The principles of easy action

Hello all, 

We begin our Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement classes on Thursday the 3rd of May at 9.30am in Avalon Recreation Centre.

We'll be exploring the strength and dynamism we feel when our head, neck and torso are balanced. It's a skill that's inside us already. The habits of self image in daily life can obscure that fact but if we are in a life threatening situation .. we can move like a wildcat. How does that happen? If it's easier why don't we do it all the time? 

The senses lead 

The principles of good posture or acture are pretty obvious. We see it every day in the animal kingdom. Notice how this Cheetah's torso maintains it's integrity as it runs. How the alignment of it's head, chest and pelvis support the movement of it's spine and how the head maintains direction. Each movement of it's front or rear legs propels it forward. The legs touch the ground when they are directly below the torso. They're not in front or behind. That means there's no braking. It's all drive. 

This is the second rear leg to go down

This is the first front leg to go down

A very relaxed neck and torso! You could imagine it having a casual chat couldn't you. 

Of course we're bi-pedal but to walk or run gracefully we need to do the same. One foot at a time directly below our head, neck and torso. The rear foot moving us forward.

The challenge for us is that we sometimes find it hard to feel the torso in 3D. We become focused on one plane or a point within that becomes a confluence of stresses. This divides the torso and hampers our balance and power in action.

Thinking of the front, back and sides of our torso as we feel the effort to move may just make it easier. 

Coming up from the floor and rolling are perfect places to explore how we use both our supporting limbs and the floor to spread the effort for any action.

In our previous sessions we have experimented with this idea at the end of the class. This term we'll break it down all the way through. Once you get it you'll realise you don't need to be that strong. You don't even need to be that flexible. It's all about where you place your supporting limbs and how you move your head, neck and torso. 

We'll begin simply, sensing the weight of our limbs and how the organisation of our head neck and torso can influence how easy it is to lift. This can make a big difference to how it feels to stand and move.

Discovering ease is learning to sense the balance of forces within ourselves relative to external forces such as gravity or challenging environments. Look at the way these birds use the movement of air to effortlessly soar. Perhaps there is something there for us? How can we use gravity?

I look forward to seeing you all. 

with love

David

0404 625 326