Deep Dive:
Supple Feet, Powerful Legs
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.
These lessons are both simple and deep. I found your immediate engagement through the feet, especially after the Arches lesson, and your image of unweighting a foot/feet, to be very powerful and clarifying.
– comment on lessons 1C & 3A
This is such an essential lesson. Wherever it lands, I hope it gets special flagging as foundational.
– comment on lesson 4C
A few years after I fell in love with Feldenkrais I learned to love my feet. Before that I felt stuck: I was a young, active person with painful feet and knees, and no idea why they hurt or how to improve. And it was getting worse. I started noticing that most shoes and floors and activities increased the pain. I feared that future so I dove into Feldenkrais lessons for healthier feet and legs.
They were a revelation! It was wonderful when my pain disappeared, but here's what's even better: my feet became a daily source of pleasure, learning, and self improvement. My fascination with feet continues to this day, and I've created many Feldenkrais Project lessons in hopes you too will learn to love your feet!
- Nick Strauss-Klein
The four sequences below can be explored in order as an extended course, but feel free to dip in with just the yellow box or the last box. The red and blue boxes are best for experienced Felden-fans.
We've included many freely offered lessons, but to access some lessons 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.
Supple Feet Essentials
Edges, arches, ankles, and knees
1A) Length Without Effort (36m)
Connect your whole self with the edges of your feet
"I have a more 'fluid' movement. My neck has started to move more and I’m more aware of my feet!"
1B) Breath, Belly, Back, and Hips
Sensitivity training and preparation for Activating the Arches
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.
1C) Activating the Arches
Relate the “tripod" of the foot to the healthy use of your knees
Thank you for your wonderful fresh way of leading the lesson into us and connecting it to everyday life.
1D) Supple Ankles, Shifting Pelvis (32m, Patrons)
Improve the ankles and their relationship to the pelvis
"This one is spectacular, packed with mega-awareness, and translates directly to everyday functional movement."
2A) The Buttocks
Get to know them, and explore direct connections to the feet through edges, arches, ankles, and knees
This lesson turbocharged my derriere, inspiring me to hike the following day!
2B) Buttocks Organizing the Spine (Patrons)
Powerful legs require clear use of the buttocks and a well-organized spine
Thank you for this and your other class on the buttocks which has made me feel stronger in walking.
Integrating Your Legs and Torso
Organize yourself for balance, posture, and power
3A) Your Navigational Pelvis
Where "the rubber meets the road" – the feet maneuver the pelvis, head, eyes, and more
3B) Folding, Foundation, and Feet
Relate flexing the ankles and hips to shifts in the pelvis, and folding and unfolding the whole body
3C) Integrating the Feet, Torso, Head, and Breath (44m, Patrons)
Connect to the earth, and powerful primitive biological organizations
3D) Agile Hips, Knees, and Feet
Relate the joints and agility of the legs to the abdomen, breath, and beyond
4A) Bending Sideways
Improve balance by connecting agile feet to the chest and beyond
4B) Gathering the Spine, Stepping Down
Where does a footstep really come from?
4C) The Power of One Foot (22m or 36m, Patrons)
And what actually happens when we push a foot into the world?
Refining and Connecting
Unordered lessons to enjoy any time!
One Bell Hand, Two Bell Hands...and Feet (Patrons)
Relate the skillfulness of hands to your feet, and improve both
The Ultimate Self-Hug
More integration of supple feet with the torso, arms...and eyes!
How was this Deep Dive for you? What’s the effect of studying multiple lessons on a theme?
I have just completed this series and found it very useful for the relationships between the lessons.
I loved the way in evolved. I also like these colour coded groupings.
As a student teacher initially the huge body of original Feldenkrais lessons and the seeming lack of structure can often seem exciting but also daunting, but these are so intelligently curated.
Thank you!
It’s a pleasure. Just beginning to organize the vast ATM repertoire meaningfully in my own mind has taken a lot of time. There are so many lessons that it is a lifelong process! I do hope to help others find coherence more quickly, so I’m glad this was useful.