spine and rotation, easy, fun, learning

Rotation, not standing, but oh well

Playing in our spine

Stop somewhere and stand. Stand on your own two feet and feel what that is like. What one foot feels like, and the other, and both of them, and the toes and the ankles.

Breathe.

Begin to ever so slowly turn yourself to the left and then back to the middle. Notice whether you started at the feet, or hips, or shoulders, or head or eyes.

Turn again, starting ever so gently from the head and neck. turn to the left and then back to the center several times, as if a little dance. Now add on some shifting in your weight and bringing your pelvis into the turn. Left and back. Left and back.

Rest.

See if that woke up something in you.

Now put one hand on the center of your chest and one hand low on your belly and turn a bit to the left, Keep your head facing whatever direction this is, and begin figuring out how to gently and easily move your belly one way and your chest the other. Feel the twist, the gentle, enjoyable twist in your spine. Feel good.

Rest. Notice how you feel.

Hands as above, turn to the left, and back to the middle, feeling what it is like to start with the belly, start with the chest, start with the head. Play, turn, enjoy. Rest.

Hands as above. Turn to the left. Stop. Let your eyes go more left and back as your head goes the opposite way. Do this very slowly. Enjoy this.

Throughout the day play with head and eyes and chest and pelvis in turning. Make standing around a meditation in movement today.

As part of the game, experiment with hips one way, chest the other and head the same way as the hips. Make it easy, pleasurable and turn to the right later in the day.

Sense your spine all day and give it movement it likes.

Arch and round in sitting, head connected to the lower back, hopefully

Bending and arching in sitting, hands on face

Sit near the front edge of a chair, or bench or log or rock. Feel your spine and arms and legs. Feel breathing and gravity. Feel your feet on the ground and your head at the top of your spine.

Now take your hands and hold your head like this: with each hand place your thumb under your ears and your other fingers above the ear, and the fingers point toward the back of your head. And with this unity of head and arms and chest, fold forward: stomach in, sternum sinking and back, pelvis rocking to the back edge, head lowering.

How does breathing like to go in this mode?

Then come back to neutral and do this many times, and then rest and feel and sense and learn yourself.

Then, take the same hand head position and push your belly forward and arch your spine and rock forward on your pelvis and bring your head back a little and raise your sternum. How does breathing like to go this way? Enjoy and come back to neutral and do this many times and go slow and observe and enjoy.

Rest.

Now do, go, learn, discover enjoy both ways, rounding and arching as a back and forth game. Go slow, feel one part at a time, the spine, the ribs, the pelvis, the head, the sternum, and then all the parts together.

Really enjoy.

If any pain, go less.

A lot less.

Enjoy.

Learn. Do this a bunch of times today, and stay knowing and awaring of your spine all day.

Good

Hopping in at least two ways, side hopping

Hopping and paying attention.

Yes, yes. This is “movement” again, and again, this is the simplest and quickest way to activate real thinking, rather than our usual verbose roundabout not-really thinking “thinking.”

Stand some nice place. Hop your legs wide and back together. Many times.

Rest.

Slowly, combine this hopping with having your arms go out when your legs go to the side and arms back in when your legs come together. Not as many as the usual “many times.”

Rest.

Now, go slowly and figure this out: do the opposite with your arms: when your legs go out, your arms come to your side, when your legs come back together, your arms go out.

Take it easy.

Start over.

Breathe. Get an ease to this.

Let your attention and awareness get more clear.

Rest.

Now try the thinking/ awaring version, like this: as you hop your legs out, have your arms at your side. As you hop your legs back together, let your arms go to the straight out, outside position. So, this is like a reverse jumping jack, feet out, arms in, and then: feet in, arms out.

Go slow.

Catch yourself and smile when you get confused and go back to the “normal” way.

Rest.

Then do it the “normal” way on purpose.

Rest.

And the backwards way, and see if you can do two or three of one way and two or three of the other without stopping completely in between.

Have some fun. Sense your five lines all the rest of today.

Round and arch in a simple way: one more awakening activity

On our back, letting ourselves arch and round in the back.

Lie on your back, and enjoy just this as a break from the busy “business” of upright, and often uptight, life.

Sense your five lines, two arms, two legs and your spine.

Smile and follow your breathing.

Now, raise your feet to standing, which means your feet are on the ground and your knees toward the sky.

Push your belly out and arch your back a little so that your lower back comes off the floor a little more.

Do this a number of times. Notice your breathing.

Rest.

Then return to feet standing, knees up. Put your hands behind your head and gently, not trying to go very far, raise your head to look at your knees. Pull in your stomach as you do this and feel the lower back for toward or to the floor.

Do this a number of times, and then rest.

Now raise your knees again, and tilt them slowly side to side. Two ways. Both legs at the same time. And one leg first, and then the other.

Do this a few times and then begin to arch your back and push out your belly as you do this.

Then for a few times tighten your belly and tilt your knees in the two ways to the side.

Which makes it easiest for the knees to tilt?

Rest.

Now, as you go side to side with your knees, push your belly out when your legs go to the side and when they come back in to the middle, lift your legs a little toward the floor as if to bring the knees toward your chest. Feel this a slight rounding in the back. Then, put the feet down and tilt your legs to the other side, push our your belly.

Do this is a number of times, each time seeing if you can discover something new about how you move, what it’s like to be present, how to move easily. Keep it up discovering all day.

Belly out, belly in on breathing out

More breath, now some variation.

Breathe out and see if you have a tendency to bring your belly in or push it out.
Play around and see what you like best.

Now breathe in and see which way, belly in (and chest expanded) or belly out is the way you like to breathe in.

Now lie on your back, and breathe out and pull your belly in. Do this slowly. Don’t think about the in breath, just let it happen. Each out breathe, pull your belly in and push the air out through your nose. Don’t move any part of your spine, for now, nor your pelvis. Just push the air out and pull your belly in a number of times.

Rest.

Now, again letting the in breath take care of itself, push the air out, but in rapid little bursts. Then rest a bit and do another rapid series of belly in out breaths.

Rest.

Now try the opposite: push your belly out as you breathe out. Again don’t worry about the in breath. But you might wan to “practice” with sucking the belly in and expanding your chest on the in breath a few times, if you need some help figuring out how to push your belly out on the out breath.

Then just forget the in breath and push your belly out, slowly, as you push your breath out.

Rest.

Now, do this fast, in spurts, belly out breath out. Several times.

Rest.

Now play with opposing: three times belly out on the out breath, and three times belly in. Do this back and forth.

Rest. Play with your breathing off and on during the day.

Up from down

Up from down

So yesterday, we played with coming down to the floor, hands and feet on the floor, and then spiraling down by putting our knee between the opposite hand and foot.

Today we’ll play with spiraling up from the floor.

So please come down to the floor, maybe the way we played with and (maybe) learned yesterday.

Sit cross legged, so one leg is in front of the other. Notice which foot and leg is the one in front. Then take the other hand (if the left foot and leg is in front, take the right hand; if the right leg and foot is in front, take the left hand) and put that hand on the floor beside yourself and slightly to the side.
If it’s your left hand, to the left side and slightly behind. Right hand, the other way.

Then begin to move your head in a spiral toward your hand as if your nose is going down toward it, and as you do this, do three things: one, put weight on the hand you have down; two: rotate the front foot so it is pressed down and standing on the floor; rotate your bottom up to the sky.
.
From this position, one hand with weight, one foot coming to standing, keep spiraling toward the down hand, and keep your head low and spiral your bottom up in the same direction that everything is spiraling.


This may sound like nonsense or “too hard to figure out.”

It isn’t.

Go really slowly. It’s the reverse of spiraling down yesterday, so you can play with yesterday’s game/ learning to get clarity on this side.

You can learn this.

Do it.


And for the rest of the day, every time you get up and down from sitting to standing, do something like a spiral. And notice your head and pelvis all day. Again. Yes. Again

Up to down, 4 points briefly

Touching the Earth, or at least, the floor

Stand somewhere, outside if the weather permits and invites in.

Touch the ground. Easily. Realize that if you kept your legs straight, you don’t have to. Bend your sweet knees and touch the ground with both hands and feel yourself in this primitive and “strange” feeling position.

Play around with lifting one at a time, a hand, and a foot.

Then see what pairs of hand-foot work best to lift.

Then rest.

Come down to this position (“four points”) again, and start to walk forward. As if crawling, but with knees not on the floor. Discover the two ways to go about this. Go back and forth between the two many times.

Rest.

Now, back to this position. Get fancy: both feet up, both hands up, everything up. Rest.

Back again. Come down to the ground like this: take the right knee and place it between the left hand and the left foot and let the right leg come to the floor/ Earth. See how that rotates/ spirals you down. Come back up in the opposite spiral. Do this many times, just to this side.

Rest.

Now do it the other side, left knee between right hand and right foot and spiral on down to the floor. Make this kind of fun.

Rest.

Now go back and forth, once to the right and once to the left. Get a feeling for lifting your rear to come up from sitting the way this ends you up when you sit. Get a feeling for lowering your rear when you go down.

Notice head and pelvis and how they are both you throughout the day, feel the connection, enjoy. Wake to more.

arch round breathe learning

Spine and breathing.

Sit on a firm and comfortable chair and don’t lean back. Sit near the front, feet flat on the ground. Begin to arch so that your belly comes forward and your sternum lifts and your pelvis tilts forward.

And then from there, round so your belly goes back and your stomach comes in and your head comes down and the front/ top of your pelvis rotates toward your head. (Sex toward you, or: pelvis tucking under).

Go back and forth, gently and with pleasure on this.

Rest.

Now, begin to breathe in and fill your belly with air on the parts where you bring your belly forward and arch.

On the rounding part, pull your belly in and exhale.

Do this with pleasure and feel if something like “relaxation” happens for you.

Rest.

Now, round and pull your belly in, but as you do this suck in the air, and fill your chest with air.

Then as you arch and push your belly out, push out your breathing, so you are exhaling, as if via your full belly.

Then round again, with belly in and breathing in, and arch again with belly out and breathing out.

Many times. Explore. Pleasure. Rest.


Then do the arching and rounding with three rounds of breath so that you breathe out when you arch and three rounds so that you breathe in when you arch. Back and forth. Get the hang of this.

Enjoy.

Learn. Watch your breathing all day and switch it around between belly in for in breath and belly out for in breath.

Day 45: Moving Head and knees in side lying

Lie on your side again, knees and legs on top of each other. Knees in front of you with the thighs more or less straight out from your body. This is not, NOT, not about “doing it right.” This is about going slow and being present and getting easy feelings in you as well as the excitement of learning.

So, pillow again under your head.

Bring both knees toward your chest, sliding them along the floor. And then bring them back to the “neutral you started in.

Do this slowly and feel the backs of you involved in this, feel your stomach, feel your spine, feel yourself curling in.

Rest.

Now, put your hands behind your head and elbow point roughly the same way your nose does. If this doesn’t work, put your bottom hand under your cheek. Here, bend and bring your head toward your knees, and back, many times, feeling chest, ribs, stomach, back.

Rest. And then combine the two: knees toward head and head toward knees and back to “neutral.” Rest again.

Now, bring your knees backward behind you, leaving your legs in the bended position. Feel the using of your back. And return back to “neutral.”

Rest.

Now using head in your hands, bring your head back many times and return back to “neutral.” Rest.

Combine these last two: head and knees both back and keep returning back to “neutral.” Rest.

Now, do the curling in with head and pelvis forward and unfurling with head and pelvis back. Feel the all of you involved in this.

Rest.

For the day, remember this in imagination and play with stomach in and using your back to round and arch yourself.

Lying on our side, learning the spine by moving our knee

Learning about the pelvis and spine

Lie on whichever side is most comfortable to you. Put a small pillow or rolled up blanket or sweater under your head to keep your neck comfortable. Put your knees on top of each other and bend them, as if you were sitting, more or less. So your thighs are out from your body, and then your knees bend and your lower legs are more or less parallel to the top part of you.

Begin to play with moving the top hip forward, and the top knee forward. “Forward” in all movement lessons means the way your torso is facing. Lying on your back, forward is toward the ceiling or sky. Lying on your belly forward is into the floor or ground. Or your side, it is the way your face and chest are pointed.

So, begin to take your top knee and hip forward, so the top knee goes ahead of the other knee as if it were going to look over a ledge. Do this a bring it back.

Now, here’s the fun, here’s the learning. Learning is noticing differences that make a difference.

Roll your hip as you bring your knee forward, so that you feel as if you hip and pelvis are simply swiveling to make this happen. Do this five or six times. And then rest.

Now bring your knee not only forward, but somewhat down, as if pointing to a place in front of your feet. As you do this push out your belly and arch your back a little bit. This can feel quite wonderful. Do this and return to the start position a number of times.

And then rest.

Now bring your knee forward and a bit up, as if pointing to a place in front of your chest. As you do this, pull your belly in a little bit and round your back as if your were going to curl into a ball. And then come back to the beginning position. Do this a number of times. Then rest. Now, do these three different ways one after another.

Throughout the day notice your pelvis and spine.

Lots happening at Life on Earth

Over at ChrisElms.blogspot.com

aka

Life on Earth

formerly

SlowSonoma.com


lots is happening

including short versions

of movement lessons

(here's a link to what's labelled as "movement lessons" over at that site)

and lots of waking up
practices / games / activities




this started Nov 1
and one activity gets added,
more or less,
each day


here's a listing from today of the possibilities,
but if this link stops working,
just go to the site ChrisElms.blogspot.com
and find the index about six or seven days into the
blog


see you
there

maybe


((while I'm at it,
here's a link to what's labeled as movement lessons on this site)

Benefits, once again, always good to resay these

Improve awareness

Improve connection to the moment

Transforming back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, wrist pain and so on

Transforming and undoing "getting older" creakiness

Transforming accident, injuries, recovery and over-all vitality

Recovery from strokes.

Improve awareness

Improve mobility

Transforming mechanical behavior to freedom

Transforming and undoing stuck and boring patterns

Transforming your life

Recovery from all sorts of setbacks, real or imagined.

More flexible brain

Encouraging a sense that "Anything's possible"

Younger brain

Smarter brain
Healing of brain from accidents

Slowing down and maybe even reversing MS, Parkinson's, dementia

Learning how to learn

Feel better

Feel taller

Better love making

Reverse inflexibility and narrowing down of so-called "aging"

Transforming cerebral palsy, autism, MS, other neurological challenges

Increase sports abilities

Improve awareness

Feel younger

Feel lighter

Move, think and breathe better

Better posture

Better acture (ability to move gracefully in any direction)

Move, think and breathe better

Expanded horizons and abilities to embrace change in life

Transform unhappiness and depression

Avoid Surgery

Heal Much, Much more rapidly from Surgery

Improve/ transform anyone's back.

Move better than you ever have before

Increase creativity

Increase skills in teaching yoga, tennis, golf, any sport, music, singing and so on

Learn quicker and more enjoyably in golf lessons, tennis lessons, music lessons, equestrian lessons

Sing better

Public speaking

Acting

Improvization

Improve inner connection

Improve/ transform "tennis elbow."

Improve/ transform " tai chi" knee.

Improve/ transform musician's elbow, hands, back.

All repetitive stain injuries transformed as the whole you gets
better and better at sensing, moving, being at ease, skill, pleasure (a new ESP)

Improve/ transform gardener's back.

Deepen abilities to "relax," release and de-stress

Transform and cure insomnia

Help tradespeople keep injury free as they get older

Increase abilities to be present

Deeper connection to yourself

Clarity of thinking

Better walk, limp transformation.

Better circulation, lymph transformation.

Walk better, run better, sit better, sleep better

Transform dance, running, balance

Increase studying and learning abilities in children and adults

Decrease depression, anxiety, confusion

Increase life clarity

Transformation of dyslexia, reading abilities improved, math abilities, too

Undoing stress

Natural Vision Improvement

Transforming injury

Reverse carpal tunnel, repetitive strain

Learn to work at computers without wrecking ourselves

Improve scoliosis

Learn how to go about "problems" as glorious opportunities

Increase and enhance yoga, Pilates, martial arts

Return to youthfulness

Increase Learning

Improve breathing

Improve health

Improve balance

Increase confidence and curiosity

Become more Present

Moti Nativ interview, in Hebrew, Enlish subtitles

Moti was the one teacher
at the one Feldenkrais Guild conference
I went to
who got right into action
right into movement lessons
and
gave the lessons
with the same excitement and urgency
and umph
that Anat does

Here's an ">INTERVIEW
WITH SOME MARTIAL ARTS ACTION

This is my life

River near the house I'm staying in Gunnison, CO


DAY SEVEN: THIS IS MY LIFE, 1
This is my life in gravity, this is my life in…

This is my life right now.

This is today’s game/ exercise/ meditation/ activity. Throughout the day, say to yourself, aloud or not aloud, “This is my life.”

This moment, while you read or hear these words: This is your life. The moments on the toilet, in the shower, getting into your car, getting out of your car, “thinking” about what you are going to or “have to” do, this is your life.

The time spend worrying or arguing or regretting or planning or gossiping or talking mindlessly, or mindfully, on the phone or in the grocery store: this is your life.

At work, you are looking at a computer, talking to someone, pounding in a nail, lifting a rock, soothing a child: this is your life.

And let’s make it bigger and more concrete: as you say, over and over, “This is my life,” sense your skeleton, especially arms and legs and spine, in gravity. And sense your breathing in air. And notice sounds coming in your ears. And light coming in your eyes.

This is our life.

Now.

What is the tone of it, as we say this each time? Shock? Delight? Horror? Gratitude? Fear? Anger?

Those feelings are an indication of something, of a lot.

Don’t analyze them during the day but you might want to journal a bit about your discoveries as you go through the day saying, “This is my life.”

Good.




And what does this have to do with
the Waking up Feldenkrais Work
the Anat Baniel Method work,
the work
of being real humans
on this planet
Earth,
humans in bodies
that can ride bikes
and create gardens
and clean up streams
and make love
and walk to our
neighbor's houses
and sit in a chair
and be happy in our bodies
"doing" nothing?

The question,
posed like that,
more or less answers itself,
no?

this is also on chriselms.blogspot.com

1. NOW
Breathing, sensing, 5 lines

As long as I am alive, I am breathing. Can I have the richness of life, where many times in the day, I know I am breathing, when I feel the sensation of my breath coming in and out.

Sensing.

This is the word for feeling myself physically. For you feeling yourself physically. Can you sense right now where your right arm is, and the shape of it and the feel of it from the inside and outside, the bones and muscles and skin and aliveness of your arm?

Sensing.

This is the way to wake up to now. To sense our breathing while we are breathing, to sense our body in its particular shape. Right now.

What is the shape and sensation of my arms and legs and spine?

What is the sweet feeling inside my spine that connects my two arms and two legs.
Can I sense the five lines of myself, two arms, two legs, and spine?
And follow my breathing while I do this?


There is more to being an awake human being, but this is a good start. Would you like to join me on this journey?

The journey will last 108 days. Each day will offer something small or large to follow in our awareness, in our waking up to now.

Today is one of sensing: two arms, two legs, our spine, our breathing? Can we do this while eating and working and reading and resting and even talking?

Even a minute or two of this can change our lives forever.

the call of the heart, listened to, or not

Are we being real
to what and who
we really are
and really could be?

Sometimes yes.
Sometimes no.

Moshe has an amazing quote




"The great majority of people
live active and satisfactory enough lives
behind their masks
to enable them to stifle
more or less painlessly
any emptiness they may feel
whenever they stop
and listen to their heart."

Moshe Feldenkrais,
Awareness Through Movement, Preface

the awkened life

what a fancy idea,
the awakened life?

and yet:
hey
what is the alternative?
the
asleep life?
the
normal life?
the
staying out of trouble
life?

then again,
ordinary
life is
a brilliant gift,
and we double
triple
quadruple
it
by
"being there"
as
we go
as "it" goes
as time
which exists.
or doesn't exist
flows
through
the day
as the sun
rise
and sets

all is
good

when lived
in the almost awakened
state
and
or
the awakened
one

good.

how to get smarter

R/L differences after a lesson




How to get smarter?

Pay attention to reality.

Look at what is out there.

Get interested. No words, just perceptions.

And then start to perceive differences:
if I look from this way,
and that,
what is the difference?

If it is morning or
night,
what is the difference?

What is the difference in
me
if I am breathing in
or
breathing out?

How is the bird I am looking at
different than
that bird over there?




If I put my weight more
on
my right foot
than my left,
what could I learn about how I stand.

This easy life
is all about learning
and learning is all
about delight
delighting
in the little differences
details
joys
distinctions.

Yes.
Life is good;.

balancing the latest Feldyforum tempest in a teapot

What if "balance" were to be seen
as what it is,
somewhat of a non-existent
approximation of
not falling over.

Then, would not Judo,
or physics,
or the study of infants learning to sit up,
or even raise their heads,
perhaps be useful to this
action of
not falling over.

Hmm.
We seem to have lucked into a "system"
developed be a man
who excelled in Judo,
was a physicist/ engineer,
and had a profound interest in how
babies move bodies into new
phases of learning.

What a pleasant state of affairs.

And then there is "learning,"
as in gifting another person
with a one sided lesson,
so they are "out of balance"
and get to rise to higher level
of organization.

In their somewhere,
the brain,
what Moshe called the most precious
material in the universe.

Good.
Good.
Good.

What's the difference?

Between what Moshe
seemed
to have taught and the
stuff that is going on in
the Feldyforum?

this question
presumes
i read the damn forum
which i rarely
do,
and that i read it with a mind
to really deeply understanding
each
point of
view,
which
i don't

so,
what kind of answer
might i provide?

something like this:
moshe developed a system
to change, heal and transform
people by improving
their intelligence
and function

and what goes on
on Feldyforum
seems to stray from that often

is that bad?

no
life is good

life is really
really good

and usually,
i think
feldyforum
is a grand
waste of time

amusing though
and who am
i to say
how anyone
but me should spend
/
waste their time


time is all
we have
and in
the end
we die


good