


































Radu


Feldenkrais Research Journal • volume 4 (2008)

Article

Isra – Breaking the myth

Dorit Dinur
MSc, MA (History of Art)

Keywords
Feldenkrais Method, case study

Copyright ©: The copyright for this paper remains with the author(s).

Please cite: (First published in the) Feldenkrais Research Journal, volume 4; 2008.

Service marks: The terms Feldenkrais®, Feldenkrais Method®, Awareness Through Movement®, ATM®,
Functional Integration®, and FI® are service marked terms of the International Feldenkrais® Federation
(IFF) and Feldenkrais professional guilds and associations in many countries. In keeping with academic
conventions, they will not be service marked in the entire text as may be required in nonacademic use,
but only for the first and most prominent use of the terms. In recognition that these phrases are formal
terms referring to specific practices within the Method, and to the Method as a whole, capitalization of all
the words in each term has been retained.

Published by the International Feldenkrais® Federation (IFF) https://feldenkrais-method.org
Available online at https://feldenkraisresearchjournal.org

https://feldenkrais-method.org/
https://feldenkraisresearchjournal.org


Isra– Breaking the myth 
Dorit Dinur.  
  
Isra is a woman in her thirties, a psychologist in training who knows herself 

well and verbally expresses herself quickly and clearly. She runs her own 

marketing company.  

The board of the Israeli guild considered hiring her as a consultant, Therefore 

I offered her an FI lesson as an example and as an experience that I thought 

would enable her to understand what we talk about in the Feldenkrais 

method.  

 

When she came into my studio I asked her how she felt. She smiled widely 

and said that everything was wonderful, she had no problems. 

She next told me that since she had founded her company three years ago 

she had no longer been physically active, and that her conscience was 

uneasy about her lack of activity. I asked her how she would feel if it were 

completely OK to do no physical fitness, and if no one would preach at her for 

her lack of activity. . Her reply was that this was an ideal and unimaginable 

situation. 

 
The concept that there is a right thing to do, like Isra’s belief that she should get more 

physical exercise, is widespread.  Many people believe this idea, and they are relying on 
some external authority instead of listening to their own needs.  
 

Also, Ika said that since the age of 13 she has experienced pain in her right 

leg.  At that age, she was diagnosed with a benign blood tumor but received 

no suggested treatment; rather, she has been living with the pain. 

 
I took the opportunity in this one lesson to engage in a dialogue with her in order to teach her 
more about herself. I love it when curiosity is built within the person I work with. 
 

We started our lesson when she stood up. I asked Ika questions about her 

standing and about her preferences. For example, I requested that she check 

different possible distances between her feet. She knew that it was more 

comfortable for her to stand with a very wide distance between her feet. While 



changing weight from the left to the right foot and back, she clearly felt more 

comfortable standing on her left leg, and conjectured that this was because of 

the old pain in her right leg.  We also checked her turning of the head, which 

was easier to the left.  When I say we checked, I mean that I instructed her to 

turn her head to look backwards and while she turned I put my hands lightly 

on her arms, her pelvis, and her shoulders to guide her. When she looked 

over her shoulder she tended to turn a great deal, and I asked her to reduce 

the effort. Then she proudly told me that she used to have a large range of 

motion and that she was flexible and free in her joints.  It can see that in her 

wide range of turning. 

 
I noticed that Isra couldn't feel the amount of effort she used, and that she had an image of 
herself as moving freely.  Usually people come to me with a limited range of movement. How 
can I help her when her rotation is so big already? 
 

Her next remark was that she felt exposed. 

 
Feeling exposed may be the result of an unsafe situation that arises when you are tested or 
judged and where right and wrong are being evaluated. Asking her a question may have put 
her in a test situation, a situation that might reveal that she doesn't know the right answer. 
This is the reason that I stopped asking her questions. I intuitively didn't address this remark.  

 

I asked her to sit down. Ika was surprised when I asked her to turn her head 

backwards while she was sitting on the bed. She discovered the same pattern 

as in standing. It was easier to turn her head to the left than to the right. I 

observed that it was true, and affirmed that her ability to perceive the 

difference was remarkable.  

 
Her surprise marks the beginning of her curiosity; Ika saw the connection between turning her 
head in standing and sitting. In response to her awareness, I plan to show her more 
connections. 

 

I asked her lo lie on the table. She chose to lie on her left side, with her legs 

extended.  

 



What do extended legs mean?  This position means that she lies down and makes an effort to 
balance herself; she is probably uncomfortable and doesn't know it. This position means 
extension in her legs and lower back. 
I resolve to show her different ways of lying on her side. I intend to encourage Ika to explore 
balance, support and comfort.  
 

When I asked her to bend her knees, it felt more comfortable for her to lie like 

this. She said this was how she reclined at home, only she didn't think that 

this position was allowed in my studio. 

 
It happens sometimes that a person feels constrained by the situation in the lesson. She has 
a preconceived idea of how she should behave an idea of right and wrong which may be the 
result of her education.  In the Feldenkrais Method, I create conditions for her to experience 
without telling her what is right, so that she will rely on herself. 
 

 Later in the lesson Isra asked me if it was OK to fall asleep from time to time 

and we discussed it. 

 
Here, again is the question of right and wrong. I understand her doubt and her need for 
reassurance that it is ok to be herself.   
 
The question of sleep has several aspects.  One aspect is that when a client falls asleep it is 
a sign of letting go and of deep relaxation. This relaxation (according to Chava Shelhav) 
means that the nervous system is open for learning. The learning is happening in the right 
side of the brain, which is nonverbal and inconsequential.  When I talk to a client and get an 
answer it shows me that the person is half awake. Another opinion (Yochanan Ryverant) is 
that if I want the student to learn, to feel, to sense, s/he needs to be awake. However, I never 
wake anyone in FI or in ATM lesson.  Falling asleep also means that the client needs the rest. 
It may signal something about the quality of their sleep. 
 

We explored several positions of her legs, for example, bending in the knees 

and hip joints in different angles. I asked her to feel the differences between 

these positions. When she changed positions, there was movement in her hip 

joint, pelvis and lower back.  I put my hands on her right hip joint and lower 

back, escorting her change of position. She realized that there was a 

connection between her legs changing position and the movement of the hip 

joints and lower back. "I never thought about it", she acknowledged. 



 
Touching her makes it possible for her to observe.  
Here I have another clue as to how curiosity is developed. She realized how the movement of 
her leg was connected to the movement of her pelvis. She never thought about her pelvis 
being involved in the image of herself and her legs. I decided to clarify this issue for her. 
 

I let her compare putting the right leg in front and back of the left leg. My 

intention was to emphasize the involvement of the lower back and pelvis. She 

chose to put her right leg in front of the left. Since I started with turning the 

head in standing, I checked her ability to globally roll when lying on the side. 

She could roll easily. 

 
 At this moment I felt that her ability to roll is the result of her attempt to help me and not due 
to freedom of movement. 

  

 I decided to differentiate the movement by breaking it into small portions. I 

touched her right shoulder first, then her right hip joint. Then I added the 

movement of her right knee in the direction of her pelvis. Her reaction was to 

help me by doing a jumpy movement.  

 
Is she trying to do the "right" thing by helping me?  Does she know it? How shall I teach her 
not to do the "right" thing?  
 

I decided to show her variations in order to teach her not to help. 

While I was rolling her, I asked her: 1. to help me    2. to resist. Then she 

performed the movement without me. I described the movement out loud in 

words. After a short while she allowed me to do the movement for her without 

her participation. She reported that it was a “weird” sensation. 
 
I think when she said “weird” she meant new sensation. What is new to her? I want to find 
out. Later she told me that the idea of moving without pain or without effort is very new to her.  
 

While Isra was on her left side, I lifted her right ankle and foot so as to show 

her that it moved with the pelvis and hip joint. I also moved her shoulder in 

different directions while touching her along the spine to demonstrate the 



connection between the movements of the shoulder and the spine. Here I let 

her sense, I didn't say anything. 

 
My idea was to make a connection between the function of turning her head and the use of 
the spine, the movement of the pelvis, leg and shoulder. 

 

Shortly after that she started to move by herself.  

 

To me, this was a sign that she needed a change [adjustment] of position. 

 

I asked her to lie on her back. She asked me what I had been doing before. I 

chose to talk with her again and explain. 
 
I use her questions to draw her attention to herself, to the possible differences in sensation 

between her two sides, to her asymmetries. These are examples of awareness.  
 This is an opportunity for me to suggest that awareness is a tool for life. Awareness is taught 
by posing questions, especially for clients with curiosity; it opens up a new field of interest in 
themselves. 
I will go on to explore the function of standing, leaning on her feet. We noticed her standing at 
the beginning of the lesson, now I will address it while she is lying on her back. 
 

Isra is lying on her back now. I compressed through each of her feet to 

simulate standing on one foot. After a few compressions, I asked her to help 

me by shortening and elongating first one leg, then the other, and then the 

two legs alternately. She noticed the role of the pelvis in bearing weight on 

each foot, and said it reminded her of walking. She also said she noticed the 

twisting of her spine.  

 
When she mentioned walking, I said that it was a good idea and that soon we would check 
the same function in standing. I didn't understand her use of the word “twisting” here, but I 
decided not to ask her to clarify her meaning. I assumed she meant that she felt her spine as 
force went through it.  
 

Isra rolled to lie on her right side now. I initiated the global movement of rolling 

her whole trunk back and forth and then differentiating the trunk. This time I 



pointed these options out by asking her to pay attention to her upper and 

lower back in separate rolling and in the entire movement.  

 

I helped her feel her spine by touching the vertebrae gently, one by one. Ika 

commented that it was quite an experience to feel her spine without pain. 

I also exposed her to the possibility of different ways to move: big and small, 

slow and fast.  

As the lesson was about to end I let her roll on her back. There were some 

surprises in store for both of us. 

 

She commented that she felt straight and the sensation was comfortable; she 

also said that she had no idea that such straightness was possible. She said 

that it was nice to stretch out and lie quietly on her back, to breath deeply and 

feel full contact with the mattress. She asked me if it was indeed possible that 

after such short and small movements the change could be so prominent. 

 
She couldn't believe her own sensations and she needed verification from me that it was 
really happening. I think letting go of the constant effort enabled her to feel all that change. 
The next step was to verify her sensations and check them in sitting and standing; in other 
words, to integrate her movements. 
 

When she sat on the table, she was again surprised at how straight her back 

felt. She told me that keeping her back and shoulders straight had been a 

constant effort. Now she felt that being straight and upright was easy and 

natural. When she turned her head backwards left and right in sitting, she 

moved only her head. This came as another surprise to her. She used to 

overdo the movement using her entire back, hands, and pelvis with a lot of 

effort. When I asked her to turn her entire body, she did so with a smaller 

range of movement than at the beginning of the lesson. 

 
 The idea of a definitive range was pleasant to her; Isra’s realization that turning may be small 
and easy was the reason for her wide smile. I assume that the experience of movement 
without effort, movement with support, gave her a sense of quality that she now looked for in 
sitting. I also think the effect of small movements was a new sensation to her and she enjoyed 
that.  



 

The next step toward integration involved standing on both feet. Isra leaned 

more on her right leg. Though it wasn't her habitual way of standing, it had 

become possible and comfortable. She looked backwards to both sides, and 

discovered the limits and the ease of her movements. 

 

When she was ready to leave my studio, she said that our lesson was a huge 

and unexpected experience for her, a total change in the basis of her thinking 

and the axiom by which she, and many others, live their lives. While saying 

this she shifted her weight back and forth to her right leg; I noticed her 

movements and told her so. She smiled at me and observed that in 

Feldenkrais we are breaking myths on many levels and changing basic 

conventions. 

 
I kept silent, deciding to let her go and be with herself. I offered to talk with her later in the 
week to explore more possibilities for our marketing project. 
 
This one lesson revealed so many directions to explore further. I stayed with the idea of giving 
her a small taste and some small beginnings, noticing that it doesn't often happen that a 
student realizes so many issues in one session. Her lesson was a combination of FI with a 
verbal dialogue between us.  She was impressed by the small amount of movements, by 
finding connections among body parts in the movements, and with sensing herself. She was 
able to listen and communicate her sensations, be curious, and find new options for comfort. 
She was happy to learn that there isn't any right and wrong, and that everything turns into a 
question with possible answers that she herself will find.  We also addressed the concept of 
effort, which may influence other areas of her life.  
 
I explored the function of rotation by breaking it into small movements, connecting and 
integrating it again in different postures at the end of the lesson.  Isra was able to move less 
with less effort and be pleased with the results.  This happens when she uses more of herself 
and senses herself more clearly. 
 
Isra’s parting sentence is a summary of what I myself have already experienced, but her 

exact phrasing, “breaking of myths,” is brilliant in my opinion. When clients come in with an 

acute or disturbing problem, they want a solution or instant relief. They have an expectation 
and a measure to know how was it.  
 



This lesson had no specific target to achieve. It was a purely educational situation that led into 
exploration.   I hope for more teaching experiences of this kind.   I hope that people will come 
to learn not only because they hurt. I hope they will be open to their sensations and let 
change happen. A person who is attentive to himself will be sensitive to others.  
 

Dorit Dinur.  
Chair of the Israeli Feldenkrais Guild 
Member of the EUroTab since 2006 
www.feldenkrais4u.co.il 
dorit@feldenkrais4u.co.il 

http://www.feldenkrais4u.co.il/
mailto:dorit@feldenkrais4u.co.il

