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"This was the best I have ever heard about Feldenkrais! Thank you so much for explaining it so clearly!!!" -Anna
That talk will stay free, but a classic lesson that illustrates it is only unlocked until May 6, in honor of what would be Feldenkrais's 120th birthday!
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Dynamic Diagonal Lengthening (Patrons)
Mostly back-lying, small side-to-side rolls, often one hand connected to the opposite knee. This lesson uses subtle weight-shifting to help you effortlessly lengthen your spine and limbs, free your ribs, and improve diagonal relationships among the five lines of the body.
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Hi Nick, I thought it was a great lesson.
Question: what did Feldenkrais think or said (if anything) about the importance of stretching more in a traditional way like in Yoga?
Is the ATM the ultimate goal of Feldenkrais or increasing the range of motion as well? It seems that is more about the insight generated by the movement and not so much about the range?
Yes to your last question! I love the phrase “insight generated by the movement”. I often call lessons “sensation generators” designed to cultivate your curiosity. Ultimate goal is more about life than our bodies or even awareness: Moshe wanted us to be “more fully human,” living and accomplishing our dreams effectively, safely, and with deep satisfaction. I’m not the best on Moshe quotes and I don’t recall him talking about traditional stretch. I know he did not find thinking of muscles without a brain attached to them useful.
Wow, super lesson! So many parts to be aware of! Such good opening! Thanks Nick!
Thanks for your response Nick! iam really enjoying your lessons a lot.
I have done many years of various yoga styles and I like the fact that this feels different and relaxing but highly effective. I feel great every time i finish a lesson. I will try to find out on the website when you teach live so maybe i can joint at some point.
Fantastic! Can’t resist making that search easy for you: here’s our live Zoom classes page. It’s also linked on our homepage and in our Lessons menu.
A whole new “me” at the end of the lesson!
Such a great present for the new year.
Thank you so much.
Nick, I’m loving my daily lessons with you for the past month+. Your clarity, encouragement, even voice are making my return to Feldenkrais such an important part of finding my way toward ease in my aging, challenged body-self.
I suppose the internalized wisdom is truly happening for me (even though I think I “lose” the nourishing, easeful effects post-lesson within 15 minutes!) because I definitely found my way through all sorts of beautiful possibilities during this lesson.
Thank you for the gift you are offering all of us with the Project.
Thanks for your detailed comment! Regarding “losing” effects in 15 minutes, I’ve been looking for an opportunity to share with the FP community a little text exchange with my dear mother, who has begun attending my Zoom classes since quarantine began and gave me permission to share this. And you gave me the perfect opportunity to float this out into the internet! Let me know if this is helpful – I’m trying to figure out which listener question it actually answers!
Mom: The new fulcrum I have from this morning’s lesson has lasted all day! [Note, the class she attended later became our Sacral Clock Patron lesson] I feel it when I stand from sitting, walk, bend and then right myself, climb steps. Rather amazing. I wonder if my brain and pelvis will remember it tomorrow. Thank you. Much love, Mom
Me: That’s an awesome comment! Shows a healthy process, including uncertainty about “remembering.” Sometime if you like we could talk about the learning process. There’s a cumulative effect from Feldenkrais study, more like studying a musical instrument over time than having one great piano lesson. Brains integrate and assimilate old and new, reorganizing skill gradually over time. The “oh wows” immediately after lessons aren’t the end goal but a part of the process. What we’re aiming at is a more skillful life, which feels more effective and less conflicted generally. A shiny new sacrum is a really nice feeling but if it always felt new it would actually hold you back!
Beautiful comment AND response!
Thanks for this lesson 🙂 I sense that I’m sort of bracing somewhere beneath my right ribs and deep in my torso. This lesson brought out that sense, and I’m wondering if you might have related lessons that you can recommend.
Always hard to say from a distance, but generally my recommendation depends on your level of experience. If you’ve done a fair amount of Feldenkrais you could dive right into our collection called Lessons for Freeing the Spine, Chest, Shoulders, and Neck. If you’re newer, working through our Getting Oriented collection first should be helpful.
hi, my first lesson w/you–ThankYou!
Lovely and enJoyable 😉
I ended feeling longer/lengthened and when walking using my skeleton more/shifting weight rather then using muscles to move body/frame/skeleton…also very relaxing lesson. Love what your Mother wrote and your reply–I have often wondered if my Feldy-practice has changed the way I move (and as you say, live) in a general way as opposed to just during and briefly after lesson. Happy to hear it’s cumulative!
Thanks again.
Great! Welcome and thanks for leaving a comment. I was hoping my little exchange with my mom would be helpful to someone – this is great to hear!
It’s always wonderful to feel how my ribcage floats after a particular lesson. I feel inches taller after this one, and I am breathing much more deeply. Lovely. Now off to bed…
Beautiful lesson — I learned so much — hard to describe it all but I’m certainly freer, longer, more fluid than when I began the lesson.
Learning to feel more and do less, and to feel the effect of this came very slowly to me. I wasn’t a natural at ATM. Slowly I came to appreciate this despite my natural inclination to try really hard. Then I had a long break from Feldenkrais and when I came back to it what had remained was some of the movements but what I had truly gained from my earlier experience of Feldenkrais was the trust in feeling without striving for force or magnitude. So what had stayed with me over a long time was the enhanced ability to learn.
I think I am going to use this before and after my crawl swimming sessions – so liberating!