Alex's comment and Niva's poetic imagery (sidebar) reveal that amazing changes are possible when we make time to experience ourselves more deeply.

Moshe Feldenkrais wrote, “We act in accordance with our self-image,” explaining how our behavior isn’t based on habits of the body, but rather on the learned mental image of how we move that built and sustains those physical habits. Elsewhere he continues, “Nothing is permanent about our behavior patterns except our belief that they are so.”

Often those beliefs aren't even our own. We inherit them from our culture, and even our language. Consider "shoulder girdle" and "ribcage," and the "breastbone" we think of like the breastplate of a suit armor. Add to those immobile images the repetitive small motor demands of modern life, and it’s clear why so many of us have unconsciously learned rigid holding patterns.

To change this behavior we need only to rediscover, in our own felt-sense, that shoulders, ribs, and sternum have a marvelously mobile design. When we challenge our unhelpful beliefs through curious, pleasant movement explorations, our self-image and habits shift to better match the miracle of our design. Ease, freedom, and even joy arise, and old injuries find new accommodations and paths to healing.

The lessons below are intended to gently but directly compete with limits we’ve learned about how the shoulders, ribs, and sternum function. In time you'll find that rigidities yield, and that your upper torso can be in a state of constant supple movement as it supports everything you do. As poet David Whyte said about deeply experiencing the parts of ourselves that feel stuck, “What is immovable in us is what moves most in the end.”

There is a progression to the lessons below. Experienced Felden-fans can dive in at the start of any box, but if you're newer or you study irregularly, start from #1.