Introduction
Below is an excerpt from Mosche Feldenkrais’ Awareness Through Movement (New York: HarperOne, 1972), pp. 63-65. It is quoted verbatim and given without commentary. These pages proceeded the 12 Lessons of the book.
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Some Practical Hints
When to exercise
The best time to exercise is just before going to bed at night, but at least an hour after dinner. Go to bed as soon as you have finished. One of the most important reasons for this is that after a day of work and worry the exercises will relieve both mental and muscular tension and sleep will be more restful and refreshing.
When you wake up, stretch for a minute or more in bed, and try to recall the general feeling of the lesson you did the night before. It is worthwhile to repeat two or three of the movements that you can remember. Think over the lesson from time to time during the day while you are doing other things, and see whether you can identify any changes it has caused.
Set yourself fixed times for this during the day, even if it is only for a few seconds at a time. Every time that you recall the past lesson it will become more firmly established in your mind.
When the exercises have become an established daily habit, do them at whatever time is most convenient.
Duration of the exercises
The time the lesson takes to do will depend on individual speed. In the early lessons the number of times each movement is repeated will more or less decide the amount of time. Start by repeating each move- ment 10 times; as you progress increase the number to 25, in accordance with the instructions given in the lesson itself. In time it is possible and desirable to repeat a single movement hundreds of times, both as slowly as possible and as fast as possible. But remember that fast does not mean hurried.
From this we see that the early lessons will take about 45 minutes each to carry out, the later ones may take only 20 minutes or so; after that, when exercising becomes a daily routine, a lesson may take from a moment’s time for thinking up to whatever time the individual chooses to spend on it.
Where to exercise
Choose an area of floor covered with a carpet or mat that is large enough to allow you to stretch out your arms and legs sideways without being hemmed in by furniture or other objects. If you have trouble at first getting used to lying on the floor, use a thick blanket or work on a bed if necessary.
What to wear
The less you wear the better. In any case make sure that whatever you wear is comfortable and does not interfere with your movements or breathing, that it is not too tight, and has no buttons or slide fasteners at the back.
How to do the lessons
If you are working alone and must read the instructions yourself, it is best to do a small part at a time. Read a short paragraph of the instructions, enough to tell you what vou should do, and begin. When you have repeated the movement 25 times, as instructed, read the next paragraph and carry it out. In this way go through the lesson paragraph by paragraph. The lesson will take longer this way, so it is best to divide it up into sections and do it in installments. When you have learned all the movements in a lesson and no longer need the instructions, put the sections together and do the whole lesson in one.
