Source
- Alexander Yanai Vol 1 Lesson #1
- Reel 1, Track 1, Lesson 3 (according to Eva Laser https://www.somatik.se)
- Reel 3, Track 1, Lesson 3 (This reference is identical to the reference of AY029 in the IFF edition.)
- Duration 39 min.
- For German see AYnmal täglich: Den Kopf seitwärts neigen im Sitzen
- AS: in Hebrew also 16/2/1 – 2 identical lessons)
Synopsis
Side-sitting and leaning on one elbow, lift your free arm behind you, and relate this to lifting your knees and letting them turn to the other side (feet staying in place); then with the free hand on your chin, take your elbow and chin through extension to begin to lift the knees.
At the beginning and end, check in with your side-sitting, leaning on one hand and then the other, and taking the head from side to side with the free hand.
Lesson Outline
- Side-sitting left, lean on right hand and vice versa; switch hands (some debate in TN about correct combination): use free hand on top of head and take head to each ear to each shoulder.
- The body of the lesson is side-sitting, leaning on the elbow, and then the following variations, alternating sides:
- Free hand on top of head, each ear to its respective shoulder
- Lift free hand to ceiling, and follow with eyes/head as you take it back behind you.
- Stay back, and look with eyes and head to the front.
- Repeat taking hand behind, following with eyes/head.
- Turn face to ceiling, place free hand behind head, and lift head to look at knee/foot of the leg bent backwards. Other knee begins to lift.
- Lift free hand to ceiling, follow with eyes/head as you take it back behind–until knees begin to lift to move to the other side. Feet stay in place/pivot.
- Place free hand on chin, and lift elbow, following with eyes–turn everything to follow your elbow, until knees lift.
- Side-sitting left, lean on right hand and then on left hand: use free hand on top of head and take head to each ear to each shoulder.
Focus of Moshe’s teaching
- “In a flexible body there hardly is any difference whether you lean on one hand or the other.”
- Movement of buttock/pelvis/hip joint in relation to floor
- Ease
Related ATMs
- AY226 [debate whether these are identical]
- Like side-lying lift hand to back lessons, but in a different basic configuration;
- Tag Softening-chest
- Tag Abdominal-muscles
- Tag Base-of-neck
One leg backward, the other one in front:
Resources
- This is Charlie Murdach teaching the “reminder” movement for this ATM:
- Ruth Knill: Done in sitting
Share Your Insights (ideas, principles, strategies, experiences, …)
- This is like a lying-on-side, lift-hand-to-back lesson, but with a different orientation to gravity, so that you have to maintain the axis of your spine yourself (the floor doesn’t do it for you). (Olena Nitefor pointed this out to me.) – LynetteReid Sep 15, 2010
- I was surprised to read the synopsis above which suggests that the side bending at start and end is, it seems to be, just a sort of book ending of the rotation and extension movements of the lesson. Having just done the lesson, my thinking is that the lesson aims to soften the torso by working the anterior and posterior muscles, by means of many different movements, and not (just) (principally) by means of “taking the arm behind” which is (possibly) a movement of rotation with extension.
- Analysing the progression of the lesson, the first two movements is spinal side flexion in a constrained position. In side sitting, the influence of the legs is eliminated, thus stopping the pelvis moving left and right as one might do performing a standing side bend. I.e. the pelvis is anchored in one place to encourage the spine to bend.
- The next movement is to fix the eyes on the hand whilst moving the arm behind. This is a bit like dead-bird. There is also selective rotation of the head without the torso, as is also found in dead-bird lessons. This instruction has to do with spinal rotation. (What is not explicit stated is the role of torso extension.)
- The next movement with the hand behind the head is a spinal flexion and extension by looking down and up.
- We then return to the last-but-one movement, i.e. fixing the eyes on the hand whilst moving the arm behind. However, here one is allowed to lift the knees over towards the other side, which will result in a torso flexion (in not this time round a torso extension)
- Then one does the same, whilst holding the chin. I see from my self-video that I sometimes flexed and sometimes extended my torso, depending on whether I was lifting the knees or not
- The lesson finishes by revisting the first step, side bend in a constrained side sitting position. However, here one adds a level of difficulty by having one, or the other (less easy), hand on the floor.
- In summary, for me, this lesson works the big and small muscles of the abdomen and increases supplness in the torso in side bending, twisting, extension, and flexion. (BenP. 19.8.2025)
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