Saturday, November 29, 2008

Beginnings of an Answer for Lynette

Lynette,
wonderful Lynette
asked about the Alexander Yanai Lesson #512.

If you know what these are:
great.

If not: they are 550
lessons Moshe Feldenkrais recorded
as he gave them on Alexander Yanai Street
in Tel Aviv, Israel,
over a period of many years.

So: here's a start to a rather convoluted
movement:

You are lying, on belly,
left leg long,
right knee up toward belly on the side,
right hand down alongside body
and under right thigh, with palm down,
left hand standing near the head, elbow up.

And you bring,
somehow:
the right hand up to the head
region.

Here's my beginning take on
this:

In standing:
one would be standing on the left leg,
the right knee would be bent,
sort of in "tree pose" of yoga,
right foot on right thigh,
right hand down near crotch,
palm facing backwards.

As if taking a sword from a scabbard
on your left hip,
you pull the sword out with your right hand
come across yourself in the front,
and end up pointing
dramatically
the sword to the sky
directly above your right shoulder.

A LESSON THAT IS SOMEHOW RELATED IN MY MIND:
the upright
end play with the lesson is this:
on knees, upright,
right arm going in circles either backward,
or forward at your side.

The lie down version,
my cutting to what I think is the chase:

One right side,
knees bent,
left hand standing in front of chest,
right arm hand down in crotch area.

Play first just with extending
thighs,
so knees are straight down from spine,
as in the standing on knees position above.

Then use this extented knees/ thighs
arched back position,
to bring the right arm
under the body and in circles
this way
and that.

Obviously it's a big lesson,
and a hugely valuable one,
and begins to show how much mileage
we can get from working on the "downside"
parts of us,
those the are often "trapped"
in babies,
and in our habits
are "trapped"
out of our awareness.

Okay,
that'
s
just the start.


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