How to do a lesson

Zoe’s moving blankets

1. Get a blanket. Lie down on the floor. The bed is too squishy and yoga mats are too sticky. Use your own blanket, or get a moving blanket, which we all use in Feldenkrais. They are thick and easy to slide on. I get mine here, USA cargo control, for around $20 each.

2. Make yourself comfortable: a folded towel under the head? A rolled blanket under the knees?

3. Attend to yourself in a deep, almost meditative way.

4. Move gently. Do not struggle against yourself.

5. Do not do reps. Stop when your attention drifts. Bring it back or rest.

6. Only do what feels comfortable and easy. Repeat: Only do what feels comfortable and easy. Your nervous system does not learn if you are mean to it.

7. Stop before anything is uncomfortable.

8. If something is uncomfortable, do less, imagine it, or rest.

9. Give yourself permission to rest. There is wisdom in resting.

10. Do not worry whether you're doing it correctly. Just go through the movements and let the lesson unfold. It is through the variations that you reclaim your intelligence. It will happen whether you want it to or not.

11. Read these short articles:

• What is Feldenkrais?

• Foundations of Feldenkrais

• Zoe’s Feldenkrais Commitments

• How to Learn, ten points by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais

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More short blog posts to help you get oriented:

1. Get out of your head and into your body

2. The key to feeling better

3. The power of inquiry

4. Why don't you just tell me how to move?

5. How change happens