Actually nor was I ever taught how to feel for the strings but I found them when I needed to=) As i mentioned it certainly isn't recommended but what worked for me was just squatting down with the index and middle finger and I found the strings immediately, after that it certainly took a couple tries but I got it out by just pulling GENTLY on both strings! I mean even though its shaped like the letter T you would think it would hurt but because it is SO flexible it bends with ease.