November 10
Article Summary
In the Feldenkrais Method®, improving movement is not simply about making one joint more flexible or strengthening one part of the body. It is about expanding the self-image, bringing less familiar parts of ourselves into awareness, and improving how the whole person thinks, senses, feels, and acts.
I came across the following quote while doing my morning Awareness Through Movement® lesson. It immediately resonated with me:
“The majority bends those parts that they think will bend very well … the intention is to do something that will improve the entire personality and not just one joint that will bend.”
—Moshe Feldenkrais
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What Did Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais Mean?
When Moshe says that most people bend the parts they believe will bend well, he is describing a familiar human tendency.
When we encounter a challenge, we usually rely on the parts of ourselves that already feel capable, familiar, or dependable.
We repeat the movements we know. We recruit the muscles we trust. We organize ourselves through our strongest habits.
This may help us accomplish the immediate task, but it can also reinforce the same limited pattern.
The more we depend on what is already familiar, the less opportunity we have to discover other possibilities.
Movement Reflects the Self-Image
In the Feldenkrais Method, the self-image is the internal map we use to organize action. It includes how we sense our body, how we imagine ourselves moving, what we believe we can do, and which parts of ourselves feel available—or absent—from awareness. Some parts of the body may be clear in our self-image. Others may be vague, forgotten, or poorly coordinated.
When a movement lesson brings attention to these less familiar areas, they begin to enter awareness. As they become more available, the nervous system gains more options for organizing movement.
This is why a lesson may focus on the ribs, pelvis, eyes, feet, or spine while producing a change that feels much larger than one body part.
Why Moshe Spoke of the “Entire Personality”
Moshe Feldenkrais did not treat movement as something separate from thinking, feeling, or identity.
The way we move reflects:
- Our habits
- Our beliefs about what is possible
- Our emotional organization
- Our confidence
- Our attention
- Our history
- Our sense of ourselves
When movement becomes more flexible and adaptable, the change is not limited to muscles and joints.We may become more curious.More confident. More spontaneous. More capable of responding rather than reacting. More willing to try something unfamiliar.
In this sense, improving movement can improve the entire personality because it expands the ways we can act in the world.
Developing the Parts We Do Not Usually Use
To improve ourselves, we do not need to force the familiar parts to work harder. We need to discover the parts of ourselves that are not yet fully represented in our awareness. This might mean learning to sense one side of the body more clearly. It might mean allowing the pelvis to participate in a movement that has always been performed by the shoulders. It might mean noticing how the eyes, jaw, breathing, ribs, or feet influence the action.
As these less familiar relationships become conscious, they can be integrated into the whole. The result is not simply better flexibility in one joint. It is a more complete and adaptable sense of self.
The Feldenkrais Method and Whole-Person Learning
Every Awareness Through Movement® lesson approaches this process in a different way.
One lesson may explore rolling. Another may work with breathing, balance, the eyes, the feet, or the organization of the spine.
The subject of the lesson may appear physical, but the deeper aim is always broader:
- To expand awareness
- To improve coordination
- To develop new choices
- To reduce unnecessary effort
- To clarify the self-image
- To make action more intentional and adaptable
This is what Moshe meant by improving the entire personality. We become more complete, more integrated, and more fully present.
The aim is not merely to move a joint farther. It is to become more capable of learning, changing, and choosing how we organize ourselves.
A Simple Question to Explore
The next time you make a movement, pause and ask:
Am I relying only on the parts of myself that already feel familiar?
Then become curious about what else could participate.
Can my ribs move? Can my pelvis assist? Can my eyes soften? Can my breath remain undisturbed? Can movement become distributed through me?
That question alone can begin to shift movement from habit toward learning.
Becoming More Fully Ourselves
The Feldenkrais Method® does not ask us to become someone else. It helps us discover more of who we already are. By bringing previously unconscious parts of the self into awareness, we increase choice. We become less dependent on a narrow set of habits and more capable of responding to life with flexibility, intelligence, and ease.
That is how a movement lesson can improve not only one joint—but the entire personality.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Moshe Feldenkrais mean by “improving the entire personality”? +
Moshe Feldenkrais meant that movement learning can influence much more than muscles and joints. By improving awareness, coordination, self-image, and the ability to make new choices, a person may become more adaptable, confident, spontaneous, and fully present.
How is movement connected to personality? +
The way we move reflects our habits, beliefs, emotions, attention, confidence, and personal history. When movement becomes more flexible and adaptable, our responses to challenges may also become less habitual and more intentional.
What is the self-image in the Feldenkrais Method®? +
The self-image is the internal map we use to organize movement and action. It includes how we sense the body, how we imagine ourselves moving, what we believe we can do, and which parts of ourselves feel clear, vague, available, or absent from awareness.
Why do people rely on the parts of themselves that already move well? +
When faced with a challenge, people naturally depend on familiar movements, muscles, and habits. While this may help accomplish the immediate task, it can reinforce limited patterns and prevent less familiar parts of the body from becoming more coordinated and available.
How can Awareness Through Movement® create whole-person change? +
Awareness Through Movement® lessons use gentle movement, attention, and curiosity to clarify the self-image, reduce unnecessary effort, and develop new movement choices. These changes can influence not only physical coordination but also confidence, adaptability, learning, and emotional organization.
Experience Whole-Person Learning Through Movement
The ideas Moshe Feldenkrais describes are not merely concepts to understand. They are qualities you can experience through guided movement. Explore gentle Awareness Through Movement® lessons designed to improve coordination, expand your self-image, reduce unnecessary effort, and help more of you participate in everything you do.
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