The art of thinking backwards

Larry Goldfarb

Larry Goldfarb

· 3 min read
Mind in Motion - The Art of Thinking backwards

Genesis of the prequel


One remarkable aspect of the canon of lessons Moshe Feldenkrais left us is how well they live up to his promise of making the impossible possible and — eventually — easy, comfortable, and reachable.

Sometimes, no matter how good the Awareness Through Movement® lesson is or how well you taught it, one or more students find the lesson impossible. Or they do the ATM® only to experience pain or discomfort later instead of any possible benefit.

That’s when I find myself wondering:

“What would have to come before it to make that lesson possible for this student?”

Asking this question is a way to circle back and figure out another way to lead up to the lesson. What I mean is contemplating what has to come before . . . or considering what could lead up to this student being able to do that lesson . . . and to do so without having pain afterward?

Knowing the coordination the lesson calls for, makes it possible to discover what the student isn't noticing, isn’t sensing. Asking, “In what ATMs do these distinctions appear?” I remember and revisit other lessons, do and deconstruct lessons I have known, search for others, discover themes, compose connections, and construct a prequel — think of it as building an “onramp” — to that lesson.

Tomorrow, I’m teaching a half-day workshop — part of the current BEHIND THE CURTAIN course — in which the lesson, THE CARRIAGE OF THE HEAD AFFECTS THE STATE OF THE MUSCULATURE, plays the role of that lesson, the one that this student couldn't do without hurting her- or himself.

We decided to make this class a pop-up ATM workshop by opening registration to anyone interested. If you’re available, spur of the moment, then I hope you’ll join us for:

The art of thinking backwards

Tomorrow — Saturday27 April 201910:00 AM to 2:15 PM California time

$67

It will be easy to participate from the comfort of home or wherever you happen to be using your smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop, or internet-enabled TV, because we will be broadcasting via the Zoom online video service.

There will be a short break after the first lesson and a 45-minute break after the second one. Following the last lesson — and after another short break — I’ll talk about the compositional design workshop and learning logic of the lessons.

As part of your paid tuition, you’ll receive links to the unedited audio recordings of the workshop the beginning of next week. You’ll have 90 days to stream the lessons as often as you like or download the MP3 files to the device of your choosing.

You can enroll by clicking here.

Mind in Motion Online parag Separator

Your thoughts?

Please let us know your perspective! Add your comments, reactions, suggestions, ideas, etc., by first logging in to your Mind in Motion account and then clicking here.

Commenting on blog posts is available to anyone with a Mind in Motion Online account.

  • Join in by getting your free account, which gives you access to the e-book edition of Articulating Changes (Larry’s now-classic Master’s thesis), ATM® lessons, and more — all at no charge whatsoever.
  • To find out more and sign up, please click here.
  • Want to share this blog post with a friend? You can email them the web address shown in your browser. Or share the post via social media by clicking on one of the following icons:
Creative Commons Button 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

[This license gives you permission to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially. You may also remix, transform, and build upon the material. You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.]

Responses:

    Please Log in to comment

    © 2025 Mind in Motion, All rights reserved.

    Feldenkrais®, Feldenkrais Method®, Functional Integration®, and Awareness Through Movement® are registered service marks; Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher® and Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner® are certification marks of the Feldenkrais Guild® of North America.

    Feldenkrais, Méthode Feldenkrais, Prise de Conscience par le Mouvement, Intégration Fonctionnelle sont des termes déposés par Feldenkrais France.

    I termini Metodo Feldenkrais, Conoscersi Attraverso il Movimento, Consapevolezza Attraverso il Movimento, Integrazione Funzionale, Feldenkrais sono marchi registrati di proprietà dell'AIIMF.

    Feldenkrais Method® is the registered trademark in the U.K. of the Feldenkrais Guild UK Ltd., Reg No. 1563759.

    Feldenkrais, Gilde lizenzierte/r Feldenkrais-LehrerIn, Feldenkrais-Lehrer FVD, Feldenkrais-Lehrerin FVD, Feldenkrais-Practitioner FVD und FVD sind die registrierten Wortmarken für den FVD Feldenkrais-Verband Deutschland e.V.