A Companion to This Lesson
Welcome back from the floor. You have just completed one of the most foundational explorations in the Feldenkrais Method, and as you rest, your nervous system is likely still processing the subtle shifts in how your pelvis meets the ground. This booklet is designed to meet you in that state of curiosity, offering a way to look back at the territory you just traversed and understand the internal shifts you may be feeling. Our goal is to help you see the underlying architecture of the lesson—the specific arc that moved you from simple vertical tilts to the complex, asymmetric coordination of the final movements. Through the lens of Body Mapping, we will examine how the lesson systematically reduced cortical noise to help your inner Cartographer distinguish between twelve distinct hours. You were not just moving your hips; you were refining your internal map to dissolve clumpy habits and replace them with high-resolution clarity that bridges the pelvis to the head. Think of these pages as a companion rather than a manual. The movements you performed were not exercises to be mastered, but questions to be lived. This guide helps you see exactly what questions were being asked of your nervous system at each stage, from the initial scan to the final contralateral challenges. By understanding the pedagogy behind the sequence, you can deepen your appreciation for how a clearer map of the self leads to more spontaneous and integrated movement.
Lying on back, knees bent, feet standing about hip-width apart.
This starting position isn't arbitrary. It's chosen to give your nervous system a baseline — a clear sense of how things are before the lesson begins. You'll return to it at the end, and the contrast is often striking.
Every Feldenkrais lesson poses a question to your nervous system. Not a question you answer with words — a question you answer with movement, sensation, and gradually shifting organization.
Can the Cartographer map the 12 distinct hours of the pelvic clock and the skeletal bridge to the head with enough resolution to dissolve the Blunt Mover's clumpy habits?
Cortical noise is reduced by systematically narrowing the focus from the whole pelvis to individual hours, then re-introducing complexity through leadership changes and asymmetric constraints.
To make sense of the journey through this lesson, it helps to understand three ideas. They'll come up throughout the booklet.
When you first try a movement, there's a part of you that grips, pushes, and forces. This is your voluntary muscular effort — we'll call it the Shadow. It means well, but it's noisy. It uses ten muscles when two would do. It holds your breath. It treats every movement as a task to be conquered.
Underneath the Shadow, your skeleton and reflexes already know how to support you. This deeper system — the Foundation — is quiet, efficient, and reflexive. It responds to gravity, finds balance, and transmits force through bone rather than muscle. The lesson's job is to let the Foundation emerge.
The lesson doesn't fight the Shadow. It washes it away — through repetition, variation, and gentle complexity. Like water over stone, the unnecessary effort gradually dissolves. You don't try to relax. You simply repeat and vary until the Shadow runs out of strategies and the Foundation is all that remains.
Here's what happened in this lesson, section by section. For each part, you'll see what you did and what was happening underneath.
Establishing the baseline and exploring the 6 o'clock (arching) movement.
The teacher establishes a sensory baseline by directing attention to the specific contact points of the pelvis and the height of the spinal arches against the floor. By introducing the simple functional movement of arching the lower back to roll the pelvis toward the heels, they begin to clarify the relationship between the spine and the floor before the more complex mapping of the clock begins.
The question being posed: Where is the pelvis on the map right now?
The functional goal: Baseline map of pelvic weight and spinal arches established.
I am scanning the territory, noticing where the ground feels solid and where it feels like a void. I feel the heavy clump of my pelvis and the vague, undifferentiated arch of my back.
I am just lying here as a heavy block of weight. I move the whole lower half of me as one piece when I try to arch.
Introducing the clock metaphor and exploring the vertical axis (12-6) with head transmission.
The teacher introduces the clock imagery to organize the function of rolling the pelvis between 12 and 6, arching and flattening the lower back. This clarifies the structural relationship between the pelvis and the skull, inviting you to feel how the vertical rocking transmits through the spine to move the head.
The question being posed: Can I distinguish the top from the bottom of the pelvis?
The functional goal: Vertical axis of the pelvic clock clarified; head-pelvis connection identified.
I am drawing a line between 12 and 6, feeling the pixels light up along my spine. I notice a faint echo in my skull as the line of movement extends upward through the vertebrae.
I try to arch by pulling everything tight. I'm starting to realize there's a distinct top and a bottom to this pelvic block.
Exploring the horizontal axis (3-9) while keeping knees quiet to isolate pelvic movement.
The teacher facilitates the differentiation of the pelvis from the legs by directing you to keep your knees still while rolling between 3 and 9 o'clock. Strategic pauses between these functional movements allow you to sense the widening contact of your lower back and the emerging resonance of the horizontal rocking in your head.
The question being posed: Can I find the side-to-side horizon without using my legs?
The functional goal: Horizontal axis differentiated from leg swaying; hip joints illuminated.
I am finding the 3 and the 9, trying to keep my knees from stealing the movement. The map is getting wider, and I'm discovering the precise edges of my hip joints.
I want to throw my knees over to get to the side. It's frustrating to move just the pelvis without the rest of the clump following.
Mapping the circumference of the clock through various arcs and half-circle explorations.
The teacher facilitates a transition from linear axes to curvilinear paths by guiding you to trace arcs along the clock’s perimeter and oscillate around the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. Frequent pauses are used to encourage sensing the differences between the right and left sides, ensuring the functional map of the pelvic circumference is clear before moving toward full circles.
The question being posed: Is the path between the hours a straight line or a curve?
The functional goal: Curvilinear resolution of the pelvic map; increased degrees of freedom.
I am tracing the arcs, feeling for the roundness between 12 and 3. I'm filling in the gaps in the map, turning jagged jumps into smooth, expensive-watch curves.
I'm skipping over the numbers I can't feel. I'm starting to let go of the bracing in my ribs to find the actual curve.
Integrating the hours into full circles and alternating leadership between head and pelvis.
The teacher integrates the previously explored arcs into continuous pelvic circles, shifting the focus to the functional relationship between the head and tail as they alternate leadership. By using imagery like the rubber stamp and comparing distances, you refine your sensing of how the spine transmits movement through every hour of the clock.
The question being posed: Can the map hold together in a continuous loop?
The functional goal: Integrated circular image; head and pelvis acting as a single articulated system.
The circle is becoming a continuous flow of light. I can lead from the head or the tail, and the whole map responds as one articulated, shimmering system.
I've stopped gripping the floor. I'm following the path of the circle instead of trying to force the weight around.
Testing the clarity of the pelvic clock in asymmetric leg positions and crossed-leg configurations.
The teacher uses pauses to let you integrate the previous work before posing a functional question: can you maintain the clarity of the pelvic clock even when the legs are asymmetric, fully extended, or crossed? These challenging configurations test whether your pelvic movement has become independent of the support of your feet, ensuring the internal map remains clear even as the external landscape changes.
The question being posed: Does the map remain clear when the landscape changes?
The functional goal: Robustness of the self-image; differentiation of pelvic movement from leg position.
The terrain is distorted with one leg long, but I am finding the hours anyway. I'm refining the map's resolution even in these strange, melted Salvador Dali shapes.
I'm confused again, trying to clump up to find the numbers. I have to go very slow to see the pixels in this new position.
The final challenge of moving head and pelvis in opposite directions, followed by integration in standing.
The teacher poses a final coordination question by asking you to circle the head and pelvis in opposite directions, testing the clarity of the relationship between the two ends of the spine. This integration phase transitions the refined pelvic mobility into the functional reality of standing and walking, ensuring the lesson's discoveries are available for daily life.
The question being posed: Can I map two different movements simultaneously?
The functional goal: High-resolution cortical clarity; skeletal ease in standing and walking.
I am mapping two clocks at once, head and pelvis dancing in opposition. The Blunt Mover has vanished, replaced by a shimmering, articulated image of myself in motion.
I've stood down completely. There's no room for clumping or bracing when the map is this detailed and clear.
Every Feldenkrais lesson has a trajectory — from effort to ease, from noise to quiet. Here's how this lesson made that journey.
Cortical noise is reduced by systematically narrowing the focus from the whole pelvis to individual hours, then re-introducing complexity through leadership changes and asymmetric constraints.
The moment of Transmission emerges when the student can coordinate the head and pelvis in opposite directions, requiring the Shadow to stand down completely so the articulated map can function.
Your brain has a 'map' of your body — some parts are highly detailed, others are blurry. This lens sees how the lesson lights up the dark spots on that map, turning vague regions into articulated joints.
The inner being who holds the cortical self-image. They see the body as a territory with bright regions and dark regions. Every movement is received as: What just became visible? What pixel lit up that was dark before? Where did I discover a joint I didn't know I had?
The habit of sensory blurring — moving in clumps and blocks. When the map is dark, the brain defaults to moving everything at once because it cannot distinguish the individual parts. The lesson illuminates the map until the blur dissolves into articulation.
When you return to this landscape, approach the pelvic floor not as a single unit but as a vast territory waiting for higher-resolution mapping. The Cartographer’s goal is to refine the internal GPS until every degree of the circle is as clear as the cardinal points of 12 and 6. • Reduce your effort to the absolute minimum to detect the subtle sensory noise that obscures your internal map, especially when navigating the often-blurry arcs between 1 and 5 or 7 and 11. • Use the pauses between movements to compare the felt distance of your pelvic clock against the floor, noticing if your mental image of the 12-6 axis matches the physical reality of your skeletal transmission. • Experiment with the speed of your circles to see where the Cartographer loses the trail, particularly during the contralateral coordination of the head and pelvis where clumpy habits often hide. Revisit these hours often to ensure your internal map remains vivid and your movements stay fluidly articulated.