MoveToImprove: The Feldenkrais Method with David Sullivan

Dynamic sitting: Support through the skeleton

This lesson is simply about rounding your back (slouching, or looking down) and arching your back (looking up).

It is designed to help you become more aware of your body, to learn to use your body more intelligently and to use your skeleton to support you rather than your muscles. So put into plain English, it’s about sitting easier and freer.

This is a “lesson” and not “exercise”, and for this reason, it is essential that you do all of the movements slowly and gently. Think of it as an exploration and allow yourself to sense what you are doing - make it possible for yourself to discover new and different ways to move.

Always work within the range of movement that is easy and comfortable for you. Pain is counter-productive. In fact, the more slowly, gently, and carefully you do the movements, the more you will learn, and the more you'll enjoy learning.

	1. Observe your sitting posture Find a comfortable, stationary chair, preferably one with a flat, horizontal seat pan. Place it far enough away from your desk that you can extend your arms without hitting anything. Sit on the front half of the seat, any way that you like as long as you are not leaning on the backrest. Place your hands in your lap and your feet on the floor. Take a few moments to notice how you sit. Notice how your buttocks make contact with the chair. Do you place your weight more on the right buttock or the left? Do you sit more on the rearward portion of your buttocks, nearer to the backrest, or more on the forward part, near your thighs? Don't change anything; just observe how you're sitting right now. Continue observing your seated posture. Is it easy to hold your head up? Or do your neck and shoulders feel like they are working overtime? Do you feel that you are sitting tall, or does your body feel cramped and contracted? Slowly turn your head to the right and left. Is that easy to do, or does the movement feel stiff or limited in some way? Notice your breathing. Do you breathe freely, or do you tend to hold your breath? Sit back and rest a minute.
	2. Slouch and look down Sit as before. Slowly round your back, slouching, lowering your head as if you wanted to look at you belly button. Then slowly raise yourself back to your starting position. Repeat several times only going as far as is absolutely comfortable. How do you do this movement? Feel the bending movement in the neck, the collapsing of the chest, the sliding downwards of the sternum and the tilting back of the pelvis. What are you using to round your back? Sit back and rest a minute.
	3. Arch and look up (Remember you are only exploring easy movement!) Sit as before. Gently, as if to explore all the places in your back, start to arch your back a little, as you raise your head and eyes to look upwards. Repeat several times starting off small and only going as far as is easy. Feel all the places that are involved in this, including lower back, the raising of the sternum and the rolling forward of the pelvis on the sitting bones. Sit back and rest a minute.
	4. Rounding and arching including breathing Sit forward again and start to gently round and then arch your back. Slowly coordinating the looking down and the looking up. Repeat several times breathing out as you round and breathe in as you come up. Don’t overwork your neck - just let it be a continuation of the curve of your back. Think of lengthening your back as you slouch and lengthening your front as you arch. Take your attention to the different places of your back, chest, ribs, pelvis, neck as you do this. Notice how the shape of these places changes. Sit back and rest a minute.
	5. Turned rounding and arching. Left. Again come forward to sitting. Turn your head and shoulders comfortably to the left, resting both hands on your left knee. In this position start gently rounding and arching and repeat many times slowly. Notice how weight is distributed over your left and right buttock throughout the movement. Relax your jaw and don’t forget to breathe with the movement. Rest.
	6. Turned rounding and arching. Right. This time turn your head and shoulders to the right. Put your right hand on your sternum in the middle of your chest and your left hand on your belly just under your belly button. In this position, go ahead and repeat the rounding and arching. Use your hands to give you feedback as to what is being involved in this movement. How do you coordinate the rolling of the pelvis, the movement of the lower back, the chest, the breathing and the looking? Sit back and rest.
	7. Movement of the lower back and pelvis. Sit forward and slowly arch and round your back a couple of times. When your whole back is rounded, with your pelvis tilted backward and your head hanging down and your chest collapsed, pause in this position and feel the shape and length of your back. Place your left hand on your chest and your right hand on your belly. Then, slowly and gradually, start tilting your pelvis forward, slightly arching your lower back only. Go only as far as it is easy and you can “see” the movement and then round back to your slouched position. Repeat this several times – can you make it easier? Remember that your chest stays collapsed, and your upper back and neck remains rounded. This is not an easy movement so Remember to Breathe! Sit back and rest.
	8. Movement of the upper back, chest and neck. Sit forward and slouch – rounding your whole back as before. This time put your left hand on your abdomen or belly and your right hand on your chest. Now, keeping your lower back rounded, start to slowly raise your chest and eyes as you slightly arch your upper back. Come back down. Repeat this. Your left hand stays where it is and your right hand raises and lowers. Breathe in on the way up and out on the way down. Don’t strain! Don’t hold your breath - don’t hold your jaw. A millimetre of movement without strain is better than an inch with strain. Your ribs can be soft and your sternum or breastbone can slide up and down. Sit back and rest.
	9. Simply rounding and arching Sit forward and simply round and arch your back a few times. Notice how your pelvis, your feet, lower back, chest, upper back neck and eyes. Does more of your back feel more available now? How do you breathe with this now? Come back to what is the middle for you and notice how you are sitting. Is your contact with the chair any different? Are you sitting taller? Notice the balance and support. How dynamic does this feel and how easy is breathing now? Look around at your new environment.
	Note: There is no need force yourself to sit in any particular way. Just do what comes naturally to you. Your posture and movement will begin to change spontaneously, when you are ready. After a couple of days, you can do this exercise again. It may feel quite different to you the second time around. This lesson is based on an original, copyrighted AWARENESS THROUGH MOVEMENT lesson by Michael Krugman, GUILD CERTIFIED FELDENKRAIS TEACHER. The original lesson can be found on the web site FELDENKRAIS GUILD of North America at http://www.feldenkrais.com/method/atmkrugman1.html. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission of the author. << Back

Move To Improve I David Sullivan I Mt Eden Village I Auckland I 09 6388330 I david "at" movetoimprove.com