In the Art of Writing 5 we indirectly examined the way our feet support our weight .. through the length, width and depth of our bodies .. using the movement of our toes.

We also considered what supports us in life.

We often have the support we need right where we are but sometimes it’s difficult to recognise. So I asked you to consider how you could organise yourself to notice then take advantage of what you already have.

Of course sometimes, and in fact for many people around the world, the support doesn’t recognise them.

If support is not apparent the challenge is to consider the resources we do sense and explore our possibilities. It’s one of the hallmarks of the Feldenkrais Method.

This person can’t stand on the floor .. Moshe thought, why not bring the floor to him? Our feet and legs become functional through their contact with the ground. If we don’t experience that contact the feet and legs won’t function well. In using this roller to create an artificial floor he was able to coax back the reflexive functioning of the foot and leg. Even if he was not able to stand he would be able to use his foot and leg more effectively to roll or move himself about.

This lesson considers another strategy - how we can extend in length, width and depth to fill in the gaps. It’s the reciprocal relationship between movement in these directions that creates an internal web of support ..

We’ll consider the connection between our hands and feet ..

.. and our head, chest and pelvis through the double spiral arrangement of our body.

We’ll explore it through elasticity and gravity. The dynamism and elasticity of our structure is a response to the perpetual state of falling.

Gravity is a magnetic force pulling us toward the centre of our mass .. toward the centre of the earth .. We are a part of the earth’s mass .. That means we’re contributors to the force of gravity ..

As you read this now you are being drawn down to the centre of the earth ..

In every moment we are falling ..

To surrender to that falling is to move with the flow of life ..

To move with this falling is to reveal our elasticity ..

It’s a coiled extend and return as we balance ourselves within that magnetic pull .. Sensing the weight and correspondence of each limb .. funnelled through the centre of our mass ..

It’s through this play that we can feel like we’re floating. It’s the basis of upright posture.

So we’ll be rolling and sensing the fall line of any raised limb .. to the earth through the head, chest and pelvis ..

The larger question is whether the process of being supportive of others generates something within ourselves ..

We’ll examine that by sensing how the limbs support each other. It’s a start ..

With love

David

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The Art of Writing 6 - In every moment we are falling