Theme Flexion Lesson

Many lessons emphasize or address the work of the flexors; the “flexor lessons” are the ones that work with lying on the back, feet standing, fingers interlaced behind the head, and lifting the head and knees in various combinations.

Flexor lessons on Feldy Notebook

• 25 Lessons from Eshkol-Wachman Movement Notation – 2. Lesson: A kind of “flexion” lesson
• 25 Lessons from Eshkol-Wachman Movement Notation – 3. Lesson
• 25 Lessons from Eshkol-Wachman Movement Notation – 4. Lesson
• Amherst 1 – Week 1 – 06/09/80 PM1 – Lifting the head to activate flexors
• Amherst 1 – Week 1 – 06/09/80 PM2 – Lifting the head to activate flexors (continued)
• Amherst 1 – Week 1 – 06/10/80 AM2 – Flexing the upper body, Elbow to the knee (continued)
• Amherst 1 – Week 1 – 06/10/80 PM2 – Flexors and rolling/Flexing the Upper Body, Elbow to the Knee (Continued)
• Amherst 1 – Week 5 – 07/07/80 Rolling from sitting (part 2)
• Amherst 1 – Week 7 – 07/21/80 PM2 Head and knee under the gap
• Amherst 1 – Week 1 – 06/10/80 AM1 – Flexing the upper body, Elbow to the knee
• Amherst 1 – Week 1 – 06/10/80 PM1 – Rocking and rolling
• Amherst 2 – Week 1 – 06/10/81 PM2 – On back flexing torso
• Amherst 2 – Week 8 – 07/28/81 AM2 Sample ATM Class—Knee to Elbow
• Amherst 2 – Week 9 – 08/03/81 AM1 Folding Like a Cat
• ATMEC03 Children May Flex More
• AY011 Preparation for shoulder stand
• AY027 – Elbows and knees touching
• AY033 Hands interlaced
• AY039 Lifting your knee while sitting
• AY046 Lowering the head
• AY049 Sliding on one leg
• AY055 Folding forward
• AY056 Bending the abdomen with leg swings (Catching flies)
• AY059 – Lifting the head with the hands
• AY084.5 Getting up from a chair #3 (not in IFF edition)
• AY102 Oscillations with lifting the head towards sitting
• AY114 Four diagonals in folding
• AY155 Twists and advanced twists
• AY171 Lifting the head with the soles touching and lengthening the spine
• AY229 On the back, diagonals and parallels knee-elbow;
• AY246 General coordination
• AY248 Pulling the feet sideways
• AY301 Twisting the back, lifting the head, shoulders, and limbs
• AY320 Frog – continuation – (Toad)
• AY364 Elbows and knees
• AY368 Lifting the head by extending the arms
• AY404 Bending with the help of the feet in contact
• AY442 Ankle on the Knee to Sitting
• AY446 Ideal bending
• AY448 Diagonal bending
• AY548 On right side, head and knee under the frame of left arm
• Jack Heggie – Running with the Whole Body – Chapter 2: The Muscles of the Back
• LT05 Flexors
• LT20 Rocking to sides
• MG77 #01- Lifting the head on the back
• MG77 #02 – Lifting head on back and stomach – basic flexion and extension
• MG78 #11 – Improving flexion in back, bring knees and elbows together
• New York Quest – DAY2 – AM1+2 – Lifting the head on the back: simple flexion, one side in imagination
• Rotterdam 1976 – Tape 2 – #1 – Flexion (Flexor) Lesson
• SB3 Folding Into Sitting
• SF1 – Week 1 – 17 June 1975 – Flexors
• SF1 – Week 1 – 17 June 1975 – On back, lifting the head with the help of the hands
• SF3 – Day 35 – 11 August 1977: Continuation of August 10 ATM. Variations of the soles facing position. Soft flexion movements. Hands stretche over head interlaced or palm down under lumbar spine.
• SFEC Notes – 09. Tilting legs on stomach
• SFEC Public Workshop – Vol. 1 – 1. Lower Back Ease
• SFEC Public Workshop – Vol. 1 – 2. Rolling
• SFEC Public Workshop – Vol. 3 – 03. A longer spine
• Vancouver – Edmonds Center – 2. Flexion with foot differentiation, rolling back
• Vancouver – Art Gallery – 3. Interlace fingers behind, lift and lower head
• Vancouver – Hotel Vancouver – 4. Flexion (Flexor), 11AUG73

Discussion

• The London Transcript version is excellent for a very focused pedagogical approach: development of each idea of improvement in turn, with a clear illustration in action, and general discussion of the relation of flexors and extensors as antagonistic muscle groups. …

Key variations

• Variations and differentiations include: taking knee and elbow on same side and opposite side to one another; lifting head facing forwards or facing sideways; hands below the kneecap on the upper shin (“below knee”) or in the fold of the knee (“behind knee”); taking forehead/nose/mouth/chin towards the knee; mutual clarification of folding/breathing; …
• I’ve included some lessons that involve minute movements of shortening across the diagonal (Esalen 1)–lifting shoulder and opposite hip–as “flexor lessons”.
• What I call “advanced” flexor lessons involve holding legs and arms long towards the ceiling, and making circles on the ceiling or “catching flies,” and ultimately drawing circles on the floor by transferring the weight on the back. Maybe these should be kept in another category.
• Flexor lessons develop towards “rolling in the median plane” (rolling straight backwards/forwards between lying on the back and sitting)

Resources