Source
Synopsis
- Differentiating the individual toes of the right foot. In lying on back and in sitting, you variously pull, flex, extend, and manually separate, each toe from the other. You do some pressing the floor in combination with the fingers. You also grasp the right foot with the right hand and match the fingers/thumb to their corresponding toes.
Lesson Outline
- Scan lying down. Compare both sides of body.
- Flex and extend toes of both feet (for comparison later)
- Sitting with heels on floor in front of you, flex and extend toes of both feet. Watch each foot.
- Cross your legs in sitting with the right foot in front. With either hand, pull each toe forward from the foot (without flexing, extending, or side bending) while twisting the toe clockwise and counterclockwise.
- Lying, cross your right leg over the left (with ankle of the right leg on the thigh of the left leg just above the knee). Repeat the twisting of the right toes as above.
- Sitting cross legged, with right foot in front, flex each toe, individually, (with the left hand) towards the pads of the toes.
- Lying, repeat flexing of each toe towards bottom of foot with the left hand (right leg is crossed on top of left as described above)
- Lying with knees bent, right arm on the floor at side palm down, press the right big toe and right thumb into the floor at the same time, second toe and second finger, etc.
- Lying, cross right leg over left, place right hand on back of right foot. Match each finger/thumb to its corresponding toe, touching the front of each finger to the back of each toe. Flex and extend combined fingers/toes. Which leads the flexing? Toes, fingers? Which leads the extending? Toes, fingers?
- Sit cross legged with right leg in front. Repeat the previous instruction in sitting. How is it different?
- Lying, bend your knees. Flex right ankle with heel touching floor. Make a “fist” with both the right hand and the right toes. Gently clench and unclench.
- Sit cross legged, with both hands, separate the pairs of toes on the right foot. Pull them apart laterally with your hands, starting with big toe/second toe, then second toe/third toe, etc. Take care with the webbing in between the littlest toes. The webbing is not very elastic and could tear.
- Repeat the above instruction with the toes extended, then again with the toes flexed.
- Lying, with right leg crossed over as before. Place right hand over right foot, corresponding as before, but with the fingertips wrapped over the ends of the toes to grab the toe pads. Use right hand to flex and extend the toes. Play with combining this flexing and extending of toes with hand in combination with flexing and extending the ankle (giving you four iterations)
- Lying with knees bent, feet flat, lift each toe individually. Notice which toes lift easily and which don’t.
- Lying flat with legs long, close your eyes. Lift your left leg, with knee straight, as high as possible. Open your eyes and see how hight you lifted it. Did you lift it as high as you felt it was? Repeat with the right leg, eyes closed. Open your eyes. How high did the right leg lift? Higher than the left?
- Scan. Feel difference between two sides of body. Feel each side of your face.
- Sitting, heels on floor, flex/extend toes of both feet. Compare the function of each foot.
Focus of Moshe’s Teaching
- Moshe mentions in the notes how we have a very large representation in the brain for our fingers. But not so much in the toes. I believe a focus is to make the toes feel larger and more present in our brains. This happens through movement and awareness, as usual, but the matching of the foot and hand digits is interesting. It’s as if he wants to “loan” or merge neural connections from the fingers to the toes.
Related ATMs
- Amherst 1 – Week 3 – 06/25/80 AM1 – Sucking – interlacing fingers and toes
- Amherst 1 – Week 6 – 07/14/80 AM2 Passing elbow over opposite knee
- Amherst 2 – Week 1 – 06/11/81 AM1 Swimming crawl / Bell hand, think toes
- Amherst 2 – Week 1 – 06/11/81 AM2 Swimming crawl / Bell hand, think toes (continued)
- Amherst 2 – Week 2 – 06/15/81 AM1 Interlacing fingers and toes to lift foot
- Amherst 2 – Week 2 – 06/15/81 Interlacing fingers and toes to lift foot (continued)
- ATMEC06 Sensible Feet, Rather than Sensitive Feet
- AY036 The foot and its toes
- AY120 The feet
- AY161 Separating the spaces in (between) the toes
- AY183 Lying on the feet 1
- AY185 Lying on the Feet # 3 and breathing rhythmically #2
- AY190 Heels under the pelvis 1 (In and out)
- AY292 Basic Movements of the Toes
- AY298 Improving the hopping for beginners
- AY378 Bending the toes
- AY401 Distancing the toes
- AY412 Pulling the toes with the knees crossed
- AY418 Toes interlaced
- AY431 Bending the foot in the toes
- Berkeley 1973 – 4. Flexing and Stretching Toes 6/19 PM
- IDF03 Interlacing the toes
- IFF Archive Collection: Foot Differentiation. 3 August, 1973
- LT21 Individuating toes
- Paris – 5. The foot and the toes
- SF2 – Week 02 – 21 June 1976, am1: Sliding Foot Through the Gap
- SF2 – Week 02 – 21 June 1976, am2: Sliding Foot Through the Gap continue
- SF2 – Week 02 – 21 June 1976, pm: Sliding Foot Through the Gap continued
- SF2 – Week 02 – 22 June 1976: Sliding Foot Through the Gap continued
- SF2 – Week 04 – 6 July 1976: Sliding Foot Through the Gap, Fingers and Toes Relating (continued from Week 2)
Resources
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