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Exhortation on the cover page of the textbook

Moshe Feldenkrais

"Theory gives you a broadened horizon
and a deeper understanding
of the practical lessons and
the practice thus becomes more effective.”

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Senast ändrad: 15 december 2025
"The awareness correlates between the intention to achievement"
Moshe Feldenkrais, chapter 4
“One part of the self explores another part of the self.”
– Yochanan Rywerant
Disclaimer:

Feldenkrais lessons are intended for personal development and are not intended to replace professional help or medical treatment.
The lessons are explored under your own responsibility and I Eva Laser cannot be held responsible for any discomfort or injury that may occur.

The nested and embedded brain

Explanatory PDF
How to Explore
Practical guidelines that constitute
the Feldenkrais way of exploration and learning.

For many years I have used ten guidelines as guidance, and they function both as an introduction to the pedagogy and as a reminder for students’ practice.
They open, as a beginning, the narrative of the Third Path.
I divide the ten into two groups based on the meaning of the words hafshata and milulit.
What these words mean, and why they cannot be translated as abstraction, is what the text now turns to—this is where the path begins.

The Third Path

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  1. Do the practice slowly
    This is hafshata because the tempo is reduced so that disturbing speed and the drive to perform are removed.
  2. Do less than you are capable of
    Here hafshata takes place by reducing what is maximal. The unnameable that pushes toward boundary performance is set aside, and thereby the form and organisation of the movement become more visible.
  3. It is easier to feel differences when the effort is small
    Hafshata means reducing what overloads perception, so that what remains are the differences in form – as described by the Weber–Fechner law.
  4. Do not compel yourself to be efficient
    Hafshata lies in removing the demand for efficiency — where prediction becomes compulsion and obstructs learning.
  5. Learning and life are not the same thing
    This is hafshata when the conflation between the conditions of life and the possibilities of learning is pulled apart. When the two are kept separate, it becomes easier to see what is actually learning.
  6. Complete light and simple movements
    This is milulit because the instruction is literal: do exactly what it says. Simplicity speaks for itself once it is understood and accepted as guiding.
  7. Alternate between details and the whole and relate to the space
    This is milulit because the words literally state what is meant: attention in a dynamic action between concrete details, a whole, and how you are situated in the room. This is safety.
  8. Look for the pleasant sensation
    Here, milulit is clear: it is a direct invitation, feelings are addressed without detour. Look for what they mean to you. The wording itself points the Path.
  9. Do not try to do the movement well, neatly, or correctly
    This is milulit because the negation is literally in the words. The text carries itself: don’t do that – do as it says and meet yourself.
  10. Do not say in advance what the final goal will be
    Milulit is what is literally said. Do not go ahead of the process—it blocks new thinking and is based on assumptions.
Last in deed first in thought

Moshe Feldenkrais encountered autosuggestion during the period of his knee injury in the mid-1920s. From that time on, he studied and relied on its principles throughout his life. Autosuggestion is not the same as mindfulness; it operates through a different functional organization. Émile Coué emphasized the importance of how we speak to ourselves and about ourselves. When spoken aloud, such speech is literally heard with both ears.

In the lesson, a certain attitude toward oneself is established through how instructions are given and taken up, so that it becomes available more often in action.

When the imagination and will power are in conflict, are antagonistic, it is always the imagination which wins, without any exception. - Emile Coue
The Floor

During lessons, the floor is used as an active part of the learning process. Lying down is safe; one cannot fall in a lying position, and the anti-gravitational muscles can rest or be involved in other functions. But not only the floor—the walls and the ceiling, and how the self relates to the spatial environment, are part of the exploration. The self is constantly in a dynamic relationship with its environment, and making this communication and connection visible is part of the lesson content.

The Movement

The tool in a Feldenkrais process is movement, which is the concrete, observable component of action. The self moves exploratively and intentionally in the environment, noting the position of all its parts in relation to each other and to the environment.

The Inquiry

“Know what you are doing, and you can do what you want.” This guiding quote by Moshe Feldenkrais is a call for inquiring and exploring the unknown to improve our abilities to survive in the broadest sense of the word. Lessons are formed around questions, sometimes stated, sometimes unstated, and always seeking clarifications.

The Non-Habitual

Each lesson should address curiosity and be somewhat complicated, unclear, and confusing at first, to create new clarity over the course of the approximately 45-minute process. To break ingrained patterns, the non-habitual is addressed, allowing new synapses to form and facilitating learning.

The Learning

Ultimately, we seek a learning process that becomes so integrated that we can rely on automatic and unconscious control of good actions. This approach is less energy-intensive and serves our survival more efficiently than the attentive control required in the earlier stages of learning.