Shoulders

What is a shoulder?

That stuff up at the edge of the torso, right?

But, what is that stuff?

Take one hand and feel around on the other shoulder. See if you can find the ribs below your armpit, and then if you go around to the back, there's something over the ribs.

That's your shoulder blade.  See if you can feel where the ribs start being covered by the shoulder blade. Wiggle the shoulder a little to help.

See if you can feel the shape of the shoulder blade. It's kind of like an upside down triangle, a bit far fetched to become an angel's ( or bird's) wing, but hints of that.

It just floats, on the ribs, this shoulder blade, and comes up over the top, and has a part of it that we call the collar bone, and that attaches to the sternum.

Gad. Is that too much anatomy?

Well, wiggle it around some more. That attachment at the collar bone and sternum is the only place it's not free, so the shoulder theoretically has a lot, a lot, a lot of possibility for movement.

If you play tennis, golf, a musical instrument, dance with a partner, hug, this move-ability comes in handy.

And shoulders are extremely easy to improve via the work I do. 

The left shoulder above, was that of a quite lovely lady carpenter, who was bed ridden in back and shoulder pain, and after a series of lessons, got up and build herself and her daughter a house, while working other jobs. 

Do you have shoulders, or another part of you, that would like to be better in ease and action?

How "the method" Works, Part One: Teamwork, part one

WHAT IT IS ABOUT, THIS NEUROLOGICAL UPGRADING/ FELDENKRAIS/ ANAT BANIEL METHOD WORK: ONE, HIP BONE CONNECTS TO THIGH BONE, THIGH BONE CONNECTS TO SHIN BONE
OR
TEAMWORK.

How many on the team? How many are coming to the party?

A party of one: not a real party.

A soccer or baseball team of one or two, again, not so great.

And one way of seeing this work is to think of it as reminding the various parts of us that they aren’t in this moving and living thing on their own.


Let’s explore this example.

Sit at a table or desk.

Put your right hand on the table and slowly move it out and away from you, thinking just of your hand. Go out and back slowly, just paying attention to the feel and sense of this.

Now rest.

Now, do the same back and forth movement, and think of your elbow and your hand moving forward and back.

Rest.

Now, think of shoulder and elbow and hand. Go slowly and try to notice as much as you can and make the movement slightly new and interesting to you.

Rest.

Now use the other hand to discover and feel where your right shoulder blade is. See if you can feel the top, the edges, the bottom. With your left hand still behind you and on the bottom of your shoulder blade if you can do this comfortably (or have someone else touch there lightly), move your hand and arm forward and back, feeling the involvement of your shoulder blade.

Go very slowly, and try to sense the movement, no matter how small in the shoulder blade.

Rest.

Now do the same movement, but with your left hand on the ribs underneath the shoulder blade. See if you can feel some movement in them as the hand and arm and shoulder and shoulder blade come forward and back.

Rest. In all the rests, feel the difference right arm to left, and the greater awareness of that whole side of your body. Notice differences in your breathing and other areas in your right side.

Now. Leaving the hand alone, just move your right shoulder blade and ribs forward and back. And then go back to moving the hand and arm, the whole teams.

Rest.

Now, leaving all the arm stuff alone, think about moving the right side of your pelvis forward, as if you are rotating your belly bottom to the left. Perhaps moving your right knee forward will get this going. Go slowly forward with your right hip, and then back, and feel perhaps what happens in your spine and ribs.

Rest, noticing as above.

Now, move hand, elbow, shoulder, shoulder blade, ribs, spine and right side of the pelvis in one cooperative movement, forward and back. See if the movement is clearer and easier and fuller with the “whole team” taking part.



Now let’s expand the party to include two people, to do this exploration with another person, or a special needs child. Have them sitting at a table or desk, and very easily move their hand forward and back along the desk or table.

Now, very very gently have your hand underneath their shoulder blade and more following along than guiding, and the other hand on their elbow, help the shoulder blade and the hand feel as if the are part of the “same team” of moving the hand forward and back.

Rest.

Now, with one hand on their elbow, and one very very lightly on the ribs under the shoulder blade, again, more just going along for the ride, help them feel the ribs and shoulder blade and elbow as all part of one “team” moving the hand forward and back.


Don’t push.

Don’t demand.

Just explore and help them explore how their team works together at this moment in their lives. The better this feels for them, and you, the more the learning and ease-ing and increasing of awareness and ease and skill.

There is nothing to do “right.”

There are tons of little details and sensations to learn and explore, for both the people in this dance.

The seduction of Stretching

some of garden
and the old barn back behind


Stretching is good
for teachers who want to lord
it over their students,
especially if the teacher is
more flexible than the students.


Stretching is a great way
to get the student
concentrating on self pushing
self pulling
self attacking
self violence
and then if they can't "do it"
then they can feel inferior
or bad
or worn out
or in pain
or all of the above
and won't have enough energy left over to realize
that the "teacher"
isn't "teaching" them anything,

that the so called
"teaching"
is just more of the
try harder
hurt yourself
breathe through the pain
"let it go"
stuff
that can be seen
at many levels
in our society

is that true?
i'm not sure.
it sounds right,
but anything can sound
right

in health clubs
and yoga places
the pushing a little more
and getting to the edge
as you hurt yourself
just a little bit
is way the norm

and is it part of our society
or are we moving toward
the fat lazies
at the end of Wall-e
unable to make any effort

these are all questions
that
are
far
less
important
than just coming to the present
this one
the only one
and being in our
bodies
and
in our
awaring
and if it
feels good
...
getting up from this silly
machine
and
going outside
to
walk
and look at the sky
and sense the fullness of us:
ten fingers, ten toes, belly, eyes, ear and nose

now that's a
stretch
that won't hurt!!!!

following the movement of life

a little longer essay
at SlowSonoma.com
that includes this:

quote
is one of many brilliant quotes
that could be "shared" from ,
Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky's
New Translation of War and Peace

it's from a dream
Pierre, a central character,
who starts the book as a befudled
and "absent minded and ridiculous man,"
and ends the book, still a bit absent minded and
ridiculous, but full of wisdom

in the dream
a voice speaks to him
and says:

" ' Life is everything.
Life is God.
Everything shifts and moves, and this movement is God.
And while there is life, there is delight
in the self-awareness of the divinity.
To love life is to love God.
The hardest and most blessed thing is to love this life
in one's suffering, in the guiltlessness of suffering.' "

Page 1064.
you've been through a lot
by the time you get there.
Pierre is suffering
and growing hugely
when he has this dream.

Hint, for Pierre,
though not for everyone,
the book has a "happy ending."