Awareness Through Movement #498

Tilting the leg backward in sitting - NOVELTY

Moshe drops some bold gold words in this lesson (too):

“People become used to… if it does not hurt, it is not good.
When a movement begins to hurt a bit,
then they want to do something with willpower so it moves easily.
This they call "pleasant" to do,

it is the most difficult thing to root out.
Therefore, it turns out that to make a movement pleasant to do,
you need to teach people and tell them to do something that, in the beginning,
seems not pleasant because it does not hurt.

It is not pleasant at the beginning
because they are not used to it and it does not hurt.”

Humans are such strange critters!!!

“Despite the tortures...
to have the hip joint open in spite of the effort,
then it never opens,
instead the muscles become stronger,
the pain greater,
making the movement impossible.”

and this comes later in the lesson:

“An animal, whether it is a mammal or a bird, is an organism.
What does it mean to say, ‘an organism?’
An organism means to say that for someone who wants to live for life itself,
every limb, every cell, has one joint purpose with the other parts.
This is the continuity of the universe.
In other words,
an arm that remains stupid and interferes
is like a community that has five people disturbing the others to live.
People like this,
you arrest.
You put them in jail.

The same thing needs to be with this limb that disturbs the rest of the limbs from working. … it shows a primary disorganization in the nervous system.
You must fix it.
This is not fixing.
This is re-learning because when it is from nature,
it does not get ruined.
Only if you disturb it does it become ruined.

Someone in our education, parents, teachers, books, something causes this disturbance. Now, you must continue to learn
what is pleasant for the body to do.

I asked Grok what the pleasurable feedback from this lesson could be, it responded with….

The lesson guides you to feel how your pelvis, spine, and torso work as a coordinated whole. By lifting and tilting your legs while seated, you learn to distribute effort through the larger muscles and bones of your torso and pelvis, rather than over-relying on smaller muscles in your arms or legs. This creates a sense of skeletal connection, where movements starting at your feet (like lifting a leg) ripple smoothly through your spine and up to your head. For example, when you tilt your leg backward and turn your head, you sense how your torso and spine twist gently, linking your lower and upper body in a harmonious, and pleasurable way.

By activating the strong, central structures of your torso and pelvis, the lesson reduces strain on your hands and feet. This freedom lets your nervous system tune into the environment, enhancing your ability to feel and adapt to the terrain.

Feldenkrais emphasizes gentle, pleasant movements to relearn natural patterns. In this lesson, you explore how small adjustments—like turning your head, shifting your pelvis, or bending an elbow—make lifting your leg feel lighter and more comfortable. You become aware of how your spine, shoulders, and chest move together, lengthening and twisting to support the action. This awareness helps you organize your whole body more efficiently, so movements like bending forward or walking feel smoother and less forced.

Imagine your skeleton as a chain of bones, from the soles of your feet to the top of your head, all linked through your pelvis and spine. This lesson helps you feel how moving one part—like lifting your leg—can involve your whole body in a gentle, coordinated way. Instead of using just your leg muscles, you learn to let the larger, stronger muscles of your torso and pelvis share the effort. This makes the movement easier and leaves your hands and feet free to do what they’re best at: touching, sensing, and exploring. By practicing these slow, mindful movements, you awaken a natural sense of connection throughout your body, making everyday actions feel more fluid and enjoyable.

By the end, you’ll likely feel a new sense of ease in your hips, back, and shoulders, with your feet and hands more responsive to the world around you. Standing, walking, or bending will reveal subtle improvements, as your skeleton moves as a connected whole, guided by a nervous system attuned to comfort, curiosity,

and more pleasure in life.

Enjoy learning to distinguish more differences and create choice
in the way (your) life is lived :)