Welcome! Everyone can browse our Patrons Monthly lessons below and click titles for more info.

Why be a Patron?

The Feldenkrais Project's 50+ free lessons are a crowd-funded labor of love. If you believe, like we do, that Feldenkrais makes the world a better place, please join the Project as a Patron to support our work and access over 70 Patrons Monthly lessons below, plus other Patrons-only lessons. You'll also get full access to our Deep Dive courses.

A Patron-level membership costs about what you'd pay to attend a single Feldenkrais or other movement class per month!

Join the Project as a Patron

Our costs for 2023 were over $34,000 for technology and our part-time staff – plus 50-100 hours of Nick's time each month – as we improve this site, spread the word about our vision, and add new lessons and features to our industry-leading resources. Your support really matters!

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Each month Nick adds one new lesson to thank our Patrons and expand our resources.

New for Patrons

60m

Advanced Connecting Arms and Legs: Equal and Opposite (Patrons)

In this version, this classic side-lying lesson is framed by back-lying riddles designed to more explicitly connect your learning to gait and ground reaction forces. As you integrate various actions of your feet and legs with your pelvis, torso, and arms, you’ll rediscover the buoyancy and joy of walking with your whole self!
60m

Getting Free with a Bell Hand (Patrons)

Mostly in a “three-quarters prone” position (halfway between side-lying and front-lying). Learn to use a gently pulsing “bell hand” to calm and regulate your nervous system, and to help you organize larger, more demanding movements with greater freedom and skill. See the lesson notes for a recommended prerequisite lesson.

January 12, 2022
 

60m

Making Peace: Smooth Breath, Skillful Bias, Supple Chest (Patrons)

Back-lying. Recorded in a “Rest and Recharge” themed class, this workshop-style lesson weaves together three related ATM explorations designed to calm and restore your nervous system. Balance your breath, find and enjoy your primary spinal bias, and then unlock more suppleness in your ribs and shoulders by gently moving within unusual constraints.

December 17, 2021
 

60m

Freeing the Shoulders by Rolling the Arms (Patrons)

Mostly back-lying, arms in a “letter T” position. Improving the function and mobility of the shoulders by connecting them more skillfully with the chest, spine, and head. Particular attention is given to the neck and to the spine between the shoulder blades.

December 6, 2021
 

58m

Finding Sensations of Not Shortening (Patrons)

Side-lying and front-lying with optional rolling, framed by brief standing explorations. Movement riddles for the chest, shoulders, neck, spine, and legs are presented in a focused context of lengthening. Uses sensory images of the five cardinal lines of the body, breathing, organizing the “core,” and expanding into the support surface to create opportunities to sense and inhibit unnecessary shortening. Begins with a summary of what we’re exploring.

November 19, 2021
 

58m

Improving Rotation, Embracing Our Differences (Patrons)

Back-lying, often using the self-hug configuration, as well as front-lying. Learning to better sense, differentiate, and skillfully integrate turning your head, neck, shoulders, chest, spine, and pelvis.

September 27, 2021
 

36m

The Power of One Foot (22 or 36 min, Patrons)

A “short version” stopping point is noted in the middle. Back-lying, one knee bent, framed with brief walking explorations. This potently asymmetrical lesson dives deeply into the common ATM lesson ingredient of pushing one foot into the floor. Intended to inspire improvisation after studying, this lesson asks: can you learn how to improve how you’re feeling and functioning even with short or very simple ATM explorations? How about one-sided, or self-led?

August 20, 2021
 

60m

Self-Hug, Embracing Our Differences (Patrons)

Back-lying, often knees bent. Learning to gently roll the head, shoulders, and chest from side-to-side while skillfully differentiating other parts of the body, especially the legs and pelvis. Explore how we constantly reconfigure our internal organization in order to keep a part of our body unmoving in relationship to the outside world.

July 1, 2021
 

61m

A Dynamic “Core” Lengthens the Spine (Patrons)

(Advanced lesson. Be sure to read Comfort & Configuration notes) Back-lying, often knees bent. Using a reference image of the five lines of the body, movements of folding the legs create gentle challenges to awareness and self-regulation as you first let the pelvis move freely, then later dynamically stabilize it. While the “core” reckons with the weight of the legs, you’ll explore how to maintain simplicity and length in the spine, easy fullness of breathing, and efficiency of effort.

June 17, 2021
 

60m

Dynamic Balance: Stability Through Suppleness (Patrons)

Framed by brief explorations in standing, this mostly side-lying lesson presents gently de-stabilizing movements of the head and legs to help you explore and improve your balance in a supple, whole-self way.

May 26, 2021
 

60m

One Bell Hand / Two Bell Hands…and Feet (31m + 29m, Patrons)

Named after the shape the hand makes, this pair of half-hour lessons is designed to be completed together the first time through. Reset your nervous system and learn to relate the activity and skillfulness of your hands with your whole self.

  • Lesson 1 – Side-lying, balancing a forearm and lower leg in relationship with bell hand movements.
  • Lesson 2 (starts at 31:30) – Back-lying, sensing the relationship of the orientation of head and eyes with the activity of the hands, and relating the hands with the feet.
April 28, 2021
 

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Deep Dives with Patrons Monthly Lessons

To enjoy some of our Patrons Monthly lessons in larger learning contexts try our Deep Dives, where we integrate Patrons-only content with other Feldenkrais Project lessons in specialized study sequences. Patrons have full access.

More Collections Just for Patrons

Lessons from Awareness Through Movement

Developed from Moshe Feldenkrais’s 1972 book, written to introduce his method to the world.

Legacy and Alternate Lessons

Some listeners prefer the classics. When a lesson is replaced or updated the original goes here.

8 Comments

  1. Nick Strauss-Klein on March 5, 2019 at 3:57 pm

    As you explore the Patrons Monthly lessons please leave comments and questions on the lesson pages – they build our community, improve our visibility on the web, and refine my teaching and which lessons I choose to add.

    You can also leave a comment right here to request lessons or topics of study.

  2. Margit on March 24, 2019 at 4:05 pm

    I like lessons with a rolling part in them, they are so much fun! This lesson maked me especially aware of my Sternum and that I usually direct it “backwords”. I will pay attention to a more balanced direction (in the mid of backwards and forwards) of my Sternum after doing this lesson. Thank you Nick for sharing your Knowledge with us.

  3. jean kirk on April 4, 2021 at 5:05 pm

    Rib basket and shoulder cloak lesson is great. Taught me a lot about being upright.

  4. Helina Karvak on June 18, 2022 at 7:43 am

    Hi! I’m interested in voice as topic of study 🙂

    • Nick Strauss-Klein on June 20, 2022 at 12:00 pm

      That’s great – me too! My wife is a singer and I’ve wanted for years to develop my own ease in speaking. Lessons for the voice are on the back burner right now, but I think I’ll get to it!

  5. Trudy J on May 2, 2024 at 3:56 am

    Hi Nick
    What pathway would you go down to help correct a scoliosis of the spine. I am unsure where to start. Thanks so much.
    Cheers Trudy

    • Nick Strauss-Klein on May 2, 2024 at 10:12 am

      Most scoliosis is caused by patterns of action, movement habits we’ve unconsciously developed over the years that shorten our spines unnecessarily in asymmetrical ways. Lessons that bring awareness to your integrated use of your whole spine in your actions are great. Admittedly, this is basically all Feldenkrais lessons! A few ideas to try to answer your question more specifically:

      • – Try our Little Dip called Spinal Support
      • Search our lessons for “spine” and follow your curiosity. You can filter by clicking “show advanced options,” or uncheck the “courses and video lessons” option if you just want to see specific lessons.
      • Collections #2 and #4 are also really relevant.
      • The Anti-Gravity Lesson (the finale of collection #2) can be very useful for some folks for scoliosis, especially if they’ve done a lot of Feldenkrais lessons like the ones above prior. Go very small and slow. You’re looking for the sense the that up-your-mat forces might naturally align your vertebrae, like how pushing a line of slightly disordered dominoes laying flat on a table can “straighten them out,” bringing their edges into full contact, if done with patience and precision.
      • Trudy J on May 2, 2024 at 1:15 pm

        Fantastic response Nick. It’s funny. Whilst I waited for a response I I intuitivley just headed to start on collection #2 as I felt sure lessons for the spine would help but I am glad I asked anyway because I love your response. Thanks again!

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