This is Chapter 20 from Feldenkrais Illustrated: The Art of Learning, excerpts from the writings of Moshe Feldenkrais, edited and illustrated by Tiffany Sankary.
References
Quotes from Moshe Feldenkrais were taken from the following sources:
Learn to Learn by Moshe Feldenkrais. Copyright © 1975 & 1980 by the Feldenkrais Estate and Feldenkrais Resources. Reprinted by permission of Feldenkrais Resources, Berkeley, CA.
Embodied Wisdom: The Collected Papers of Moshe Feldenkrais. Copyright © 2010 by Somatic Resources and the Feldenkrais Estate. Reprinted by permission of Somatic Resources and North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, CA.
CHAPTER 20: THE WISDOM OF DOING LESS
"Do a little less than your utmost while learning." Moshe Feldenkrais, Learn to Learn, p 8.
"...continuing to do a little less than your utmost, you go on improving.... The wisdom of doing a little less than one really can pushes the record of achievement further and further as you come nearer to it, similar to the horizon that recedes on approaching it." Moshe Feldenkrais, Learn to Learn, p 9
"We stop improving when we sense no difference in the effort made or in the movement." -Moshe Feldenkrais, Learn to Learn, p 5
"It is easier to tell differences when the effort is light." -Moshe Feldenkrais, Learn to Learn, p 5
"That’s why I get the students down on the floor. Unless the necessary muscular tension is reduced, they couldn’t detect any changes." -Moshe Feldenkrais, Embodied Wisdom: The Collected Papers of Moshe Feldenkrais, p 102
"The gradual reduction of useless effort is necessary in order to increase kinetic sensitivity, without which a person cannot become self-regulating." -Moshe Feldenkrais, Embodied Wisdom: The Collected Papers of Moshe Feldenkrais, p 101
Order a copy of Feldenkrais Illustrated: The Art of Learning HERE.