This website's Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lessons (often called ATM lessons or Feldenkrais lessons) are powerful self-improvement tools. Please read this page before listening to the Feldenkrais Project's donor-supported ATM audio lessons, studying in our FP Weekly Zoom Class live or by replay, or attending an in-person Feldenkrais class or workshop.
The section below called "Your Responsibilities..." is essential reading
Scroll down further for practical tips like what to wear and what to lie on.
Looking for descriptions of what Feldenkrais is? Try our resource hub called Learn How to Learn.
LIABILITY WAIVER: By accessing any of the resources available on or through this website you release Nick Strauss-Klein, The Feldenkrais Project, Twin Cities Feldenkrais, LLC, and any outside vendors or teachers The Feldenkrais Project uses from responsibility for any injuries or discomfort that might arise while or after 1) participating in a live class; or 2) viewing or listening to a recording.
IF YOU ARE NEW TO FELDENKRAIS: After reading this page, start with our brief talks and short lessons called Getting Oriented. It's the first collection on our homepage. No matter why you're interested in Feldenkrais this is the best place for newcomers to begin to enjoy the benefits of study.
NOTE:
Our lessons are about an hour unless marked by a shorter duration
Thanks to our donors they are freely offered unless marked (Patrons). Those lessons are how we thank our Patron-level donors.
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Heartfelt freewill donations are the ONLY source of funding for this website and our 50+ free audio lessons.
Why? Check out our vision. To support our freely offered lessons please click here to join the Feldenkrais Project.
Your Responsibilities While Studying Feldenkrais ATM Lessons:
- If you have any concerns whatsoever about beginning a movement and awareness self-study program, check with your doctor. You alone are responsible for following any medical advice you have been given.
- Breathe, relax, and take your time. The lessons are designed to prompt neuroplastic changes in your brain, rewiring habits of movement and awareness to create more effective and pleasurable self-use. The Feldenkrais Method harnesses the natural human learning process, in which there is no value for hurried action.
- Never continue movements or configurations that increase your discomfort. Rather, take even slight increases in discomfort as a prompt for curiosity and a source of creative inspiration: how can you enjoy yourself more in these, or similar, or imagined movements, in the very next moment? Please improvise and adapt the movements and configurations (positions of your body) as necessary for comfort. There is nothing in Feldenkrais Method lessons that will benefit you if your nervous system perceives a threat. Increasing discomfort qualifies as a threat, even if we’ve built habits of ignoring it in other activities in our lives. Responding kindly, sensitively, and intelligently to discomfort during Feldenkrais study is essential to your learning and improvement.
- Leave “autopilot” behind. ATM movements have little to no value when you’re not attending to them, so try not to repeat movements by rote. Feeling bored of a movement? Sense around your whole body; you’ll probably quickly find a sensation you weren’t aware of. How is it related to the current movement? Or, rest your attention and pause or ignore the lesson for a few moments – you might simply need a break!
- Exercise your curiosity, improve your comfort, and cultivate your fascination with your self. The Feldenkrais Method is designed to teach you how to learn from yourself by attending much more closely than usual to your experience and refining your behavior based on your increasing awareness. You can pause the recording any time to rest or to play more with movements you are particularly enjoying.
As you "learn how to learn" in an ATM study context you'll also become more sensitive and responsive to your day-to-day sensations of movement. Feldenkrais students often quickly discover quality of life improvements in everyday activities as the ATM principles and lesson experiences become part of regular life.
Practical Study Tips
- The easiest way to listen to Feldenkrais Project audio lessons (or attend Zoom classes, or view Zoom recordings) is to put your smartphone, tablet, or laptop on the floor near you.
- For most lessons you’ll need to be able to lie down on a carpeted floor, or smooth blanket or mat for about an hour. Yoga mats generally create too much friction, though a bath towel on top of a yoga mat can work.
- Have a bath towel or two nearby to fold to different heights for head support as needed, depending on the positions (lying on your back, side, or front). It's assumed that you'll take the time to place whatever support you need under your head at the beginning of the lesson, and with every change of position. Unless required for your comfort, using a regular pillow or a cervical roll for your neck is not recommended because they dampen the free movement of the head.
- Dress in layers or be sure the room is warm enough. This is not aerobic or strength-based exercise. Instead these lessons challenge and improve your awareness, coordination, and self-use. We learn and improve in those spheres most efficiently using light and gentle movements. They're often small movements, and almost always slow.
- The directions are always relative to you, in your current position. For example, while lying on your back the ceiling is forward, not up. Up is toward the top of your mat. Or, lying on your right side, forward is toward the wall in front of you, the ceiling is to your left, up is still toward the top of your mat. I'll repeat and clarify directions frequently.
- If you "get lost" it's usually best just to wait until the directions clarify things. After all, that's what the live students did when the lesson was recorded! You may rewind the recording as much as you wish with the 10 seconds back button. Even if you don't rewind, you'll often find your way after a minute or two, and it's easier to enjoy the lesson if you're not grabbing your device to rewind frequently.
- If you can't get comfortable and you are unable to alter the configuration or movements in a way that helps, you can skip a lesson and come back to it after trying other lessons. Most of the lessons are very unique in their positions and movements. The order of the free lessons and collections on this site is one that works well for many people, but not all.
- Our technology is very reliable but if you have any trouble, simply reboot your browser or device, or try another browser or device. If that doesn't work, contact us.
Thanks for reviewing the ATM student responsibilities and study basics. You can head back to our homepage and dive in to Feldenkrais study!
Feldenkraise lessons in Boston with Dina Von Deck have helped my back and energized walking.
Good intro directives, suggestions. Thanks.
Cheryl
Love Feldenkrais exercises! Thank you!