Two Supporting Lines of Organization
The little toe stabilizes the outer side of the foot and helps the arch maintain its form. It is part of the lateral support line that distributes weight between the heel and the forefoot, especially during weight transfer or sideways movement. Through its connection with peroneus longus and brevis, it helps balance the foot against the inner support provided by the big toe. When the little toe makes contact with the ground, the entire foot can organize so that the skeleton carries more effectively and the tone in the leg decreases.
The lateral line forms the outer support line of the foot — running from the little toe along the outside of the foot, through the ankle and the peroneal muscles of the lower leg, up toward the hip. It provides lateral stability and helps distribute load between heel and forefoot. When active, the lateral line allows the foot to maintain support even in side movements, balancing the lift and direction of the medial line.
The big toe functions as the main point of forward support and connection between the foot and the ground. It provides direction and propulsion in movement and helps maintain balance by stabilizing the medial support line. Through its coordination with tibialis posterior, flexor hallucis longus, and the structure of the arch, the big toe helps distribute pressure evenly across the foot and enables efficient transmission of force through the skeleton. When the big toe has clear contact with the ground, the entire leg line can organize upward, creating stability, lightness, and continuity in posture.
The medial line refers to the inner support line of the foot and leg — the line running through the big toe, inner arch, inner ankle, inner knee, and inner thigh toward the center of gravity. It is primarily maintained by tibialis posterior, the adductor group, and pelvic floor connections. Functionally, it counterbalances the lateral line:
• The medial line provides lift and alignment through the inner arch.
• The lateral line provides stability and ground contact through the outer foot.
Together, these two supporting lines form a dynamic pair — one organizing support and direction (medial), the other balance and containment (lateral) — allowing the skeleton to bear weight efficiently.
A newly revised translation
from the Feldenkrais corpus
This passage articulates one of the central principles in the Feldenkrais Method: removing what interferes so that a more refined organization of action can emerge.
It comes from one of the twelve lessons in Shichlul HaYecholet: Halacha u’Ma’aseh, the set of lessons in which Feldenkrais distilled and demonstrated the essential principles underlying the entire Alexander Yanai archive.
I am sharing it because the formulation is precise and reveals the depth of the Method’s internal logic.
To remove the old in order
to make room for the new
The discomfort, or even the pain, that accompanies the first movement back to the usual position after repeatedly performing movements in one and the same position is very interesting.
A person cannot use his organism in a muscular configuration that differs from the one he is accustomed to, since this is the only configuration available to him.
If the change in most muscles, or at least in the essential muscles for the intended movement, is large, the person will automatically give commands to his muscles in such a way that he returns to the habitual configuration.
At the same time, the changes that have been made require another configuration, better or worse. Only the new experience and the attention can convince him of another d’mut (gestalt/form) and lead him to regulate himself in a different way than before.
Only when the new experience brings him to the point where the habitual configuration he previously depended on is now perceived as inadequate — a “command” that in his sensing appears as something necessary but not sufficient — only then will he allow the new one to become a habit or become natural for him.
Our system is built in such a way that habits are preserved and strive to persist. It is easier to halt a habit through a sharp traumatic event than to change it gradually.This is one of the functional difficulties.
It is therefore important to notice the improvement and the ease after each series of movements, so that two things occur simultaneously in the sensing: the first — an inhibition of the earlier, automatic configuration, since it now appears inadequate, heavy, and less comfortable (a “command” that in the sensing is experienced as something necessary but not sufficient); the second — an encouragement of the new configuration, which is now experienced as more pleasant, more flowing, and more satisfying.
The conviction is not intellectual, proven, or logical, but sensory and internal — the result of personal experience. Awareness and understanding of the connection between the change and its cause is necessary in order to renew the sensory experience with sufficient precision, repeat it under similar conditions, and thereby, in a more deeply sensory way, strengthen it and allow the improvement to sink deeper into the sensory experience.
