This is the only one of the 12 lessons in Moshe Feldenkrais’s seminal book Awareness Through Movement that’s a lecture, not a movement lesson. You’ll learn about

• continual refinement
• “reversible” action
• finding ease in strenuous actions
• sensing skeletal mechanics and shearing forces
• proportional use of musculature
• the effects of self-limiting labels
• Moshe Feldenkrais’s explanation of what Nick calls the “positive snowball effect” of longterm Feldenkrais study

This lesson is the only one of the lessons in Moshe Feldenkrais’s 1972 book Awareness Through Movement that is actually a lecture, not a movement lesson.

The Feldenkrais Project has a collection of all 12 lessons from this source.

The talk was recorded in The FP’s 5th Anniversary Donor Event on April 7, 2024.

See the Related Lessons tab: this event included an ATM lesson paired with the talk.

I designed an ATM lesson to illustrate many of the principles covered in this talk. It’s recommended study before or after, as it’s useful to attach experiential learning to the conceptual descriptions of the talk.

It’s called Reversible Diagonal Lengthening and Lifting (Members & Patrons) and it’s part of our bonus video content for all donors.

My Reversible Diagonal lesson is a variation on Feldenkrais’s Lesson #3 from his book, which he called Some Fundamental Properties of Movement (unlocked for all through May 6). That one is also a good followup, as it too flows out of the ideas Feldenkrais writes about in lesson #2.

This talk is my interpretation of lesson #2 in Moshe Feldenkrais’s 1972 book Awareness Through Movement, in my own words with marked quotes.