoga. During the paralysis epidemic she worked at the Hadassah University Clinic as an assistant of Professor Adler. Aviva remembers these times as follows: “I worked at the Physiotherapy Clinic, and saw terrible cases, paralyzed children, and I discovered that even nearly completely paralyzed muscles can be made to move, when there is at least one fiber still alive, and through these movements an entire group of muscles can be affected. However, nothing can be done without the cooperation of the patient, without her willingness to heal, and it is also important to have an expert therapist.”

Aviva realized that her parents had been right in their conviction. Her own recovery, and that of the people she worked with at the Physiotherapy Clinic convinced her that movement and willpower can solve numerous problems, even an undesirable conception.

This later discovery was a coincidence. Aviva was teaching gymnastics to women, and tried to diversify her exercises. She wanted to create a warm-up routine that would not be too strenuous for her middle-aged and elderly students (women between the ages of 45 and 70). After the first trial with these warm-up exercises (which are now exercise no. 7 of the Simple Method), only the two most elderly ladies (aged 70) visited the next class. Aviva asked them about the other women, and they replied: “They have their periods”. Although Aviva was surprised, she did not yet draw the connection between this incidence and her warm-up exercises.

It took her some time to believe that what she had been searching for, for a long time, had finally appeared in her life. Similarly to other young women, she had been looking for a method of contraception for decades that would help avoid undesired pregnancies.

Aviva continued to teach these “warm-up” exercises, only to notice this phenomenon repeating itself over and over. Women would get their periods; even women who thought these had ended for good began to bleed again. Others, who had irregular or continuously late cycles, also began to bleed.

This was the moment, when Aviva said: STOP! Although she became somewhat alarmed, she decided to meticulously search for an explanation of these events. By chance, it happened that her own period was also late at this time. She consulted her doctor, and made an appointment at the clinic. She then began to think – dozens of women attending her classes get their periods, does she really need to see a doctor? She decided to do her own warm-up exercises actively, and just as it had worked for others, it worked for her as well: her period started in a couple of days. Nevertheless, she called her doctor, but the doctor assured her, that everything should be fine.

Following this incidence Aviva began to further develop her exercises, and observe their effects. She discovered that with certain movements blood circulation can be stimulated in specific areas, which in turn can solve numerous female reproductive problems. Aviva is most proud of the birth of all the beautiful and clever children whose mothers had previously been treated for infertility in vain, and who had finally conceived with the help of her exercises.

Lívia Tóth

Aviva's work(s) in the Program:

Aviva's method I. - demo - full

Aviva's method II. - demo - full

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