Krauss Fall 2011 ATM 2

Source

Advanced Training Jeremy Krauss Fall 2011
Notes by students in attendance (Lynette Reid, with the collaboration of Ann Devine-King and Debra Wanner, and Marian Jarina).
Posted with permission of Jeremy Krauss; all errors in transcription and interpretation belong, however, to the note-takers!

Synopsis

This ATM addresses the ability to form the bow, face down, and rock on the diagonal (its reference movements), but the bulk of the lesson is face up or down, take the arms/legs left and right.

Lesson Outline

Face down or R cheek on floor, L arm extended overhead. Lift head & arm, hand limp. Turn head: lift R leg. Does the L arm get longer or shorter? Other side.
Face up, knees bent & open, soles of feet in contact. Hands interlaced behind head, with elbows open: slide head R (and elbows, shoulders, upper back). Different when you pay attention to the side that lengthens, the side that shortens? Does the L elbow tend to lift?
Other side.
Face down, L arm bent, hand standing near shoulder, and forehead on back of R hand. Bend knees, and widen them to place the soles of the feet together. Take heels towards and away from pelvis, keeping soles together. Vary whether the toes point up when the feet are towards the ceiling, or when the heels are closer to the buttocks. (Do this with the face and arms opposite as well.) Then just have feet facing ceiling, and take head to R with R arm, and return. Different when you pay attention to the side lengthening and the side shortening? Also with the R hand on top of the head.
Head on back of L hand, R hand standing near shoulder: take head L.
Face up, hands interlaced behind head; knees open and feet together. Slide legs to the R and return. What happens behind the right side of your lower back? Does it lift? Which knee wants to lift, which towards the floor? Some do one and some the other. Try what it’s like to do the opposite of what you are doing now.
Other side.
Take from side to side. Try doing it opposite to your initial tendency (take the knee that lifts from the floor towards the floor instead).
Same position, arms/head from side to side.
Take both arms and legs to R. Stay. Roll pelvis from side to side–taking each knee in turn towards the floor. Which elbow presses into the floor when? Easily or not?
Other side.
Face up, R leg standing, L leg long. Hands interlaced behind head. Push with R foot to roll pelvis to the L. Then add sliding head to the R. Feel line from L elbow to L foot.
Other side. Pay attention to the two triangles of the arms/head, that they stay the same shape.
Same position as last; while lifting the R hip and rolling L, slide the head to the R (elbows stay open; face stays towards the ceiling). Pay attention to the triangles of each arm, not to distort them. L foot stays standing. Continue until you come onto the side and lift the triangles and head, almost looking down towards where your head was (continuing to take the L elbow further back, keeping the triangles). L foot stays standing. Be very definite about the timing, going up and coming down (returning arm triangles and head to ground first).
Return to face down, each arm long overhead and lifting arm and head. Then opposite leg–does the arm get longer or shorter now? Lift both at the same time, and rock on the bow–turning the head as you do this.

</p> <h2><a name="Focus of Teaching"></a>Focus of Teaching</h2> <p>Paragraph here.</p> <h2>Related ATMs</h2> <ul> <li>Add links.</li> </ul> <h2>Resources</h2> <ul> <li>Click “link” above to add a link; “file” to upload a resource or picture, or “widget” to embed a video.</li> </ul> <h2><a name="Share Your Insights"></a>Share Your Insights</h2> <ul> <li>This lesson does a remarkable job of clarifying the idea of “rocking on the diagonal.” There are many ATMs that start with lifting the long leg, face down, to feel whether you shift your weight towards the leg you lift or away from it and across the diagonal, and then continue with variations until this connection of lifting the leg to moving the weight up along the diagonal is clearer–so that you can transfer your weight along the diagonal from the hip to the opposite shoulder, holding the whole body in the shape of a bow. This lesson has this as its reference movements, but uses very different explorations to clarify rocking along the diagonal.</li> <ul> <li>One thought, always to remember (I heard this wonderful insight from another trainer): the same ribs that spiral are the ones that also side-bend. So don’t mystify it so much.</li> </ul> <li>In the side-bending, your tendency towards extension or flexion is highlighted, and then addressed. (As you take the arms/head unit, or the legs with feet touching, to one side, if the back arches and lifts on that side, probably the elbow/knee of the side you go towards lifts and the opposite elbow/knee approaches the floor. Then you experiment with doing the movement with the opposite tendency (taking the knee/elbow of the lengthening side away from the floor), you end up side-bending while engaging the flexors more. (Or vice-versa.)</li> <li>As is familiar from other lessons (arms extended overhead and legs extended, lengthening/shortening on diagonals), an action that is shortening the R side while lengthening the L can also be equally conceptualized/organized as an action of lengthening the L arm to shorten the R leg. The same idea is explored with the arms and legs in these “circles” (fingers interlaced behind head; knees open with soles of feet in contact). The lower torso shortens on one side as the upper torso lengthens on the opposite–and the end-point of these variations, where one foot is standing and you’ve turned onto your side with the head in the air held in the tray of the two arm triangles, is the extreme of this organization of the lower torso shortened on the side of the standing foot, and the upper torso lengthened on the opposite side (ribs folding together on the side of the standing foot). The diagonal from the standing foot to the elbow over which the head now rests is strongly clarified. The order of action in lifting the head on this tray, and lowering it, really wakes up your control of these middle-to-upper ribs in rotation and side-bending, in the context of the connection to the standing foot. And when you return to lifting the arm, and lifting the leg, my sense is that the absence of control in this area was a huge barrier to finding this “efficient spiral” for lifting the long limbs.</li> <li>Another aspect is that the position of the arms and legs neutralizes any habit of engaging the flexors or adductors of the major joints (hip and shoulder) with the initiation of an action. (Or extensors or abductors too.) This differentiation of core control from engagement of the limbs seems powerful. The variations where you “go with” your tendency (e.g. to lift one elbow) can show clearly how the shoulder blade and clavicle glued to the ribs is stopping the side-bending.</li> <li>Well, in any case, these were my experiences in working with this lesson…I’d be thrilled to hear whether this makes sense, whether it resonates, and what different things others have found. <span class="membersnap">– LynetteReid Feb 6, 2012</li> </ul> <p><strong>Disclaimer</strong>: 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.<br /> 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.<br /> <span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span><br />  </p> <p>

Focus of Teaching

Paragraph here.

Related ATMs

Add links.

Resources

Share Your Insights

This lesson does a remarkable job of clarifying the idea of “rocking on the diagonal.” There are many ATMs that start with lifting the long leg, face down, to feel whether you shift your weight towards the leg you lift or away from it and across the diagonal, and then continue with variations until this connection of lifting the leg to moving the weight up along the diagonal is clearer–so that you can transfer your weight along the diagonal from the hip to the opposite shoulder, holding the whole body in the shape of a bow. This lesson has this as its reference movements, but uses very different explorations to clarify rocking along the diagonal.
The theme of rocking on the diagonal requires us to find the path of the spiral in lifting the long limbs–if you think that lifting in the air is lifting exactly perpendicular to the floor, the limbs will be very heavy and you will shift your weight towards them (as they move away from your midline). If you lift in a spiral–which can be easily exaggerated if you impose it externally rather than finding it internally, I find–the limbs are light and can continue great distances, and the weight shifts across the diagonal towards the opposite limb. Now–how does all this side-bending communicate that?
- One thought, always to remember (I heard this wonderful insight from another trainer): the same ribs that spiral are the ones that also side-bend. So don’t mystify it so much.
In the side-bending, your tendency towards extension or flexion is highlighted, and then addressed. (As you take the arms/head unit, or the legs with feet touching, to one side, if the back arches and lifts on that side, probably the elbow/knee of the side you go towards lifts and the opposite elbow/knee approaches the floor. Then you experiment with doing the movement with the opposite tendency (taking the knee/elbow of the lengthening side away from the floor), you end up side-bending while engaging the flexors more. (Or vice-versa.)
As is familiar from other lessons (arms extended overhead and legs extended, lengthening/shortening on diagonals), an action that is shortening the R side while lengthening the L can also be equally conceptualized/organized as an action of lengthening the L arm to shorten the R leg. The same idea is explored with the arms and legs in these “circles” (fingers interlaced behind head; knees open with soles of feet in contact). The lower torso shortens on one side as the upper torso lengthens on the opposite–and the end-point of these variations, where one foot is standing and you’ve turned onto your side with the head in the air held in the tray of the two arm triangles, is the extreme of this organization of the lower torso shortened on the side of the standing foot, and the upper torso lengthened on the opposite side (ribs folding together on the side of the standing foot). The diagonal from the standing foot to the elbow over which the head now rests is strongly clarified. The order of action in lifting the head on this tray, and lowering it, really wakes up your control of these middle-to-upper ribs in rotation and side-bending, in the context of the connection to the standing foot. And when you return to lifting the arm, and lifting the leg, my sense is that the absence of control in this area was a huge barrier to finding this “efficient spiral” for lifting the long limbs.
Another aspect is that the position of the arms and legs neutralizes any habit of engaging the flexors or adductors of the major joints (hip and shoulder) with the initiation of an action. (Or extensors or abductors too.) This differentiation of core control from engagement of the limbs seems powerful. The variations where you “go with” your tendency (e.g. to lift one elbow) can show clearly how the shoulder blade and clavicle glued to the ribs is stopping the side-bending.
Well, in any case, these were my experiences in working with this lesson…I’d be thrilled to hear whether this makes sense, whether it resonates, and what different things others have found. – LynetteReid Feb 6, 2012

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.

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