AY013 Buttocks

Source

• Alexander Yanai Vol 1 #13
• Reel 2, Track 1, Lesson 3 (AS)
• Duration 39 min.
• For German see AYnmal täglich: Po

Synopsis

• Tightening and releasing the buttocks (singly and together) in sitting (lifts whole body, shifts legs), face down (turns legs), kneeling (tilts pelvis….lengthens one knee if one foot standing), standing (lifts the longitudinal arch of the foot).
• Intensive exploration of buttocks. Gluteus Maximus extends the hip joint and externally rotates the leg. In the lesson, the effect of contracting the buttocks is observed on the pelvic position, lumbar arch, rotation of legs, and connection to the arches of the feet. Essential relationship to the Jeff Haller spiral “up and through”.

Lesson Outline

S, F and L stands for small, fast and light.

1. Sit, legs long and apart, hands on knees. Contract buttocks. Body lengthens to ceiling as if heels are being pushed.
   1. Small, Fast and Light, as if riding a horse.
   2. Supine rest.
2. Supine, legs long, spread. Contract buttocks. Which contracts more strongly?  Effect on pelvis?
   1. Contract R buttock. Contact to floor? Lumbar? Chest?
   2. Ditto L buttock. Knees? Foot? Rotation?
   3. R buttock again. Knee? Foot? Alternate buttocks. Both buttocks simultaneously. Knees, feet? Legs open sideways?
   4. S, F and L.  Abdomen? Stomach? Pelvis?
   5. Rest
3. Prone. Legs spread. Hands on buttocks.
   • Contract both. Equal contraction?
   • Heels move closer? Knees move apart? Which leg moves faster?
   • “Notice the better side is the one where the muscle contracts better.”
4. Prone. Contract the buttock which contracts better.
   • Contract the other buttock.
   • Contract both buttocks powerfully and hold “until crease between buttocks gets smaller.”
   • Supine rest.
5. Stand on knees, knees and feet close, feet long. Hands on buttocks.
   • Contract both powerfully and hold a few seconds. Repeat.
   • Lumbar arch moves backward? Pubic bone moves forward? Navel moves up?
6. Standing on knees: contract both buttocks S. F and L.
   • Contract powerfully and hold.
   • “Continue breathing despite the effort of holding your buttocks.”
7. On knees, R foot standing. Hands on buttocks. Contract both. Only left buttock can contract. “Right one remains loose despite your intent.” Pelvis? R knee? “Pelvis moves in a way that shifts right side forward.”
   1. L foot standing ditto. Compare sides.
   2. Stand on both knees, close as before, hands on buttocks, contract both buttocks S, F and L.
      • Compare heels? “Which knee stands more clearly?”
   3. Contract both powerfully and hold. Shoulders, chest and breathing free.
   4. Supine rest.
8. Stand on both knees, spread apart, big toes together. Hands on buttocks.
   • Contract both powerfully. Pelvis? Lumbar arch back? Pubic bone forward and up? Navel up?
   • Contraction symmetrical? “R buttock contracts more powerfully if pelvis moves more to L.”
   1. S, F and L. Discriminate: abdomen should rise only as a result of buttock contraction.
   2. Standing on feet, weight on R foot. L foot out to side, limp. Contract R buttock only.
      • Pelvis moves L? R knee turns? Instep arch lifts? More weight on heel and outer edge?
      • “Lift the arch of R foot intentionally if you do not feel this movement spontaneously.”
      • “This shorten the whole foot because the big toe grabs the floor closer to the middle.”
   3. S, F and L.
   4. Supine rest.
9. Standing on feet. Weight on L leg. Compare. Focus on knee and foot.
   1. Stand equally on both feet, toes turned out, legs spread fairly wide.
      • Contract both buttocks, shift onto the outer edges of feet.
      • Knees turn? Pelvis?
      • “Pubic bone moves forward more than is necessary for correct standing.”
   2. Contract feet intentionally. Lift arches, weight shifts to outer borders.
   3. “Intentionally help the front of your lower abdomen lift so the front part of your pubic bone moves forward, the most that it can. Shift your weight at the same time. That means you should contract your buttocks and feet also. Your knees straighten when you contract your buttocks. They do not bend.”
   4. Supine rest
10. Sit, legs long, feet together, hands on knees. Contract buttocks. Easier to feel how body lifts?
    1. Sitting, hands supporting lightly behind. Legs spread, frog wise. Contract both buttocks, hands not pushing.
    2. Contract R buttock S, F and L. Then powerfully and hold. Breath, elbows, chest free.
    3. Ditto L buttock.
    4. Rest.
11. Same sitting position. Lift both legs, balance on buttocks. Walk the buttocks forward and backwards.
    1. Walk buttocks forward and backward with the largest possible steps.
12. R hand supporting behind, shift weight to R buttock. Lift L leg and L buttock. Slide L hip forward and backward in air. “L heel makes largest possible movement forward and backward.”
    1. Other side ditto. Weight on R buttock and R hand. L hip and leg in the air.
    2. Supine Rest
13. Sitting, frog wise, both hands behind on the floor. Lift legs to balance on buttocks.
    • Walk 5 steps forward and backward with buttocks, as large as possible.
    • S. F and L.
14. Sitting, frog wise. Arms extended in front, elbows slightly bent. Lift legs. Balance on buttocks. Walk sit bones forward and backwards. “Move pelvis with your legs, everything free even your breathing.” Speed and size are not important, “find the natural rhythm of your body.”
15. Continue, “make it more beautiful and simpler. “Your whole body remains soft, with only your pelvic girdle muscles, abdomen and buttocks working.” Rest.
16. Same sitting position, balance on buttocks. Use buttocks to HOP backwards and forwards. “Bend your legs and jump. You can’t do this unless you bend your legs. Balance your body.”
    1. Return to kneeling with spread knees, toes together. Contract both buttocks powerfully. “Observe how far pelvis and abdomen move now.”
       • S.F and L.
    2. Stand with spread legs. Contract buttocks powerfully, connect to lifting the arches, shifting to outer borders of feet.
       • Contract again. Lift your belly by moving the pubic bone forward.
17. “Walk simply. Is it different from your usual walk?”

Focus of Moshe’s Teaching

• Free breathing.
• Focus the effort proximally.
• Beware parasitic efforts.

Quotes:

• “Contracting the buttock muscles is similar to the movement you make when you don’t want your mother to give you an enema.”

Related ATMs

• AY 506 Hip joints backward (as opposed to hip extension, which is this lesson) – travelsheep Mar 4, 2014

Buttocks

• 25 Lessons from Eshkol-Wachman Movement Notation – 15. Lesson
• Amherst 2 – Week 4 – PM1 Sitting: Releasing Hand; Walking on Buttocks
• Amherst 2 – Week 4 – PM2 Jumping on Buttocks / Hop on Butt; Hop to Feet
• Amherst 2 – Week 6 – 07/16/81 PM1 Walking on your stomach (includes telescope eyes)
• E42 Buttocks & Pelvis (Stransky Notes)
• E44 Pelvic-Locomotion – Differentiation-of-Gluteals (Recordings)
• SF2 – Week 08 – 5 August 1976: Fingers Interlaced, Inverting the Hands and Lifting the Small of the Back

Resources

• Liz Sisco Open ATM Project
• Ruth Knill

Share Your Insights (ideas, principles, strategies, experiences, …)

• Stuart McGill writes: “People with troubled backs use their backs more. Generally, they walk, sit, stand and lift using mechanics that increase back loads. Many of them have stronger backs yet less endurance than matched asymptomatic controls (McGill et al. 2003). Those with back issues also tend to have more motion in their backs and less motion and load in their hips. A common aberrant motor pattern is known as gluteal amnesia (McGill 2007), which may commonly be both a consequence and a cause of back troubles. This gluteal amnesia occurs in people who do not engage the gluteal muscles because of a history of pain during hip extension tasks. Obviously, for this category of client, exercises to enhance the integration of the gluteal muscles will help their backs (and knees).

 

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