Body and Mature Behavior: A Study of Anxiety, Sex, Gravitation, and Learning

I contend that rigidity [...] i.e., the adherence to a principle to the utter exclusion of its opposite, is contrary to the laws of life." Thus wrote Feldenkrais in this book in 1949, when he was 45 years old, already an expert in Judo and with a PhD in physics. In those years he settled for some time in Britain after having emigrated from Russia, where he was born, to Palestine, and then travelled to France, where he spent a few years studying science and training in Judo. The book presents the essence of his phenomenally wide perspective about re-opening the path for personal development. He puts himself alongside the great masters searching for methods for cure from ailments, both physical and mental. His motto is learning, which he considers "the uniqueness of Man". Learning in the deep, dynamic, sense of perpetually creating and utilizing new options for experience and action. Continuous learning requires that we shall not forget that "...the principles we learn are themselves ephemeral and not absolute". Here are the foundations of his approach presented to the intelligent reader. To read the book you must be willing to deal with a style of writing which, however demanding, goes straight into all topics which Moshe considered vital to his method. A condensed description of the conditions of our existence, touching upon such topics as neurology, prehistory, child development, individual-society relationships, and more. A rare discussion of gravitation and the anti-gravity mechanism is followed by a discussion of the effects of emotion (especially anxiety and the attitude to sexuality) on posture and on personal patterns of movement. Here you can read one of Moshe's earlier presentations of the ideas that guided him through the development of his unique method and technique of therapy and instruction by direct contact with the nervous system. The aim is to re-tune it toward a gradual development of a personal style of action characterized by more freedom and elegance. If you are really interested in Moshe's ideas written in the personal, concentrated, somewhat arid style of his younger years, this book will be an exciting addition to your library for many years to come