Source
- Alexander Yanai Vol 2, Lesson #86
- Reel 7, Track 1, Lesson 2 (according to Eva Laser https://www.somatik.se)
- Reel 7, Track 1, Lesson 2, Side A
Synopsis
- Sitting crossed legged (later also standing), as you nod your head up and down, while listening to different parts of the body – such as the top of the head, the nose, the chin, one ear, the other, the back of the head – with different configurations of the hands; and eventually opening the jaw and bringing the tongue out and down and up. It is the gestalt of the sum of the parts, the eyes, the jaw, the tongue, the head, effecting the tonus of the whole body.
Lesson Outline
- Highly condensed outline of key movements
-
1. Sit cross-legged (Indian fashion), lean on hands behind the body. Lift and lower the head delicately.
1a. Focus on nose; notice air movement while head lifts/lowers.
1b. Focus on chin; attend to how movement of chin changes head movement.
1c. With closed eyes observe bridge of nose and continue moving head.
1d. Focus on top of the head as if that is the important point in the movement; note relative movement to shoulders and chest.
2. Sit again but without leaning on hands. Focus attention on: nose, chin, eyes, top of head, right ear, left ear, both ears, back of head, base vertebra of neck.
2a. Focus on jaw; on the right, at the throat, on the left.
2b. Lean on hands behind again, lean the body backward; observe base vertebra movement during head bending.
2c. Does chin touch throat? Does sternum move.
2d. With open eyes, what eye movements occur?
2e. With eyes closed, attend diffusely to bridge of nose, so you can tell if there is relative movement of the eyes.
2f. Lift head and with eyes look down; and vice versa.
3. Sit; left hand on floor behind. lift/lower head in plane of symmetry. Listen to nose, forehead, top of head, neck vertebrae.
3a. Observe right ear, and left ear.
3b. Observe mouth; imagine a licking movement with lower lip as the head lifts.
3c. Visualize back of head as if it were touching the floor like a bridge. Which part of head would touch the floor?
3d. Lift right arm up; Continue doing the same thing. Observe the C1 and T1 zones, right ear, left ear, top of head, jaw, throat, chest. Is the movement still centered?
3e. Change the hands over. Focus on chin, eyes, jaw, chest, top of head.
4. Sit leaning on both hands; lift/lower head while opening mouth simultaneously. As the head lifts, the jaw drops or opens. Check the timing aspect of the action.
4a. Stick out the tongue and lick from down to up as the head lifts, and at the end put it back in. Check the timing aspects of the start and finish.
5. Sitting. Open mouth wide, again lick from down to up. Listen to forehead and top of head while performing head movements. Observe shoulders, sternum, abdomen, ears, jaw angles.
6. Supine, Touch upper and lower lips with tongue.
6a. Sit, lean on hands; continue tongue and head action, tongue touching lips.
6b. Observe eyes during this.
6c. Observe nose, ears, forehead, top of head, neck vertebrae.
7. Stand upright; lift/lower head with light movements. Visualize a chain from head to floor in front and behind, it touches the head, lips, chin, nose, forehead, chest.
7a. Continue head movements front and back, up and down, with chain imagery. Let the head lift the chain a meter from the floor. Sense ears, jaw, spine, pelvis, shoulders, sternum, clavicles.
8. Lie. Sense. Turn head right and left. Sense the parts of the head and chest. Is it different to normal?
9. Sit; lean on hands, move head as before; what parts of the body and what feelings canyou combine with the movement? Travel through the body.
Focus of the teaching
- In addition to the movements, what theme or ideas did the teacher focus on
- Midline. Tongue. Gestalt – the ability to sense the whole, not just the parts.
Related ATMs
- base-of-neck
- Tag Prayer
Licking:
- Amherst 1 – Week 7 – 07/24/80 AM1 Morning prayer
- Amherst 1 – Week 9 – 08/04/80 Playing fiddle with the elbows (#1)
- Amherst 2 – Week 2 – 06/15/81 Standing on all Fours / Preparation for Judo Roll
- AY451 Coordinating head forward and the pelvis backward
- AY452 Toward Japanese sitting
- AY510 Knees righting
- New York Quest – DAY5 – PM2 – Softening the neck affects the whole self: Lifting the head with lapping movements of the mouth and tongue in many different positions
Resources
- Add links to external resources that would be of interest to the reader
Share Your Insights (ideas, principles, strategies, experiences, …)
- Add your thoughts about the lesson here.
- Please sign your comments
- Differing viewpoints are welcome and desired!
- I have added the following tags: midline, protruding tongue, gestalt-psychology, leaning on hands behind, sitting cross legged, imagining, symmetry. (BenP)
- I am querying the tag “prayer” (BenP)
- What is the role of the position of the hands behind, as a constraint? In what way would the outcome be different if that position were not used? (BenP)
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