“Trust yourself to work out what is right for you.” – Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais

Feldenkrais® practitioners specialize in the study of how we move – how to make it more efficient, supported by the skeleton, freer, lighter, easier, coordinated, and pain-free. Moshe Feldenkrais was a physicist, engineer, and Judo master, and the lessons he developed are made up of small, specific movements that are created for precise anatomical reasons.

However, Feldenkrais practitioners are fascinated with the process of learning, and understand that telling someone how we think they should be moving does not lead to these qualities.  The way to get there is to be able to feel within yourself what kind of movement feels good and helps you do what you want to do.  The overarching purpose of Feldenkrais lessons – whether in group classes or individualized sessions – is to increase your ability to sense yourself and find out for yourself what good movement for you feels like, rather than trusting an authority to tell you if you have it right.

So, the first principle in this study of principles is to hold all the principles lightly (including this one!) – to know that there are always situations where they may not apply or we may choose not to follow them…and for very good reasons.

Homework:  Is there an area in your life that you rely too much on external authority?  Explore ways to explore expanding your trust in your own judgment.  If this is easy for you, try going against this principle, and practice letting other people influence you a little more.