Deep Dive:
Better Balance
Our Deep Dives gather standalone Feldenkrais Project lessons into themed courses of study. Newcomers, we recommend exploring our primary collections first for a more generalized intro to Feldenkrais.
Life is not a stable process. Our ability to recover is our greatest quality.
… our nervous system, as well as our body, works to restore equilibrium rather than to keep it.
– Moshe Feldenkrais
Balancing – or relating skillfully to gravity – is naturally intertwined with all our habits, skills, and self-regulation abilities. This means that improving balance, in addition to making us safer, can help improve any human function! It also means that every Feldenkrais lesson relates to balance.
- You can read more about why balance is so fundamental to life and learning in my post called On Balance, "Losing" It, and Recovering. Or for real deep dive reading check out my article Playing with Gravity. It first appeared in the 2023 issue of FeldenkraisZeit, a journal of somatic learning for movement professionals. You don't need to be a pro, just bring your curiosity!
Some Feldenkrais lessons train balance more directly than others, so in this Deep Dive I've gathered The Feldenkrais Project's very best resources for improving it.
These lessons below are unordered except for the workshop, so feel free to start in any box and follow your curiosity. You may find the first lessons in the white and the red box easier than the later ones.
As always for our Deep Dives, some lessons are freely offered and others are benefits for Patron-level donors.
- Nick Strauss-Klein
To access the lessons marked "Patrons" you’ll need to join the Feldenkrais Project (or sign in) as a Patron-level donor. Click to learn more about donation or our donor benefits.
Patrons Workshop: Balance Myths, Facts, and Practice
This two-part live workshop recording is our premier balance resource. It's exclusive content for Feldenkrais Project Patron-level donors.
In this workshop Nick shares practical tips, tools, and Feldenkrais lessons to improve your balance. He dispels common misunderstandings and highlights principles of physics and learning you can sense and practice on your own.
The workshop is about 2.5 hours, including a break. There are two brief talks and four lessons, which are in standing and lying-down configurations.
Part 1: Intro • Lesson #1 • Lesson #2
After Part 1 we recommend a 10-30 minute break. You can take a longer break but it's best to do the whole workshop in one day.
Part 2: Myths and Facts • Lesson #3 • Lesson #4
Well, that was VERY nice. I feel taller, lighter, freer, my eyes relaxed – happier.
These lessons can be used to develop your workshop learning further, but they also work well on their own to help balance:
Rib Basket, Shoulder Cloak (Patrons)
Enjoy better balance through more torso softening, like in lesson #2
Whole Body Arms (Patrons)
Free your shoulders and chest, and dive deeper into how your arms help you balance, like in lesson #3
Balance Lessons for Everyone
Thanks to our donors these lessons are freely offered! Join The FP to support them.
Mat lessons, framed by standing explorations. Our amazing brains can learn a lot about balance while lying down!
I was amazed by how effortless it felt to shift my weight to stand on one leg afterwards as compared to before.
Spine and Chest Side-Bending, Lengthening Limbs
That was great Nick! my “central body” feels so much freer to move and breath! thank you!
Breath, Belly, Back, and Hips: Connecting to the Earth
At the end of this lesson, I felt more buoyant as I walked and that’s a word I’ve never used to describe my walking.
I feel taller with longer limbs, and more spacious inside.
Chair lessons. Sitting requires dynamically balancing on your sitbones, making these lessons great balance practice.
Dynamic Sitting and Chair Clock (24 min)
Learn how movements of your head, spine, and chest relate to shifting the weight of your pelvis
More dynamic sitting practice, drawing on the same principles of balance required for standing
Side-Bending with Listening Hands, Connecting Legs and Head (Patrons)
Integrate head, hips, and legs by increasing awareness and mobility of the ribs
Sensing Stability: The Sacral Clock (Patrons)
Explore dynamic stability in standing, then lie down and create new awareness and choices for your hip joints, pelvis, and lower back
Dynamic Balance: Stability Through Suppleness (Patrons)
Lying down balance games with gentle de-stabilizing movements help you improve your balance in a supple, whole-self way
Dynamic Balance: Coordinates of the Head (Patrons)
Soften your chest, integrate your head, spine, and pelvis, and improve your balance, posture, and breathing by learning to circle your head in your hands
Where to next?
Try lessons that focus on feet!
Improving the sensitivity and skill of your feet is another wonderful way to improve your balance with Feldenkrais, and one that's not emphasized a lot in the lessons above. Try our Deep Dive course titled Supple Feet, Powerful Legs.
Or mobilize your center of gravity:
A free pelvis, hips, and lower back are a boon for balance. Try either our Pelvic Clock "Primer" or our course called The Pelvic Floor: Less Is More.
