Source

• Alexander Yanai Vol 3 #121
• Reel 9, Track 2, Lesson 6

Synopsis

• On back. Differentiating the shoulder blades from torso.

Lesson Outline

1. Lie on the back. Interlace the fingers and extend the arms overhead on the floor. Right leg standing. Roll back and forth extending the arms.
2. Repeat #1, but when you interlace the fingers, turn the palms away from the head.
3. Place the left hand under the lower back. Place left leg standing. Roll to the right. Then switch legs (same arm). Then have both legs standing and roll back and forth. Repeat with other arm.
4. Place the two arms behind the back. Cross the right leg above the left and let the two legs go down to the right many times. Then turn the right palm toward the head and continue. Then change over legs.
5. Continue #4 but change over arms and legs.
6. Repeat #2.
7. Legs long and spread. Place left hand in the middle of the spine, turn the fingers toward the neck. Move the elbow in the direction of the head and back. Move it in the direction of the feet and back. Then take the elbow in a circle.
8. Repeat #7 with other arm.
9. Place the two arms behind the back. Catch the elbows. Lift the R leg into the air toward the ceiling. Rock the leg left and right. Move the leg closer to the head each time. Change over arms and repeat with the left leg.
10. Extend the two legs. With the non-habitual interlacing of the fingers, extend the arms above the head. Hands outward. With legs spread, roll left and right.
11. Extend and spread the arms and legs. Arms above the head. Try to identify these four points of the arms and legs relative to the spine. In thinking, follow the spine from left big toe to right arm; and from the right big toe to the left arm. “Listen to the middle. This means along the spine until it will be possible to simultaneously identify all of this image. It will be possible to notice, in one’s attention, each part and its relationship with the other parts.”

Focus of Moshe’s Teaching

• A lot of attention on the spine and movement of the clavicles:
  • “Listen to the movement of the spine between the clavicles, near the back of the neck”
  • “Pay special attention to what the spine between the shoulders does and what movement happens in the clavicles” (4a)
  • Listen to how the back twists and how the chest organizes in this movement. What does this movement have to do with the clavicles, shoulder blades, and to the spine at the neck vertebrae (5)
  • Similarly in 7a.

Related ATMs

• AY 160: Sliding the back of the hands behind the back
• See also Theme Shoulders
• Tag Fingers-interlaced-inverted-overhead
• Tag Softening-chest
• Tag Diagonals

 

 

Arms behind the back, supine:

• AY391 Tying the upper arms
• SF3 – Day 14 – 6 July 1977: Pressing and lifting shoulders and hip joints

Range of Students’ Experiences

• Some will experience a whole opening in the upper chest.
• Some students will feel more balance on feet
• Some will feel that the material of their shirts will be more even between front & back.
• The final movement of turning on diagonal can feel much clearer.

Resources

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

• • For frozen shoulders, often the last movement to return is the ability to place the arm behind the back. This is a good lesson to help with this movement. – yedwab Dec 3, 2017

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