AY #121: Extending the arms and twisting to the back

This one is done on the back sometimes with the arms extended straight overhead with the hands interlaced and sometimes with one or both hands tucked under the back, palms down. Once in those positions the student is asked to roll, sometimes just toward one side, sometimes back and forth. In his comments Dr. Feldenkrais asks that students pay attention to the movement of the clavicles, the shoulder blades and the base of the cervical spine. For me, during the lesson it was all about the shoulder blades; after the lesson I can actually feel my clavicles, a very unusual sensation. This is not a lesson for those with shoulder injuries unless they are in the very last stages of recovery. Other than that, I think most people could do the lesson although I'd classify it as "lower intermediate" in the difficulty scale (you know, the difficulty scale that I just made up). If you can lie on your back, interlace your fingers and put your arms and elbows on the floor above your head, you'll be fine.

AY #120: The feet

We interlace our fingers all the time. Have you ever wanted to interlace your toes? If so, this lesson is for you. Try this: stand in bare feet; pick a foot, any foot. Leave the big toe on the floor and lift the four smaller toes. Now leave the four smaller toes on the floor and lift only the big toe. If you can do that (really do it, not sort of do it, but really do it), you might as well skip this lesson, but if you found it difficult (or as I did, utterly impossible) this is most definitely the lesson for you. The lesson can be done by anyone except maybe those with foot pain or injury. It's an excellent demonstration that what we do is work with the brain. It became completely obvious that the reason I couldn't differentiate the lifting of my toes had nothing to do with any muscular or skeletal problem. My brain simply couldn't figure out how to make it happen. I'm looking forward to doing this one several more times.

Lesson #119 Twisting and bending in sitting

This is a great companion lesson to #116, "Spreading the legs and erecting the back." So much so that it almost feels like a continuation of that lesson although it is not noted as such. Certainly, one could use elements from both lessons and pick and choose to come up with a single lesson that was tailored for whatever a particular group of students seemed to need. Here again, the majority of the lesson is done sitting on the floor with the legs long in front. Easier sitting in this configuration seems to be the goal; this time the familiar movements of lowering and erecting the head are complimented with some twisting and circling of the spine that I've never come across before. There are some fascinating constraints introduced that had me circling the spine in a way that I found very tricky at first and ultimately extremely satisfying. This is an intermdiate lesson that requires the ability to sit unsupported by the hands with the legs long and spread in front. Also, the benefits of the somewhat extreme twisting that is encouraged will be better realized (at least in my opinion) by students who already have found at least a fair amount of flexibility in the spine and ribs. If you liked #116, you'll love this one.

AY # 117: Frog movement with the legs and the arch

While lying on your back, would you be able, if you so desired, to bring your lengthened legs to stand without involving any of the muscles in your lower back? You'll find out by doing this lesson. As so many of these Volume 3 lessons have done, here's another exploration of the relationship between various muscles that attach to the pelvis. I can only assume that Dr. Feldenkrais believed that many people habitually involve their lower back muscles in the function of lifting the legs and he designed this lesson to help students discover that there is another option. The lesson is very simple; anyone who can lie on their back can do it. It is a great vehicle to discover for yourself whether simply bringing your awareness to a particular movement pattern can create a situation whereby that habit can change. It's a very interesting lesson both physically and as a springboard for thought about just why and how the Feldenkrais Method® is effective.

AY #118: On the stomach; tilting the legs in circles

Contrary to its title, about a third of this lesson is done on the back. It begins on the back with knees bent and legs held together. In this position the student is asked to paint circles on the floor with the soles of the feet; the knees and feet moving in opposition is encouraged. Then, on the stomach, this movement is explored by raising the feet toward the ceiling and first tilting the feet side to side and then circling them. If you've done ATM for awhile you've probably experienced at least a few variations of this lesson. How does the pelvis turn (twist) in relation to fixed shoulders? What kind of movement is available in the spine and ribs? How does the direction of the turn of the head affect the ability of the pelvis to turn? Another lesson that most anyone can do who can lie comfortably on both their back and their stomach.

AY # 115 A plane dividing the body, part 2

We all know by now that what we're doing is working with the brain. Most of the time in ATM we access the part of the brain that we're interested in changing by working with--moving--the body. This is one of those lessons (there are many others) where, in addition to using the technique described above, Dr. Feldenkrais also works directly with changing brain patterns (and the consequent muscular responses) through the use of descriptive imagery that's designed to focus attention, engender a particular muscular response and thereby heighten awareness in a very specific manner. As in the "first part" of this lesson, AY # 112, we are again concerned with expanding the self-image by defining the center line of the body. He introduces new techniques not used in the previous lesson that can illuminate (again) just how much power our brain has over our body. Here, as we have seen in several recent lessons, some significant abdominal power is required to "successfully" complete the tasks asked for by the lesson. But, as always, the actual movement is not really important and the power of the heightened awareness this lesson can bring about is achievable by anyone, regardless of their ability to actually accomplish the physical tasks set out by the lesson. It's all done on the back and, while some strenuous movement is asked for, I'm pretty convinced that the lesson could be profound even if the student did the entire thing in his/her imagination, never moving a muscle.

AY # 116: Spreading the legs and erecting the back

Can you sit comfortably on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you? If that presents any sort of challenge for you or even if you feel you can successfully do that but you'd like to get more of a feeling of sitting directly over your sitz bones in that position, this lesson is for you. The lesson illuminates the relationship between the hamstrings and the muscles of the back and helps to educate the student in how to effectively release so that sitting with the legs long, one can bend forward to touch the head to the floor. I couldn't do that during my first experience with the lesson, but this is a "problem" area for me and my ease and ability was noticeably improved through doing the lesson. It's a medium lesson on the strenuous scale and if the student is one who cannot sit in that long-legged position at all without support, it could prove very difficult to stick with the lesson all the way through (though with care and perseverance, I'm convinced that the reward could be great). I'm looking forward to doing this one at least a few more times.

AY #113 With the arms sideways; turning the arms

Before this lesson starts, Dr. Feldenkrais spends a little time encouraging his students to, "… do it as a game, without trying for it to be good or beautiful….as if to waste the time, not in order to accomplish anything…." (AY, Vol. 3, Part A, pg. 743.) After a couple of movements he mentions that, "It is possible to do this a lot more comfortably in order to play and waste the time." (ibid.) More than in any other AY lesson so far these ideas are repeatedly stressed: treat the lesson as play, do the movements without the desire to do well or to accomplish anything. Looking at this lesson's structure, you might call it, "Advanced Dead Bird". This lesson is all done in side sitting, the trunk is twisted and differentiation of the head and shoulders is brought in. However, here the arms are held straight out in front with the fingers interlaced and not having a hand to lean on makes the movement much more difficult and this is why (I think) Moshe spends so much time encouraging people to play, to keep it light; it's a way to try to convince the system that it should stay in learning mode while doing something that's somewhat stressful. Toward the end of the lesson Dr. Feldenkrais says, "If there is freedom in the back--which is why we did all these movements… so the back will be able to move.... Later you will see the difference in other movements." (AY pg. 749) It's always great when he tells his students (and us) exactly what the lesson is about. For me, I felt a huge difference in my lower rib cage. There was an opening around the 8th, 9th and 10th ribs that caused me a bit of pain the morning after the lesson (obviously, I was trying to accomplish something and I wasn't being quite playful enough). It's a good lesson that would work very well as part of a series with AY 41, "Basic bending" and AY 94, "Twisting right and left."

AY # 114 Four diagonals in folding

This is a terrific lesson. On the back, the student lifts, one at a time, each of the four limbs straight into the air and moves it across the body in the direction of its diagonally opposite limb. The lesson progresses to lifting both arms at once and moving back and forth across the opposite diagonals, then doing the same with the legs and finally raising all four limbs, folding up to take hold of the ankles and, in this position inscribing a circle (clock) with the relatively small area of the back that's left on the floor. Speaking about drawing that circle at the end of the lesson, Dr. Feldenkrais says, "It is very difficult to do because it is necessary to hold [contract] the abdominal muscles powerfully so the back doesn't soften…. All the work is done in the abdominal muscles." (AY pg. 757). Pilates has nothing on this lesson, baby! Sometimes I think in our work the notion of "letting go" is stressed so much that we forget that a cornerstone of the Method is learning to work efficiently which does not necessarily preclude working hard when hard work is called for. That's what I remember about doing this lesson in my training--it was very hard work. Doing it again yesterday was one of those revelations with respect to what happens when you lead a "Feldenkrais life." The lesson was so much easier to do than it was five or six years ago. Don't get me wrong, it's still a strenuous lesson, but the degree to which I've learned to work more efficiently during the past several years was made manifest in a very satisfying way. Also, everything sinks into the floor by the end of the lesson; the shoulders open (yoga folks: when the teacher comes around at the end of class and tries to flatten your shoulders to the floor--this will show you how to easily find that feeling) and the whole back flattens deliciously.

Lesson #111: Painting with the soles of the feet

Lying with knees bent, the student slides the foot on the floor, forward and back, then side to side, then in circles. The lesson progresses to moving both feet in circles together. Then the student moves to lying on the stomach and does essentially the same movements with the feet held in the air. Obviously, it's a lesson about freeing the hip joints, right? At the end of the lesson, Dr. Feldenkrais says, "The bulk of the work, in a kinetic sense, is in the pelvis." And then he says, "All these circles make light movements of the spine between the shoulder blades and at the base of the neck. There [you] should feel the greatest difference. That is why it affects the chest so much… in order to soften it." (AY Vol. 3, Pt. A, pg. 733.) The lesson is another concrete demonstration of how moving just one thing, or a limited number of things can have a dramatic effect in an entirely different area of the body; we are each an inextricably connected system. The lesson can be done by anyone who can comfortably lie on both their back and their stomach.

A side note: if you've been following along with us, you're aware that some lessons don't seem to have much to do with those lessons that come immediately before or after. In this third volume, however, there has been a pretty strong thread from lesson to lesson. In this lesson for example, a movement is encouraged (though not specifically mentioned) that is very similar to pushing the heel down in lesson 110. And here, toward the end of the lesson, there are some references to becoming aware of where one's "middle" is in terms of right and left which becomes the theme of the next lesson.

Lesson # 112: A plane dividing the body, part 1

This is a very literal lesson about defining the self-image. There is relatively little movement; most of the lesson involves various internal sensory and visualization techniques designed to help the student to kinesthetically define and come to better know him/her self by mentally establishing a plane that divides the body into its right and left halves exactly in the middle. Anyone can do this lesson and, while I probably wouldn't teach this as a student's first ATM lesson, this is a lesson that every student of ATM should take at some point. The experience of being guided to concentrate one's complete awareness in the very specific ways that the lesson dictates is invaluable, both for the pure joy of self-discovery and as a tool to illuminate one of the most basic principles of the Feldenkrais Method®. This lesson is not to be missed.