This article is part of the Legacy Feldenkrais Books Archive.

Intro

The Master Moves captures a rare opportunity to experience Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais teaching in a live workshop setting. Based on a five-day seminar at Mann Ranch in Northern California in 1979, the book blends discussion, observation, and guided movement lessons.

Rather than presenting theory alone, Feldenkrais invites readers to learn through direct experience. Each lesson encourages exploration of how the body organizes itself in movement—revealing how small changes in awareness can transform posture, coordination, and ease of action.

The result is a practical and insightful guide to the principles of the Feldenkrais Method®, showing how awareness, sensation, and curiosity can unlock new possibilities for movement and self-organization.

About the Book

The Master Moves is an edited transcription of a five-day public workshop taught by Moshe Feldenkrais in 1979. In this setting, Feldenkrais demonstrates his teaching process in real time—guiding students through movement explorations while explaining the deeper principles behind them.

The book weaves together theoretical discussion and twelve movement lessons, allowing readers to participate in the learning process step by step. Rather than describing movement abstractly, Feldenkrais encourages direct exploration so that understanding arises from experience.

A central theme of the work is the development of kinesthetic awareness—the ability to sense how one moves and organizes oneself in space. By refining this awareness, readers discover how habits of movement influence posture, coordination, and effort.

The lessons invite curiosity and experimentation, demonstrating that meaningful change occurs when we sense what we are doing rather than force ourselves to do something differently.

Key Ideas in the Book

Learning Through Movement
Real understanding comes from experience. The Feldenkrais Method teaches through movement lessons that reveal new possibilities for coordination and ease.

The Importance of Kinesthetic Awareness
Modern culture often prioritizes thinking and seeing over sensing. Feldenkrais emphasizes the importance of the kinesthetic sense—our ability to feel ourselves moving.

Function Over Form
Healthy movement is not about achieving a perfect posture but about performing actions efficiently with the whole self.

Self-Organization
Improving movement involves reorganizing how the entire body participates in an action, not simply correcting individual parts.

Awareness Leads to Change
By noticing subtle differences in movement and sensation, the nervous system naturally discovers more efficient patterns.

Table of Contents

Introductory Lecture: Detecting Small Differences

Lesson One: Twisting to Floor

Lesson Two: Thinking and Doing

Lesson Three: Exploring the Floor – The Movement of the Shoulder

Lesson Four: Crawling and Walking

Lesson Five: The Ribs and Rolling

Lesson Six, Part One: Arm Circles

Lesson Six, Part Two: Making a Circle with Your Hip

Lesson Seven: The Movement of the Eyes Organizes the Movement of the Body

Lesson Eight: The Seventh Cervical

Lesson Nine: Head Through the Gate

Lesson Ten: Jaw, Tongue and Aggression

Lesson Eleven: Rocking the Pelvis

Lesson Twelve: Learning to Sit from Lying

Excerpt

From the Introduction by Carl Ginsburg:

In this transcript of Moshe’s five-day public workshop at Mann Ranch in Northern California in 1979, the full range of his thinking and his teaching style can be explored.

All his major ideas on movement, human development, sensitivity, and awareness are presented both as exposition and through movement lessons. These lessons are key to understanding the Feldenkrais Method®.

As you explore them, you may become aware that Moshe emphasizes the kinesthetic—the feeling aspect of how you organize yourself in action. Change in this internal sense of yourself can lead to change in all aspects of your movement and functioning.

Closing Reflection

The Master Moves offers a rare window into Moshe Feldenkrais teaching in action. Through conversation, observation, and movement exploration, the reader experiences how awareness transforms the way we move and live.

The lessons remind us that meaningful change does not come from force or correction, but from learning to sense ourselves more clearly. When we refine our awareness, new options emerge naturally—making movement lighter, more efficient, and more expressive.

For students of the Feldenkrais Method and anyone interested in human learning and movement, this book provides both inspiration and practical guidance.

Related Reading

About Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais
What is the Feldenkrais Method®
Research on the Feldenkrais Method®
Other books by Moshe Feldenkrais