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Synopsis
AY 167 improves the body image of the posterior surface through imagination and tactile feedback. Using the metaphor of molding leather to the body’s contours, the lesson progresses from prone through various positions, integrating mental mapping with physical sensation.
Lesson Outline
- Section 1: In prone, rest your forehead on the backs of your hands with feet extended to sides. Imagine a leather square covering your body, using an imaginary pencil to mark the contours from the floor side – tracing from head, along right side through arm, ribs, hip, leg, foot, between legs, left side, and back to head.
- Sections 2-5: Continuing in prone, imagine cutting the leather to fit your body and tying it with strings at different points. Start at the head, tying strings at the forehead, below jaw, and behind ears. Compare your mental image by touching these areas with first the right hand, then left hand, and finally both hands, noting the actual dimensions and distances between features.
- Section 6: Move to forearm-quadruped position, with elbows bent and distance between elbows and knees approximately body length. Imagine attaching leather at waist level, pressing it along the spine and vertebrae, then tying ribbons above shoulders, under armpits, and at neck.
- Section 7: Return to prone to explore shoulder blade organization. Mold imaginary leather around shoulder blades, moving them to sense their position and relationship to spine.
- Section 8: In forearm-quadruped, imagine tying laces around thighs near buttocks, molding leather to pelvis while sensing the underlying bones.
- Section 9: Come to kneeling to explore the pelvis with your hands, finding bones and grooves, checking the imagined laces around leg folds.
- Section 10: Stand on both legs, imagining leather tied behind knees and ankles. Scan awareness through entire back surface from heels to head, attempting to perceive all details simultaneously.
Focus of the teaching
Throughout the lesson, Dr. Feldenkrais emphasizes the disparity between our mental image and actual physical sensation. He guides students to develop more accurate body awareness by comparing imagined dimensions with tactile feedback. The lesson systematically builds a comprehensive understanding of the body’s posterior surface, challenging students to integrate mental mapping with physical sensation.
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