Source
- Alexander Yanai Vol 3 #117
- Reel 9, Track 2, Lesson 2
Synopsis
- To bring the legs through the “frog’s leg” trajectory (face up, bringing knee to standing over the foot by turning the leg on to the outside edge and drawing the leg towards you, then bringing the knee to standing; and reverse), while the low back remains quiet (instead of arching). This lesson’s approach is through lifting the head to flatten the low back on the floor. Variations include alternating each leg individually and both together; quarter speed of the part of the movement drawing the knee up and open to the side; emphasizing constant speed and timing (knee and foot both move at a steady rate throughout the trajectory); bringing each knee and the forehead towards one another (with the help of the hands–ipsilateral, contralateral, both hands on knee and both hands behind head); keeping head lifted while extending and standing legs.
Lesson Outline
- Highly condensed outline of key movements
Focus of Moshe’s Teaching
- Indicate focus or key principles that are made explicit in the teaching
- To keep the lumbar flat by means of softening the chest, and not engaging the back muscles when the leg is drawn up. (BenP
Related ATMs
- Tag Softening-Chest
- Tag Hip/Pelvis Freedom
Frog movement with the leg:
Resources
- Recording by Lynette Reid at: http://kinesophics.ca/frogs-legs/
- Recording by Sharon Starika at: http://sharonstarika.com/workshops/online-workshops/weekly-classes/hamstrings-glutes-hips-feet/
Share Your Insights (ideas, principles, strategies, experiences, …)
- Add your thoughts about the lesson here. Please sign your comments. Differing viewpoints are welcome and desired!
- My thoughts on the intention of this powerful and delightful lesson change as often as I do it, but I was particularly struck today that the frog leg action serves merely as a mechanism for lengthening the back muscles, and, related, for not engaging the back muscles. Thus, is this a frog leg lesson, a softening the chest lesson, a lesson in lengthening the back muscles and inhibiting their action? Or all of these? If the primary goal of the lesson as taught by MF were frog legs, then I would expect much more content on the primal, or developmental, movement of drawing up the legs, and the integrated bodily action that goes with this, i.e. the twsiting of other parts of the skeleton, the turning of the head, the movement of the lower part of the breast bone, the retraction of the oppisite hip, inter alia. These things can be observed in other Frog Legs lessons, including AY32 (2nd half), and Ruthy Alon’s Bones For Life Process 50, Primal Swimming. With this said, I find the three tags for this lesson (frog movement leg, hip / pelvis freedom, softening chest) particularly appropriate. (BenP)
Disclaimer: This site is for sharing information about Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement® lessons. The information included on this site is for educational purposes only. Nothing on Feldy Notebook should be construed as an attempt to offer medical advice or treatment.
All contributions to this website are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 License. Do not add any copyrighted information to this website. Feldy Notebook is sponsored by Kinetic Inquiry.