FeldenkraisAwareness Through

Movement

Lessons 211 - 243

Strasbourg InternationalFeldenkrais Training II

Year Three, Book Two

Transcribed by the Students of SIFT II

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© Copyright Elizabeth Beringer, Lawrence Goldfarb and the students of SIFT II.Reproduction and distribution of this material for any reason are strictly forbidden.

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Table of Contents

ATM Lesson 211: Side-lying Rotation ....................................................................

ATM Lesson 212: Prone, Head Rolling Between Hands.......................................

ATM Lesson 213: Rolling Head Between Hands with Pelvic Circles ...................

ATM Lesson 214: Rolling to Side with Arm Overhead (Scanning from the Inside with One Eye) .................................................................

ATM Lesson 215: Flying .........................................................................................

ATM Lesson 216: Rolling to Side to Sit, Straightening Leg ..................................

ATM Lesson 217: Right Eye Telescope (with Elbows and Hands in 'Flapping Wings' Movement).....................................................................

ATM Lesson 218: Walking......................................................................................

ATM Lesson 219: Jumping Hurdles .......................................................................

ATM Lesson 220: Flying, II ....................................................................................

ATM Lesson 221: Hands Like a Book ....................................................................

ATM Lesson 222: Lengthening in Sitting...............................................................

ATM Lesson 223: Interlacing Hands Overhead.....................................................

ATM Lesson 224: Four Points Standing ................................................................

ATM Lesson 225: Hands Interlaced Overhead ......................................................

ATM Lesson 226: Rolling Arms..............................................................................

ATM Lesson 227: Prone, Tilting Legs ....................................................................

ATM Lesson 228: Rocking on the Belly .................................................................

ATM Lesson 229: Gently Folding Toes to Invert Foot ..........................................

ATM Lesson 230: Squatting....................................................................................

ATM Lesson 231: Foot, ankle, knee and hip relations ..........................................

ATM Lesson 232: Sitting on Heels, I ......................................................................

ATM Lesson 233: Upper Back Clocks ("Abs of Steel") ........................................

ATM Lesson 234: Sitting on Heels, II ....................................................................

ATM Lesson 235: Making a Circle with the Top of the Head ...............................

ATM Lesson 236: Re-educating the Eyes ...............................................................

ATM Lesson 237: Sitting on Heels, III...................................................................

ATM Lesson 238: Sitting on Heels, IV ...................................................................

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ATM Lesson 239: Sitting on Heels, V.....................................................................

ATM Lesson 240: Sphinx ........................................................................................

ATM Lesson 241: Sitting on the Heels, VI .............................................................

ATM Lesson 242: Diagonal Lengthening ..............................................................

ATM Lesson 243: Sitting on Heels, VII..................................................................

ATM Lesson 211: Side-lying RotationSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 210Date: 1999, August 2Teacher: Elizabeth Beringer

1. Take a moment lying on your back to settle down and maybe anticipate for a moment the coming ATM, the coming segment. Notice as you have been meeting people and traveling to get here, and the process of coming to sensation, the sense of yourself physically, the floor. Today we are going to start with something like a review going back with some familiar things and working at them perhaps from another perspective — and the same with this ATM. We are starting with a very simple ATM.

2. Take a moment to notice the contact of your heels with the floor. The whole sense that you have of your feet in space. How clearly can you locate your two feet in space and feel the contact of each heel? How it is perhaps slightly different on one side than on the other, and how that relates to where and how your feet are, your ankles and the space underneath your ankles, the thickness of your ankles. How pointed are your toes? In the sense of, do you feel the back of your leg where the achilles is? Is that area a little short? Does it feel lengthened? What is the difference between the back and the front of your ankle in sensation? And then where your calves come to touch the floor, the back of your legs and also differences between your two sides. There could be a difference in the amount of tonus, the hardness in your legs, or the part of the musculature you are touching. And then underneath your knees, the space there. What kind of difference is there between the two sides? As you are traveling up the rest of your leg, just getting a sense of the thickness of your leg. How the thickness is increasing as you come up to the pelvis, the whole dimension of your legs. Make of course the contact with the floor. And then sensing instead of (...)

2a. Now bringing your attention to your pelvis — it is like, add your pelvis in. So your are sensing your feet, your legs and now your pelvis also. You sense your pelvis in relation to your legs. Feel if there is a tilt in any direction. If you think of the possibility of being tilted left, right, up, back, diagonally. Is there any slight tilting in one direction or in another? And then continuing to your back: where do you feel your back comes away from the floor? Maybe for a few of you, your back even is touching the floor as you are lying. If it is touching, perhaps it is a lighter contact. Just noticing from your pelvis and then where your back leaves the floor, where it comes back into contact with the floor. How much space is there where your back is not in touch with the floor? And also along the two sides of your spine, the tonus in the two sides, up to your shoulders. Sensing the whole length of your back, the length of your spine, the musculature on either side of your back. And sense if

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there is a different consistency, a different texture, a different kind of softness or hardness, a different way that your muscles give into the floor on one side and on the other.

2b. Then your shoulders, the way your shoulders rest on one side and the other, the whole length of your arms. Bring your attention to your hands. How your hands are lying. How much your fingers are curled, how much are they straight? Is there a different quality in one hand or the other? And then following from your hands, your wrist and up the arm and really noticing which parts — where is there space, where is there fuller contact? It is going to vary depending on how your arms are turned. Some of you have contact all the way. Some of you will have much less contact. See if you can be as clear about that as possible really. And if there is space under your wrists, how much space is there? Using that way of sensing your arm.

2c. Come to the area of the 7th cervical and the 1st thoracic where your neck and your back meet. Is that area in touch with the floor or away from the floor? Again where is the transition, where your back starts to leave the floor, starting the curve of your neck? How long is the space where your spine is away from the floor, from the base of your skull, at the occiput, to the beginning of your thoracic spine or wherever you make contact with the floor. How much space is there between the floor and your neck? Is that at all different from one side to the other? Then notice the area where your head is touching the floor. Which part of the back of your head is touching the floor. Do your feel your head is tilted in some way, left, right, forward, back. If you had to say, which way would you feel? And then, just for a moment have an overall sense of yourself lying there. What are the areas of yourself that are most present?

3. Come to lie on your left side. Have your two legs on top of each other and pulled up a comfortable amount, as close to right angle as possible, that is comfortable for you. Put both arms in front of you together. So the palms are touching. The arms are straight in front of you. Now begin to do a movement where you slide the top arm a little bit forward and then back so the palms are touching again. Now as I said it is going to be quite a simple lesson, and because it is a simple lesson, there is not going to be anything to figure out. It is not like some lessons that are really complex just to understand the directions. It is not like that. So what we can do then is really concentrate on the quality in, perhaps, an even deeper way than usual. Let's be really clear when you are doing this movement about sliding your arm forward and then back so the two palms are on top of each other and then sliding your arm forward again. Really notice where the range is, where this movement is completely easy. Where is the micro-moment where there starts to be a shift in the quality. Go slowly enough so that you can sense any tiny, tiny change like that. In this lesson just insist on doing the movement in an easy, easy range. Sliding forward and back again, making sure that your hand is really resting as completely as it can. Your arm is resting as completely as it can on the floor. So where does the movement come from? Does the musculature of your arm have to be involved much or at all? Notice as you slide forward like this and your shoulder moves, notice how your back is involved and how the movement turns your back and your spine slightly. And being really strict about that, staying in this range; you could probably do much more movement and you would go through slight differences, and catches here, and maybe areas where you weren't as clear. Now you are going to stay in this area

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where it is so easy, it is like you could keep doing this for a very, very long time. And as you do that a few more times, notice also what is happening with your head. Are you moving enough so that your head is involved? Or not yet. Perhaps even a micro movement involves your head slightly. And then pause for a moment and rest.

3a. And put your two hands together again and now start to bring your hand backwards so that your right hand will move back. So the palm can rest on the wrist of the bottom hand. The same movement but done backwards now and then back to the middle point again. And again be really strict about moving in a range that is extremely easy. And what is interesting about this is that sometimes there is more sensation when you go a little bit further, so that there are sensations that are connected with the beginning of the pulling in some way, or whenever you are moving out of a range that occupies you in normal life. So right now your arms are in a position in front of you that is very common for them to be in, in daily life, just out in front of you. There is a certain range here that is so known to you, in that range you may need to go a little deeper to sense what is going on. Because you won't have those sensations that are connected with a little pulling, with an area that is not as known. Sometimes, it can even be a kind of floaty feeling to the movement. Stay in that range and get to know the richness of what is going on here. Without having to go further and perhaps go for an easier sensation. And notice also as you do this, again, what is happening in your back. So one aspect of it, is really having your arm let go, it is just moved by your shoulder and your back. And then how the movement twists through your back, how it effects your head, your pelvis. And sometimes in a lesson we are really looking for the connection to other places. Now we do not care whether your pelvis ever moves, whether your head ever moves, maybe it will maybe it won't. Probably there will be some effect there.

And rest again for a moment. Roll on your back, and rest. And notice from doing these few simple things, is there anything you can notice lying on your back? What happened with the contact along the two sides of your back. Did something shift in your legs at all? And what about your shoulders?

3b. And then come again onto your left side and a few times now slide your arm forward and back in the same way, the same kind of feeling. Just go forward and back. It is like you have all time in the world. You have nowhere to get to now, you do not have to get through a certain amount of material. You are not in charge, I am, so you don't have to worry about any of that. You are just doing this movement forward and back. Notice also your hand as do it. Make sure that you are not stiffening your hand in some way to make it easier to slide. You may have to occasionally straighten your fingers a little bit, just to be able to slide, because they start getting caught or something. The idea is that really your fingers are just moving along this landscape and having just to adjust themselves to it. And pause for a moment.

3c. And now begin to do the same movement with your arms and begin to roll your head. And again, with the same idea of really insisting on a movement being as smooth as possible. You know, there is a book I have, and the title is something like The Invisible Body and it is almost like when you are moving in this middle range, there is almost an invisibility to the movement. Again it can be so known

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and the pathway, so well-traveled that there are different kinds of sensations to it than one might find in other kinds of movements. So find out with your head: you are just going to add a tiny bit of movement to what probably is already happening as you move your arms. You are not adding very much. You decide what fits this criteria. And as you are continuing that, notice also your legs and make sure that you are not stabilizing somewhere, that you are not tightening or stopping the movement somewhere unnecessarily. Particularly notice your abdomen and all around your groin, your genitals. Bring your attention to the pelvic area and make sure that this area is free to respond. Again you may not be doing a large enough movement to have any movement here, but we want to make sure that that could happen, that you are available for that. And rest again.

4. Now in the same position begin to slide your right knee forward. The same movement you were doing with your arm, but now you are just sliding your knee. Slide your knee forward and then come back to the starting position. Make it as simple as you possibly can, and as smooth as you can, as easy as you can. You are not actively moving your arm at this point, you are moving your leg. I know that if I say do it as easily as you possibly can, moving your arm could be a good strategy. Just moving your knee forward once again, you are really noticing how that movement travels through your back. If you do it very slowly, you could feel sequentially the movement through your back. This is a movement that you have often done with other people in functional integration. You have had your hand on their pelvis and moved the pelvis forward like this and by now, I think, most of you have done that with different people and you know that there can be a huge range, there can be a very big, smooth movement with some people and it can be very limited in other cases. So right now you are going to be strict in your own case about starting with this easy, easy range where you can breathe, where your breathing is completely uninterrupted by the movement. You do not feel any thing disturbed anywhere else in you. There may be an effect but not a disturbance. And rest for a moment.

4a. When you are ready, take your knee in the opposite direction, take your knee backwards. Perhaps some of you will find this easier, some of you less easy. Really make sure that your upper leg is completely resting on the other leg. The action absolutely does not come from your leg. There does not need to be any action on the part of your leg muscles. The leg is being moved by the larger muscles of your pelvis and your trunk. Is it easier for you to do this movement with this kind of quality that we were talking about, is it easier to do backwards or forwards? And rest again for a moment.

4b. When you are ready, slide your knee both forward and back a few times. Have your arms in front of you and the top arm straight. It is not that you actually are going to actively inhibit the movement of your arms, but if you have your arms in this situation and are not actively sliding them, then that will have a different kind of effect on your back.

4c. Now go ahead and do the movement so your arms slide also. It is not that you actively slide your arms. Just find out how, if you do not inhibit it at all, how much would the movement of your pelvis slide your arms. Maybe you are doing the movement of your leg so small that it will not affect your arms very much at all. Stay with that. It is more important to stay in this easy range than it is, in this

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lesson to feel effects. You are not inhibiting the movement of your arms and shoulders. You just are completely free to move there.

And then roll over so you are lying on your back. So back in this familiar situation what do you notice now? Does this lesson have a one sided effect for you? Do you sense more on one side? Do you sense it differently on the side that was moving, than on the side that was not moving?

5. And roll again on to your same side. Now go back to the movement of your arms. Taking your arm forward and back now. Just being strict about staying in a very repetitive easy place. Just notice that range where you feel the movement is completely accessible. Has that range been affected at all?

5a. And now begin to add the movement of your leg at the same time. So you do the two together and again be strict. Take your time. Start small. Do the two together. Really have the sense that the movement is coming from the shoulder and the pelvis, both moving forward and back together. You do not start using the arm or the leg, just pushing the two limbs forward and pulling them back. What happens with your head now? Make sure you are not inhibiting the movement of your head. As you are continuing doing this as simply, easily as you can, start with your feet and get as clear a sense as you can of what each part of you is doing as you do this movement. Just have a sense of your whole self and constructing that image as completely as you can. So you start with your feet and gradually move the dimensions and thickness of your leg. How are your feet and ankles affected? Is there a shifting there? And of course, as you are going along you are not only bringing each part of you into your image of the movement but you are also checking and making sure you are not stabilizing a little bit in your foot unnecessarily, contracting there unnecessarily. So at your own speed, you are slowly moving different parts of yourself. Some of which are probably very present and were getting a lot of attention, and some parts of yourself, that you had not thought about. There is the way that you change contact with the floor, there is the movement in the front of you, your chest, solar plexus and abdomen, and there's the whole area of your neck and face. You may not be there yet, but really give good attention to your mouth, jaw.

And when you feel like you have gone through, starting with your feet, moving up, constructing, becoming aware of all the different parts of yourself systematically in this movement, when you are gone through that, then go ahead and lie on your back and rest on your back.

There is this lovely wave-like quality to how that happens. One section of the room turns over, relatively together. There is a whole other section where everybody is still on their side. There is a nice aspect of watching a group do a lesson and how you are being affected by people around you, even probably when you are not aware of it.

So observe now, so far in this lesson we have done very simple things and really no differentiation to speak of, just adding one movement to the next, developing awareness, quality. Sense overall what you can notice lying on your back.

6. And then come again to lying on your side. The same side. And now continuing to be strict about this, about staying in a range that is absolutely easy, stricter than you usually are in an ATM, begin to move your leg, pelvis back as your arm goes forward. And see how small could you do that movement to begin with, and still feel that you are clearly

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doing it. You can take a moment to get oriented in this movement. Start small and then gradually you can expand staying in this range where you do not start to feel any approach even of that pulling, stretching, even the change of quality that precedes that. So your are doing this movement in a way where your head, neck can continue to be completely available to respond to the movement. Your breathing is uninterrupted. As you do that a few more times, if you can be clear about the movement of your pelvis and your shoulder in relation to each other. So that one is going forward as the other one is going back. Your arm and your leg are simply moved by that action in your trunk. Your hands, and specially the right hand, is very soft and just changing as it moves above the bottom hand. And rest again.

7. Leave your two arms in front of you and do a movement now where you move your leg, pelvis and your head together. So now you are going to keep your arms, your hands together in this triangular position and you are moving your pelvis and your head. So you can actively roll your head now. Your knee shifts forward and back and you roll your head. Of course continuing to be strict with the manner in which you are doing it, letting the weight of your head really be taken by the floor as you roll. And then go ahead and allow your arm to move as well but not actively. So you don't do any active movement with your shoulder, you are just intending to move your pelvis and your head. You are adding more movement to your head than would happen on its own. Could be just a tiny bit more. A little bit more than would happen passively. And rest again.

7a. And now this time your arms are straight in front of you in the same way, and now move your pelvis and leg in the opposite direction of your head and, again, being strict about that, starting really small. I am suggesting that you start small, really staying with this idea of being stricter than usual about really doing very, very easy, very smooth movement. However, sometimes when you do a movement really small, really tiny, and you find that you are having difficulty, go ahead and do it a little bigger. Sometimes you actually find the quality there. So the important thing here is the quality, whether the movement is big, small, or whether other parts of you are involved or not, that is not the focus right now. Just that you get that feeling that the movement is so easy you could just do it for a very long time. It is almost like the movement could go on by itself. What did you end up doing with your shoulder? Is your shoulder going with your pelvis or with your head? Or is your shoulder kind of still. Leave that and rest again.

8. Once more put your arms in front of you and then slide your arm and your leg together forward and back. Letting your head be affected as it will and just find out what is the possibility now for this easy and smooth movement.

And then let the movement, going backwards, continue and roll onto your back. Just scan quickly from your heels up to your head, your fingers, your shoulders, like we did in the beginning, just sweeping, noticing what has been affected. Do you feel this lesson in a global way? Has there been an overall shift, or do you feel it more in certain aspects of yourself, or one side, the difference between your two shoulders, the size of your back, the legs and how perhaps there is a difference in how turned out one leg is compared to the other. Again, do you notice more difference in the leg that was moving or in the leg that was still? Or is it just different? Is your attention really more on the leg that was moving, or what do you notice at this point?

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9. And when you are ready roll on to one side and sit and stand. We are not going to do anything right now on the other side. Perhaps just in standing you could turn to one side and the other, see if there is a difference there. And also, again, just in standing, is this really as simple a lesson as we have done in the training, and what kind of effect does it have for you? Simple in the sense of the kinds of movement we did and the structure. Do you notice something in standing with your balance? Of course there is another phenomenon which is that you are Feldenkrais students, so you come back and you respond to any ATM, the first ATM. Just the act of lying on the floor and paying attention to yourselves — you know I really can't lose.

9a. OK, begin to walk around. I think there is just the association, being in a training, one brings a lot to the first couple of ATMs. OK, so we will have a break.

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ATM Lesson 212: Prone, Head Rolling Between HandsSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 211ADate: 1999, August 3Teacher: Elizabeth Beringer

1. Lie on your back and get a global sense of how you are lying. You could compare with the end of the ATM this morning, and then the FI you had later, what effects that has had overall and how you are lying now.

It is an interesting moment when you come to a training and you come to a situation where you begin to do a lot of ATMs and to notice the process that you start to go through. It is a known process in the sense that every time you get immersed in ATM, you notice your left shoulder is held from the floor and it starts to go into the floor. So there is something repetitive that from the beginning of the lesson to the end, or say from the beginning of a segment till the end, you know that that is a process you are going to go through. There is also this element in ATM, depending of the theme and what happens, there are all kinds of effects. What I am talking about now is if there is some pathway that you habitually go through. And that is an interesting area to know more about and to look at for yourself, because it means there is some kind of habitual holding, habitual action that you are doing that is addressed by the process of doing ATM and yet somehow in the way you do things in other situations you recreate that holding.

Take a moment to roll your head left and right and enter the world of your head and neck movement, noticing tiny little differences between the two sides, differences in angle, smoothness and range. Don't go as fast as you can, just roll comfortably from side to side.

2. And leave that and roll on your stomach. Put your head in your left palm so your left hand is facing towards the ceiling and your forehead is in your palm. And then your other hand is on the back of your head. Now roll your head with your right hand, left and right, so your forehead will roll over your palm. And find out how can you roll your head on your stomach. The bottom hand stays still and just roll your head left and right. How easily can you roll your head in this situation? Do you need to take your elbow away from the floor or can you do it comfortably with your elbow on the floor? What is easier for your head and neck? Does your head roll more easily because of the situation of your arms or are you actually sensing something about your organization of your head?

2a. Do the movement a few times where you move both hands. Now you hold your head between your hands and you move both hands to the left and the right. That is a movement you have done before, rolling the head like that. What happens when you do it that way? Again, how much can you sense about the organization of your head and neck? And how much has to do with the organization of the arms? Just put your head to the side and pause for a moment with your arms up like this.

3. Then switch your hands so your forehead is in your right palm and roll your head with your left hand on the back of your head. Just keep the bottom hand still to begin with. Roll your head left and right. What is it like with your arms in this situation? It is a whole different world rolling your head on your stomach as opposed to your back. And yet it is the same movement.

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3a. Now begin moving both hands. Is it a symmetrical difference? In other words, on one side you went easier in one direction and now on this side do you go easier pretty much the same amount to the other direction or is the difference more complex than that? And then leave that and rest again.

4. Put your right hand again under your forehead and your left hand behind your head and keep now your head completely still in this situation. Begin to roll your pelvis, so you take the left side of your pelvis away from floor and you bring it back down again, very gently, just take your time to get used to the movement. So just rolling your pelvis to the right, taking the left side of your pelvis away from the floor and coming back down again. And as you do this you will feel that this movement will twist through your back, the movement of your pelvis will affect your spine. Just feel you really keep your head still, and then you sense initially how far up your back can you sense the movement. And don't push it, because it is very unlikely that you are going to sense it going all the way up your spine to begin with. Don't push it. Pushing with your foot is considered cheating. But if your knee bends a little bit that is fine. Just do this movement repetitively, breathing. What will happen initially is, for many of you, you will feel the movement in your lower back, but then when it gets up into the thoracic spine you maybe will not know exactly what to do. Just take your time, do the movement slowly, don't push anything. If you can find a way, you don't have to know what it is consciously, so that the movement can become more comfortable.

Lie on your back and get a global sense of how you are lying. You could compare with the end of the ATM this morning, and then the FI you had later, what effects that has overall and how you are lying now.

4a. If the position of the arms is uncomfortable for you, you can put your left hand on the ground for example, as long as your head does not move. All the time to the same side, the left side of the pelvis away from the floor.

And rest for a moment. Just turn your head to whatever side is comfortable for you and rest.

5. Turn your head to the left and put both hands on the top of your head. You can interlace them there or you can just rest them there. I am sorry, it is really over your ear, it is not on top of your head, on the left side of your head, near your left ear. Now continue doing the same movement with your pelvis. What difference does it make having your head turned like this? Almost certainly you are going to feel a significant difference, rolling your pelvis. Does it become easier, just different in some way? Just to be clear, the leg does not come away from the floor at all, but if the movement bends your knee a little bit, that is fine. Your head is turned to the left. Very gently do this movement, following it up your spine. You can go ahead and actually even bring your knee up to the side slightly a few times. And the thing is if it helps you, that's fine, but don't push anything. When we are doing movements like this there are really some constraints here and then you are moving your pelvis. You don't want to push anything in the movement of the spine, you are really just keeping this very open attitude, don't get too linear about wanting something in particular to happen, noticing different things, different aspects of the movement. And rest again.

6. Turn your head to the other side, turn your head to face to the right. Put your hands in

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the same situation so you are fixing your head, and now continue bringing the left side of your pelvis away from the floor gently. Continue the same movement — you are not switching side — and notice what effects this has now with your head turned in the opposite direction. This is quite specific here, this is a lesson where you are really going to feel what kinds of differences you have between your two sides. You know many people have some curvature, a tendency to move more in one direction in one part of the spine and then maybe the other direction in the upper spine. So you may feel that on one side you move really easily. You might find you move really easily in the lumbar spine, but then when it gets a little higher it is not as clear. Or you may feel that through the lumbar spine it is not so easy but when it gets a little bit higher it is easier. For some of you having your head to this side and moving the pelvis actually might fit in with the particular way you are organized, so this could bee the easiest organization for you. To do this kind of movement asks for quite a lot of movement in the spine, particularly in the middle of the back, because the spine is turned in two directions. You fixed the head so the spine twists to go in that direction and then you are moving the pelvis twisting in the other direction, so at a certain point you are twisting from the pelvis and at a certain point the spine will not be able to twist any more in this direction. See if you can sense where that is in your spine.

And then leave that and lie on your back. Roll your head gently left and right. So in the movements on the stomach it is totally the opposite, your head is still and the other parts of you are moving. Now everything else is still and you move your head. Does keeping your head still have an effect on the ability of your head to move? Just a couple of times do check and then you can leave your head in the middle. What other kinds of things do you notice from what we have done so far? Your legs, your pelvis, organization of your back? Do you feel asymmetrical at this point? Of course in a lesson like this for some of you taking the left side of your pelvis backwards really fits in with your pattern, shall we say, so that by continually doing that you may then find yourself with that exaggerated or with that the opposite.

7. Come on your stomach again. Put your head in the middle again, put your left hand on the bottom and your right hand behind your head. Gently begin to take the other side of your pelvis away from the floor, taking the right side of your pelvis away from the floor and back down. Start slowly, do not lift your foot. What happens as you roll the pelvis, the leg will rotate a little bit right? As you roll to the left, your right leg will rotate slightly. There is no need to lift part of it away from the floor. Just sense now with your head in the middle what happens on this side? Is this an easier side for you or less easy side? How does the progression of the movement go through your spine on this side? This is really a very constrained situation so you should be able to feel in this lesson those tendencies in yourself. And rest for a moment.

One of the things that came up in the groups is somebody mentioning "I am having difficulty here Ç hip, shoulder"; then what does that mean about where to begin and the strategy of moving through the lesson? In general we don't start moving the place where there is difficulty. We will be working with the whole pattern and building that, bringing the area of difficulty in later. Sometimes you may work with the area of difficulty first, let's say the shoulder. You move the shoulder just to get a sense of — maybe the shoulder is hurting, but it moves a lot, maybe the issue is it moves a lot, at least you want to know that. But it does not mean you are going to be probably starting there. At times when you really see that strategy, sometimes when people have neck difficulties, we really leave the head and neck completely alone and we will do a whole lesson with moving other parts in relation to the head and neck. Similar strategy to what is going on in this ATM. In this ATM the head is still through the whole ATM and other parts are moving in relation to the head. It is interesting, even people with experience in FI,

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many times they report they are having an issue say in their lower back. I ask what they are doing, they are doing lots of movement moving their lower back. In fact if you are having really difficulty somewhere that very area is often protected. So it is exactly by doing movement there, it becomes more protected, so it is really not the strategy. Generally speaking starting away from where there is protection works much more effectively.

8. Turn your head to the right and put both hands over your right ear. Now continue moving your pelvis in the same way and observe what it is like with your head turned to the side like this. How far up your back can you feel the movement now? Can you really trace sequentially, can you go slowly enough so you sense section by section your spine moving. Are there areas that you can feel moving in a group or in a clump? Perhaps you could slow down even in that area until you could feel a little more sequentiality. That is probably not a word in English. Feel more differentiation. Observe as you do the movement the leg, how your leg will turn slightly. You notice the way it is on the top of your foot and then shifts toward the big toe. And rest again.

9. And predictably you know what the next movement is. Turn your head to the other side and continue the same movement with the pelvis, just being curious what happens on this side as you move the pelvis. For some of you if you have some kind of tendency, where there really is a twist that is habitual for you in your spine, then it should be that one of these oppositional movements was really easy and comfortable, and the other one really difficult. That would mean when your head is turned in the opposite direction, one of those pattern was really comfortable and the other one not so, just expose that difference. Can you breathe easily as you do that?

9a. Now interestingly if you feel movements that are kind of where you do an action that is actually counterproductive to the turning. So some of you are really contracting the muscles in your lower back, making kind of arching movement in your lower back. That may help with a small amount of the movement, but ultimately what it does is to inhibit the movement of turning. So just notice how you organize the action of turning the pelvis. Are you doing that in a way that really allows the pelvis to turn? Experiment with bringing the knee up more. Really think about how the weight shifts to the other side. Weight is going to shift to your left side as your right side comes away from the floor. Some of you are really pushing with your right leg. Does that actually help? Think about it, it can help if you push with your right leg, it may help again in the beginning of the movement, but at a certain point if you are pushing with your right leg you can't go any further.

Leave it and lie on your back. Roll your head gently, just check having done this symmetrically to both sides with your head in different situations. Just a couple of times with your head, just the amount that you enjoy where you can sense a difference. And then just rest on your back.

10. Roll onto your stomach again. Put your head in the middle, resting on your right palm with your left hand behind your head. Hold your head still like this and now begin to alternate, first one side of the pelvis and then the other coming away from the floor. It should be quite interesting now, you are close to symmetrical. Of course the thing that is asymmetrical is your arms, but otherwise, as far as your neck goes, which is probably a bigger effect on the movement of your pelvis, you are symmetrical. Notice the difference in going to one side and going to the other side. Notice, I don't say notice if there is a difference, I say notice the difference, because we know there is a difference. It is

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interesting what kind of difference, how much of a difference. And again be aware are you doing something that helps you in the beginning but ultimately ends up inhibiting the movement? Is your back really free to be twisting?

10a. And now change your hands over and continue the same thing, just notice if that has any effect. It is a kind of half crawling movement.

10b. Now continue the movement, but do it quickly so it might be much smaller, but do it fast. It is one side and then the other, it is rocking side to side. Make sure you are not pulling anything, nothing is uncomfortable. It is as if you are going to pull one knee up and then the other knee up. Just feel that going through your spine. In a certain way it is much easier to do it like this because you get the momentum of the rolling; the weight goes one way, and then it comes back. And as it comes back, gravity can help you. And leave that and rest.

You see this lesson has a very simple idea. Related to what we have been working with to day, the head is fixed in different situations and the pelvis is moving. So differentiating the pelvis and therefore eventually the spine from the movements of the head. So you can see in a certain way it is a very simple idea, but it is not so simple to do it. There is a whole world between your coccyx and your skull there. And in this situation there are real constraints that make it more challenging and also expose so you can really sense certain aspects of your organization which are not perhaps so apparent or obvious in other orientations. Of course there is differentiation of the pelvis relative to the shoulder, because the shoulders are not moving, we are not asking your arms to be moving in any particular way.

11. Turn your head to whichever side is the most comfortable for you which is probably where your head is already, and put your two hands on top of the ear that is towards the ceiling so you fix your head. Now begin to again roll your pelvis first to one side and then to the other side. Start slowly so you can really sense clearly the effect it has, how available you are for twisting and the effect it has having your head turned now to one side. As far as the mechanical effect on your spine, it is a large effect having your head turned this far to one side. In natural movement you do not usually turn your head this far in relation to your shoulders. Usually by the time you turn your head, the rest of your trunk is coming along. So that is in itself a big constraint.

11a. And then go ahead and go a little faster, whatever is comfortable and pleasurable for you, just one side and then the other. Really observe as you do this, your two legs. Notice how your two legs roll, notice any differences in your ankles, the contact of your feet, legs. See if you can do the movement relatively symmetrical even if that means doing it less on one side. See if you can do it so your legs move relatively symmetrical and the amount of movement is relatively symmetrical to the two sides. Leave that and rest again.

12. Now turn your head to the other side. Put your hands there to fix your head and begin moving your pelvis on this side slowly, first one way and then the other. Is this the easier way for your head, does one direction for your head make it easier for your pelvis? One would expect because of the fact that you chose the first side that that would be the easier one, but it is probably not necessarily so. Just back and forth, feeling the twisting going through your spine.

12a. And go a little faster now. Just an amount of movement that is comfortable and pleasurable for you. Not too much. And leave that and rest again.

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So I think that one of the things we can see from this lesson is when we talk about organizing, constructing a lesson, that really it can be relatively simple to have a lot to it. It does not have to have a necessarily very complex structure to be an interesting, important, worthwhile lesson, especially when you are working with something really fundamental.

13. Put your head in your left hand again so your forehead is in your left palm and the other hand behind your head. Roll your head, keeping your lower hand still, roll your head with your right hand like you did in the beginning and just notice how that is. How well can you roll your head in this situation?

13a. And then move both hands. Perhaps your arms are a little more accessible also to support this movement of your head? It is the arm movement, it is not really the arms. Just a couple of times. And then pause for a moment.

13b. And when you are ready, check with your arms in the other configuration, with your forehead in your right hand. Just do a couple of each movements. What is interesting to you?

13c. And then fix your head in this position with your hands like this and once more move your pelvis left and right with your head in the middle. Just check overall how that movement is, winding through your spine at this point. You do it a couple of times slowly...

13d. ...and a couple of times more quickly.

And leave that and lie on your back. And sense overall how you are lying. Has this had an effect on how you sense your back? Your awareness you have of your pelvis, back spine, head? What about how your legs are lying? And once more roll your head left and right.

14. And then come to sit and to stand. In standing turn again like you did this morning, looking to one side and the other, just initiate the movement with turning your head.

14a. Begin to walk. And now stop for a moment and look forward, fix your head and turn. Just keep your head facing forward and turn, keep your head in the middle and move your pelvis, just like in the lesson.

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ATM Lesson 213: Rolling Head Between Hands with Pelvic Circles Source: Year 3, Segment 3, Tapes 211B-212ADate: 1999, August 3Teacher: Anke Feldmann

1. Lie on your back and listen just a short moment to the story the floor tells you today, how you feel, how you are contacting the floor, your sense of weight, your sense of breathing. Roll your head to one side and the other side, just to check in with that movement you have done as the last thing yesterday in the afternoon, just check in how is the quality of the movement to one side, to the other side. How is this movement connected down your cervical spine, your thoracic spine, your lumbar spine?

2. Then leave it again and come to stand on your knees. Stand on both your knees, you can choose yourself how far apart is comfortable for you and hold your head with your two hands. Put your hands on the two sides of your head, around your ears and just hold your head for a moment. Your head is really quiet, your head stays still, does not move. Start to do circles with your pelvis. And you hold your head, so your head really does not move in space. It does not move related to space, and it does not move related to your own body, so really keep it still. Notice the direction of the circles you chose. And have these circles be in the continuation of your tail, so you think of your coccyx, of your tail. It is like you are lengthening your tail down like you are an animal and you have a really, really long tail. And you do the circle with your tail. Notice if the circles are symmetrical. How far do you shift over to one side and the other side? Whenever you want, take a rest in between, of course.

2a. Then do the circles in the other direction. Of course you are free to change how your legs, your knees are placed on the floor.

2b. Then do some quick movements like quick circles in one direction holding your head still, and in the other direction. Just as quick as it is possible without your head getting involved. Take a rest in sitting.

3. Come back to stand on your knees. Again hold your head quiet with your hands somewhere around your ears. Now place your two knees very close together, your two legs are really close together. You have a smaller foundation now. Again start to do circles with your pelvis. Remember it is possible to breathe, it helps to breathe, and even if your head is really still, it might not only be your pelvis moving. If you remember the lesson we did yesterday afternoon with Elizabeth, it is about this movement traveling up your spine and you can feel a resonance in your spine. And can you sense how far up you can feel a resonance in your spine? So it does not really help to tighten your belly, or to tighten everything in terms to not move your head, it is another skill we have to develop here.

3a. And you can change over the circles. The head does not move in space and the elbows do not move. When you are done you can take a rest on your back.

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4. In lying on your back, put your right hand behind your head and your left hand on your forehead and then gently start to roll your head inside the right hand, you roll it with your left hand inside the palm of your right hand. So you can feel how the contact of the back of your head changes in your right hand. You roll it in the shape, in the space of your right hand.

4a. And change over your hands, so your head is lying inside your left palm and you do the same thing. When you are ready, let it go. Take a rest on your back.

5. Come back to be on your knees. And now put your right hand on the forehead and your left hand on the back of your head again, and like that standing on your knees, roll your head right and left. Notice how you are doing that movement, the rolling of the head, the turning of the head.

5a. Then keep the head still, like fixing the head with the hands in that position, so the head and the elbows do not move. Now again come back to the circles with the pelvis, and again listen to the shape of the circle. Is it a circle? Is there asymmetry, like a wider range of movement to one side for example? Take a rest for a moment in sitting.

5b. When you are ready, come to be on your knees again and change over the hands, so the left hand is in front and the right hand is in back and roll your head several times.

5c. Then keep your head still, fix your head and your elbows and come back to do the circles with the pelvis, with the attention to the shape of the circles, to the symmetry. You can change also the direction of the circles.

Take a rest on your back. Sense your weight again, the contact with the floor. Maybe roll your head to one side and the other side again and check in with the quality and the connection with that movement.

6. Come to be on your knees again. Put your right hand on your forehead and your left hand on the back of the head. Let us clarify what it means to roll your head. I know that you have done that with Larry, I think it was in the first year when you were rolling the head of a partner in FI. So you roll your head in a way that the contact between hand and head keeps changing. It is like a rolling wheel. So your hands are not glued to your head. You might try that one, that is a possibility, glue your hands to your head and then roll your head. Notice what is happening. How do you move in space then? And another possibility would be to keep your hands still and turn your head right and left. It is like your head is sliding on your hands. You rub your head on your hands.

Take a rest whenever you need it, have your hands and arms hang down. Do you remember that?

6a. So come back to put your right hand on your forehead and the left hand on the back of your head. Again roll your head between the two hands so the point of contact is changing between hands and head. Keep the fingers, keep the hands straight. It is the palm which touches the forehead. Keeping your hands straight even helps to clarify this changing point of contact between hands and head. Take

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a rest in sitting.

6b. When you are ready, come to do it with your left hand in front and your right hand on the back of your head. Get clear about this rolling of the head in this configuration. The hands are straight so the point of contact is changing. It is like a rock or a stone rolling over a surface. Put your arms down just for a second.

6c. One more time put your hands round your head, choose which hand is in the front and which is on the back and do the pelvic circles. Keep the head again still, the head and the elbows are still, so now it is like you are moving from the other end. It means that your head does not move in space, really make sure if your head is moving, forward, back, sideways or if it is really quiet. And think of doing the circles with lengthening your tail, your coccyx.

6d. Stop the movement of your pelvis and come back to roll your head, just two, three times and see if there is an improvement in the rolling of the head or in the circle of the pelvis. OK, take a rest on your back. Roll your head to one side and to the other side, just to check in if there is any difference in the quality of that movement, maybe in the easy range of the movement and also in the sensation of the connection to the spine, to the shoulders, to the rib cage. Can you roll your head from one side to the other side truly without interfering with your breathing, so your breathing is really, really undisturbed? And then rest.

7. Roll to lie on your belly and put your forehead into your right palm, so your forehead is touching the right palm, the left hand is on the back of your head. Then you lift your left elbow and you roll your head right and left with your left hand, just lifting the left elbow. It is a very simple, easy movement and your forehead now rolls in your right palm.

7a. Change over your hands so your forehead is resting inside your left palm and your right elbow is lifted off the floor and you roll your head. Again check in with your breathing so your breathing really is not interfering with the movement of the rolling of the head. You can do less, you can do smaller movements rolling your head, but make sure that you are breathing, do not stop your breath at any moment of the rolling of the head.

Turn over to lie on your back and take a rest.

8. Come to stand on your knees again. This time place your right foot standing so you stand on your left knee and your right foot. Put your right hand in front of the forehead and your left hand on the back of the head. Keep your head quiet, keep your head still so your head and elbows are not moving. Start to do circles with your pelvis and listen to the circles now. There might be more asymmetry occurring now, the shape of the circle being changed. Keep the head quiet as much as possible. And the circle is done by thinking of lengthening your tail. So where is the center of that circle? Take a rest in sitting.

9. Change over so your left foot is standing. Your left hand is on your forehead and the right hand is on the back of the head. Do circles again, keep your head quiet. Again notice the shape of the circle and where the center of the circle is now.

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9a. And change the direction of the circles. And take a rest on your back.

10. Come to stand on your knees. Again put your right foot to stand so your weight is on your left knee and your right foot. Place your left hand on the forehead and the right hand on the back of your head, so you change over the hands. Again start to do circles with your pelvis, lengthening, thinking of having a long tail, describing a circle. It is possible to breathe. It is the elongation of the tail, just imagine that your tail, the coccyx is longer. Change the direction of the circles. Your head is quiet.

10a. Change over your legs, change over your hands; so your left foot is standing, your right hand is on the forehead, your left hand is on the back of the head. Again draw the circles. Keep your head still, quiet. It also means that you look forward, that you do not look so much down or up or to one side. And change the direction of the circles.

Take a rest on your back. Roll your head to one side and the other side several times just to check in again with the quality of the movement, the range of the movement. Then keep it quiet, take a rest.

11. Then while lying on your back, put your right hand on the forehead and your left hand on the back of the head. You might bend your legs or have them long, I leave it up to you. Lift your head and roll your head right and left while it is lifted off the floor. This is a new challenge. You don't need to do it very long.

11a. Change over the hands, so the other hand is in the front, the other hand is on the back. You roll your head between your two hands while it is lifted off the floor. Take a rest again.

12. Come to be on both knees again. One hand is on the forehead, one hand is on the back of the head, I leave it up to you. You stay standing on two knees now and start to roll your head right and left. Your hands are straight, your fingers are straight, you are really rolling your head between your hands, it means the point of contact is changing all the time.

12a. And then while you keep on doing that, start to do a circle with your pelvis. While you keep on rolling your head, start to do again the lengthen tail circles.

12b. Stop the movement of the head, it means your head keeps still, quiet, you hold it with your hands, it does not move. And go ahead with the pelvic circles and notice if these circles got more symmetrical. So really you are doing more circles now.

12c. And while you do the pelvic circles, while you go on doing the circles, start to roll your head again. So you do the movement the circles of the pelvis and keep on going with that and then you add the movement of the head. OK, take a rest on your back.

13. Roll over to lie on your belly again. Put your forehead into your right palm and your left hand is on the back of your head, and the two elbows touch the floor, they are really glued to the floor. Maybe you remember you have done that in a lesson with Elizabeth

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yesterday afternoon. Now start to shift your weight, to roll your weight to the left side of your pelvis. Make sure your legs are spread enough, and it might be easier if your heels point inward. Then shift your weight to the right side of your pelvis, so you shift your weight to one side and the other side.

13a. While doing that, you can start to even draw up your knee a little bit closer to your head. So when you shift the weight and your pelvis more to the left, you can draw up your right knee a little bit. And when you shift the weight to the right, you can draw up your left knee a little bit. Just easy. Your head stays quiet and your elbows are on the floor. How far up can you feel that movement traveling through your spine today? Can you sense that shift of weight maybe happening clearer than yesterday? Maybe there is a clearer sensation about what is going on throughout your whole spine and your rib cage. Take a rest on your belly.

14. Change over the hands so your forehead is in your left hand and the right hand is on the back of your head. Your head stays quiet, your elbows stay quiet and again shift your weight in your pelvis right and left. And you can even draw up once the right knee, once the left knee.

14a. Do some quick, easy movements. Your head stays quiet.

Turn over to lie on your back and take a rest.

15. Come to stand on your knees. Put your right foot to standing so your weight is distributed between your left knee and your right foot. Put your right hand on the forehead and the left hand on the back of the head. Keep your head and your elbows quiet and do the circles with your pelvis again, with your tail. Did that get a little easier? Looks like.

15a. Bring your attention to your bellybutton, first just notice your bellybutton. You can imagine to have a pencil sticking out of your bellybutton. So you can imagine what kind of shape will that pencil draw on a board or something in front of you. Is this also a circle? Just pay attention to this circle for a moment, done with the stomach. And can you have both circles in your attention at the same time, the tail and the bellybutton? Take a rest in sitting.

16. Come to stand the left foot. Put your left hand on the forehead, the right hand on the back of your head and you keep your head still. You keep your arms still and start to do the circles with your pelvis again. Think of your tail.

16a. Then think of your bellybutton. If you like, you can imagine a pencil drawing a circle in front on a board, and you can arrange the board for yourself. So it is possible to do that, paying attention to both at the same time, to your tail and to your bellybutton?

16b. Then stop the pelvic circles and start to roll your head.

OK, take a rest, lie on your back, take a rest.

17. Come up to be on your knees again. Place your right foot on the floor, your right hand on the forehead and the left hand on the back of the head. Start to do circles with your

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pelvis again. You can go back and forth with your attention between the circles with your tail and the circles with your bellybutton and/or even have them both in your attention at the same time.

17a. And then while you are doing that you start to roll your head.

17b. Stop the movement of the pelvis, go ahead rolling your head.

17c. After some time while you still are rolling your head, bring in the movement of the pelvis again. Don't take it too serious. Take a rest in sitting, in lying or wherever you want to rest.

18. Come to stand on your knees and put your left foot to standing. Your left hand in front of your head, the right hand on the back of your head. You start to do circles with your pelvis, and you think of your tail and you think of your bellybutton or/and both of them at the same time.

18a. Whenever you feel ready you bring in the rolling of the head.

18b. Go ahead rolling your head and then stop the movement of your pelvis.

18c. Go ahead rolling your head right and left and have the circles of the pelvis join in.

Whenever you are finished take a rest on your back. Sense your contact with the floor and also again roll your head to one side and the other side. Maybe there is a new sense of freedom and a new sense of connection at the same time.

19. Come to sit with the soles of your feet facing each other. You put both your hands around your ears again in a way that your fingers are pointing backwards. So your right hand is on the right side of your head or on your right ear, the left hand is around your left ear and the fingers are pointing backwards. Like that again start to roll your head between your hands. It is the same movement of your head you have done before. It means that the top of your head stays in the same place in space. Again your hands are not glued to the head, so it is again that the contact between head and hands changes all the time. Your head is not so much bending forward or looking upward, it is just again rolling from one side to the other side. Take a short rest in sitting.

19a. Do that one more time. Put your hands around the head in the same way, your fingers pointing backward, your head turning right and left and the point of contact changing between the two hands and your head. So the top of your head really stays in the same place in space, does not move forward or backward or right and left. Now it is getting really clear. It means that the head is really again rolling along your hands so that the head touches different places of your hands.

20. Come to standing. Find a width of your legs or your feet where you feel stable, comfortable and have your feet be parallel, the inside of your feet are parallel. Put your hands in the same way around your head like you just did before in sitting, fingers pointing backwards, hands around the ears. Like that keep your head still, so your head, your elbows are not moving and come to do the movement, the circles with the pelvis. Think of your tail describing a circle on the floor. You can also change over the direction

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of the circle. The head is quiet, you can sense how the movement is traveling through your spine, throughout yourself. Your head keeps quiet. While you keep on doing these circles, think of the circle with the bellybutton.

Have your arms rest just for a moment. Notice how you are standing and how this circling the pelvis, keeping the head still and of course we are going to do the other way around in a minute, how does this affect your standing, your relationship to gravity?

20a. Put your hands around your head again in the same way and roll your head like we just did before, sitting on the floor. Roll your head right and left.

20b. Bring your head to the middle, both hands are around your head. Imagine that your elbows, your arms are resting on a small wall in front of you or on a small table, you can put them on a small table and keep them there, your elbows, your arms and your head are quiet.

20c. Come back to do the pelvic circles, keep the elbows leaning on that table.

20d. Whenever you feel like it change the direction also of the circles.

Take a rest in standing. Sense again your standing, the sense of being between earth and heaven.

20e. Put your hands around your head in the same way. Keep your head quiet and start to do the pelvic circles. Think of the tail or/and the bellybutton.

20f. And then start also to roll your head. And keep on rolling the head between your hands.

20g. Stop the movement of the pelvis, just roll your head.

20h. And while you keep on rolling your head, start again also to do the movement of your pelvis. One thing might be easier for you of course, first having the pelvic circles and then including the head, or first doing the rolling of the head and then the pelvic circles. Whatever, just go ahead and play with it. Wonderful! Take a rest in standing.

21. And start to walk around. How are you walking now? How is your pelvis moving, your whole spine moving? How is your head carried? How tall are you?

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ATM Lesson 214: Rolling to Side with Arm Overhead (Scanning from the Inside with One Eye)Source: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 212Date: 1999, August 3Teacher: Elizabeth Beringer

1. Lie on your back, put your right arm above your head on the floor, in a place where it is comfortable, straight above your head on the floor. And begin to roll towards your right side. However you want to do that. You roll towards your right side and then you go back again, back and forth. Find the simplest, laziest, most pleasurable way of getting on your right side. And when you land on your right side your head is on your arm. And just let your left arm kind of drag behind you. Start with your legs straight. It's really easy to bend your left leg and push yourself over, just do it now starting with your leg straight. Still you can push with your left foot, just figure out how you can do it from there. And then stay lying on your back.

1a. And put your right arm above your head on the floor. Now scan your right side from the fingertips of your right hand all the way down to the toe-tips of the right foot. Scan your right side with your right eye. So you just use your right eye and imagine that you are seeing all through the inside of that side with the right eye. It's interesting to notice as you do that what parts are easier for you to see with your eye. It's kind of a combination of seeing and imagining and feeling. Seeing, imagining and sensing. Which parts are easier for you, which parts are more difficult. So imagination is a kind of construction, as you do that you are also building your right side, you are fleshing it out again using what you are sensing, what you know, finding the dimension from the inside until you can go all the way up and down really clearly on that side. And then put your arm down by your side and rest for a moment.

2. Now begin to move your right eye left and right slowly. So your attention is on your right eye; your left eye is free to do whatever it wants but your attention is on your right eye. And you do this movement, moving your right eye left and right as smoothly as you can. So just like any other movement that you would do, you are doing the movement with your eye, working out the angle of movement, maybe if your eye is a little lower or a little higher it's smoother, working out if there is any sense of contraction or holding in your face that might interfere with the smoothness. And then leave that and rest again for a moment..

3. And put your right arm above your head again and again roll onto your right side and this time stay there. And put your left foot in front of you so your left foot is standing somewhere in front of you, the left one, the top one. And now push with your left foot so that you rock a little bit back, a little bit forward. So you are going to have to work out where you put your left leg so you can rock yourself comfortably left and right. You are rolling towards your back and then towards your stomach. Adjust yourself so that you can do this movement really repetitively, really comfortably. And your bottom leg is still

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straight. Your left leg is in front of your right leg. Now as you roll forward feel the length from your toes to your hand on your right side. So you have a feeling that you are getting longer as you roll forward. Roll back and then as you roll forward just have this idea of length and you have the sense of the whole span of your right side, that you were looking at before. And rest for a moment on your side.

3a. And then again in the same situation, the same position with the foot on the ground, and now you roll yourself forward and back, when you roll forward your right arm is straight. And when you roll forward actually lift your head off your arm and look towards your hand. So as you go forward you look towards your hand, and then when you come back your head just rests on your arm. And your left hand is on the floor somewhere in front of you so it can help you balance.

And leave that and roll over onto your back again. See where you land now, all this turning in different ways today. What you just did, what you sense in terms of the length of your two sides, the weight of the two sides. The readiness you have to turn one way or the other.

4. And now put your left arm above your head on the floor. And begin to roll to the left side and back again, onto the left arm.

4a. And now stay so that you are lying on your left side, your whole left side is straight. You can have your right knee bent and you just put it on the floor in front of you now for the moment, so you are just resting there. Put your top leg wherever you want so it's bent in front of you. The knee can be on the floor if you want. But the whole left side is straight. And now scan your left side in this situation with your left eye. Again going along in the internal part of your side. Constructing that, imagining that, imagining the seeing. And roll onto your back and rest on your back a moment.

5. And then again roll on to the same side, the arm above the head and now stand your right foot in front of you and rock yourself back and forth on this side. As you rock yourself back and forth you think as you rock forward of getting longer, the left side getting longer. It does not have to be a big movement, the rocking; just get that, really it can be kind of a subtle sense of the left side, the arm kind of growing a little bit. Doesn't matter if there is any movement.

5a. And then begin to look at your hand as you continue to do that.

And roll on your back again. What happened now during the few movement to the left side?

6. Just move your two eyes left and right a few times with your eyes closed. Just smoothly, slowly the two eyes, one, the other.

6b. Now do the movement so that you think that you are looking with your left eye to the right and with your right eye to the left and gradually let that movement roll you onto your side. So your right eye looks to the left and you roll to the left and your left eye looks to the right and you roll to the right. So you initiate the movement with the looking of one eye and you roll and then you initiate the movement back again with the other eye until you go all the way over on to the other side.

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6b. And then leave the movement of the eyes and just roll left and right. And when you roll left and right you land on that straight arm. Put both arms above your head. And you roll first onto one side and then on the other side. And now bring your eyes into the movement again, but this time in a more ordinary way. Just looking to one side and you roll and then you look to the other side and you roll. And rest again, just land on your back.

7. And then come to standing. And simply stand for a moment, feeling your feet, your legs, the solidity of the standing position. Close your eyes, just move your eyes left and right a few times, feel what it's like to do that in this situation. Does your head move a little bit when you move your eyes left and right? Does your head move more one way than the other. Now just open your eyes without looking at anything in particular, and then just look around nothing systematic, just look around, just stand there. Taking in the room, letting yourself move in whatever way to go with the looking. Nothing special. Begin to walk continuing to look. And have a nice afternoon.

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ATM Lesson 215: FlyingSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 213Date: 1999, August 4Teacher: Elizabeth Beringer

1. Simply stand for a moment, your arms hanging by your side, and check in with yourself in standing. Notice how you are upright this morning. Where do you sense efforts related to standing? How are your arms hanging? Notice your hands and your fingers. Are the fingers on one hand curled more than the fingers on the other hand? Is there a different sense in the way that your two arms hang? Maybe one is longer than the other. Sense where your head is in relation to your feet. Feel if your head is a little bit forward, to the left, the right, backwards.

2. Lie on your back again. And put both your arms out to the side, directly out to the side, straight on the floor, with the palms facing forward and with your legs long. Now begin with your right hand pressing all five fingernails into the floor. Press the five fingernails into the floor, so the palm is facing forward. Where is forward? It's the third year in the training, you should know where forward is, your forward. Your arms are straight out to your side, your palms are facing forward, whatever your forward is, that's where your palms are facing, and now you're pressing the five fingernails into the floor. Just the right hand. All five fingernails and then let it go. And notice, where do you sense that? As you press the five fingernails into the ground, you straighten your fingers. Just the right hand. Notice where you sense that in other parts of yourself. Obviously you probably feel it in your arm, perhaps somewhere in your back and chest? And notice you let the movement go and then you press all five fingers, notice how the fingers curl, and the act of straightening the fingers. So notice which fingers curl more, and if some fingers have to travel a further distance to get to the floor, your thumb also. Also the thumb, all five. So when you press the thumb, your arm will rotate a little bit. OK, and pause for a moment like this.

2a. And then begin to press one finger at a time of the right hand, so it's still the fingernails, the backs of the fingers. You press one at a time. Press it clearly and let it go. And then press the next one clearly. So you really can sense, what that action involves in the different fingers. So your finger lengthens, it gets longer. And as you continue doing this, think of your whole arm getting slightly longer, each time you press one of your fingers. Just a sense of length, as you press the finger into the floor. No effort involved with that length, it's just a sense of length, a shadow of length in the movement. And you really feel it's the end of the finger, it's the nail that presses. And pause again for a moment.

2b. And then make a gentle fist with your right hand and just press the thumb a few times. And you make a soft fist and just press the thumbnail into the floor a few times. So your hand, your arm will rotate slightly as you do that. And can you get that sense of lengthening also with your thumb? Where else do you sense this? Do you feel something in the side of your face, your neck? And pause again.

2c. Now press two fingers together. Press your thumb and your small finger at the same time. And alternate actually. First press your thumb, then press your small

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finger. The smallest finger, the one farthest away from the thumb. You press that one and then the thumb. Back and forth, so your arm again will rotate. One way and then the other way as you press like this. So you don't need to lift your hand off the floor. You don't need also to keep the whole hand extended. Just the effort that you need for first taking the thumb and then the pinky. That's the pinky —that's what you say in English. It's cute, very affectionate. And pause again, while I change my microphone.

2d. Now continue with the thumb and do the thumb and then each of the fingers. So you keep alternating the thumb, the small finger, the thumb and the forth finger, the thumb, the middle finger, you go like that. You notice the turning of the hand, the arm. See if you can continue having that sense of length, as you press the finger. It's a slight sense of lengthening through the arm.

2e. And then press all five fingers again. Press all five fingers at the same time into the floor. See if you can have all five of them really spread nicely and firmly coming into the floor. And that sense again of the arm getting a little bit longer as you do that. You don't actually make your arm longer, it's more subtle than that. It's just a slight image of length. I see some of you now really sliding your arm along the floor. That's not the idea. It's just more the feeling of the whole length of the arm as you do it.

And now leave that, put your arms by your side. And rest. And observe having done these movements with your hand. Where do you notice it? Again do you notice something between the two sides of your face? How many people notice something in one side of their face? Yeah, about three-quarters of the room.

3. And put your two arms out to the side again in the same way. Just notice the two hands as they lie there and the openness in the two hands. And then gradually begin to press the fingers of the other hand into the floor. All five nails of the left hand including the thumb. If it's uncomfortable for you to press the thumb with the fingers, just press the four fingers. I see some of you straining with that. So just press the four fingers and we'll bring in the thumb a little bit later. As you do this, are you focusing more on some fingers than the others? Do you have a sense of your whole hand doing the movement? Do you press more with certain fingers? Where do you sense the movement of this arm in other parts of you? Is it similar to what you sensed in the other arm, or the resonance that you feel in other parts of your trunk? And rest again.

3a. And when you are ready with your left hand, begin to press one finger at a time. So both arms are out to the side, you're pressing one finger at a time. So that includes your thumb now, too. And again having that sense of length. So that the finger really is an extension of your whole arm. So as you press your finger, you straighten your finger, there's a sense of the length of the whole arm as you do it. And then pause again.

This is a lesson I particularly love and it has also a certain sweetness to it, because it's a lesson I learned from Gaby Yaron — who as you know is no longer with us. So I've a really nice memory learning this lesson from her. She said, it's a lesson that she particularly had taught to musicians. I haven't actually taught it to musicians myself, but when she taught it to us it was in that context.

3b. So now bring your attention to your left arm again, and make a gentle fist and just

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press the thumb a few times. Just press the back of the thumb and notice how your arm will turn slightly as you do that. Probably it's a slightly different angle than your right arm. Can you sense if there is some difference to your other arm, or does it feel similar? It's hard to compare, isn't it, unless you go back and forth, when there are subtle differences.

3c. And now alternate, your thumb and your small finger. So you're really then turning your arm slightly one way and the other way. You don't try to turn the arm, the intention is to press the fingers and the arm will turn slightly. And again, how do you sense this in other parts of you?

3d. And then gradually bring in the other fingers, so that you press your thumb and then you press the fourth finger, and press your thumb and the third finger, like that, you go back and forth.

Rest again for a moment. What kind of difference did you sense between your two hands? One of them, of course, is your more dominant hand, one your less dominant. Is there a relationship? The more dominant hand, is that hand a little more contracted, a little more closed, or not exactly for you? That's often what one will find.

3e. So now make a gentle fist with your left hand. And take one finger at a time out of that fist to press it into the floor. In other words, you can find out, how much can you differentiate the one finger? So you may have to open the fist a little bit to get the finger actually to the floor, you find out what you can do. The idea is to see how much you can separate the fingers. Not so simple with the middle fingers, just see what you can do. See how much you can keep the fist curled and then really straighten your finger. So you're differentiating like that, some curled, one straight. Easy with the thumb, maybe not so hard with the pinky.

3d. And then do all five fingers again. All five fingers at the same time, just press.

And then put both arms down by your side. What do you notice now? Probably you notice some kind of difference in your hands, and where else might you be able to observe that you're in the midst of this lesson? Do you feel something on the other side of your face?

4. Now put both arms to your side again and press all ten fingernails into the floor a few times. All ten with the sense of lengthening. Gently straighten the fingers, a sense of the whole arm straightening.

And then leave that and roll over onto your stomach.

5. And lie in the same position on your stomach, with your arms directly out to your side. And a few times turn your head from one side to the other, just to observe this morning the difference in having your head to one side, having your head to the other side. Of course there is one difference just simply which side you're more comfortable on. And then what shifts in other parts of you as you do that?

5a. And leave your head facing to the right and pull up your right knee. What I mean by that is that you slide your knee up to the side. That's it. And now in this position begin to take all five fingers away from the floor, of the right hand, keeping the

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palm on the floor. So you actually will press the palm slightly into the floor as all five fingers come away from the floor. The palm really stays on the floor, and you take all five fingers away. And again, maybe even more clearly here, you can feel that sense of your arm getting longer. Really keep your palm on the floor, for now. That means your fingers won't lift that far, but find out if you can lift all five of them clearly from the floor. How much can you take them backwards? So the fingertips come from the floor. That's it.

This is one of the movements, you see, sometimes with people who start to get arthritis in their hands, this is one of the types of movements that starts to go, that people are unable to do. And in fact developing the ability to do it again often relieves some of the discomfort of arthritis in the hands. We do spend an awful lot of time closing our hands, not as much time fully opening our hands like this.

And rest for a moment.

5b. When you are ready, continue this movement, and now add the palm. So first you lift the fingers and then the palm. So it's a two-part movement, the fingers and then the palm. So your whole arm and wrist stay on the ground. That's it. Just take your wrist as far backwards as you can comfortably. A good chance, that'll get easier as the lesson goes on, so really you don't need to push it now. Really clearly the two parts: five fingers long and then bending the wrist backwards. Again as you do this, notice what's happening in other parts of you. Can you do it without a feeling of contracting anywhere? So there is this feeling of length and you don't feel this kind of sense of having to hold back somewhere, or counterbalance, or contract somewhere else in order to do this. Just pushing out. It's like pushing out through the palm. And rest again.

5c. Now a three-part movement: the fingers, the palm and then the whole arm. The whole arm comes away from the floor and moves backwards an amount that's comfortable. How far can you lift the arm from the floor comfortably this morning? So when you lift your arm, your fingers are backwards. So it's this three-part movement: it's the fingers, the palm and the whole arm. So when your arm comes away, the wrist is still bent backwards and the fingers are still long. That's it. The wrist is bent backwards as your arm comes away from the floor. There you go. How are you breathing as you do this? The wrist is bent backwards, the wrist is not straight. That means your fingers are pointing towards the ceiling as you do the movement. They start out and pointing towards the ceiling and then depending how much you've bent them. That's it, that's it. So your wrist is at kind of ninety degrees to your arm, more or less, we're not worrying about how exact that is. OK, that's the idea. And then notice just a couple more times what's happening, what needs to give in your back as you do this. What happens in your back, the rest of yourself, in order for your arm to move like this?

And leave that. Roll over on your back and rest on your back. We generally refer to this as the Flying Lesson.

6. Roll over onto your stomach again, and now turn your head to the left and pull your left knee up. Your arms are out to the side again the same way, and start to do the same movement with the left hand. Taking all five fingers away from the floor, keeping the palm on the floor. Start slowly enough to notice what kind of difference there might be on this side. Just your fingers, your palm is on the floor. And just taking the fingers away, all five fingers lengthening, they're straightening and they're bending backwards. You can

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really feel, clearly feel, do all five of your fingers actually bend backwards? Which one bends more than the others? Your arm is not coming from the floor now. And pause for a moment.

6a. And then do the same thing, the fingers, and then taking the wrist backwards, so the whole hand comes from the floor, gently. This is a movement that for some of you is really not so easy initially, and maybe is not so smooth initially. Just take your time with it and you can experiment with slightly different angles of movement of your arm as you do it. Part of what you want to learn here is, how to straighten your fingers with an appropriate amount of effort. So not to have to contract unnecessarily in the arm in order to straighten the fingers. There is the feeling of your arm getting longer, rather than shorter as you do the movement. You can experiment with a feeling of pushing out through your palm. See if that helps at all in the movement of taking the wrist backwards.

And pause again. Which is the side you prefer to have your knee up on. Is one side more comfortable than the other? This is related to what we were doing yesterday in FI. It rolls your pelvis like this — just noticing what you sense with that.

6b. And take your left arm straight out again to the side, both arms of course, and begin to do the movement in three parts now. The fingers, the palm of your hand and then the whole arm. The wrist is bent backwards as you do the movement. Again working with the difference between this lengthening and extending the fingers and contracting something. Notice what's happening in your trunk now, your shoulder blade. The movement that starts to take place, or needs to take place in order for your arm to move like this. Does your arm lift further on this side or on the other side? Is the quality different in some way on this side? What about the angle of movement? Some people, they lift the arm and it veers, it goes downwards or upwards, in other words the arm comes away from the floor, but moves down towards the feet or up towards the head, as you do it. Nothing particularly wrong with that at the moment, just noticing that, if that's part of how you're doing it. You can experiment with some different angles. It makes a difference in how you're able to move your shoulder blade.

And leave that. Lie on your back and rest. What's the overall effect you feel from this lesson? How does it affect how you contact the floor? In which part of yourself do you feel it most acutely?

7. Then roll again onto your stomach. And turn your head again to the left, and pull up the left knee, put both arms out to the side. The left knee is pulled up. And now gently turn your head to the right and put it on the floor. Notice what it's like with the head on that side. This is what we've looked at the last couple of days. Now we have the spine going in one direction at the top, and the other at the bottom. Take it back to the left again. Go back and forth a few times and just notice what adjusts in you, where do you feel the shift in your spine? Can you adjust yourself so that you are comfortable with your head turned in the opposite direction?

7a. Now leave your head turned to the right, and now begin to do the movement of taking the arm away from the floor with your left arm. This is the same movement you were just doing, the difference is the head is turned to the right. Three parts, the fingers, the palm, the arm, no rush. It's the left arm, not the right arm. The left

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arm, that's the arm, you're not looking at. That's it. Now see if you can really have a sense that your arm is lifting pretty much the angle that it's in. So you're not taking your hand down towards your feet or up toward your head, but as if somebody, you know, could kind of pull with a string your wrist; just go in a nice arc behind you. That's it. Your head can roll slightly as you do that, if you need to. And how is it different, what do you notice in your back, your shoulder blade, as you do this?

7b. Now turn your head again to look to the left, so you're facing the hand that you're moving, and move the same arm again, a couple of times. Ah, a little easier, huh? For many of you. Something happened.

7c. Now put your left arm down, both arms out to the side the same way, and turn your head again to the right. And gently take your right arm away from the floor. Now this is different, the other one was that your head was in the opposite direction. Now in this case your pelvis is rolled in the opposite direction. The left arm stays quiet, it's just the right arm coming away. What happens now?

7d. Now leave that and shift your legs. So bring your right knee up. And do the movement once or twice now with your pelvis rolled in the same direction. How is that coming along on that arm?

7e. Now turn your head, keep your arms down there, and turn your head gently to the left and back to the right a few times. So, for some of you it is just a lot of variations in this, some of you may find this is, you know, really totally comfortable, having the head in the opposite direction, and for some of you it's going to be really challenging. And different patterns, you know, one will be like really the twist that you like, you'll be comfortable there, and then a certain one will be the opposite twist to what you habitually do.

7f. And then leave your head turned to the left and take the right arm away from the floor a few times. Gently, don't push it. Find a way, still that sense of the arm being long, the wrist is back as you do it. Notice your legs. Do your legs need to be involved? In the most general sense, yes, but as far as actually contracting and lifting away from the floor, I think not. You just experiment, observe what's necessary, what really helps.

And turn your head back to the left and rest there for a moment. Sorry, back to the right. It's easy to tell if you've made a left/right mistake — people just stop moving in midair.

7g. And then go ahead and take your right arm away from the floor a few times the same way and just check how that is. Quite a shift for many of you, from where we started.

And then roll over onto your back again. Just remark to yourself all the different variations. Where was it that all of a sudden you really could take your arm further? Now of course, for some of you it may have been very gradual, but for many of you there was really a leap at a certain point. When was that? Were there certain variations that really made a difference for you? Roll your head gently left and right a few times on your back. Just to make sure. Again for some of you it may have been challenging having your head in those different situations. Just taking the time to roll your head, having that be as

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comfortable and smooth as possible. And observe overall how you're lying now, and what kind of sense this lesson leaves you with.

8. And then come to stand. Notice how you're standing now. Did this lesson affect your balance in standing, the way your arms are hanging? The feeling in your hands? Notice where your head is in space. And begin to walk. And we'll take a break.

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ATM Lesson 216: Rolling to Side to Sit, Straightening LegSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 215ADate: 1999, August 4Teacher: Anke Feldmann

1. Just lie on your back and check in with the floor and sense your whole back touching the floor. How far away is your lumbar spine at the moment from the floor? How high is the arc of your lower back? How high is the arc of your neck, your cervical spine? And you could compare these two curves of your spine — the length, the height and your whole sense of how the weight of your back is distributed on the floor.

1a. Then put your both legs to stand and get a hold of the outside of your right foot over the foot from the inside of your leg. Bring your right leg towards your chest. Slowly and gently start to lengthen your right leg and your right arm. And while you do that bring your arm and your leg slightly towards your right shoulder so like you roll your whole self a little bit to the right. Your whole body rolls towards your right side and come back towards the middle. Do that several times. And you can feel how your head is traveling to the right together with your spine. You are pulling your body to the right. And more and more get a sense of how the weight of your arm and your leg is traveling. It doesn't need any effort to do that. The left leg doesn't need to be bent up, so leave the left foot standing. Of course there is a moment in the movement when the left foot probably will leave the floor a little bit, but you don't put your left leg over your chest. Your left foot is down more or less.

Take a break for a moment and sense the effect of this movement in lying, in touching the floor.

This is a rolling lesson which you could easily teach to a public situation.

2. Come back to the same situation: bend both legs, get a hold of your right foot in the same manner and again lengthen your right leg and your body is pulled to the right side by the weight of your right arm and your right leg. And this time even elongate your left leg a little bit. So you can feel the left leg is like dragged behind the arm and the right leg. It will turn a little bit, it will be dragged but as effortless as possible. You leave the weight of the left leg just as it is and you try to drag the leg behind yourself. Don't lift that leg, leave it on the floor. Can you try to lift the left leg while you do the movement of pulling your body to the right? Can you sense that at that moment the middle of your body, your stomach is contracting a lot?

2a. Keep the foot on the floor and find a way to drag the left leg. You need to lengthen it and it can turn of course. It is more coming around yourself, while you land again on your back.

And take a rest. Sometimes we are so used to effort that we don't get aware about it and often we effort a lot in the stomach muscles in the front of our body — this is a real learning situation about not using this kind of effort, of force, but you really have the weight of the body doing the rolling.

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3. Come back to bend both legs to standing, get a hold of your right foot with your right hand and now also put your left arm over your head in a comfortable place lying on the floor and elongate your left leg. You can feel that your whole left side is long. Start again to pull your weight of your right arm and your right leg to the side and sense, can you also drag your arm over? It means that your left palm, your left hand is traveling on the floor above you to the right of your head. And your leg is doing the same thing. So you can feel how your left side is really long and your right side is getting shorter and is getting weight. When you are on the right side the arm and the leg come a little bit closer and then open again and you roll back to be on the back.

Take a rest on your back. Is there a difference in your right side, your left side touching the floor? Maybe in the length of the leg?

4. Bring both legs to stand. Get a hold of your right foot in the same way and just do the beginning of the movement. This is a reference movement. Just lengthen your right leg and have the weight of your right arm and your right leg gently draw you to the right. Your left foot is standing and easily coming with you. Did that get easier? Maybe it even got easier to lengthen your leg a little bit, maybe your chest is softening, knows better how to roll with the spine, with the movement. It's the whole spine orienting towards the side.

And then come to the middle again, elongate your legs, elongate your arm for a moment.

5. And bend your legs again and do the same thing on your left side. It means get a hold of your left foot with your left hand from in between the legs, get a hold of the outside of the left foot and your right foot is standing on the floor. Simply start with this shifting, pulling your weight over to the left, your left leg is elongating, your arm is a little bit elongating and you use the weight of the arm and the leg to roll to the side. It's no effort, it is really the weight of your limbs. Maybe there is a difference in your two sides. One side is easier, one side is a little bit more difficult. Stay gently, stay easy. The right foot stays more or less on the floor. Don't lift it. Take a rest.

6. Bend both legs to stand, get a hold of your left foot again and elongate your right leg as much as possible. It doesn't need to be straight. And again have your weight on your arm and leg rolling to the side and your leg dragged with the movement. The leg turns. Find these kind of movements which are possible in the right leg to follow the movements. You don't need to lift it. It is a big difference if we roll while we lift the limbs or if we just really use the momentum, we use the weight. Rolling is about momentum and weight, weight traveling. And the next time when you are ready to, you also elongate the right arm. So your whole right side now is long and your right arm is traveling over your head, over to the left side and your leg is traveling over. Your chest softens, the breathing really helps — your attitude towards yourself, playful.

Take a rest on your back and sense the contact with the floor. How did these two curves of your spine develop? You can guess that this lesson really needs a lengthening in the back, a letting go in the whole back. So you can sense now the effect of this lengthening in the back. What could we do to help that a little bit?

7. This is a little variation. Come up to sit. You could help if you see that people have difficulty to lengthen the leg. This is one possibility — there are many. Put the two legs

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standing in front of you, the two soles are standing and get a hold of your right knee with your left hand and your right ankle with your right hand and then bring your forehead towards your right knee. If that's not possible, you just stay in a comfortable arrangement. Stay in a comfortable place. It could be that your forehead is on the knee, it could be that your forehead is in some distance from the knee. But just stay there. This is the distance which is fixed. And now with keeping the distance between forehead and knee start to elongate your right leg. You can actually have the other leg dropped or maybe even lengthen it if you like. And just go as far as the distance between your forehead and your knee doesn't change and come back

7a. Come back to sit and change over, do it with the other leg. It is the left leg now. You have the left hand on the left ankle and the right hand around the knee and the forehead is on the left knee or some distance apart. Keep that distance and gently slide your leg forward and you can feel how that movement takes your whole back, your whole torso forward and it takes the pelvis forward. There is a rocking movement of the pelvis. You could also put your chin on your knee sometimes. You could play with variations like that. And stay very easy, very gentle. Don't thing of stretching or anything like that, just of bringing your foot forward. It is like you do a track in the sand with your foot. And you come back. Stay sitting for a moment.

7b. Of course you can do the same thing, the same variations also with both legs. Stand both feet and the right hand is around the right ankle and the left hand is around the left ankle and put your head in between your two knees. The two knees come closer together and you can lean your forehead in between your two knees and if that's not possible keep the same distance between your forehead and your knees and slide both of the legs forward and come back. Of course the legs won't get straight. It is just about going forward and coming back.

Take a rest on your back. What effect did these movements have on how you are lying on the floor? These are very powerful movements. How long is the back of your legs and how is your back touching the floor?

8. Bend both legs, bring your feet to stand and get a hold of the outside of your right foot again from the inside of your leg and again lengthen your right leg and your arm and the weight of the arm and the leg move towards the right side. See, how is that going? Your head is coming with you, the left side is lengthening. Put the left arm again up and the left leg long. Find a way to elongate your side and really drag the left arm and the left leg behind you. Come over to the side and guess where could we go with that movement? If the head is really coming over the left leg is coming over it is of course bending then on the side. You could come up to sit. Play with the weight. It is the right arm and the right leg swinging over to the side and the left arm the left leg swinging around you, being dragged around you and also coming over to the side. Only to the right. And then just have the head follow the movement and you will sit.

8a. When you come up to sit bend your legs. That's easier. You don't need to straighten them. And come back. And it is exactly the same trajectory if you come back. If you use a different one you will fall.

Come to lie on your back again. Take a rest for a short moment and remember rolling is not lifting weight but it is shifting weight, weight traveling and momentum (Schwungkraft).

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It doesn't mean that you use a lot of momentum at once like to jump over certain points. It means that you really could change the direction of the movement at any point, reversibility.

9. Put both legs to standing. Let's try the other side. Get a hold of the outside of your left foot and start to do the same movement again, of lengthening the left leg to the side and it is really the weight of your arm and your leg falling to the side. The right side is long, it is like yawning and being dragged with the movement around yourself, to the left side. The head is coming with the movement, the head is traveling with the spine and you can sense how the head needs to let go, the head needs to hang. And this is something not easy to do. for many people that would be very unusual to really drop the head, to have the head hang.

Lie on your back again and take a rest.So maybe you have a class and you see that people really have a hard time letting the head go. That's very unusual during the whole day when we sit, when we stand, when we function in daily life of course we don't let go the head. It is up there, it is held. It is very important. For many grownups it is a very unusual thing to do that. It is like they never do that. Children are doing it easily. All the time they hang from things and they stand on their head and they fall and they roll. But from a certain age it is like this kind of movement is not so familiar anymore.

10. Come up to sit again. Put both soles of your feet touching each other or looking at each other and get a hold of both feet again. The right hand, the right foot, the left hand, the left foot. And then start to bring down the right elbow towards the floor in front of your right knee. That means that also your right knee is moving towards the floor. Your right knee and your right elbow is moving towards the floor. What you need to do here, you can see that you have to have your head hang. And if you start rolling, why not. Many of you know the lesson but I didn't mean to do the whole lesson, I didn't mean to roll. Of course that's the beginning of that lesson. We only do it here to fill in a little understanding of how to really round yourself and to have your head drop.

10a. Try it on the other side. You don't need to roll, just drop your knee and your elbow in front of your knee to the left and have your head hang.

10b. You could try to kiss your lower leg. Just do the hanging and shifting your weight. And you see you get more and more control. So you can go from one side to the other. If you can do this you can do all the rest, you can do all the rolling.

You know that lesson — maybe many of you have taught that lesson. It is a great lesson for the public too. That one I teach today is a little bit more advanced. They could be taught after each other with the same theme.

Take a rest. How do you contact the floor? How did your two curves of your spine develop? Did they flatten out? Is more of your back in contact with the floor?

11. Stand both feet again, get a hold of the right foot, elongate your left arm and your left leg, roll over to the right side, don't get up to sitting and come back to the middle and now roll over to the other side, to your left side and use the weight of your right leg and your right arm. Just roll back and forward and see how you organize also your left side. When your left side is elongated and when you come on to your left side, let your left side come closer again together so your knee comes closer to your left lower arm and your left arm gets shorter. And actually you could come up to sitting here again. When you are rolling onto your left side again, you are bringing your knee and your arm

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together again and try to look at the sole of your right foot. That means that your right knee is pulling away from you. You have to turn out your knee, look at the sole of your right foot and that will bring you up to sit.

11a. Come to sitting, have the soles of the feet touching each other again and lift the right leg with the two hands and now you really want to look at the sole of your foot and see what happens. Get clear about that movement of what happens when I look at the sole of my foot? Where is my knee moving actually? It is moving outside. It is moving away. That's the movement we need. Take a rest on your back.

12. Let's try it on the left side. Maybe the left side has a surprise. Get a hold of your left foot with your left hand from the outside and your right side is long and then maybe you first want to go the other way, that means that you roll over to the left and you drag your arm and your right leg with you and then roll over to the middle and roll onto your right side. Your knee and your lower arm come closer together and now look at the sole of your foot. It means your knee is moving away. Come back to lie on your back and take a rest.

12a. Let's do our reference movement in between: stand both legs, get a hold of one foot with the same side hand and stand the other foot and just elongate, maybe it is the left leg and the left arm, then roll to the left side. Did this get easier? Come back to lie on your back.

13. Put both feet to standing, get a hold of both feet from the outside, bring your arms to the inside of your both legs and now lengthen your right leg and your right arm and roll a little bit to the right while you bend the left one and then roll over the middle to the other side. Next time when you are rolling to the right side and you lengthen your right leg you can roll further with your head over and put your left knee outside, you look at the sole of the left foot and then you come up. The thing is, the harder one tries the less one will succeed in this kind of movements. The moment we are going to do something usually we are shifting the neck. And then you can't do it.

Lie on your back. Just check in with the floor for a last moment. How did the two curves of your spine develop? Is your spine more in contact with the floor?

14. And just one more time stand both legs, we go back to the reference movement to really enjoy that.

Don't miss that when you teach because it is so much fun to do the first thing and you see how easy that is. It is no effort anymore to roll.

14a. Now you can find a way to roll up to stand and sense how your are standing now. What does it mean to roll around on the floor for 45 minutes? What is the effect? Do you feel more stable?

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ATM Lesson 217: Right Eye Telescope (with Elbows and Hands in 'Flapping Wings' Movement)Source: Year 3, Segment 3, Tapes 215B-216ADate: 1999, August 5Teacher: Catherine Krieger

1. Begin by scanning the way you lie on the floor, your contact with the floor, and orient your scanning this morning by comparing your right side with your left side. Compare your right side with your left side, how your heels are on the floor, your thighs, your calves, the space behind your knees, how your buttocks are in contact with the floor. Notice if at the beginning of the morning there are differences from the right to the left and continuing at the small of your back, and along your spine, left side, right side, how your rib cage recognizes the floor this morning, and your shoulders, how do you feel the air filling in? The right lung, the left lung, how the rib cage is moved by the air coming in, coming out, and both sides of your neck, and your head. Pay attention to your head, the way it's in contact with the floor now, how it's oriented, and your cheeks, right cheek, left cheek, right eye, left eye, and roll to your side and come to sitting please.

2. Bring both arms in front of you, join your hands, join your forearms, and point your fingers up to the ceiling, and separate your hands from each other, let your fingers go apart, your hands apart, and bring them back together again, and keep your wrists in contact with each other.

2a. While you separate your hands, and bring them back together, then separate your elbows from each other and keep your wrists and hands together, and alternate separating your elbows from each other and separating your hands from each other. One time your hands and one time your elbows, and along these movements the wrists stays together. You don't separate your wrists from each other and you alternate once your elbows and forearms separate, and then come touching each other and then the hands separate from each other, and come back and touch each other again. Alternate this movement quietly, do it easily, fluently, as if you were flapping wings. Imagine a bird flapping its wings or a butterfly flapping its wings. Look for a precise, easy smooth, simple movement. See where you can let go of tensions, which are not necessary.

Let go, have a rest, bring your arms down. Feel how you breathe. Have a look at your jaws, also how you sense your jaws.

3. Again, bring forearms and hands together in front of you, and this time point your fingers in front of you, not to the ceiling, but the whole forearm pointing in front of you. The elbows are together, the hands are together, and you continue flapping your wings. The hands, one time your hands, one time your elbows, the wrists stay together, your fingers are pointing forwards in front of you, forwards. Feel the difference in this orientation of your arms, how does it work in your shoulders, in your back. Don't force it. Do what you can do without forcing, keeping the same ease, and preciseness of movement, the same quality. How do you breathe in this configuration, in this orientation?

3a. Now continue, and orient your arms, your forearms, your hands toward the floor,

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down, and continue doing it when your arms are oriented downwards. Separating hands, separating elbows, alternating hands and elbows, keeping the wrists together, flapping your wings, but this time oriented towards the floor, downwards.

Have a rest, lie down on your back, and again have a look at yourself with your inner eye, how are you lying on the floor now? Is your attention drawn to a specific place? Roll to your side and come back to sitting again.

4. Sit in a comfortable way. Bring your forearms and hands together and this time begin where you want to begin, hands pointing upwards or forwards or downwards. And in the orientation you begin with, change your orientation flapping your wings. If you begin up, fingers pointing upwards, you slowly draw an arch with your forearms and progressively, while you are flapping your wings, separating hands and then elbows alternately, you change the orientation of the forearms, and you go from hands pointing upwards to hands pointing downwards. Going through the middle, and take your time to keep the movement smooth, precise. At the same time paying attention to the movement of your hands and elbows, keeping the wrists together and change orientation in space. Little by little, your hands change orientation. Your forearms, your hands go from up to the middle, downwards. How do you breathe while you change the orientation? While you make this arch, downwards and upwards? Do you organize your breathing and the movement together? Or does your breathing stay free?

Stop a little bit, let your arms down and close your eyes.

4a. Now imagine. Imagine that you look from behind your eye, and put your attention on your right eye. Look, from behind your right eye as if you were looking through a periscope, beginning at the back of your head and going forward to your eye. To the surface of your eye, your attention on the right eye. Maybe the word telescope is more appropriate than periscope, because periscope has an angle at the end, and telescope is like a tube. It's the idea of the tube coming from the back of the head, and through your head and going forward to your eye and up to the front of your eye. As if you had to travel all along this tube, to come to the surface. And in front of your eye, see how does it influence your way of looking, when your right eye looks through a telescope? How do you look at the world? With your right eye through a telescope, the left eye is free doing whatever it wants to do.

5. Then come to your back. Keep your attention on your right eye, and consider your right eye like a window you are looking through, from the back of your head, from behind, look through your right eye. With your eyes closed, feel at the same time how your breathing is influenced by this way of using your right eye, looking through the window from behind. Through the window of your right eye, feel your right cheek, the right side of your neck, your right shoulder, and go down to your foot. Keeping the idea of the right eye working like a telescope, slowly.

Keeping the idea of your right eye being a window you look through the telescope of the right eye, roll to your side and come back to sitting.

5a. And just notice, remember, did you get up turning to the right or to the left? Did you do as you do usually? And now point your hands downward, as much downward as you can when you are sitting. Forearms and hands downward, and again begin flapping your wings separating hands, elbows, keeping the wrists

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together with the same quality, the same smoothness. And at the same time, look down through this telescope of the eye, of your right eye. Your hands are pointing downwards, and keep pointing downwards, and organize your looking through the window of your right eye downwards. And then little by little, go with your forearms to the middle and begin the arch again, upwards, and at the same time, the telescope of your right eye goes also upwards. And as your arms change orientation in space you look through your right eye, through the window of your right eye, also changing orientation in space. And at the same time your forearms are changing orientation in space, while the fingers point up, the telescope of your right eye is oriented upwards, and while the fingers are pointing downwards, the telescope of your right eye is also oriented downwards. Orientation of arms and orientation of telescope, the right telescope is the same.

Now stop, let your arms rest, feel your right shoulder, your left shoulder, and your jaw.

5b. Again bring your arms together, continue the flapping wing movement, and this time go with the telescope of your right eye in the opposite way, opposite to your arms. When your hands point upwards, the telescope of your right eye goes downward, and when the arm goes from upwards to downwards the telescope of your right eye goes from downwards to upwards. Keeping this kind of looking that comes from behind your eye, as if your eye would be a window, through which you look. When the arch is going upwards the telescope of your right eye is oriented downwards, with the same quality, same ease, the same smoothness. And breathing, why not?

Again rest please. Please lie down on your backs. What happens very often when you have a group of beginners, beginning ATM, people very often are tired by the attention they pay to the movements they do. Much more tired of the quality of attention than the effort they make to do the movement.

While you are lying on your back, compare again right side left side. Compare the right side to the left side, and for example compare the length of both legs, the space you have in front of each shoulder, the length also of each side of the neck. You can also compare the muscle tonus of your cheeks, making a tiny movement of the right cheek, and a tiny one with the left.

5c. Roll to your side, come back to sitting, again use the telescope of your right eye, initiating your look from the back of your head. Looking through the tube of the telescope, through the window of your eye, your right eye.

6. And put your forearms together pointing upwards or downwards, any orientation is fine to begin with. Begin again the arch of your forearms, upwards, downwards, going through the middle, flapping the wings, with the same quality, fluidity. Changing orientation little by little, this time, with the telescope of your right eye, look once to the right and once to the left. While your hands and forearms are going upwards and downwards, the telescope of the right eye goes right and left. Notice if you do it turning your head, or if you do it without turning your head. Using only your right eye, change whatever you have done at the beginning turning or not turning your head. Do it the other way. Right and left while your arms are going up and down. Be attentive to keeping the same quality. Have a rest, let your arms go.

7. Come back, lie on your back, and while you are lying on your back, go with the right eye

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to the inside corner of your right eye. Orient the telescope of your right eye towards the inside corner of the right eye, and from the inside of the right eye make a quarter of a circle upwards, and come back to the inside corner. Each time you go from the inside corner of your right eye upwards, begin with a quarter of a circle, and little by little, go a little bit further, to the outside, towards the outside corner of your right eye. Make it bigger each time you come back to the inside corner of the eye, and then you open to the outside corner of the eye. Going little by little to half a circle, from the inside of your eye toward the outside of your eye, of your right eye, and continue making it bigger. Going each time a little bit more from the right side, from the inside corner of the right upwards, and then to the outside corner of the right eye.

7a. Then a little bit downwards, and make the circle. Make progressively a circle, bringing it to half a circle and making it bigger and bigger, little by little, and from the outside corner go downwards. Let the telescope from behind your eye, from the back of your head, turn around from down, go back to the inside corner of your right eye, and to finally make a whole circle, circling around your right eye. Imagine the light of a lighthouse in the sea, that goes around your eye.

7b. Change the orientation of the circle, go to the opposite circle. This from the inside downwards to the outside corner upwards. Make circles in the opposite direction and at the same time keep aware of how you are lying on the floor. How you breathe.

Have a rest, now again use the telescope of your right eye and simply look right, look to the right, and let the eye come back, let the telescope come back, and several times orient the telescope of your right eye to the right, and let it come back. Just notice, what's happening when you orient the telescope of your right eye to the right, and you continue doing it. How can you feel your pelvis? You're breathing. How do you feel the whole right side of yourself compared to the left side? The intention of looking to the right, and actually looking to the right, how the movement of the eye, even if you have your eyes closed, as most of you have, the intention of the right eye influences the way you are lying at the floor. And your whole self.

7c. Now roll to your side and come up to sitting again, notice how you have come up to sitting or how you are doing it, and when you sit, how do you experience your right side? How do you experience the left one? How is the right buttock on the floor, the left one? If you open your eyes, how much light do you have in the right eye? How much light in the left one. And the side of your neck?

8. And again join your forearms and hands. Do the flapping wing movement again and notice in your hands and forearms, is there a difference from the right hand to the left hand? Right forearm to the left forearm? Right shoulder, left shoulder?

8a. Now keep your left arm still, leave it as it is, and only with the right hand do the flapping movement. Only with the right hand, and keep your left arm still. Begin in the orientation you like. Only your right arm moves. The right elbow separates from the left one. The right hand separates from the left one, and the left arm stays still. Then you change orientation, the left arm only changes orientation, it does not do the flapping wing movement. It's only there so that the left elbow and hand have... point de repËre ...in space — who can help me? A what? A landmark, aha, thank

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you. The left arm is like a landmark in space and the right arm is moving. At the same time, the telescope of your right eye goes right and left. Many things to do at the same time. Only the right arm makes the flapping wing movement, the left arm is moving but staying as a landmark, and you make the arch with your arms going up and down. The telescope of your right eye goes right and left. Do you notice how many differentiations you need to do this? The left arm stays still, the right arm moves, both arms move up and down, the right eye goes right and left, and maybe at the same time you breath. You keep aware of how you are sitting.

Have a rest. Because most of you are lying on your back, please all of you come to lie on your back. It will be the next step, beginning from your back. And again look through the window of your right eye, look to the right. While you are looking to the right imagine how you organize yourself to come up to sitting. Looking to your right, letting the eye come back, looking again to the right, how do you organize yourself to come back to sitting? How does the movement of your right eye, looking through the window of your right eye, how does it influence? How can you organize the way, all the way up to sitting? What would you move first? And very clearly for yourself, what would you move first, to come up to sitting, while the telescope of your right eye is moving to the right and coming back. How do you organize yourself?

9. And little by little do it. What are you going to move first? Second? One step after the other. Do you use your left leg first or the right one? What moves first? To which side do you intend to get up? And go all the way up to sitting, and when you are sitting, stay in sitting, continue to move the telescope of your right eye to the right, and let it come back.

9a. Continue, first by imagining, how can you organize a way up to standing, and at the same time you let your right eye from behind, from the back of your head, you have it turned to the right, all along the tube of the telescope, how do you organize yourself to come to standing? And very clearly, precisely, where does your weight shift? What moves first? Where are your intentions? Right, left, which leg do you have in front, left one, the right one?

9b. And little by little, come up to standing. Do it, and keep aware of how you do it. Continuing the movement of your right eye. Looking through the window of your right eye, right and back, and right and back.

9c. Keeping the same movement of your right eye, come back to sitting and organize your way back, your way down again.

9d. Now stand up faster, as if there were a danger somewhere. Stand up faster. How can you protect yourself by standing up very fast? And several times come down again, sit and stand up very fast, and see how your right eye can organize a movement, can organize the intention of standing up. Bring it to something real effective.

9e. And a last time again, stand up very slowly, being aware of each part of you moving in space. How do you organize yourself, keeping the telescope of your right eye busy looking to the right, coming back? Stay on your feet, and scan the way you are standing now. How much you are upright now? How do you feel your right side, your left side?

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Now when you are standing open your eyes and notice how you experience your left side. Begin to walk. How are you going to organize yourself to begin to walk? While you walk, turn to one side; turn to the other side. Do you use your eyes to turn? And how do you use your right eye? And left eye? In addition, while you are walking look at each other, look at your eyes, what's your right eye saying? What's your left eye saying? What story does the left eye tell? And let's have a break.

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ATM Lesson 218: WalkingSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 217ADate: 1999, August 5Teacher: Elizabeth Beringer

1. Notice as you walk, are you orienting yourself more to one part of the visual space than an other? More to the left? More to the right? Don't do anything about it. Just notice, is it situational? In other words, maybe if most of the people are to your left, maybe you orient yourself more to your left. And then maybe, as you change to an other part of the room, you orient yourself more to the right. Or maybe you just have a strong pull to one side whatever you're doing. So, just notice, really as far as the space around you to the left and to the right, if the space around you has a shape, what would that shape be? It is like, as if you extend the boundaries of your person, pass the boundaries of your skin and you said what your personal space was, what would it be?

You know, that something that is kind of being studied by psychologists in different cultures, people have a very different sense of closeness and space and of course between individuals also.

But even if we would kind of draw these kind of outlines around us, we would find they're bigger on one side than another. Does your space include space above you? Does it include the space around your feet and legs and is it mainly around your head and shoulders? And what about in back of you?

1a. Now bring your attention to your shoulders as you walk. And notice if you swing one shoulder forward when you walk in a different way than the other one. And notice the swing of your shoulders and how the arms are hanging. Notice as you walk the bending of your elbows and the movement of your shoulders. Sometime, actually, the shoulder that swings less, that elbow sometimes moves more. Because it is always this balance between some moving, some not moving. What about the angle of your arms, does one arm swing in front of you more than the other?

1b. Now begin to walk so that you exaggerate what you're doing. It means, you take the shoulder that is going forward more, more forward. And you take it forward really in your way, not in an artificial way but in your way. This is like what we've been doing in the FI. You find out, maybe, does your shoulder swing to bring your arm in front of you? Does your arm really go out to the side? Do you shorten a little bit on that side? See if you can find really what you do, so that it just feels like if you glide into it, it is so smooth. You do it and you exaggerate it.

1c. And you'll find out as you exaggerate it, then what happens with your legs. Are you stepping now differently with one leg than the other leg? Maybe one of your strides is longer? Maybe one side of your pelvis goes forward in a different way? Get a sense of what you're doing with your leg and then exaggerate that too. So by then, you'll have a very strange walk! You're looking for something that should fell strange but cozy (laugh).

OK, and let that go. Of course, we're laughing together! And then, just walk. So, by exaggerating the way you walk like, what happens?

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(Cut in the tape.)

1d. ... forward, now you take that hand and put it on the thigh of your opposite leg. As you walk, you're going to slide that hand down your leg a little bit. So now, you're going to keep taking that arm forward, and you're going to organize it so it's part of your walk. It means, as you step forward with that leg, you slide your arm. It means, your shoulder is going forward but now in a more constrained way. So it is interesting, some of you really prefer to do it when you step back with that leg, when you're leaving your leg behind. And some of you're doing it when your leg steps forwards. What did you decide on? Notice what happens in your trunk when you do this. Those of you who are doing it with the leg behind, bring your leg in front. In a moment we'll do it your way. Right now, you have the hand sliding as you step forward.

1e. So now, exaggerate what you're doing with that leg. So you bend your knee a little bit more so you can slide that hand a little bit more. You kind of bend that leg up. It is before you take the step. There you go! Now again, notice what's happening in your trunk. Could you make this into a walk that looks a little more natural? (laugh) Whatever natural means to you? OK, and leave that and just walk.

2. OK, now bring your attention to how your two shoulders are swinging, your arms.

2a. And begin to take the shoulder that goes back more backwards. Just at the exact same time it goes back more and in the same way, as much as possible. So it is just the same way that you are but a little more like that. Is there a rhythm that goes with it? Is there an orientation that goes with it? Does this mean that you occupy that space on that side a little bit more? Or it could be the opposite? It could be that you really keep the other side of the visual space as part of things. Again notice what's happening with your pelvis. What happens with your legs as you do this? And begin to exaggerate what's happening with your legs. And if it feels like totally awkward, stop and just walk for a moment. Then do the movement with the shoulder again, get comfortable with that rhythm and bring the leg in again. We're looking for something that's an exaggeration of something you're doing. Not to unfamiliar. It doesn't have to be too extreme. OK, and just simply walk.

2b. Now put that same shoulder that you were taking backwards, put that arm behind you so it is pointing to the opposite leg. And do the same kind of movement we were doing before. As you slide your shoulder back, you slide your hand down your leg. I'm not going to say what you're going to do with that leg, you just see where is your leg when you go to slide that shoulder back. How much do you bend to the side? How much do you lean backward? How much do you breathe? This is really useful, you know, if you need to scratch yourself behind or something like that!

OK, and leave that and walk. So notice what effect this have on how you're moving now. How are your arms hanging? Which arm crosses in front of you more?

2c. Now put the same arm in front of you and the same arm behind you. And really

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with a light movement, not too exaggerated, you just keep doing that kind of thing that one shoulder's going forward and one shoulder's going back. You do this funny twisting kind of thing. Of course this is going to twist you to one side. How do you cope with that with your head. Some people bend their head to the side, some people turn their head, some people keep their head going in the opposite direction. What happens with you? Does the movement affect your head in some way? I mean, of course, it does. How does it affect your head? Your arms are sliding. OK, just take a rest walking.

2d. And as you walk, notice the relationship between your diagonal hip joint and your shoulder. So there's one diagonal and then the other. Is one of them more pronounced than the other when you walk? You're just walking normally now. What is the relationship when one shoulder goes forward? Does the opposite hip comes forward also? Does that happen more with one than the other? Now go ahead, and exaggerate that diagonal that feels to you to be the stronger one in front. Now, how would you exaggerate that? What could you do? What's the movement in the trunk when you do that? Imagine there is an elastic between your shoulder and your hip joint and let that elastic pull them together. So they really are pulled together and you're exaggerating. It means, you lift that leg more away from the floor. You did a lesson like this last segment but you were on your back. And then, walk again.

3. So by choosing to exaggerate a certain aspect of what you were doing, now when you're walking, are you more like that? Did it slightly de-emphasize that, slightly decrease that? What happens for you? Now, just like in the demonstration with Renate, what I was showing, I was looking for a pathway that was really easy with her one way, and in the opposite way not. When you're actively doing something one way, that's going to actually inhibit it slightly in the other way. With what you've been doing now, we don't have that all picture but we have some of it, part of it.

3a. So now, begin to take the other shoulder forward. Don't exaggerate it. Just a little. Well, it is an exaggeration because you're taking it more forward than you were already taking, but not too much to start with. And just observe what effect that has. Could you integrate that as much as possible into your walk? And observe what happens in your trunk. So it is interesting, some of you are now really 'out of sync' with your walk. You want to pretend you're walking down the street. OK, so, can you bring this shoulder forward more but pretend you're out for a stroll? So you look kind of normal. OK, you can go ahead and exaggerate it a little bit more. So what happens with that? What does that ask for in your trunk? Is this really unfamiliar? And leave that and just walk.

3b. Now take your arm across on this side, so that you're sliding down your leg. So, you integrate that movement as much as possible. And this movement makes you close that diagonal a little bit more. So, you can get that movement going.

3c. And then, put the other arm behind. So the two are going together. You might want to slow down. What happened with the rest of your walk? Which side do you step with more? This is really interesting: what happens with your head? In most of you it is not a symmetrical difference. In other words, if you looked to one side before, you don't necessary look to the other side now.

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And leave that and walk again. Now doing a little bit on an inhabitual side, what happened with that?

3d. Now go ahead and walk so as to exaggerate both diagonals. It means, once you lift one leg up and on the next step you lift the other leg up. It means your knee comes toward your shoulder and your shoulder comes toward your knee. Find out if you can doing this smoother and smoother. That it has a nice rhythm too. You could do it for a while. What's happening in your middle? Some of you could get your trunk more involved and it would be easier. What about that, what about the middle, not just the shoulder and the leg? All right, leave that and walk again.

3e. Now go ahead and walk a little bit faster. What happens when you walk faster? Other than you have to pay more attention. What happens with the swinging of your arms? OK, slow down again.

3f. And go ahead and walk backwards. What happens with these diagonal movements as you walk backwards? Are they there? Can you exaggerate them? Could you kind of flop your arms around behind you as you walk? When you move forward your arms swing in front of you, can you do the movement now so that your arms swing in back of you? You don't have to be fast. Some of you look more elegant going backwards! (laugh)

OK, and go forward again. And just check over all. How are you swinging? How are you moving? How is the space around you? And have a great dinner!

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ATM Lesson 219: Jumping HurdlesSource: Year 3, Segment 3 Tape 217BDate: 1999, August 6Teacher: Catherine Krieger

1. Stretch arms and legs and settle down on the floor. Find your space, your place. Feel how you make contact with the floor. How do you breathe? How is your rib cage willing to breathe? And sense your heels in contact with the floor.

1a. Begin to turn your feet, to orient both heels towards the right. And let your toes come back, and several times, turn both feet, toes towards the left, in order to turn your heels towards the right. And of course you may have more distance to make with one foot than with the other one. You may already notice that something is happening in your knees, in your pelvis, by turning your feet to the left, to orient your heels to the right. Pause for a moment.

1b. And again, turn your heels to the right. The front part of your foot to the left, and while you do this, separate your legs from each other and let them come back. Turn your heels to the right and at the same time, separate both legs from each other, being aware of what is happening elsewhere in yourself while you turn your legs this way and while you separate your legs from each other. Keep your legs more or less straight while you do this. And imagine when you do this, that you are jumping over something, as if you took a big step or just jump because you are happy, making a big leap.

Have a rest. Stop jumping and bring your legs together for a rest. Feel how you are breathing, how you feel the small of your back? Take care of yourself during this ATM and be careful not to struggle, again paying attention to all of yourself, all that's happening.

2. Separate your legs from each other. Again with the idea of jumping, making a big, big step in space. Stay with your legs apart from each other, the left leg to the left, the right leg to the right. Stay here. And now, take your left arm on the floor, the palm of the hand facing the floor and go with your left hand toward your left ankle. Slowly, quietly, don't struggle. Explore what it is about, to slide your hand on the floor, your left hand toward your left ankle. The legs are turned, mostly straight. Don't really try to succeed, it's only half the way, the half of the way, or your intention to slide your hand toward the ankle. Which part of yourself does it bring into movement, to have the intention to slide your left hand toward your left ankle while you are separating both of your legs?

Stop and have a rest. And again, have a moment to feel how you are on the floor, how the contacts are changing. And listen to the changing in yourself! And is there any sensation of tension? Is it a message to you to be more careful, that you may do the same movement with less effort? Trying less to succeed, and observe your sternum, the upper part of your back. Do you have the feeling that they have already moved? Were they part of the movement?

2a. Again, turn your legs, toes to the left, heels to the right and separate both legs, more or less, keeping the legs straight, more or less keeping the upper part of the

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back on the floor. And at this time, each time you separate your legs, slide your right hand towards your right ankle. You may feel a big difference in organization between the previous movement of the left hand towards the left ankle. Also this time don't try to succeed. Begin the way of the right hand towards the right ankle, to initiate this way is important, not to succeed.

(Tape interrupted.)

3. Now again, turn your legs to orient your heels to the right. Separate them in a comfortable way and at comfortable a distance between them. Stay there with your legs straight, apart from each other. Bring your arms to each side at shoulder height and freeze the upper part of your chest, arms, neck, head; make a block out of the upper part of yourself. Keep that together, not independent from each other, and then, while this upper part of yourself is 'frozen' — your legs apart, heels turned to the right — move the upper part of yourself to make a big arc with your hands. The right hand going towards the right ankle and taking with itself the whole upper part of your body.

3a. And then alternating, orienting the upper part of yourself, so that the right hand goes towards the right ankle, coming back, and then slide the upper part of yourself to the left to move your left hand towards your left ankle. Between this movement and the one you did do before, when you where sliding only one hand towards one ankle, you freeze the upper part of yourself and you slide the upper part on the floor, both shoulders on the floor, the back of the head on the floor, your face keeps oriented towards the ceiling. And you slide the upper part of yourself both arms together, with the shoulders, the neck, the head in one block to the right and to the left as if you would like to touch once the right ankle, once the left ankle. Organize the space around you.

Stop again and rest. How do you breathe now? How is your rib cage willing to move when you breathe? What do the contacts with the floor tell about the way you did the movement? Is there any sensation that tells you that you really have taken care of yourself?

4. And again turn your feet to orient your heels to the right and separate both legs from each other as we did at the beginning of the lesson and feel how it works now. Has something become clearer? How does your pelvis move when you separate your legs from each other? How big is your leap now? How easy? What echo do you have in yourself when you separate your legs? Is your chest, your neck, your head concerned by the movement now?

4a. Now, turn the heels to the right and separate your legs from each other. Does your breathing have something to do with the movement? Can you breathe in a specific way, maybe to facilitate it? Can your breathing be an actual part of the movement? And again, have a pause.

5. Now again, orient both heels towards the right. But this time, bring your right leg to the left and the left leg to the right. That means the right leg goes over the left leg. And you separate your legs from each other, the right leg goes over the left, and the left leg goes backwards towards the right. And of course, the trunk is more and more inclined to turn. You turn your heels to the right, and you keep your heels turned to the right as you cross and separate your legs. Stop and have a rest.

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5a. Again, turn your feet, the front part of the feet towards the left, the heels towards the right. Cross again the right leg over the left one, separate them, the left one goes behind the right. And the right leg goes to the left. When you are with your legs separated and stay in this position, turn the back of your head towards the floor, your face towards the ceiling. Come back with your head to the left. Come back with your head forwards. At the same time, bring your chest towards the ceiling, also with your head.

Have a rest. How is your breathing? Listen to your sensations. See which attitude is developing in yourself. Something between struggling or abandoning? So find something in between, to continue doing not to struggle not to let go completely. Exploring in the direction that is proposed.

6. Again coming to the same position, turning your heels to the right, crossing the right leg over the left. Separate your legs. And this time again with both hands and both arms, with shoulders, your head, your neck, once go with the right hand towards the left ankle and see what is happening with your neck, with your head.

6a. And then you change orientation. You orient the left hand towards the right ankle. See what is happening in the upper part of your chest, in your neck. Try different orientations. For example: with your chin, your face can stay completely oriented towards the ceiling, your chin can go away from your throat. Some of you are also fixing the chin near the throat. Try all these different ways of orienting your head. Explore which orientation of your head brings movement in the upper part of your chest that can help to separate your legs to jump, to make a leap. Be careful. Explore.

Have a rest. See how you feel yourself on the floor, how you breathe, how you feel your neck, the upper part of your chest, your shoulders.

7. Again, one more time, turn your heels to the right. Cross the right leg over the left, separate the legs from each other. Stay with your legs apart from each other. Lift your right arm in front of you towards the ceiling, and take the shoulder off the floor and bring it back to the floor. Do what you can. Stay there, bring your arm down. Just a short time.

7a. Again lift your arm again towards the ceiling. Bring it in front of you and at the same time you lift your shoulder you lift your head off the floor. And you bring shoulder and head down, back to the floor. How do you breathe in this movement? Which part of your rib cage does it move? Bring your arm down. Have a short rest.

7b. Again come into the same position, the right leg crossed over the left one. Separate your legs from each other. And this time, bring your left arm in front of you, oriented towards the ceiling and lift your left shoulder off the floor. Do what you can. At least you can have the idea of lifting the left shoulder off the floor. And with your left shoulder you also lift your head off the floor. How do you orient your chin when you lift your head? It's not so much lifting your throat, it is more lifting, bringing your forehead, your chin towards the sternum. Maybe you can help yourself with breathing.

Again stop, have a rest. Uncross your legs, come onto your back. Do you feel a big

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difference between right and left? We are going to counterbalance the other side.

7c. Again come to the same position. The right leg cross over the left leg. Bring both arms in front of you towards the ceiling. And alternate once the left arm, once the right one. And each time, you lift also your head. You lift the head with the right arm, right shoulder, and you lift your head with the left arm and left shoulder. And bring your head forward at the same time you bring your arm forward. How do you breathe? Is the movement easier? How can the breathing be part of the movement? As much as lifting the head and lifting the shoulder off the floor? What happens in your sternum when you do this? Have a rest.

8. Have a rest. And when you are lying on your back, breath in and push your belly out; and when you breath out, draw your belly in. Come into the seesaw movement of belly and chest while breathing in and out.

8a. Continue by doing the opposite breathing, that means when you breathe in, draw your belly in and when you breathe out, push your belly out. Continue the seesaw movement of belly and chest in this way now. Stop and have a rest.

9. Again turn your heels to the right. Cross the right leg over the left one. Separate your legs. Turn your chest towards the ceiling as much as it's comfortable. Stay there. And do the seesaw movement with breathing, with chest and belly. When you breathe in you push the belly out. When you breathe out you draw the belly in. And you do this movement while you are in this position with your legs separated from each other. When you draw your belly in, let your chest expand towards all directions.

9a. Continue by doing it the opposite way. When you breathe out, push your belly out, flatten your chest; and when you breathe in draw your belly in and expand your chest.

Come back. Have a rest. Notice how this breathing effected your contact with the floor and your general feeling of yourself. How is your neck? And you may notice, that after working with the diaphragm in this way something releases and opens a new door. Working with the diaphragm with breathing in the middle of a difficult lesson very often calms down or makes things smoother.

10. One last time, come into the same position. Cross the right leg over the left one, turning the heels to the right. Interlace your fingers in front of you. Make your arms round. Make as if you where hugging a ball in front of you. Now roll this ball right and left, keeping it round. Roll it towards the left and orient your left elbow towards the floor, and then roll it back in front of you and then to the right and go with your right elbow towards the floor. And make a round smooth circle, rolling this ball from right to left. Bring your hands down.

10a. Again come into the same position. Make a circle with your arms, interlace your fingers again. At this time, when your right elbow is near the floor, push your left leg behind backwards, and when your left elbow is near the floor, bring your right leg forwards. See what happens in your rib cage, between your shoulder blades. How can you have less effort in the small of your back and let your rib cage move differently? How can you breathe? Make your breathing part of the movement.

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Undo your legs, have a rest.

11. Check again the movement of the beginning. Stretch your legs, turn the heels towards the right and separate your legs from each other. See how it goes now. How far can you separate your legs from each other easily with comfort? What happens now in the small of your back? In your rib cage? In your shoulders and your neck? Where does your head go with your action? How big would your leap be now? How high would the hurdles be now you could jump over? How light would be your leap? And imagine it light, high and light. Come back and rest.

11a. Now slowly turn your heels, orient them towards the left. Slowly, quietly, knowing that in turning your heels towards the left, the whole movement is already at its beginning. Potentially, the whole movement is done by turning your legs and having the intention to separate them from each other. And do the very beginning of the movement of turning your heels to the left and beginning to separate your legs from each other, not more, just the beginning. For some of you, it's a very big beginning. Do it very small, light, comfortably.

11b. At the same time imagine it bigger, more complete. Do it small, imagine it big.

12. Turn again your heels to the left, separate a little bit your legs from each other and now imagine again the telescope from the right eye, looking from the back of your head through the window of your right eye, keeping the heels turned to the left, the legs a little bit apart from each other. Now, with the telescope of your right eye, make a big arc as if you like to look behind you upwards. If you did it actually, your chin would go away from your front, your head would go backwards. Just imagine it, not more. Imagine also while you do this arc backwards with the telescope of your right eye, imagine your sternum going forward. Imagine also how you breathe while you do this. Come back. Have a rest.

12a. Again turn your heels to the left, orient your toes to the right. Separate a little bit your legs, while you separate your legs, again with the telescope of the right eye, draw this arc to expand your chest, to bring your sternum forwards. Make it very, very small and stay there. Continue breathing. Then come back and have a rest.

12b. Now again, turn your heels to the left, separate your legs from each other, make a small leap. Do it small and imagine it big, this time towards the right. And notice how your whole self is involved in this leap, jumping on the right side. And now come back, stretch your legs and do it to the left and alternate between left and right. Once to the left, once to the right, doing it very delicately, imagining it high, light, easy, comfortable.

Stop. Have a rest. Now, at the end of the lesson, how are your contacts with the floor? How do you feel it if you compare right to left? Is it different? Do you feel a big difference?

13. And take your time to roll to your side, over the one that you prefer now. Stand up. How do you feel when you are on your feet? Before walking, have a few moments just standing. And then, slowly begin to walk and take a few steps, thinking that each step is a small jump. How do you feel your walking now? How do you experience it now, after this lesson of jumping? What is going on in the small of your back, in the lower part of

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your rib cage, in your sternum? How do you breathe while you walk? Where is your head oriented to? And your eyes? Where do you look while you walk?

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ATM Lesson 220: Flying IISource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 218ADate: 1999, August 6Teacher: Elizabeth Beringer

1. And roll so you're lying on your stomach. Put both arms out to the side. And notice which way you turned your head to; by now you are probably very aware of which way you comfortably turn your head to, with all the things we did this week. Turn your head once to the other side, and notice what shifts through your back and pelvis as you do that. Is it equally comfortable on the other side, or not? Very different?

1a. And leave your head facing to the right and pull up your right knee so that you slide your right knee up — slide the knee up to the side so the whole leg is on the ground. And in this situation begin to do the movement with your hand, where first you take your fingers away from the floor, all five fingers. Do that a few times. Just take all five fingers from the floor. And then take your fingers and your palm from the floor. First your fingers, then the whole hand, but your wrist stays on the ground to begin with. Just notice how you can extend your fingers this afternoon.

1b. As you extend the fingers, lengthen your arm slightly, so that image of your arm getting a little bit longer, maybe a movement — more an image, more a sense. And begin to extend this movement to a lifting of your whole right arm. And observe now how that's taking place. You might remember the lesson a few days ago, you might not; you're not ambitious, just doing what's easy. Noticing how the rest of your trunk shifts to make way for your arm, the movement of your shoulder blades sliding toward your spine. And rest for a moment in this situation.

1c. Now turn your head to the left, gently. And a few times, take your right arm away from the floor in this situation. So you've got the support of your pelvis, but not of your head. So what happens now? It's very probable that you can't lift your arm as much, but what restricts you? How is the movement different, and what is it that asks you to stop? Don't fix your head on the floor; your head can still roll slightly. And leave that; turn your head again to the right and rest for a moment.

1d. Now let's see, what makes more of a difference, having the head turned in the same direction, or the pelvis. So now straighten your right leg, and bend your left knee up. And go ahead and take your right arm away from the floor slowly. So now you have the support of your head, but not of your pelvis. Which is more important for you? What happens on this side now, how is the movement different, with your leg to the other side? Don't push it, you're going to lift the arm many times, so no need to be ambitious; plenty of other times to lift it. Each time you extend your fingers. Just notice what limits you now, what makes you decide to stop.

And now turn your head to the left and rest. So, we're not going to be staying in any one position all that long, so you can always adjust yourself as we go along; if you need rest in a slightly different situation, please feel free.

2. Now bring your attention to your left arm, and do the movement a couple of times, just with your hand. Lengthen the fingers. Keeping the palm on the ground to begin with, just

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lengthening the fingers. So you press your palm onto the floor. And then have your whole hand come away from the floor on this side. Do you have that sense of the arm getting a little bit longer? And then gradually take the whole arm away from the floor. And as your arm comes away from the floor, your wrist is bent slightly back. Not so much that it's unpleasant in some way. It's kind of three points, your fingers, your hand, and then the whole arm, so your wrist is bent back, that's it. It's kind of like a bird where the feathers at the end, the feathers that they can control to fly in different ways; they can look like fingers on some birds. And notice on this side, what's the difference; is this the easier arm for you, or less easy?

And rest for a moment. Now turn your head to the other side, to the right, just rest there for a moment.

2a. And bring your arm away from the floor. You can always imagine any of the variations that aren't comfortable for you. If for any reason one of these variations is not comfortable, just imagine it so you can stay with the lesson. That's it. So, again you have here the support of the pelvis for the movement. How does your shoulder blade slide now with your head turned differently? How is your spine able to adjust? You feel a twisting in your ribs. And then turn your head back to the left again and rest.

See, in this lesson we're going to do a lot of different variations, not necessarily that long.

2b. And now again, to be systematic, change your legs. So straighten your left leg, bend up your right one, and a few more times take your left arm away from the floor, and find out what's that like. Which of these four positions is the easiest for you. It's not really four, it's six; we had six different variations. What happens now with your head in the same direction, the pelvis opposite; just thinking, "What could give so my arm could go further?" It's asking that question, it's being open to that, but without pushing. Notice what happens with your opposite shoulder; does your opposite shoulder lift away from the floor or go towards the floor? Which helps more? Turn your head to the right and rest.

If you want to rest on your back, go ahead and rest on your back; this is a good moment. This position came up in my group, people asked "When would you choose to give somebody a lesson on the stomach?" And there are a number of answers to that. One thing I often ask people is what positions do they sleep in, particularly if someone tends to have pain when they wake up. Then it can be very interesting to give them a lesson in one of the positions that they sleep in. A lot of people sleep on their stomach with the knee pulled up. That's one of a variety of ways one might get to a position like this. That's kind of a very intimate thing, you think, like, you're giving a lesson in the domain where they sleep, and how many hours a day we spend sleeping? A lot of people report as they begin to — they take a class, or probably a lot of you have experienced this, the positions one sleeps in change, it becomes more possible to sleep in a number of different positions.

3. So roll again onto your stomach. Turn your head to the left and pull your left knee up. And now begin to take your arm away from the floor in this position, and check what that's like. Both arms are out to the side. Just notice all these different variations. Is that any easier; to take the arm back with both the head and the pelvis in more of a supporting roll, shall we say?

3a. Now as you continue doing the movement, let your head come away from the floor, lift your head away from the floor at the same time. What's the orientation that would most help the movement of your arm? Where would you look in order to

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most support the movement of the arm? How are you breathing as you do that; does it help to breathe in, to breathe out? Your head comes really away from the floor. And rest for a moment.

It's nice, it's always nice to tell people to do what they're already doing; half of the class is resting and you say, "Rest now."

3b. Now, turn to the other direction, have your right arm out and change your legs also. So you have your right knee up, you have your right arm out, your head is turned to the right. This is the first arm you lifted. And go ahead and take this arm away from the floor and observe what it's like on this side. Just once or twice. And begin to add your movement of your head. Take your head away from the floor. Great, and rest for a moment.

3c. Now when you're ready, take both arms away from the floor now. It's a different kind of thing, isn't it? Go ahead and do that, sort that out. So, since both shoulder blades are moving towards each other — now you don't have the support of the twisting of the spine, the spine's not going to twist because that would inhibit the movement of one shoulder. So your spine's going to be quiet now, and now it's really more like flapping your wings. Both shoulder blades go back.

3d. And include your head now, take your head away from the floor and turn your head to the other side. To the left, and down, and then to the right. So each time you take your arms away from the floor, you turn your head. There we go. And again, check that the angle of where you're looking is supporting the movement of your arms, as much as possible. And rest for a moment.

And people are resting every which way. Some people have their head turned in the opposite direction, some people have their legs straight.

3e. And then, now straighten your right leg, and pull up your left leg, and do the same movement now with your left leg pulled up. So first of all, you take both arms away from the floor on this side. So this is an interesting way you can sense what's going in your back. And really notice, are you changing the angle of your arms? Your arms start out really out to the side, and then as you bring them together, are you taking them downwards?

i. Everybody do that a few times. Really take your hands downwards, so that your hands are more around your pelvis when they come towards each other. You feel a different part of your back coming together, maybe it'll emphasize more lower in the shoulder blades.

ii. And now do the movement taking your arms a little bit more upwards as you bring them together. That's harder, isn't it?

iii. OK, then just do it straight out to the side. Where is straight out to the side?

3f. And then begin to add your head, so your head shifts over to the other side as you take your arms away from the floor. So you do that now with this organization, with your back rolled in this way. One side and the other side. Really make sure you're not holding your breath. There's a quality that some of you are developing, where there's really a feeling, a floating kind of feeling. It's not like you're in a hurry to get to the other side. You're going to float up, and then you float over to the other side. See if you can do it in a way, so it's like you have all the time you need to get to

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the other side. There's a certain kind of rippling that can happen in the arms. Yeah, there you go. All right, and lie on your back and rest.

This is one of those lessons where it's interesting, the beginning movement, how limited it is compared to as the lesson progresses. And it's usually a lot about what one feels is accessible to do a movement like this. And also the efforts that are made in the beginning to lift the arm are sometimes exactly movements that inhibit lifting of the arm, and that gets sorted out as the lesson's progressing. Notice how you're contacting the floor now.

4. And then roll so you're lying on your stomach again. Turn your head to the easier side, and pull up the knee on that side. Put both arms directly out to the side. And now, begin to make a circling movement with your left arm. So again, you're going to have that wrist bent back, always the wrist is bent back. And you take that arm away from the floor and begin a circling movement. You decide on the size of that circle. You can start smaller and then get bigger. But it can include so your arm really goes back as part of the circle. It goes up, down, back. So as you do the circle, eventually it gets large enough so that your arm is really moving in that backwards orientation, as far as you're comfortable. And go in the other direction. It's just the left arm — I'm sorry, just the arm you're looking at. This is one of those confusing things where you've got everybody doing the different side; just the arm you're looking at. And rest for a moment.

4a. And then take this arm that you're facing away from the floor a few times and just check how that's coming along. Once or twice, just to observe from the beginning until now.

And then change your head over to the other side and your leg over to the other side. And just rest here for a moment.

4b. And then begin to make a circle with this arm. fingers are straight, wrist is bent. Breathing as you go. Your neck and head are free to move to help with the circle. Be aware also of the opposite arm; there can be a tendency to contract there or raise that arm away from the floor. Again, have that other arm be free to move towards the floor if you need to.

4c. And now bring your head into the movement, so your head also really starts to roll. If you want, your head can come away from the floor. Just, your head supports the movement of circling your arm.

4d. And go in the other direction.

4e. And then let your arm down. And then check on this side; just take your arm directly back, just to check from the beginning.

And lie on your back, take a rest on your back. Notice now, you're lying on the ground; is your back making nice contact with the floor? If you feel you need to do some rounding movements, bring your knees up, please do that. "Feel you need to" means that the idea sounds like a nice idea. Just hold your knees up near your chest, and rock there. Left and right or — you have lots of variations of this now, so you can choose what to do.

5. And then one last time roll on your stomach. Both arms out to the side. And you pull up whichever knee you prefer. Actually, have both legs straight and have both arms out to the side, and just notice how your head and neck are lying now. And turn your head gently to the other side and notice what it's like to have your head to that side. Over the

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week, has just the position of being on your stomach become any more accessible, any more comfortable for you? And pull up the leg that's more comfortable for you.

5a. And begin to take both arms away from the floor. And then each time you take your arms away from the floor, you again take your head away from the floor. Turn your head now to the other side now as you lift your head. And really be in the space now, so you're going to start really looking around and looking up. And play with the movement of the arms. You still have the fingers back. The arms just float with the head, and they come down again; breathing. Feel this movement all through your back, the middle of your back.

And rest to whichever side you like, with your head; just pause for a moment. And change your legs over.

5b. And when you're ready, do the same thing on this side. Really feel that your head is very free to turn. Just that last few times, working with that mobility of the head, the head moving around the axis as it turns, so even though there's definitely work involved with this — there's effort through your whole system — that doesn't translate into having your head become stiff. Your head is really moving. That's nice, that's good. You look like a flock of birds now.

And then stretch out your legs again and rest on your back. And again, if you want to do some movements, put your hands behind your head and bring your knees toward your elbows. Those of you who feel like that's a good idea, an appealing idea. Just take them towards each other and apart, breathing gently as you do that. And as you're lying there, think back over the week; the things about the week that were significant for you, that you want to remember.

6. And now, when you go to get up, get up in one continuous movement. It can be slower, it can be faster, but it's from lying on your back to standing, in one continuous movement without hesitations or stops. It doesn't matter the speed, just that it's got a directionality to it; you stand. That's it. And take a moment in standing to appreciate the effects of the lesson. Is there an effect on your uprightness? Open your eyes and notice where you're looking. Some of you, your heads are in a situation so that you look up; I can see it. Just nod your head slightly. Slightly up, slightly down, just until you settle in a place where it feels comfortable. Just tiny, tiny, micro movements. And find the place where you feel that you have the most length, where you feel tall without effort. And begin to walk. And have a great weekend.

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ATM Lesson 221: Hands Like a BookSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 218BDate: 1999, August 9Teacher: Chris Lambert

1. So, in usual fashion, please lie down on your back. Take just a moment to settle down into the floor. Let all that business of fighting the traffic, or driving to work — let all of that go. And please remind me if I go too fast or if I break into Australian slang. Tell me that I'm saying something silly and I'll try very hard to do it in Franglaise. So notice, how's your pelvis contacting the floor this morning? We've done this many, many times; what do you notice today?

1a. When you pay attention to your pelvis, do you pay attention to the size of your pelvis? Or the weight? Do you make comparisons? Do you feel one side and then the other, or do you feel the whole? Do you feel what's there or what's not there? Do you feel the contact with the floor or do you feel the space where there's no contact? Do you feel comfort or discomfort?

1b. So now, just specifically, pay attention to how much space there is under the small of your back. That's in the lumbar region, between the pelvis and the ribs in the back of you. If you were to fill that space up, what sort of packing would you put in there, how much would there be? If you were to fit that packing hard, and then take it out — it's a mold — what sort of shape would it be? A dinner plate? Half a bowl? And then leave that. Put the shape aside, we'll come back to that right at the end of the lesson. So store that shape somewhere beside you, in your imagination.

2. And then roll up and come to sit. And sit with your legs straight out in front of you, wide apart. Lean back on your arms, have your hands on the floor. Have them comfortably wide in front of you, but not stretched out. And in this position, begin to blow the belly forward. Arch the back, roll the pelvis, blow the belly forward; and then allow it to roll back again. So that you contract the muscles, the back flexes a bit, and you roll off the sitting bones. And roll back and forth like that, blowing the belly out forwards and coming back again. And roll back and forth through the middle, so that you're equally forward and back on your sitting bones. Find a way to breathe so this is easy.

2a. And then, just to begin to find out if you really are in the middle, lift the right sitting bone off the floor. So you begin to roll back and forth, forward and back, just on the left sitting bone.

2b. And when you've established what that feels like, do the same on the right sitting bone so that you roll back and forth; truly asymmetrical.

2c. And then come back to the middle, which is halfway between those two positions, and roll back forth. Each time you're going forward, blow the belly out, blow it forward and then pull it back in. Back and forth, so you really establish what it feels like to flex and extend the lumbar spine.

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And when you're clear on that, roll back down and take a rest on the floor. As you rest back down, take the opportunity of just checking in on your pelvis; find out again how it's contacting the floor, what the sensation is like.

3. And then roll back up again. Come back up to sit, again with your legs spread-eagled. Your arms are behind you. And keeping the right knee straight, begin to lift the right leg to the right and bring it back to where it is now. So you lift it up, take it out to the right —straight leg — put it down, pick it up and bring it back again. And go back and forth like this, picking up the right leg without bending the right knee. And each time you pick it up and take it out to the right, feel the possibilities of bringing the belly forward and back, so you engage that same movement that you were doing just before.

3a. And add to this movement: each time you take the right leg to the right, lengthen the heel away from the knee. That means the toes come up towards you, and the heel moves away from you. It's as if you bend the ankle to make the heel further away from your hip, and the toes closer to your hip. Feel whether that makes it easier to blow the belly forward and to curl it back again. Don't bring the leg all the way back into the middle, just bring it back to where you had it before; it doesn't have to come all the way back in.

3b. And then do the same thing on the left side; take the left leg out to the left, bring it back — not all the way to the middle. Again extending the heel away, so that the toes are flexed up towards the knee. The toes are closer to you, the heel's further away. It's as if each time you lift the leg out, the heel reaches away from you, and pulls through the leg and up through the spine.

And then pause in sitting, just rest for a minute. You might like to bring your legs in a little closer, or rest your arms.

3c. And then again arrange yourself so you're resting on your hands, with your legs straight out in front of you. This time, roll the right leg in a little bit; it means that the toes point inwards and the heel points outwards. And then lift the right leg to the right with the leg rolled in like this. Find a way to lift the right leg right and back in again; but the heel's out. So it means that the heel comes up as you lift to the right, and the toes go down. And go back and forth like this; notice whether you make it a large movement or a small movement. How do you decide how far to take your leg out to the right? Each time you go out to the right, the heel leads out to the right, and the toes are in; so that the heel points to the right, and the toes point to the left.

3d. And take the left hand and put it over to the right side with the right hand, so that you're actually leaning over to the right of yourself. Both hands are on the floor. And in this position, begin to move the left leg left. Again leading with the left heel and the toes stay in. Go back and forth. Have the hands fairly close together. You'll notice that this moves your pelvis; you've got no choice but to have your pelvis tilted.

3e. And then as a comparison, do the same thing on the other side. Bring your hands over, take the other leg out and back again. You might like to swap — do a little to the left, a little to the right — see which for you is easier.

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And then give it up. Lie back down, when you're ready, and take a full rest. As you're resting again, pay attention to how your pelvis is resting on the floor.

3f. Roll back up to sitting again. Have your legs wide apart. Rest your arms behind you. Just once or twice, roll the belly forward and then back again, just to establish what it feels like.

3g. And after you've done that a couple of times, roll the toes inwards, so they're pointing towards each other and the heels are pointing out and away from each other; and leave them in. And in this position begin to roll the belly forward and back again. So the toes are pointing inwards, that means the hips are turned in; the heels are turned out. You roll back and forth. Feel, how far forward does your belly blow? How much does it round in the back? And how much of an arch do you make in the back?

And then leave that, roll down into lying.

4. Bring the little finger side of the hands together in front of your chest, so that the tip of the little finger and the heel of the hand are together; as if you're making a book out of the hands. The elbows are bent, the arms are comfortably in front of you. And begin to take the tips of the fingers — the palms are apart, making a book, so that the thumbs are not together, and the palms are open wide to your face, so that the palms are parallel with your face. And you can feel the edges of your little fingers all the way through, but your thumbs are not touching. The thumbs are out wide.

4a. And in this position begin to take the tips of the fingers up away from your chest, towards the direction that your spine is traveling. So if you're thinking about the line your spine makes, your arms begin to travel up over your head, over your forehead, over your hairline; as if they were going to move to face downwards on the carpet over your head and back again.

4b. And each time you take your arms up over your head, towards the carpet, bring your elbows closer and closer together. So the elbows touch. As your hands are over your chest the elbows are apart, and as the arms travel up, over your face and over your head, the elbows come together. And as you come back down again, the elbows peel apart; all the way back, until your hands are just left together as a book. Find a way to do this so that as the arms go up over the head, the forearms gradually come together, piece by piece; the edges of the fingers, and then the wrists; the lower forearms and then your elbows. And then as your elbows come back down over your chest, they begin to peel apart; the forearms come apart all the way to the wrist. And then pause, rest your arms for just a moment.

4c. Draw the right leg up to stand, please. Stand it in a place where it feels possible to be able to push the floor away with ease. And again, bring your hands together in this book, and as you take the hands up over the head, push with your right foot so that you begin to roll onto the left side. The pushing foot works with the arms so that as the foot pushes, there's a sense of this power moving from the foot through the knee and the hip and up through the spine, and the arms continue the movement up over the face. And then the whole lot rolls back, piece by piece, until

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you come back onto your back again. And there's the sense that from the foot all the way through the spine can be influenced by the pushing foot on the floor. There'll be length through you. When you think there are twenty-seven vertebrae, think how many joints that is. That as you push through the foot, and move through the ankle and the knee and the hip, all twenty-seven joints, one after the other as you roll over onto the left side. Arms continue the movement up, the elbows still come together, as you roll over onto your left side. And leave it, pause.

And when you think about it, the spine is an incredible piece of architecture. I don't know how many joints there are in the spine, but if you think that each rib coming into the spine has three articulations just for itself; every time you do this, every time you push your foot on the floor, you move this through you. Each rib's going to rotate with its articulation in the spine. I think there are at least — well, there are twelve ribs, so there are at least thirty-six articulations just for the ribs alone in the spine. It's a really beautiful piece of architecture. And when you think of the possibilities of space between each of those vertebrae, that there's a possibility of lengthening through the spine, of increasing the distance between the sit bones and the top of your head. And none of it, absolutely none of it happening in a straight line. All beautifully engineered curves, each one working in support of the next, integrated and whole.

4d. So now stand the other foot, the left foot. Bring the hands back together again. And this time begin to push with the left foot, so that you roll over onto the right side. The hands move up, the elbows come together. And as you roll back, onto your back, the arms come back down, the elbows peel apart, but the little finger side of the hands stay together. And as you push with the left foot, have the sense that this pushes all the way through and generates the movement in your arms, so that you begin to feel that the arms glide up over the head in response to the pushing of the foot. You feel the top of the head move away from the heel of the pushing foot. And there's a sense of length through the torso, without the head having to arch back. The reaching hands are enough to give you the direction of where the pushing foot brings the movement out the top of your head. And when you're ready leave it.

Rest for a moment. You can think that the rests are as important as the movements. There's the opportunity to feel what's pleased to be back on the floor, what might have been overworking just a little. There's a sense of coming back and being able to check, feel what your contact with the floor's like now.

5. When you're ready, roll over onto your side; come up to sit, with your legs long and straight. Bring the arms to your sides, level with your hips, so that you're not leaning back on them, you're just sitting forward a little bit. But the hands, the heels of the hands, are on the floor. And in this position, begin to roll the belly forward again. And each time you roll the belly forward, you feel the back arch, pay attention to where the top of your head goes. So just feel, as if somebody has a piece of your hair, and they were pulling just very lightly forward. So it's not possible to lean back on your hands. Your hands are sort of level with the sides of you. It's not a very stable position necessarily. But just for a moment, establish that it's possible to roll the pelvis forward and feel that the head comes up and out of your trunk without having to arch backwards. And then pause, rest on your hands for a minute; it's not all that easy.

5a. And then again, come forward. Sit with your legs long and bring the heels of your hands back together again, as you did when you were lying on your back. And begin to take the hands forward and up, so that as they travel up towards the ceiling, the elbows come together, and the arms direct the torso and the trunk,

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forward and up — there's no sense that the head goes backwards. This movement is forward, and the fingertips, if anywhere are going towards the ceiling in front of you, but never behind you. So err towards going too far forward rather than going too far back. And feel as you go forward like this, what happens to your belly? Can you feel any rolling forward and back underneath your pelvis? Go gently. Is there a way of incorporating your breathing into this, so that, if you like, it facilitates the movement? The breath adds a dimension to the reaching forward and up of the arms that doesn't interfere with the smooth quality of reaching up and forward.

And then leave it, rest back down again. Rest comfortably. So the lumbar spine only has five vertebrae, but quite big, structural vertebrae. And the surface between the vertebrae is not smooth, it's not flat. So there's the opportunity of making quite a distinct arch in the small of the back. They're very large vertebrae for exactly the reason that they're there to take weight. They're there to support the structure of the upright individual over their pelvis. So as you're lying there now, feel where those five vertebrae are. They sit above the flat of the sacrum. And they're probably the bones that form the arch that you filled up with packing and made a shape. Feel what's happened to that shape now. Feel whether your breath alters the shape underneath the small of you back. Being at rest is not 'not moving'. And just for a moment, check to feel whether the way your pelvis is lying on the floor feels relatively symmetrical. If we were absolutely symmetrical we'd be dead — your heart would be in the middle and you wouldn't work.

5b. And then roll back up to sit again, please, with your legs wide; comfortably wide. The knees are not bent. Place your right hand on the floor, beside you somewhere, and the left hand in front as a half book. And begin to take the tips of your fingers at forty-five degrees away from your body, so if you think about your trunk being the vertical plane and your legs being the horizontal plane, the arm goes out halfway between: it cuts that angle of the trunk and the legs in half, and reaches forward and up. Find a way that the fingertips will begin to move you forward. The belly comes out, the head does not roll back. And it's as if somebody could take the tips of your fingers and draw you out and away from yourself, forward. Go back and forth, gently. You may like to pay attention to where the resting right hand is; it might make a difference. If it's a long way back, it might be actually leaning you backwards, so you might want to try having your hand a little closer out to the right, or a little forward of where you've got it now.

5c. And then do the same with the left hand. Putting the left hand on the floor, the right hand — I nearly got my lefts and rights mixed up, I'm going to admit it instead of trying to hide it; I'm not real good with left and right. And again, forty-five degrees, so you're thinking of taking the fingertips up and out and away from you. Think about the head coming forward, there's no arch in the back of the neck. The belly can blow out forwards again. Then pause.

5d. Bring the hands back together again in your book, and just for a moment check: reach both hands forward, up, out at about forty-five degrees. Think that the elbows come together as your fingertips are the furthest away from you, and as they come back in closer, they peel apart. And this time, each time as you reach forward with your hands, turn your back first a little left and then a little right. So you begin to reach over one knee and then the other. And when you're done with that, put your hands back down, and just for a moment check: roll your belly forward and back.

And then lie down and take another rest. But have a check first, just to see how's it

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going, what does it feel like, what's the ease of rolling the pelvis forward and back. Then leave it, rest. Rest back down.

So you could be thinking about the ease with which you can flex and extend your spine. The way in which it's fundamental, background information for so many activities, so many actions. You only need to look at a little newborn baby, who's quite curled up from being in utero, and then how that baby over just one year learns how to be able to bend and straighten their spine, their trunk, their hips, their shoulders; to go from a dependent, curled up individual into an individual who's able to straighten and bend in the upright position. It's a miracle of development when you think it only happens in one year. And then here as adults you have the opportunity of beginning to refine that ability. Not as if it's not something you can already do. This is more the opportunity of taking advantage of being able to make an exploration, to bring the refinement, to bring the action into more success. And when you really think about it, we all just learn what we need to learn when we're little, and once we can do it, we don't really — unless we're into performance, or athletes — we don't look at trying to make easier or more comfortable; when it's enough it's enough.

6. So again roll by way of the side. Come up to sit with the legs long. Place the right hand on the floor between your legs, in front of you. So the right hand's on the floor. And begin to take the left hand as half a book, forward, up and back again; but leaning on the right hand. First take it forward, and when you've established what it feels like to take it forward, take it out over the left leg and forward. So now not only are you forty-five degrees between being upright and horizontal, you're also taking it out at forty-five degrees to the side. Go back and forth, find the range that's comfortable. How do you decide how far forward you're going to go? Go so that it doesn't interrupt your breathing, so that your head doesn't have to arch back. It's as if, again, that somebody's taken the hair on the top of your head, and had gently directed it forward and up. Each time you reach, you feel the length through yourself as you come over the sitting bones. And pause, pause just for a minute.

6a. As you're sitting here, imagine how it's going to feel when you do it with the right hand; what's it going to feel like to have the left hand resting on the floor? Feel what it feels like to take the right hand forty-five degrees forward, so you that you're doing it in the middle first; just in your imagination. How will it feel different when you take it forty-five degrees out to the side, over the right leg? What's the difference between going forward and going out to the right? When you have a clear image of what that's like, simply do it. Place your left hand on the floor, take the right hand forward at forty-five degrees, half a book position; lean on the left hand. And then take it out over the right leg, so you're forty-five degrees out to the side. Feel, where does the top of your head go when you do this? And if you like, you can go back and forth between the right hand and the left hand, if you like, making the comparisons, feeling how they're different. If you like, discovering the distinctions in movement between the right and the left sides. Not whether one's better or worse, but rather, what's similar and what's different. What parts move, what the quality of the movement's like.

And when you're ready, leave it; it looks like a rest is about in order. You know to take a rest whether I make a space for it or not, whenever you're ready. So what's happening under your pelvis, under the lumbar spine, under your thorax now, as you rest here? If any of you are feeling that all of this long-legged sitting, arching and rolling the back has made you uncomfortable, roll your legs up over your chest. Hold them with both hands and roll a little left and right, just to ease out the length in the back of you. Just to find a way to make yourself comfortable, just a little bit of ironing out. Make the roll a little bit

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left and a little bit right so it fits in with your breathing, for those of you with your knees up. Find a way to make it languorous and comfortable. And when your back feels comfortable, rest down long again, don't hold it.

7. And then again, by way of the side, roll up. Sit with your legs long, spread apart. Put both hands in front. And bring the head forward too, as if the forehead's moving toward the floor. So both hands are sitting on the floor in front of you, the head's bent down, hanging. Putting the arms far enough forward that the head heads towards the floor, not on the floor. And in this position, begin to scoop: bring the hands together, scoop them up in front of you, and begin to reach forward and up. Again with the book. So you go from resting your hands flat on the floor, leaning, into gently folding the hands together in the book. Watch your hands head up, out, forward. Up and out and forward. Go gently. There's again the sense of lengthening up through yourself. And then back down onto the floor again. Go gently, don't push to the end of range. Stay in the zone of comfort.

7a. And then when you're ready, rest your hands behind you on the floor, so that you're propped back on your hands again. And just a few times roll the belly out, roll the belly back again. So that you can feel the muscles in the small of your back contracting to allow the belly to blow forward. And then feel the belly muscles contract to round the back. Feel whether this is different to when you first did it. Can you remember what it felt like when you first rolled the pelvis forward?

7b. And just once or twice, pick up the right leg and move it right and back again.

7c. And perhaps then the left leg left and back again. The knee stays straight, the heel pushes away.

And then leave it; take the last rest of the lesson. And as you rest back down, think of the beginning of the lesson, when you scanned to feel how your back contacted the floor. Remember the cast that you made, the shape under the small of your back. You might compare it now, compare that with the way you feel now. Notice if the shape's changed.

8. And maintaining this sort of attention, this awareness of self, roll to your side, come up to stand, and stand just for a moment so that you have the opportunity of feeling the difference between being supported by the floor, and having the floor support you from the feet up. That is, that there's a fresh opportunity of feeling your length over your feet. Notice if pushing the floor away gives you length through yourself, without your head having to go backwards. That is, that there's length through the spine without arching.

8a. And you might like to just step forward and back a couple of times just to establish what that feels like before you begin to walk. Notice where the top of your head goes, what the relationship between your chin and your chest is. And when you have finished exploring that to your level of interest, begin to walk. And walk paying attention to the length through yourself. What happens to the top of your head as you step through the room? When you think that your head has to float above your pelvis so that your camera — your eyes — can still scan the room without the world moving. It's a very clever organization. And when you can do it comfortably, without interrupting the people around you, go a little faster, a little slower; perhaps change direction. So take the exploration you did with the support

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of the floor and move it through space. If you like, generalize the exploration. Find how it fits for you when you're upright, with gravity.

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ATM Lesson 222: Lengthening in SittingSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 220Date: 1999, August 10Teacher: Chris Lambert

1. And so you might like to roll up to sit and just rehearse the part that you most remember from that lesson, just to remind yourself enough to bring back into awareness the parts of the lesson that you are interested in.

And then rest back down on the floor. And while you are resting down on the floor I make the admission that my math is absolutely terrible. And of course there are not 27 parts to your spine there are 26. 27 is my lucky number, it's true. Anybody wants to buy lottery tickets? I buy them for you on the 27th. So there are 24 vertebra plus your sacrum, plus your coccyx. So as you are resting on the floor feel how your pelvis contacts the floor. Get a sense of the length of you from the coccyx right through to the top of your head. Just enough to give you something to come back to at the end of the lesson.

2. And then roll up to sit. Have your legs widely spaced. Place both hands on top of your knees, so that your arms are relatively straight. And begin to roll your pelvis a little forward and a little back. Each time you go forward, think of bringing your trunk and your head forward so that the lengthening goes up through your head without your head bending backwards. So you go back and forth just enough times to feel the length through from your coccyx right out through the top of your head as you come forward. You feel the hollowing in the lumbar spine, the contraction of your back muscles and pause.

2a. Take the right hand and place it in your hair. And if you don't have much hair just take a tiny little piece, the shortest piece in the front. So you are to take the hair somewhere between the front hair and the crown of your head. So that sort of middle top. And begin to roll your pelvis forward pulling the hair, so your head comes forward and up. There is no backward bending in your neck. So that you are pulling the hair enough to give yourself a sense of direction, a forward and up, out to the front of you. There is nothing going backwards. And you are pulling in a way that you don't feel like that you are pulling your scalp away from your skull. And pause.

I can see somebody who has an image of hairballs on the floor.

2b. Do the same with the left hand. So take hold of the hair with the left. And begin to direct yourself forward. You feel the pelvis roll, you allow the belly to roll out and the front of your forehead comes forward. And the hair pulling directs your head up and forward so there is no backward bending of your neck. And leave it, lie down, take a rest

It's not easy sitting like that for a long time necessarily. There were a couple of other mathematical errors I made yesterday. I think we put it down on jet lag, it's such a good excuse. No, it's the eclipse, that's right: so of course there are not twelve ribs, there are twelve pairs of ribs. So if you are going to do the mathematics for that there are not 36 joints there are 64. Any more erratums will be taken up in the next lesson. Seventy-two, Doris, that's right, we discussed it. But at least I can get out usually one word after another if not one number after another.

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3. And as you are lying here now press the back of your skull into the floor. This means that as you press the back of the skull, the top back, you feel your neck arch a little bit. There is a way you can press one part of your head and you flatten into the floor. You might like to put the palms of your hands flat down on the floor at your sides. And press them into the floor as you press your head. Your arms would be down by your sides, not out away from your sides. So the thumb would be close to your hips. And in this way press into the floor so you begin to feel like you can lift your shoulders away from the surface. It's quite a strong pushing. And you go back and forth push with the hands push with your head until you can lift the shoulders a little away from the floor. It means you are quite strongly arching your back between the shoulder blades. Then at the same time push your heels into the floor so that you begin to lift your pelvis. You are being asked to make a backwards bowing. So the head and the heels push into the floor and the middle of you lifts up — the pelvis and the shoulders. And it's much easier to do if you allow your nose to ride backwards. So you don't tuck your chin in so that the whole lot will lift more easily. Do it just a couple of times to know that you can really contract the muscles in your back, the lumbar spine and then leave it. Rest back into the floor again.

4. And by the way of the side roll up back into sitting. Spread the legs widely but straight and with both hands take hold of the hair above the ears. So the right hand holds the hair above the right ear, the left hand above the left ear. It's at the sides of the head. And begin to pull with both hands forwards. And again if you have a very short haircut just take hold of a piece of hair to get a sense of traction, of pulling through the hair so that the skull is directed forwards. And feel as you pull forwards to lengthen through the spine, feel if it's equal, if this movement forward and rolling back again is symmetrical and round, whatever you consider it to be — the middle of you — always an interesting concept at any rate because there isn't a line there to follow. It's whatever is on one side, is on the other side. Wherever those two bits meet is the middle. You may choose to pull a little harder with one hand than the other to feel that you can direct your weight a little over the right hip or a little over the left to make the distinction of being asymmetrical. And then come back and make the place that's the middle. Every time you go forward you are thinking about the length through your spine. So that there is no backwards bending of the neck, so that your belly goes forward, comes up over the sit bones.

And then leave it, roll back down and rest. While you are resting back down, feel where the comfort is in the support of the floor. And if anything is not comfortable change it so it becomes more comfortable.

5. And then roll again to the side, come up to sit, put your legs comfortably but widely apart and lean the right forearm on the floor beside your right leg so that the hand is about knee level, the elbow is down on the floor. It means that you are leaning over to the right on your elbow and the palm of your hand faces down. And the palm of your hand is below the level of your knee. So the right arm is beyond your right leg on the outside of the right leg, the elbow is down on the floor. The palm is turned over, so that the palm is flat down on the floor, the thumb is closest to the knee and the little finger is furthest away. And take hold of your hair with your left in the middle of the head and begin to direct the head forward and out over the leg. So lean forward and out over your right leg. Again you are thinking about rolling the pelvis just a little. You feel the left pelvis roll a little away from the floor, you feel more weight somewhere on your right arm — just feel

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where do you feel the weight? And think about length through yourself as you direct yourself forward and out toward the right foot. Find a way to breathe so this is comfortable, so the breath supports the movement and doesn't interrupt it.

5a. And then just for a couple of times do the same thing on the other side, so the left forearm and elbow go down on to the floor and begin to direct your head out towards the left foot. Take hold of the hair, this very gentle instruction from the skull about moving forward and up, the pulling of the hair gives the direction of the movement, a gentle enough pull that the information is subtle, that there is not a sense of the hair straining or pulling. Which side is easier? Is it easier to move out over the left foot or the right? Whatever easier means for that matter. Perhaps your preference.

And leave it, whenever you are ready, whenever you have decided, there is enough exploration for that, lay down, take another rest. Find the space under the small of the back, the place where the five lumbar vertebrae form the arch that makes the small of the back.

6. See if you can remember back to yesterdays lesson and the shape you made on the floor during that lesson and please roll up into sitting. Place your left hand and forearm and elbow outside your left leg and the right hand on the right knee. And in this position take your back around in a circle, so that you begin within the space of the supported left elbow, the left elbow leaning on the floor and the right hand on the right knee begin to circle and just notice as you are circling: did you choose to go clockwise or anti-clockwise? Go through, arrange this just comfortable, find a way of moving through this, that there is no compulsion to push into that little bit that you feel could happen. Whichever direction you are going into, reverse it. You may notice the way you have chosen to put your elbow will make difference to the ease of the circling. So if you are having a little difficulty with this or it doesn't feel clear, you might consider moving your elbow just a little. And pause.

6a. Just bring yourself up to sit, put your hands behind you and just do a check-movement of rolling your pelvis forward so the impetus goes up through your spine and you feel the top of your head lengthens away from your coccyx but forward, so there is no arching in the neck. And you may find that you don't need to have your hands so far behind you anymore, but you could bring them even to the sides of your hips rather than behind you. And pause.

6b. For just a moment imagine that you are doing it on the right side. So the right elbow is out to the right of the right leg, the left hand is resting on your left knee. Begin the circle in whichever direction you go preferentially. When this feels fairly clear, the way you like to do it, please go ahead, place your right hand at the right of your leg, lean on the right elbow and circle your back. And when you have established the movement to your satisfaction you may consider questions of interest to you.What part of the circle feel clear to me? Does it feel similar to the other side? Can I feel lengthening throughout the top of my head in any portion of the circle? Have I gone in my preferential circle?

7. And when you are done come back to the middle. Again just check the rolling forward of your pelvis, think about tipping the pelvis forward, lengthening up through your spine

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bringing the head forward and up.

Think back what is was like at the beginning of the lesson and then roll down and take a full rest. Again if any of you are feeling that this is a little firm in your back and you want to roll out some of the length, remember that at any time during the lesson you can roll the legs up to your chest. Don't wait for me to tell you. Just do it in whatever part you need to do it.

8. Then roll over to the side, come up to sit, put your left forearm and hand on the floor to the left of your left leg. That is that you are leaning on that left arm again to the left. But this time turn away, face the left right out to the side so that the back of your head is to the back of the right leg. Take your right hand, hold your hair and begin to direct your movement out over the left leg and then out over the right leg. So a little forward, just begin yourself away to the left and begin to move toward the right. The left elbow stays on the floor. You make gradual increments, gradual increases, small changes in direction out into the front of you.

8a. And then swap over. Do exactly the same thing to the other side. Feel the length through yourself. Think of the tailbone and the head coming away from each other. And that the pulling of the hair gives a direction to follow, an impulse for lengthening, without stretching or pulling. And then pause.

9. Come back into the middle. Put both hands on both knees and again tilt your pelvis forward lengthening your head forward and allow the belly to roll out and go back and forth rounding back and tipping forward feeling the length through your spine.

And just pause for a moment, rest in sitting. Take the strain of your arms or rest back at the sides, just for a moment.

10. And then sit again with your legs widely spread, comfortably and widely spread. Make a fist with your left hand and take the left hand back behind you and begin to make a large circle, a swinging circle with the left arm. Swing it in a way that you can feel it as momentum behind the swing. You have to decide whether you have to swing clockwise or anti-clockwise to fit with the way you are sitting. Find a way to swing so the arm is free. You might like to swing quite quickly. See what is happening in your back, in your ribs and then you can change the speed or the direction, all the time paying attention: What happens to the top of your head as you do this?

10a. Then change arms. Take it only within your own comfort zone. Go gently enough, comfortably enough. Try both clockwise and anti-clockwise and then put your hands on your knees and just simply check that movement again. Find out what is happening through the length of yourself, through your ability to sit forward with your legs sideways and long and the ability to roll your pelvis forward and back with the intention of feeling the length through your spine, the lengthening out. Think of all the FI-practicing work you have just been doing where you have been looking at how it is possible to lengthen through the person that you are lengthening through yourself. Feel that the sitting bones can be right underneath you and that there is ease with length. That doesn't have to be pulling through.

And then lie down — last rest before lunch.The big (...) in you and me has this inordinate interest in food, can't say I'm not enjoying my

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food. Strasbourg has wonderful food.

So rest, take this moment before lunch to feel your contact with the floor. What does your organization on the floor tell you about yourself at the moment? What would it feel like to roll over, bring yourself up to standing and organize yourself with this information in gravity. To take this horizontal organization into a vertical one, to think that every time you take a step your foot pushes the floor away. That is a possibility of length through yourself.

11. And when you are ready roll to your side, come up to sit and then to stand. And stand for a moment so that you can appreciate the organization in the upright position. Don't hurry up from the floor but for those who are up feel where the weight is on your feet. And how the highest part of your head is organized over your pelvis. Is the very topmost piece of your head over the middle of your pelvis or forward of your pelvis, behind it? In your imagination, in your mind's eye: what sort of shape does your back make? How deep or shallow are the curves of your back? Your back being your neck, your thorax, the place between the thorax and the pelvis and the pelvis, all that back part of you.

11a. And then begin to walk around the room a little. With each step notice what happens with the sensation of weight bearing through yourself. If you had to project a line of each step coming out the top of your head: where would it come out? And when the sensing of this is enough generate a little speed and a little direction so that you begin to move outwards. You might like to think of changing direction and taking care of the persons around you. Or you might think of stopping and starting and then leave it and think that it is lunch time.

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ATM Lesson 223: Interlacing Hands OverheadSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tapes 221-222Date: 1999, August 11Teacher: Elizabeth Beringer

1. And just notice where you are with your attention. The different kind of morning, different rhythm. Coming to the ATM, you are maybe pulled in different directions. Just be aware of that and to the process attending to yourself on the floor.

1a. And notice the length of your back, starting with the right side of your pelvis going up the right side of your back to your right shoulder. Notice how much of the right side of your back is in contact with the floor. And notice the sense of length you have on the right side of your trunk from underneath your arm to your pelvis. Observe the movement of your breath on the right side. And notice which part of your rib cage do you sense moving in the front, the side and the back on your right side?

1b. And then bring your attention to the left side and notice the contact of the left side of your back from your pelvis to your shoulder. How is that contact compared to the other side? Is it more full on this side? Is it different in some way or very symmetrical? And also notice the length from under you arm to your pelvis on that side. And the feeling of movement in your ribs as you breath. Can you sense the movement of your breath under your arm on the left side? All along the left side? The front and the back? And again perhaps comparing the two sides and observing if there are differences.

1c. And then notice the length of your left leg and the length of your right leg. Is there any general impression, any difference you notice between the two? And the same with your arm. Just a general impression of one arm and then the other. Perhaps one is lying slightly differently this afternoon.

1d. And also notice where your head is resting. Is your head tilted at all to the left or to the right? Can you notice if one ear is closer to one shoulder than the other? You measure with your attention between the earlobe and your shoulder. And is it because your shoulder is higher or because your head is tilted? If you feel one distance is shorter, can you get a sense of what is creating that?

2. Now interlace your fingers and extend your arms above your head on the floor so that your palms...

(The tape has a cut there, but as I remember, it was having the palm oriented to the wall above the head.)

2a. ...Your arms are on the floor above your head. And observe how easily your arms lengthen in this situation. Keep your hands interlaced. Does one arm straighten more easily or differently than the other? Does one arm come closer to your head, to an ear than the other one? Do the movement slowly so that you can sense differences between the movements of the two arms. So your palms are not facing

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your head. Your palm is facing away from your head. And then you just lengthen and check along the whole length of you two sides, as you straighten your arms, what happens? What prevents you from going further? Don't push any thing, you can just do the movement so that you can sense right now.

2b. And now bend your knees so that your feet are standing. And do the same movement a few time and find out what effect that has. Is it different to do it with your knees bent? Is it easier to lengthen your arms with your knees bent? And if it is easier, you can speculate: what shifted? What difference does that make?

And then put your arms down by your side and just pause for a moment.

3. Now go ahead and sit up. I know, you are tired, don't worry, you are just going to sit up for a moment. And cross your legs in front of you.

3a. Interlace your hands in the same way and lengthen your arms in front of you on the floor. And just notice what is it like to do this movement in this situation. How easily can you straighten your arms? Of course it is a very different situation. How do you feel the length of your two sides in this situation? Still you interlace you fingers, facing out with your palms.

3b. Now take your hands above your head toward the ceiling. Same kind of thing. What is it like to lengthen your arms here? Is it easier or more difficult than when you lie on your back? Bend your elbows and then straighten your elbows. Which arm comes closer to your head here? Is it the same arm as on your back? Does it make a difference what you do with your head?

3c. Experiment: keep your head facing forward and do the movement, and then look up with your head and do the movement. Does that have any effect? Again, notice what happen in your sides, and all the way down to your pelvis. Is there any movement in your back or in your pelvis as you do this?

3d. What about if you rocked your pelvis forward slightly like how you learned to do it in Chris' lessons? Just tilting your pelvis a little bit. Which way would tilt your pelvis to help you lengthen your arms? Would you tilt it forwards or backwards?

And then leave that and lie on your back again. I can see how I can be popular in this lesson. It was a little bit tiring to look at the Eclipse. Do people feel strain in your eyes? You know while you are resting, a nice thing to do is to put your palms on your eyes and completely block out all the light, you have just a tiny bit of pressure. Some of you know the technique. If you rub your hands together first so that they are a little warm. It is a Bates eye improvement technique called "palming". So when your hands are warm, you put them on your eyes and just a tiny bit of pressure, absolutely no light. And it should feel comfortable and good to do. And you can just rest like that for a moment. In Bates technique, it is done as a relaxation technique for the eyes. And then put your arms down by your side and just rest like that for a moment. So periodically, during this ATM, if you want, during the rest, to do this for your eyes, please don't wait for me to tell you. Just go ahead and rest like that whenever it feels appropriate.

4. Now bend your knees again so that your feet are standing, and lengthen your arms in the same way on the floor.

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4a. And now gently move your arms left and right. And observe as you do that, again which arms come easily towards your head. You want your head to basically stay in the middle. Is one arm able to come closer to one ear? It is very tempting to stretch in this lesson. And you want to make a distinction between stretching to the limit and having your arms long. They are stretched in the sense that the elbows are straight but you are not pushing into that stretch. Just keep the elbows bent a comfortable amount so however your arms are comfortable just slide them left and right. Observe as you are doing that also the effect in your trunk and your sides. Most people lengthen more easily one part of the trunk or the other. Can you sense a difference like that as you shift your arms? Do you feel that your ribs open up more easily on one side? And how does that relate to the ease you feel in lengthening your arms? Do you notice, is there a relationship between what you feel on the side, and how easy it is to lengthen one arm or the other?

Rest, put your hands on your eyes. So in this lesson, we are looking obviously at the action of taking the arm above the head, and think: what are the components of that, just like we asked yesterday in the small groups? What do you need to know in order to have your arms lengthen above your head? What are some of the aspects of that?

5. And again, bend your knees. Interlace your hands again. Put your hands above your head in the same way. And now you just let your arms rest on the ground wherever you can comfortably. So your arms are as straight as you can rest them without effort, which means for almost everybody the elbows will be bent.

5a. And now in this situation, tilt your legs gently to the left and back to the center again. Your right leg may slide along the left one or it may tilt independently. It depends how far apart your legs are. Just tilt them slowly and then come back to the center. Your arms are above your head as you do this. And notice how this movement of tilting the pelvis travels through your trunk, and what effect does it have on your trunk? Does it have any effect on your trunk? Do you feel that one arm is affected more than the other one? Which side of you gets longer?

5b. Now, as you tilt your legs to the left, a few times straighten your arms at the same time gently. Just observe what effect does it have tilting your legs to the left on the lengthening of the arms. Is it different in some way? Is it easier to lengthen one of your arms? And if so which one?

And leave that. Put your arms down by your side and straighten your legs again. So notice so far, what effect do these simples movements have on your...

(Again, cut on the tape.)

6. (...) Interlace your hands unhabitually. It means you are going to have the opposite thumb on top. If you usually have the left thumb on top, it will be the right thumb on top. And lengthen your hands above your head in the same way.

6a. And tilt the legs slowly to the right. So your arms are just resting on the floor above your head, just like you did a moment ago and you tilt your legs slowly. And just be open, as you tilt your legs now to this side, to what is it like on this side. How is it different? Usually the movement is going to travel through your trunk in a slightly

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different way when you twist to this side.And in the movements we were doing last week on the stomach, twisting the pelvis to that orientation, you were experiencing and seeing the differences in how you and other people rotate the pelvis one way and then the other. So this is another perspective on that.

And again, notice which arm it has an effect on. Is it the same arm as the other side? It could be that you are coping with a restriction in one arm, so that no matter which way you tilt your legs, you are going to feel a restriction in that arm and a pulling in that arm. Or you will feel a change so that now the other arm will be easier to lengthen. So we would expect the arm on the side you are getting longer to become easier to lengthen.

6b. And go ahead and actually combine that. Lengthen your arms slightly above your head as you twist to the right slowly. Just observing how easily you can straighten your arms. Being not at all ambitious. And as you do this a few more times, also observe your breathing. Notice, can you catch anything, can you sense anything that is happening with your breath when you are lengthening out one side like that? Does the breath kind of capitalize on that? Does it take the opportunity to move your ribs in a different way? Do you sense your breathing differently in your two sides? And put your arms down by your sides, lengthen your legs and rest again.

I had this feeling that a not too challenging lesson might be good at this point. And I am pretty pleased about that. Definitely in a resting mood!

7. So now bend your knees again, so your feet are standing, interlace your hands in the same way. Just check, lengthen your arms above your head once or twice and find out has that been affected at all by the variations that you have done. With the tilting and sliding in different ways, is it getting any easier? Just once or twice. Check.

7a. And now leave your arms at a comfortable place above your head, a little bit extended, and again take your arms gently left and right. Slide them on the floor left and right. Observe how close you can bring your head, so that you can bring your arm to your head on one side and the other. And now, roll your head in the direction of the arm that is coming. As you slide your arms to the right, you roll your head to the left. So at a certain point your arms can't go any further, they collide with your head. Softly of course.

7b. And now slide the back of the head with your hands left and right. The distance between your ears and your arms stays constant. Your head and your arms as a unit slide to the left and slide to the right. It is not turning now, head stays facing forward. It is as if somebody put some padding in between your arms and you head, and you all just move as a unite. That is right! Notice as you do this, that it will effect your whole trunk. The lengthening of one side, the movement of the ribs opening on one side, closing on the other side. What happens in you pelvis as you do that?

And again leave that, put your arms down by your side and pause again. Notice how you are breathing now. Does this have any effect on the sense of movement, the ribs at all as you breathe?

8. And then once more bend your knees, feet are standing. Put your arms above your head

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in the same way.

8a. And gently tilt your legs again to the left. And now as you tilt your legs to the left, take your arms also to the left. You move your arms as a unit with your legs to the left and then come back to the middle. You don't have to take your arms to the left as far as you can go. Stay in a range where you can really sense what is going on. You don't lift your right arm away from the floor too much. Your arms want to slide along the floor to the left. It can come away from the floor a little bit but don't exaggerate that. You are just sliding them and coming back to the center. That is it, it does not have to be a big movement. Just enough of a movement so that you feel the connection between your arms and your legs, so that you feel a sense of relationships between the two movements and what effect it is having to move your arms in this way opposed to just moving the legs by themselves.

8b. Tilt your legs alone once or twice and notice what is it like in that sense.

8c. And do it once or twice sliding the arms so you really can sense what happens when you move your arms like this. And then, rest again.

9. And then bend your knees again. Put your arms above your head in the same way.

9a. And now as you are tilting your legs to the left, move your arms to the right. What happens when you do this movement in this fashion? What happens with your trunk? What happens with the lengthening of the arm? Is it easier? Can you take your legs further or less far?

9b. And then leave your arms in the middle for a moment, tilt your legs to the side. Feel how that travels up your back. And you can also comment on: is the tilting of the legs any different than when you started? Can you sense that movement through your trunk? Is it any easier to tilt the legs? And also notice how it effects your arms as you just go to the left. And then, straighten your legs, straighten your arms on your side. And rest again.

10. Now interlace your fingers in an unhabitual way.

10a. Bend your knees and slowly tilt your legs to the right once or twice, just noticing what is it like simply to tilt your legs...

(Again, cut on the recording.)

10b. (...) So when you have tilted your legs once or twice and felt that movement by itself, then take your arms slowly to the right.

10c. And then take your arms to the left a few times. How is that different? Can you take your legs further when you take your arms to the left or to the right? Do one and do the other and observe the difference. And then lengthen your arms and legs again.

11. And then bend your knees and interlace your fingers above your head in the non-habitual way again.

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11a. And now alternate tilting your legs first to the left and then to the right. Your arms are resting above your head. Just go to one side and to the other side. How does that movement travel through your trunk to affect first one arm and then the other arm? Or perhaps it affects both arms. And as you tilt to the side, straighten your arms a bit more.

Leave that and lie on your back again. And sense overall the effects of the movements. Get a general sense of the length of your two sides and again, as in the beginning, the contact of the two sides. The length from under the arms to the pelvis on one side and the other. The movement of the breath. The contact of your legs and your arms.

12. And one more time bend your knees so that your feet are standing, and interlace your hands above your head. And straighten your arms above your head and just check what is that like compare to the beginning. How much closer can your arms go to your head?

Actually, a couple of times is fine and then you can put them down by your side. And you can think to yourself this question: what are the components of having the arms above the head and what other kind of theme could one have in an ATM that could address that? What else might make a difference?

13. And then roll to your side so you are sitting and then standing. And simply stand for a moment with your arms hanging down and observe if the lesson has had any effect on your standing.

13a. And then interlace your hands. Put your arms above your head in a standing position once or twice and just notice what is it like...

(Cut in recording again.)

13b. (...) Take your chin towards your sternum and look up. Just observe the difference. Is the head movement independent of the arms? Do your arms move pretty much whatever your head does or do different positions of your head have an effect?

13c. And put your arms down by your side and begin to walk. What happens with the swinging of your arms now, the connection of your arms through your sides? The twisting of your pelvis as you walk? Think of the turning of the pelvis on the floor and the turning of the pelvis as you walk. How much of that takes place as you walk? And we will take a break.

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ATM Lesson 224: Four Points StandingSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 222Date: 1999, August 11Teacher: Elizabeth Beringer

1. Go around the room, take a stroll.

1a. Come to stop somewhere and put your hands down on the floor in front of you and bring them up again. Just put your palms down on the floor so you can lean on your hands and then take them away. Notice what happens with your back as you do this, the rest of yourself. Do you keep your feet flat on the floor? Do you take your heels away from the floor? What do you do with your head?

1b. Now keep your hands on the floor and lift the other part of yourself off the floor. In other words, hop, hop, take your two feet away from the floor. Just a little hop! What is involved in doing that? Not a thud. It is like a hop, like a bunny! OK, that is good. And stand for a moment.

2. Now put both hands down on the ground again and now just hop with one foot. You take one foot away from the floor and put it down again. It means you have the feeling of hopping. Use this feeling of hopping, but really what you do is you're taking the foot off the floor and you're putting it down again. The other foot stays on the ground now.

2a. Now as you continue taking this foot away from the floor, take it back behind you as if you want to put your heel in an arc all the way around and bring it to your back. We are not going to do that in this lesson now, that is just a direction you use. Take that leg away from the floor, the first leg you have started with, and then you bring it down again. Notice how you shift your weight as you do that, how you balance yourself on the three points. And then stand again. Walk.

3. And then stand again and put your hands down to the ground and begin to take your other leg away from the floor as if you were hopping on one side. And first just take it a couple of inches away from the floor and put your foot down again. A couple of centimeters, sorry!

3a. And then, gradually, begin to take that leg further behind you. Can you breathe as you are doing this? Is it possible to breathe upside down like this? (It is the second leg.) How far back can you take that leg? Does it make any difference what you are doing with your head? What did you choose to do with your head?

3b. Let your head hang and see what happens when you take your leg back.

3c. Or a lot of you were staying oriented, you were looking forwards slightly take your head forwards, put the leg back. Which is easier? Don't kick me! OK, and walk around again. It is an aerobic ATM now. Now walk in the other direction. Even as a group, there is a habit in which way we walk.

4. And now do the hopping movement again. Just hop with two feet away from the floor.

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Find how lightly and comfortably you can hop, how far you can bring your feet away from the ground comfortably.

4a. And now lead the movement with one leg. So now you go to hop and you start with one leg and then you follow with the other leg. You pick one leg and you stay with that leg. It doesn't matter how far you go, remember this is an ATM lesson. It means: be aware of your hands on the floor, how you are lining up over your arms, and especially be aware of the hardness with which you come down. So a few times do the movement a little bit less energetically and work with the softness of your landing. How can you land so that you absorb the force of your landing through your whole leg and your foot? That is it, that is it. That is better. OK, and walk around again.

5. OK, stop again, and do the same thing leading with the other leg. Some of you didn't restrict yourselves to one leg but that was the idea. So you lead with the other leg, just kick up one leg. And then you could do it three ways: you can land back down with two feet at the same time, or you can land with the same foot that you came up with first or you switch your legs in the air. Whatever you do keep breathing and land softly. That is it, that is it. Landing softly. There we go.

5a. So now, as you continue doing this, pay attention to your arms. What about the position of your arms? Do it a few times bringing your hands closer together, farther apart, closer to your feet, farther away. Experiment with the position of your hands. Where can you rest on your arms? Of course, we are used to weight-bearing on the arms in this way so get a sense of where the bones of your arms are going to support you the most efficiently. As you start to bring your pelvis up over your head and again be aware of what about your head? Is it easier to kick back like this letting your head drop, or keeping your head a little bit oriented? What is the difference? What makes the landing softer?

OK, that is enough. Maybe just lie on your back, where ever you are. Be careful of the orchestration of the energy. It doesn't have to sink into the floor now, since we are trying to leave the floor with this ATM!

6. And roll to your side, stand up again. And walk, walk. Just do a little walking to change the orientation in the room.

6a. Now stop somewhere comfortable. Now alternate: you put your hands down on the floor, and you take your feet away, and then you put your feet down and you take your hands away. So first your front lifts up and then your back lifts up. Just make a seesaw, first one and then the other. Again what happens with your head? What do you do with your head?

6b. Now keep just one hand on the floor, start with your right hand, and jump with your two feet. Just a hopping, a hopping. And find out how to absorb that through your whole system. How can you be soft in your joints? How can you be soft in your legs? What about the feet? How can the feet be shock absorbers here? So that the force get spread through all the little mobile joints in your feet. Your knees are soft.

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6c. And now switch hands. Do the same thing with the other hand.

6d. Now do little hops with first one foot coming away from the floor and then the other. Just little, little hops. OK, walk again, walk again.

7. And now put both hands on the floor, have your knees be soft. Your knees are soft but your legs are not completely bent. And now let your head hang completely in this position. You can have your belly be free here and you let your head go.

7a. And turn your head a few times. Just turning it in this position, hanging upside down.

7b. And bring first one ear to one arm and then to the other arm, in a completely different orientation than earlier.

7c. And now do a few movements where you lift your head up as if you want to see your environment and let it hang again. How can you support that with your back? OK, everybody take a break in walking, we will come back to this variation in a second. Just take a break in walking.

8. And then put your hands down again. The same things: taking your head to be oriented, to look around and then dropping it again. You are really letting it hang and then you take your eyes towards the horizon, and let it hang. And just what are you going to do with your pelvis, with legs, with the rest of your back to support the looking up with your head?

8a. Now look up with your head, keep your back in the same situation, and take your head down and up. You keep your back the way it was to support your head looking up and you take your head up and down. And stand up and rest for a moment.

9. And now gently, gently move your head and your back in opposite directions. It doesn't matter how big it is. See if you can just do it clearly a few times. So you put your hands back down on the floor, it is the same movement you were just doing, so you were arching your back a little as you lifted your head up. Now as you do that arching movement, tilting your pelvis, bending your knees a little, you are going to drop your head. And you are going to round your back, as you are lifting your head up. Just gentle. I am not suggesting this for your first ATM class! So, you discovered what you did when you lifted your head to look at the horizon, now you are going to drop your head when you do that and you are going to round your back when you look up. OK?

9a. All right, now just go ahead and look up letting your back support the movement. Dropping your head, looking up.

And then walk again. Really take a rest in walking. Walk at a speed that is restful for you. It does not have to be the same as the way every body else is walking. Or maybe what is restful is to walk at the same rhythm as everybody else. To be carried along with the crowd.

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10. OK. And stop again. Put your hands on the ground and begin to hop. Just take a few hopping movements, coming away from the floor. See how high you can jump and how far you can bring your weight over your hands.

10a. And hop leading with one leg. Kick up with one leg and again see how high you can come up comfortably, and how you can bear that weight on your arms. First with one leg and then with the other leg. Again take care with what you do with your head.

10b. OK, and stand up again, and continue to walk. What effect does it have to work like this in an unusual situation, in an upside down situation? Where does it leave you when you are upright again? Just sense the movements in your arm, your back. And we will end here.

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ATM Lesson 225: Hands Interlaced OverheadSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tapes 223-4 Date: 1999, August 12Teacher: Katrin Smithback

1. Lie on your back. Notice how you lie. What is your sense of the length of your back? How does your back contact the floor? In what way does the contact of your back with the floor give you the impression of length? You may also notice by way of contrast, where your back is contacting the floor or not contacting the floor that gives you the impression of shortness or not being long. You can access to that feeling or non feeling of length in a variety of ways. You can pay attention to the contact of yourself on the floor or to where you are lifted from the floor. You can pay attention to your breath, how your breath interacts with your ribs, how your ribs and back respond to your breathing, where they respond and where they don't, where you feel movement and where you don't. You can pay attention to the sense of continuity of your spine or places where your spine is perhaps discontinuous, in other words do you feel your spine as going from the base of your skull to the top of your pelvis as one continuous, integrated line or do you feel parts of your spine in different ways? Does it feel less continuous? And there is probably a number of different ways that you can think about and feel and perceive this idea of length or shortness when you're lying there. Just notice for you what's easier to access, what gives you the most information.

2. Now bend your knees so your feet are standing and interlace your hands and extend your arms overhead so that the palms face away from the top of your head, and have your hands close to the floor above the top of your head so your arms are extended overhead, palms facing away from you.

2a. Doing a small movement initially, start to lengthen your arms upward, pushing your hands, your palms, away from you and as you do that your elbows straighten. Can you feel how there is a response in your shoulder blades, your clavicles, your back, your ribs? Notice how this movement of your arms and hands connects with your back, perhaps you notice something happening in your neck. Feel how easy or difficult it is for you to straighten your arms, how close to the floor they are. For some of you your hands are touching the floor, for some of you it is challenging and your hands are a little lifted.

2b. With your hands in this position lift your pelvis off the floor. You may have to change how your legs are, find a way so that your feet can support you. How close to your buttocks do your heels have to be? How far apart or close together are your feet? And now lift your pelvis and as you lift your pelvis notice how does that affect your ability to lengthen your arms? To push your hands away from you? And then let your pelvis back down and do that a number of times and feel how this movement of lifting your pelvis and lowering your pelvis affects what you can do with your arms. Again with the idea that your hands can be close to the floor, resting on the floor, if possible. If that's not possible, what you can do comfortably. What's happening with your back, what is it about this movement that makes it, for most people, easier to extend and lengthen your arms overhead when you lift your pelvis?

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Now stop, take a brief rest, put your pelvis down, you can straighten your legs, put your arms down alongside you. Especially if it is a challenging position for your arms, go slowly when you move from the position of having your hands interlaced above your head, so that when you bring your arms down you don't do any fast, sudden movements, you want to take the time to let yourself adjust, to bringing your arms to a different position. And again notice how just this small movement changes your ability to rest on the floor, changes the shape of your back, how your ribs rest.

2c. Bend your knees and interlace your hands, put them overhead, turn your hands so that the palms are away from the top of your head and once again do that movement of lifting your pelvis and extending your arms overhead. But this time, as you lift your pelvis extend — lengthen — your arms overhead, and then find a way to keep them in that extended position and slowly let your pelvis down. And see if you can find a way to do that slowly enough so that your chest, your ribs, your back, everything that is necessary can adjust so your arms can remain in that extended position as you let your pelvis drop down and as you rest your pelvis on the floor. Do it in small increments, so that you don't have to extend your arms to the absolute end of the range. Maybe do a small movement, extend a little bit and then let your pelvis down, keeping your arms there. And notice for yourself: what do you have to do, where does the adjustment take place, in your chest, your ribs, your spine, your shoulders, that allows you to keep that extended lengthened position of your arms while your pelvis is resting on the floor?

2c. This time start the same way, extend your arms overhead, lift your pelvis, but let only one hip move down towards the floor. Drop your right hip closer to the floor while your left hip stays lifted in the air, and then lift your right hip again and drop your left hip. Your legs stay bent, feet standing, and you're alternately going to drop one hip towards the floor and then the other, so your pelvis is rotating. And notice if it is easier to maintain that length of your arms dropping one hip and the other, can you feel that, does that twist help? One arm stays extended, is it easier, how is it different from letting your whole pelvis move down?

2d. And after you do that a few times, again lift your pelvis and lower the whole thing to the floor. See if introducing that rotation has made anything clearer or easier in your ability to lengthen your arms while you drop your pelvis slowly to the floor.

And then slowly undo your hands, take your arms down, give yourself a chance to feel the easiest path your arms can take to move to your arms, straighten your legs, and rest. As you're lying here, one of the other things you may notice as we continue through the lesson, is if you sense a change in the way your arms are lying on the floor. So when you first laid down, or generally when you lay down, do you habitually lie down so that your palms face the floor, or face your hips or face the ceiling, or some variations of that? And as we continue to do this lesson, notice if the relation between your arms, your shoulders, your back changes, if this affects how your arms can lie comfortably on the floor.

3. And now, bend your knees, but this time put the soles of your feet together so that they are touching, your knees are wide open, and in this position first with your arms just alongside you, roll your pelvis down a little so you are pushing your lower belly a little forward and down in the direction of your feet, so your pelvis rolls and the small of your

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back comes away from the floor. And then roll the opposite way, so that the top of your pelvis rolls back, the small of your back gets a little bit closer to the floor. So it's not sideways rolling, it's forward and back. And as you do that, feel how that movement of your pelvis moves through your spine, up to your head. Notice if your head is responding to the movement of your pelvis, by doing a movement of its own. And now stop.

3a. Still stay in this position, and interlace your hands, bring them overhead, palms away from the top of your head, and now do that movement of your pelvis and coordinate it with the lengthening of the arms over your head. And notice which part of that movement makes it easier to lengthen your arms overhead, to straighten your arms? When do your elbows get closer to your ears? So you're pushing the palms of your hands away from your head as you roll your pelvis. You can feel how does it make it easier or more difficult to lengthen your arms overhead? When do your elbows get closer to your ears? What happens to your rib cage, the contact of your back with the floor? Is it easier for one arm to lengthen? Does one elbow get closer to your ear than the other?

Stop, straighten your legs, bring your arms alongside you. And once again, look inside for a sense of how you lie differently than when you started, is any part of your rib cage freer to breathe than when you started? Do you have a sense of different parts of your rib cage participating more, or less?

4. Bend your knees again, put your feet flat on the floor, interlace your hands and bring them overhead in the same position, palms facing away from the top of your head. This time let your left knee open to the outside so your left leg flops open to the outside, so the sole of your left foot is facing your right foot. And now start to direct your left foot through the space between your right heel and your right buttock, so you're going to start to slide your left foot to the right through the space between your right heel and your right buttock. As you do that, how does that affect your ability to lengthen your arms? Which arm is easier to lengthen in response to this movement? As you direct your left foot to the right, what happens to your knee? Does your left knee get closer or farther away from the floor as you do this movement? The left leg stays open to the side and it's just moving to the right, and then back to an open position, still on the left; so you're not bringing your left foot back up to standing, and the knee straight up towards the ceiling. You're sliding the left foot right and left. And as you slide your left foot in that triangle formed by your right leg, which arm responds to this movement by being able to lengthen, to stretch a little bit more?

And go slowly and then stop relax, straighten your arms, your legs, you can take a brief rest here. Come back to sensing yourself in relation to the floor, feeling as you do this, do these movements increase your comfort lying here against the floor?

Something, after three years in a Feldenkrais training, you've sort of taken for granted, to rest comfortably on the floor, to use the floor for all sorts of information, but for many people, lying on the floor is not a given, it's very difficult, it's very difficult to find a comfortable way of being on the floor, and the thought of getting on the floor, especially as many people age, becomes more and more difficult, and there is even a fear of being on the floor, that if I get on the floor, I won't be able to get off the floor. I remember one of the reasons I got furniture... (story of a sofa for her old aunt).

5. Bend your knees again, so your feet are standing, and this time open your right leg to the outside, interlace your hands, put them overhead, slide your right foot through that triangle formed by your left leg and lengthening your arm or arms, and feel which arm

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lengthens more easily in this position. And notice if it's the opposite arm, perhaps it is the same arm. See if you can do this movement without any idea of 'should', so that you're feeling what you're actually doing, instead of trying to do what you think you should be doing.

It's one of the things that can really get in your way doing ATM or FI, is thinking — that seeing some pattern or seeing someone do something and then very strongly thinking, "They should do this." "If they do it this way here, then they should do this on the other side, or I should do that." If you can't get rid of the 'shoulds', then it's very difficult to actually see or sense what's happening.

Take a brief rest. A thing that's interesting to notice as you do these movements is how the floor seems to change. Sometimes as you do these movements you feel the floor gets softer, or harder, and just notice these movements of your feelings of how is the floor supporting you.

6. Bend your knees again, so your feet are standing. Interlace your hands, bring them overhead. So this is sort of a constant, your arms interlaced overhead, and as we do all these different movements with your legs, your pelvis, notice how all these things affect your ability to lengthen your arms. Now cross your right leg over your left leg, at the knee, start to drop your legs to the right, gently, slowly, drop your legs to the right, and as you do that, feel which arm can extend easier, lengthen easier, which arm gets closer to your head. Can you follow that movement? Your pelvis is rotating. Follow that rotation from your pelvis all the way up your spine through to your head. It's not a matter of rolling onto your side, you're not rolling onto one side or the other. You are still lengthening your arms, one perhaps more than the other, but you're not rolling all the way onto one side.

6a. Now as you do this, let your legs slowly drop to the right, and then quickly return home. So play a little with the timing, the speed on this. So as your legs move to the right, away from the neutral, the home position, go slowly but then quickly move back. Usually in ATM lessons we tend to do things slowly, but there are ways to move quickly, and there are lessons that are done more quickly. Notice as you move your legs quickly back, does that give you different information than if you move slowly? One of the tricks in moving quickly is finding a place where it's safe. And often we do this, in ATM lessons, so that when you move away from the neutral, from home, you move slowly, but then as you move back, you can go more quickly, because it is more known. It's a safer place to move quickly. And then stop, take a break.

And feel this lesson clearly is a lot about extension, about lengthening. You're doing movements of your pelvis that for some people create a sense of more flatness. Their spine lies closer to the floor. And for other people, exactly the opposite happens. It is one of the things that often people find — students that come to your classes want to know how they should feel, what does this lesson do, and it's often very difficult to be able to predict that. You know what happened when you did the lesson, but I remember once I was doing a lesson, I think it was the pelvic clock, which I had my own particular experience with, and at the end of the lesson, two people came up to me, one after the other, and one woman came up, and she said, "That's the first time that my back has laid totally on the floor. When I felt the small of my back got really close to the floor, I'd never experienced that before." And the next woman came up to me and she said, "Ever since the birth of my child, my back has been totally on the floor, it's the first time that I felt an arch in my back, where it's lifted off the floor." That was very funny, but often you will find that what gives you the sense of flatness on the floor, for someone else does exactly the opposite. So notice how you, and your back, are interacting with this lesson.

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7. Bend your knees again, so your feet are standing. Interlace your hands, bring them overhead, lengthen them overhead, the back of your hands facing the top of your head, your palms facing away. Cross your right leg over your left leg — same as last time —and now this time, drop your legs to the left so that your right foot can stand on the floor. So your right leg is crossed over your left, and you're going to roll your pelvis, drop your legs, so that your right foot can stand on the floor, now straighten your left leg. Your right foot is standing on the floor, your left leg is straight. Now start to rotate your left leg so that the foot moves to the inside and to the outside. You're rotating the left leg around its long axis, you're not sliding the heel, the heel stays where it is. Your toes point left and right, keeping your right foot on the floor and relating that to your ability to lengthen your arms overhead. How does that affect your ability to lengthen one or both arms overhead, as you roll your left leg to the inside and to the outside? Notice as you roll your leg, when your right knee moves closer to the floor, moves in the direction of the head; how does the rolling of your left leg affect what's happening with your right leg?

7a. Now slide your right foot a little bit closer to you so that the sole of your right foot looks up in the direction of your head. And continue doing that rolling movement of your left leg. Your left leg is straight, right foot on the floor, rolling your left leg.

Stop, slowly bring your arms down, rest. As we go along if the movements become increasingly challenging, feel free to take frequent breaks.

8. Bend your knees again so your feet are standing. Cross your right leg over your left, interlace your hands, lengthen your arms overhead. Roll your pelvis a little to the left so your right foot contacts the floor. Straighten your left leg, move your right foot so that the sole is facing the head, and now, roll your left leg a little left and right, in and out.

8a. Now bend your left knee so that your left foot moves to the right, the left knee is bent, so your legs will be in a symmetrical sort of position. Both knees bend, soles of both feet looking up in the direction of your head. Take your time so that you can figure this out. You're bending the knee, the leg stays bent, both soles looking up there. You're going to keep your knees bent, keep your left knee bent, your right foot is on the floor, now start to slide your left knee up and down the back of your right calf, bringing the left knee closer to your right knee and then farther away. You're lifting your left knee so that it slides up and down, on the back of your right calf, and as you bring your left knee down, closer to the floor, can you think about lengthening and extending your arms overhead a little more? Feel how as your left knee moves down, can you think about using that movement to extend your back, to push your belly forward, roll your pelvis forward and extend your arms? It's not about rolling to the side.

Stop and rest. What did that movement have to do with lengthening your arms overhead? What did the constraints of that movement, of having your legs crossed that way, moving your legs that way, how did the constraints of that movement open up perhaps a different way of using your pelvis, lengthening your spine, moving your ribs, that enhanced your ability to lengthen your arms? Or perhaps you did not feel that at all?

8b. And now bend your knees, put your feet standing and cross your left leg over your right leg, and just imagine that you are going to put your left foot on the floor; what would have to happen in your pelvis, what does this movement entail, how would

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you put that foot on the floor? Follow that movement, in your imagination till you have the left foot on the floor, then think about straightening your right leg, rolling the right leg to the inside and to the outside, keeping your left foot on the floor. And of course in your imagination your arms are interlaced overhead. Can you follow how that movement affects the ability, the ease with which you can extend one or both arms? And think about directing the sole of your left foot in the direction of your head, so that your left knee opens. And think about bending your right knee, so that your right foot moves to the left, so that you end up with both knees bent. Think about sliding your right leg up and down along the back of your left calf. How does that movement of your leg roll your pelvis, extend your back and affect your ability to lengthen your arms overhead? Notice where you can imagine, where this is clear in your imagination, and where it is very difficult to even imagine it.

8c. Start to do the movement, whenever you feel ready. So interlace your hands, overhead, palms away from the top of your head, left leg is crossed over the right...

(Transcription note: Do it actively as it is described in the imagination above —instructions for actively doing the movement are confusing in the tape.)

(...) Both knees bend, soles of both feet directed to the head.

8d. As you slide your right knee down, start to slide your feet a little to the outside and up towards your head. Think about it, imagine it, and feel how that movement of the right knee down towards the floor affects your ability to extend your arms overhead.

Stop. Straighten your legs, let your arms rest alongside you. Think back to when you first laid down on the floor, what parts of you are contacting the floor now, in different ways and what is the sense of the length of your spine? The length of the back of you? How is your breathing, where do your ribs move, has the floor become more friendly or less friendly, and if you feel that the floor has become less friendly, feel free to bend your knees bring your legs over your belly and just roll a little left and right. Remind yourself that you can still bend this way. And then stop.

9. And slowly come up to sitting, so that your legs are long in front of you. Have your hands in a supportive place, not too far back, up towards your hips. In this position start to push your lower belly forward as if to bring your pubic bone down in the direction of the floor, push your lower belly forward and down. Use that movement to lengthen your spine, feel your head move forward and up.

9a. Stop and interlace your hands, place the palms pointing away from you, lengthen your arms up over your head as you do that movement of rolling your pelvis forward, so that your head will be moving in front of your arms, your arms are lengthening up toward the ceiling, and you have a sense of moving the rest of you, your head a little bit in front of your arms. So you're lengthening your spine, you're lengthening your back up. Feel what your shoulders have to do, just a few movements like that, feel how this connects with what you were doing with Chris. And then stop.

10. Come on to standing. And in standing, interlace your hands, place the palms pointing

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away from you, lengthen your arms upward, pushing your palms against the ceiling, and as you did in sitting, pushing your lower abdomen forward, down towards the floor. How would you take in standing what you did in sitting? How can you get a sense of that movement of your pelvis rolling forward, as you lengthen your arms upwards so that your head has a sense of moving, connected to your spine, in front of your arms.

And then stop, bring your arms down alongside you, and just take a second to feel how you're standing there, where are your arms and your shoulders? Let yourself feel what your arms and shoulders are doing. Where are they oriented, what is your sense of the length of your spine, where is your head, how your head connects to your spine, to your pelvis?

10a. And take a walk, and keep noticing these same things, where is your head, where are your shoulders, and arms, how does it feel to walk now, how can you maintain a sense of the length of your spine as you move through space?

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ATM Lesson 226: Rolling Arms Source: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 225Date: 1999, August 12Teacher: Elizabeth Beringer

1. Lie on your backs for a moment and imagine that you are standing, except you are lying on your back. What kind of position would you take if you were standing? How would your situation be different if you were standing up? If the floor shifted and you were in the erect position, what would change?

1a. Stand up. Stand for a moment and observe how you're standing. What changed? There are a lot of similarities. You are long. You are lined up from top to bottom. You're symmetrical. Your head isn't turned. What shifts when you come into gravity? When you have to be in this relationship to gravity? Can you put yourself in the position that you're in when you lie on your back? What do you change? Probably your feet turn out. They don't stay pointing forward. Your head goes back because your head will be completely in line with your back. What about your arms? Where do your arms go? They'll also go back. Not a very balanced position.

1b. Lie on your back again and see how accurate you were. So, put yourself in the standing position lying on your back. Just for a moment. Leave that for a moment.

2. Bend both of your knees so your feet are standing. Put your arms out to the side. We are going to start with some very familiar movements. Your arms are out to the side and begin to roll your arms down and up. Roll your arms on the floor. So, this is a familiar movement, right? This is the Errol Flynn lesson. Do that a few times, rolling one way and rolling the other way.

2a. Make a loose fist with your hands and observe how the movement effects different parts of your back. Now, begin to include your pelvis in the movement. Which way would you tilt your pelvis in order to support the movement of your arms? It's interesting to see that people have chosen different ways of supporting the movement of the arms. Some people tilt the pelvis up when the arms roll up. Some people tilt the pelvis up as the arms roll down.

2b. Do it the other way. The way you didn't choose. Check if you could do it in a way so that this feels like the easier way. Can you do it and understand why someone else might choose this way as his or her first choice?

Straighten your legs and put your arms down alongside you. In the classic Errol Flynn lesson one carefully breaks up the movements. First you roll one way and then you experiment with the pelvis. Then you roll the other way. Now we are doing the condensed version.

3. Bend your knees again. Put your arms out to your side. Roll your arms a little and find out if rolling the pelvis had any effect on the ease of rolling the arms.

3a. Begin to roll one arm up and the other arm down. So they roll in opposite

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directions. One arm up and the other arm down.

3b. Begin to bring your head into this movement. That means rolling your head. Here, interestingly enough, almost everybody rolls their head towards the arm that's s rolling up. What is it about that arm? I didn't say which arm to roll towards. What is it that made you choose, what sensations made you choose to go that way?

Be still for a moment and then roll your arms. What calls you to that side?

3c. Don't worry about it too much. Just do it to one side, smoothly, and then the other side. As smoothly as you can.

Straighten your legs. Have your arms down by your side.

4. Here's the project now. We want to see if we can transfer the movements of this lesson into standing and what opportunities arise from that. What difficulties arise from that? How is it different? Go ahead and stand up. Take your arms out to the side. Begin to roll your arms up and down in the same way. Make loose fists. They are both going in the same direction. What happens when you're standing that doesn't happen when you're lying down? What can you sense differently? What happens with your head? What happens with your pelvis?

Put your arms down by your side and pause for a moment. When you were lying on the ground I asked you which way of tilting the pelvis was going to support the rolling of the arms.

5. Put your arms out to the side and approach that same question. Go ahead and include a tilting of your pelvis with the movement of your arms. Find out if the answer you get is any different standing up than lying down.

And lie on your back again.

6. Bend your knees and put your arms out to the side. Do the same movement rolling your arms up and down. What's happening now as you do that? How is that developing? Was your sense of this movement informed at all or affected at all by having done it in standing? Or do you immediately go into the same sense of it you had a moment ago? What about bringing your pelvis in? What sense does that make now? Almost everybody standing up arched their back as they rolled their arms up. So there was an arching of the back and a contracting of the whole front. But what happens with your head as you're lying on the back? How is the participation of your head different?

6a. Do the movement now as if you were standing. What would your head do if you were standing? You can't do it exactly, but you do a version of it. Your head when you're standing, is free to — the gravity helps your head come down as your chest goes down, as your arms go down. The gravity is assisting in that direction. In the same way as your arms go up, your head can go easily backwards because your head is not fixed. It is not stable in standing. It is free to move. Here you've got the constraint of the back of your head on the floor and lifting it up involves — you have to decide to lift it up. Your head isn't going to just lift on its own. Put your arms down by your side and rest again.

Critiquing my construction of the lesson, I should have waited and done the arms opposite on the back now. That would have been better.

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7. Come up to standing again. Put your arms out to the side, check a couple of times rolling you arms down, and back. Observe what happens with your head. If I don't ask you not to move your head and the project is to move your arms smoothly, then moving the head makes sense. Bringing the head into the movement. How can the movement of you head support the movement of your arms? Just notice how you have a different experience of the movement in this orientation. Put your arms down by your side.

7a. Then put your arms out to the side and begin to take first one arm up and then the other arm up. Rolling one and then the other. Do it as smoothly and completely as you can. And again, how is your experience of doing the movement standing up different from lying down? What are the elements of the movement that come in when you're standing up that aren't there when you're lying down? I didn't say what to do with your head. You can move it or keep it still. It's up to you.

8. Put your arms down. Find a person next to you and observe them doing this movement lying down and then standing. Between the two of you, discuss not the experience, but what you observe in the difference so you can observe what takes place in these two different orientations. See if you can make a distinction between something that might be specific to the person you're seeing and something that would be a relatively universal difference. Like, everybody is more moveable in standing. We can generalize that idea. You can think what might be specific to that person and what might be more general. And maybe some things you don't. You have a question about that. You might have to stay with the question. Leave it at, I don't know.

8a. Come to the middle. Let's continue it as a whole group. Let's take the movement of the arms going in opposite directions. What kind of differences did people notice? Universal differences? That it's more fluid. Your experience is that it is more fluid and you observed it being more fluid. You have the possibility of shifting the weight more clearly in standing. You could say that the universal difference is that in standing you can shift your weight and that becomes a question. Which way to shift the weight? An interesting question. On the back you didn't have to choose.

8b. Let's have a couple of volunteers just to look at some people. Volker, Brigitta. Start with lying and bend your knees. Start with one arm going up and then the other arm going up. Both of them have integrated a little movement of the pelvis. You can see that the version of the weight shift in lying down, there is some shifting of the pelvis. Brigitta's way of doing it is with some side bending and shifting towards the side that she's going up. Volker is clearly shifting towards the side that he's rolling up. You can see quite a difference in the movement of their arms.

8c. Stand up. Go ahead and do the same. What do you notice when Volker stands up? There is one really obvious difference. His head turns more. Absolutely a movement of all of him. First, there's a rotation. He's not constrained by the floor here, so there's twice as much movement in this plane. It's a combination of twisting; there's some translation.

8d. Now with Brigitta — I would say that the image she has here is almost that she's still on the floor. So that there is no utilization of that three-dimensional possibility.

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8e. Now let's do something. Think of reaching with the arm that's going up. Then you look at that hand. When that happens the weight shift is really clear. Now you see when we bring in an intention that the weight shift makes more sense. If you have the intention to reach and you shift the other way, you are going to be limited in how far this arm can go.

So in a certain way in an ATM if there's a clear directive it is easier to judge: is it easier to take the pelvis this way? Or is it easier to take it that way? Lacking a clear directive you're clear to take it whichever way feels good to you. The more clear the constraint is, the more you are asked to go in a particular direction. Part of the challenge in the lesson is how to help Brigitta be able to use more of the dimensionality of the movement.

Let's see what we can do with that. We'll do it in the whole group. You're not the only one that is doing it.

9. Lie on your back again for a moment.

(Do the movement of rolling arms: not on tape.)

Notice what's happening with you. Is the pelvis completely fixed? Is there some sense of shift of weight? Does that help at all? How constrained are you by your contact with the floor? Are you somehow unconsciously gluing yourself to the floor?

9a. Begin to lengthen the arm that's rolling up. And then lengthen the other arm. Do whatever you want to do, comfortably, to lengthen one arm and then the other arm. You really sense how as one arm goes one way the other arm goes the other way. You actually start to shorten the arm you're leaving behind. You're looking towards the upper arm. Shortening it means that you're kind of pulling it towards you. You're reaching away with one arm and the other arm is dragging towards you. Then you reach with the other arm and you drag the other one towards you. So you feel that the rolling of your arms, we could say, deform your chest. It can start to mold your chest. Move your chest. You don't make up what that movement is going to be. You don't know what that movement is going to be. It's hard to break it up into exact plans. It's just that your chest isn't inhibiting the movement of your arms. Put your arms down by your side and rest.

Classically this lesson is taught lying on the back. Part of the challenge is it is very tempting to stay very flat. You have the advantage that you're supported by the floor. You're not holding your arms up. You're not having to stand and organize yourself in gravity. And yet perhaps the relationship between the pelvis and the arms will take a little more development in this situation than in standing. Another classic way of teaching this lesson is that you do some on the back, some kneeling, some standing up. Once one has the basic idea of what's being taught in the lesson, it can be taught in different situations.

10. Stand up now. And do the same thing reaching with one arm and then reaching with the other arm. lengthening. You don't have to worry so much about reaching. You are just lengthening an arm and you're looking at that arm. Then the other one. Just observe as you do that. How is this different from what happened lying down? Do you bring the floor with you in a certain way? Do you tend to think of yourself as a front and a back?

I think the culture of mirrors really affects us. We look at ourselves frontally a lot. And not so much sideways. Like when I'm in a dressing room in a department store and I look at myself sideways, it's quite different. We always have a frontal view of ourselves. So it can give that sense that you are a front and a back. Here you are using all sides.

Put your arms down by your side.

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10a. When you're ready, do the same movement but look at the shortening arm. You're turning the head the other way. It's an interesting thing, what people are doing with their head. Clearly there's a turning because I've asked you to look at your hand. But how much are you bending your ear towards your shoulder? I'm not saying you should or you shouldn't. I'm just asking how much you're doing it. Is side bending a part of this? Is there perhaps more on one side than the other?

Leave that. Put your arms down by your side and take a rest in standing.

11. Put your arms out to the side. Begin to take your ear towards the arm you're lengthening. You keep your face facing forward. Now you're doing a side bending movement. Do it to one side and then the other side. It'll take a moment to get comfortable doing that. You watched a video about the importance of the head for weight shifting. What happens with the shifting of your weight as you do this? Probably it takes you even more in the direction of where you're reaching. It's what I see. A little more smoothly and actually breathing. Don't turn your head. Keep your head facing forward.

Lie down on your back and rest. Observe how you're contacting the floor now.

12. Come to stand again. Put your arms out to your side. Take your ear, predictably, to the shortening side a few times. Tilt your head in the direction of the shortening arm. What happens with the shift of your weight now? Do you shift towards the side that you're reaching towards? Or do you shift towards the side that you're taking your head to? Or do you stay in the middle and not commit yourself? Put your arms down by your side and rest.

13. Put your arms out to the side again. This time you turn yourself around to the right as far as you can go and then unwind yourself about 20%. Stay there and do the movement of lengthening first one arm and then the other arm in this situation. You look towards the arm that's lengthening first and then the other arm. You're doing the movement twisted around to the right. Your feet stay in the same situation but your facing a bit to the right.

13a. Now go towards the shortening arm. Put your arms down by your side and pause for a moment.

13b. Now twist around again to the right. Now this time, tilt your head again towards the lengthening arm one way and the other way. Make sure your head is in the middle. Your arm stays straight. You tilt your head in the orientation of your shoulder. Your nose is related to your sternum. Don't turn your head. Come to the middle and put your arms down.

13c. With your arms down just turn to the right. Did that have any effect on how far you can turn to the right? Lie on your back again.

14. When you're ready come to standing. No, just come to standing. When I first started teaching ATM, my language was full of all these words to make things softer. "When you're ready, begin to start a movement." Now I just say, "OK, stand up!"

Put your arms out to the side. Twist yourself around to the left as far as you can go and come back about 20%. Start with the easiest movement, lengthening, looking towards the lengthening arm. Then looking at the other arm.

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14a. Now let's bring in more of a translation. What does that mean? You really take your head in the direction of the arm you're looking towards. Your whole face moves in that direction. Translation means that you don't tilt. Your face doesn't look down towards the floor. You really look out towards that arm. It's as if somebody took your head and moved you, shifted your weight, moved you more in that direction. It doesn't have to be a big movement. Just see if you can do it clearly. It will really effect in the upper spine, in the area of the seventh cervical. It's almost like a pecking movement. It's as if you wanted to take your lips towards your hand. Put your arms down by your side. Rest.

14b. Back into the same situation. Do the same thing, except now turn your head towards the shortening arm. First, do the movement a few times to the shortening arm comfortably. Observe what happens with the translation now. Your head is not moving towards the shortening arm, is it? The back of your head is moving in the other direction. Go ahead and exaggerate that slightly. Move the back of your head towards the lengthening arm. It can be a tiny bit. However, your face stays facing forward. I'm just asking you to exaggerate what you are already doing. Clearly. That's it. It's really asking for very specific movement in your upper back.

Rest. Put your arms out to your side and twist around to your left. Find out if that helped at all your twisting here.

15. Then stay in the center. Put your arms out to your side. Then once again do one arm and then the other arm. Looking at the lengthening arm and then the other arm. See if you can get the sense of your arms twisting. They are like skewers that move your chest.

Lie on your back now. This ATM had a different kind of rhythm. Watching, up, down, standing, talking, observing. Take a moment on your back to observe overall what you notice on your back.

16. Stand up again, one last time. Take you arms in a movement over the top of you head, straight, to come together over the top of your head and then back down again. So, you take your arms out to the side and your palms come together and then they go down to your side again. So your hands come into a clapping or praying position over your head.

16a. Now look up at your hands as your arms come above your head. Do the movement simply. Not trying to achieve anything at this point. Feel your sternum raising. Make sure you're not fixing your pelvis. Your weight is free to shift if necessary. Breathing. Then leave your arms down by your side.

16b. This time do the same thing but look down as your arms go up. Not as much as you can. Just a nice, light movement to end with. Your head goes down as your arms go up. Then comes back to neutral as your arms come down.

16c. Look up again as your hands go up.

17. Then stand again with your arms by your side. Notice how you're standing now. Where your arms are hanging. The effort or the ease that you have in standing. The length through your head. Begin to do a movement where you twist your hips and let your arms

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move like ropes. Your arms just swing. They swing around you. If you do it faster, you arms are moved by your pelvis. It's an opportunity to notice if there is any unnecessary holding you're doing in your arms. It's a moment you just let it go. Arms just wrap around you like ropes. Your pelvis twists. Your arms will touch you, around your torso. Can you stay upright? Some of you are collapsing. Stay upright. Stay with that sense of length and your arms are free.

17a. End that and just stand again. Begin to walk. Notice how your arms are swinging as you walk.

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ATM Lesson 227: Prone, Tilting LegsSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 226Date: 1999, August 13Teacher: Anke Feldmann

1. Check in a moment with your weight on the floor and sense your lumbar, your back lying on the floor, your hip joints, the length of your legs, your breathing, the rhythm of your breathing. And roll your head to one side and the other, just to check in with the quality of the movement, how it feels today. When you are done, bring the head into the middle and turn over to lie on your belly.

2. Both arms are up in front of you so you could put your head on the two hands, or you could leave the head on the floor, and the two hands are close to your head. They are not stretched out. You could put your head on the hands or arrange yourself that the head is on the floor and the hands are close. And turn your head to the more convenient side. Check in which is the easier side, and bend both legs so your feet are pointing towards the ceiling. And when you are looking to the left you start to move your left leg a little bit to the outside and when you look to the right you start to move your right leg a little bit to the outside. And only move the right or the left leg, whichever you move. If you look to the right you move your right one, if you look to the left you move your left one. Only move it as far as the other leg can keep stationary. Only go as far as you can sense that the other leg does not move. So, this really needs your attention. What's going on in your spine, what's going on in your ribs, what's going on in your pelvis? And again, really check that the other leg doesn't move. So you don't go any further, out to the side, with the leg you are moving so you can sense what's happening in that hip joint of the leg which keeps stationary. You can sense how your pelvis gets involved very very slightly into the movement and then how far you can go so the other leg stays stationary. Can you feel a weight shift in your ribs, in your lower back?

2a. And then change over to the other leg. So if you are looking to the left now — not your head, change over to the other leg, the head stays in the same direction, it was the more convenient direction for you — you move out the right leg to the side; and if you look to the right you are moving out the left leg. And again, the not-moving leg really keeps stationary, it doesn't move. And sense if there is a difference, how far one leg is able to move to the side without moving the other leg. Can you sense a connection to where the head is facing? Is it more easy when you look to the left to move your right leg a little further out to the side, and maybe a little bit easier when you look to the right to move your left leg a little bit more to the side? So, is the opening in the hip joint related to the head turning? And really reduce your effort, your strain in the movement, so really you get into sensing what's going on. It can be very small movements. OK, and then take a break.

2b. Come back to the same position. The arms are up in front of you, so the hands are close to your forehead or to your cheek or wherever, close to your head somewhere, and both legs are bent so the feet are pointing towards the ceiling. And now turn the head the other way, to the more maybe inconvenient side. Both legs are bent. When you look to the right, again start to move your right lower leg

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to the outside, and if you look to the left you move your left leg to the outside. And only go as far as the other leg stays without movement, without changing position. So you can pay attention to what's happening in your hip joint, throughout your spine, between your shoulder blades. And your head stays the same. Your head doesn't move either. How does that relate in a way to what we did in the first week? Remember these lessons Elizabeth taught and then I taught some, where we fixed the head and moved the pelvis and the other way around.

2c. And then keep the head to that side and start to move the other leg to the outside. So, if you look to the right now, you move your left leg to the outside, and if you look to the left now, you move your right leg to the outside and the other side stays stationary, without movement. Only go as far as this is possible to do.

OK, and then turn over to lie on your back and take a rest. And notice how this refined attention to your hip joints, to your spine, affects the way you are lying on the floor, you are contacting the floor and you are sensing yourself. The middle of yourself. And you could also roll your head to one side and the other side, just to check in if it has effected the rolling of the head in any way.

3. And then come back to lie on your belly. Turn your head to either side. Your arms are in the same configuration. They are up in front of you close to your head, or you can even put one cheek or one part of the head on the hands. And bend your knees again. And move the leg which was a little bit more difficult to do to the outside. Do you remember which one it was? You can check in with both for a moment and then stay with the one where you feel it's a little bit more difficult to move to the outside, it's less easy to open the hip joint and still keep this constraint of not moving the other leg. So get clear with which leg you are working now. And now really explore this point where the other leg would get involved. So, you might go a little bit further to sense that moment when the other leg gets involved and then come back. So you really can sense the difference if you involved the leg or not and at what point, what grade of the involvement of the pelvis it happens that the other leg has no other way to get involved into the movement. Very nice! It's really very subtle. Something very subtle to play with. And it's very interesting to extend your attention really throughout yourself, your spine, your ribs, the weight shift you can feel to the side where the leg is moving to.

3a. And try the same thing with the other leg. So you move the more easy leg to the outside. First keeping the other one really stationary, really keeping that constraint, and then you sense that moment, when the leg gets involved or there is no other way to really involve it. Play around that a little bit, and it might be very different with the other leg. And also on that side sense what's happening throughout you whole torso. What's happening in the pelvis, in the spine, in the rib cage? How the weight shifts more to one side?

And then take a rest. You can stay on your belly. Of course, if there is any need to change to your back or to your side during that lesson, please feel free to do that whenever you need it, so you are staying comfortable.

4. So you bend both knees again. Your legs are bent, your arms are up in the same manner and turn your head to the other side. And now move both legs to the outside at the same time. Both to the outside: it doesn't mean that one goes to the inside and one to the outside, but both go to the outside. Both are doing the same movement you just

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did with either one at the same time. Some of you are bending one leg to the outside and the other one to the inside. You don't tilt your legs to one side and then to the other side. You move both legs to the outside, that means your feet are moving apart from each other, they are moving away from each other.

4a. And then stay with the two legs open, the two feet apart from each other, of course in a comfortable range and observe the angle between your right leg and the floor and your left leg and the floor. Is there one leg which is like a little bit closer to the floor, is there one hip joint which is a little bit more easy to open? And keep that in your mind and change over the head. And does the changing of the head change the angle of the two legs? Is there a connection between the opening in your hip joints and the turning of your head?

It's very subtle, so don't stay at any limit of the movement, and whenever you feel you can take a break in between. So you are really allowing yourself to have a clear attention. When you are ready change over to lie on your back and take a break.

5. Turn over to lie on your belly again. Turn your head to one side and bend both legs. This time bring your knees close together so your knees are touching and the legs are bent. And now bring your arms downwards alongside so the palms are facing towards the ceiling. Your head is turned to your comfortable side. And again start to open the legs to the outside, the feet moving away from each other. Not tilting the legs right and left but opening, opening the right leg to the right and the left leg to the left, bringing them together again. The knees are together, they are not apart. The knees are touching. Some of you have the knees too far apart. Bring them really together. And sense the opening of your legs in this configuration. What's happening now in your pelvis, in your back? Is this placing of your arms easier?

5a. Change over your head. Just to feel, to notice if there is a difference in the movement if you change the head to the other side. And take a rest on your belly or where ever you are comfortable.

6. Bring both knees together, bend your legs. And your arms are still in the same configuration, that means they are downwards along the sides, the palms are facing towards the ceiling, and turn the head to look to the right. Now imagine that with a string you tie your knees together and you tie your feet together. Imagine it, you really tie them together so they are really tied. OK, and keeping this, and now start to tilt both legs towards your left, but they keep tied together, so they don't slide. Can you feel that? They are not able to slide when they are on each other, because they are tied together. And sense what needs to happen now, when the legs are tied together. Don't go too far, take it easy. What's happening throughout your spine? How does your weight shift now? What's happening in your hip joints and in your lumbar spine?

6a. And change over your head to look to the left. Don't forget your ties around your knees and your feet and now tilt the legs to the right. Some of you start to lift of shoulders from the floor. Try not to lift the shoulders, not to involve them too much, but keep them on the floor. Very nice. Take a rest on your belly.

6b. And come back to the same situation you just have been in. Both legs are bent, the arms are down, and your head is to either side. Choose the side which is more

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comfortable for you. Your legs are bent and again put these ties around your knees and around your feet. And now once tilt the two legs, tied together, to the left and one time to the right. So you go back and force to one side and the other side. And sense the movement traveling through the spine to the head. The head stays in place, of course you can feel a slight effect, also in the cervical spine. Great!

6c. And then change over the head. And still keep doing the tilting of the legs to one side and the other side. And of course you might notice that it's easier to go to one side than to go to the other side and I would really recommend to stay within your easy limits and instead of going further and to strain parts of yourself to see how you can spread your attention and notice for example also what's happening between the shoulder blades. And allowing yourself to use your attention instead of effort. Which means that you get clarity, instead of strain. Very nice.

OK! Then roll over to your back and take a rest. You might roll your head right and left, just to check in.

Some of you were also rounding, bringing the legs towards the chest. Of course you can do that whenever you feel strain in your back and you need to do it, but it might also be a sign that you need to do less when you are lying on your belly. We have this tendency to overuse parts of ourself and to not integrate or include other parts. So really allow yourself to use your attention, meaning like really get more into the picture instead of performing a good movement or performing a big movement.

7. Roll on to your belly again. Install your strings around your knees, around your feet and this time bring your both arms up again, like we did in the beginning of the lesson. So they are comfortable up in front of you around your head, under your head, and your head is turned to one side, your legs are bent. You have a string around your knees, a string around your feet, and again do the same thing we just did. You tilt your both legs a little right, a little left with the strings, which means that they don't slide but that actually one side of the pelvis is lifting off the floor. And notice is there a difference in the movement, can you sense a difference in the movement when you have your arms up? Take a pause on your belly.

8. And put both your arms stretched out alongside to the right and to the left. So come back to the flying position in a way. You remember the Flying lesson with Elizabeth, Friday one week ago, it seems to be a long time ago maybe. The palms of your hands are touching the floor and the right arm is out to the right and the left arm is out to the left, parallel to your shoulders. So you might check in for a moment if it's OK with your partner and if your arms are really parallel. Your head is turned to one side, your legs are bent, and your knees and your feet are tied together, and again come back to do the tilting of the tied legs, tied knees, tied ankles, to the left and to the right, or maybe just go to one side. So, if your head is turned to the left just go to right and come back to the middle, and if your head is turned to the right just go to the left and go back to the middle. So you go in a way to the easier side and sense this configuration of your arms clarifies aspects of the movement. Now it's interesting that some of you, when their legs move to the right tend to lift the left shoulder or when the legs move to the left to lift the right shoulder. But instead of doing that keep the shoulders to the floor and sense what difference does it make if you really keep your shoulder on the floor — the right one if you look to your right, and the left one if you look to the left? What happens in between the shoulders? You might sense that it's clarifying the movement of the spine between

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the shoulder blades much more, if you don't lift that shoulder. It might restrict the movement a little bit of the legs, so don't go too far, it's not necessary. Very nice. Take a rest.

8a. And then when you are ready turn over the head to the other side, bring your legs in the same configuration, tie together knees and ankles. The arms are out in the flying position and again when the head is turned to the right your legs move to the left and when your head is turned to the left your legs tilt to the right and your shoulders are staying close to the floor. So you can almost feel like one arm is stretching a little bit, lengthening a little bit. Very nice!

8b. And then you can even go to one side and the other side. Tilt the legs to one side and the other side, but go slowly and don't go too far. Sense what's happening between the shoulder blades.

8c. And turn over your head to the other side, and do the same movement. So you can really feel that this turning is taking place throughout your whole spine. Some of us have the tendency to work very hard on the lower back and forget about the space between the shoulder blades or the rib cage, so use your attention.

And then take a rest. Turn over to your back and take a rest. Roll your head right and left, just to check in.

9. Bring the head back to the middle and roll over to your belly. Your both arms are in the flying position. Right arm out to the right, left arm out to the left. Your legs are bent, your knees are together. Head is to one side, which is more comfortable. And now while keeping the knees together, open the two feet apart from each other. And stay in a comfortable range. So the knees are open and the feet are apart, and stay in a comfortable range like that. And now like that if your head is turned to the left you tilt your legs to the right, and if your head is turned to the right you tilt your legs to the left. Now listen! Keep the distance between the two feet the same. While you tilt your two legs in the same manner the knees being tied together, tilt the two legs to one side, the easier side and keep the distance between the feet the same. It's as if you have a stick between the two feet and the stick remains the same length. Maybe you can't go very far, that's OK, just sense what it means. It would be much more easy to change the distance between the two feet. So really bring your attention again to what your are doing there. Very nice!

9a. And change over the head and tilt the legs to the other side. And again, having the knees tied together and the two feet staying the same width apart from each other. It's in a way a funny movement, isn't it? It's Feldenkrais. So, it's not so important to do a big movement. Don't get involved so much about — just stay with this unusual configuration, however funny it might feel, unusual it might feel. OK! Take a rest in whatever position you like to.

10. And one more time come onto your belly, if you are landed in another situation. And your head is turned to one side. Your arms are in the flying position, out to your sides. Bend your knees, bring them together. And now open your feet and then open your knees, that means your knees move apart from each other. Ja! Open your feet apart from each other and then move your knees apart from each other, sliding on the floor. So you end

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up in a situation where still your feet are a little bit more outside than your knees. Ja! So, make sure you open the feet and then you open the knees. Which means that your feet are more outside than your knees. But your knees are not together anymore, they are now spread apart and you can play with how far apart your knees might spread. OK! And then everybody turn the head to the left. Look to the left and now start again to tilt your legs slowly to the right. You look to the left and you tilt your legs to the right. And sense, when would it become possible to bring your left foot to the floor and how. Your left foot to the floor, not behind you. The feet are more apart than your knees still. Don't change that. That means probably that you can draw up your left knee towards yourself. You tilt your legs to the right and you draw up your left knee sliding on the floor. I know some of you experimented with other movements, which is OK. The left knee sliding up on the floor so the left foot can eventually come to touch the floor. Aha! That's an other possibility. Ja? Good!

10a. And if you go ahead and also experiment with how far your knees want to be apart from each other, also the right foot can come to touch the floor. What's happening in your pelvis? What's happening in your back? Ja! You're extending your back now. Ja! You're extending your pelvis, and also you can experiment with how far do you need to draw up your left knee, towards yourself, towards your chest. You might draw it up as far as you need to, to do the movement. The knees are apart from each other, your right knee and your left knee are opening, and then the left knee is drawing up. Nice! Very good! And maybe it's possible for both feet to touch the floor. Very nice.

OK! Take a rest, on the side, on the belly, curled together, what ever you need.

10b. And come back to lie on your belly again and we do the other side. Head is turned to the right. Right arm is out to flying to the right, the left arm is out to fly to the left. Look to the right and first bring the feet apart from each other and then the knees apart from each other. It's different than if you would have your feet above your knees. It's really the feet are more apart than the knees. Ja! Genau! And slowly start to shift, to tilt your legs to the left. Go slowly! Experiment with how far your knees need to be spread. If they are spread too much it might get difficult, if they are too close it's difficult, too. And there comes the point when you can draw up your right knee on the floor towards yourself, and your right foot is coming closer to the floor and eventually touches the floor. And now you might give up the limitation that the shoulders stay on the floor, of course. One shoulder needs to move away from the floor. If you maybe even bring the outer foot to the floor, your right shoulder comes off the floor. And experiment with how much do you need to draw up your right knee. Feel free to draw it up towards your belly, towards your chest as much as you need. Ja!

Very nice and take a rest. Roll over to your back and take a rest. Roll your head right and left. Sense your hip joints, your lower back lying on the floor, your whole back touching the floor.

And you remember Paul was talking yesterday, when he showed the video, about these triangles, and so we could ask you now, how do you sense the triangle from the head down to your two hip joints, which is a very basic triangle. Everybody knows that, if we have strong asymmetries going on in that triangle, we really create difficulties. And it's not about being perfect, of course, nobody is that, only skeletons maybe; and even they are not perfect, but you can find some sense of completeness or maybe even some sense of just understanding ourselves better. Understanding ourselves better and sensing ourselves better makes a big

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difference.

11. Last time come to lie on your belly. And remember how we started out. How everything began. Put your head to your comfortable side, the two arms are in front. They are not in the flying position anymore. Put the two arms up above yourself around your head some place. The both legs are bent, they are not tied, put away all the strings, throw them away. So, the legs are bent, the knees are apart in a comfortable way. And very slowly, sensing start to move one leg, only one leg to the outside and back again, and keep the other one stationary and sense how can you do that movement now. Is there more clarity, more range of movement, more connection up throughout the spine, the ribs, between the shoulders, the neck?

11a. And then do it with the other leg, keeping the other leg stationary. And maybe you discover something really new, in the sense that you haven't sensed it before. Really pay attention to what that is. This new understanding of yourself.

11b. And if you like you can also change over the head and check it with the head on the other side, if you are still interested in it. Maybe it also got easier to sense really, if you keep the legs stationary and how to do that. So, you can sense how your pelvis is able to move around the stationary leg, so you use your hip joints. You really improve the function of your hip joints.

Whenever you are done, roll over to your back again and roll over one side, come up to sit, to stand. You will continue with Elizabeth doing that lesson later, but for now it's enough.

12. Come up to stand and take a moment to just sense how you are standing. Sensing this triangle of your head and your two hip joints, your pelvis in standing. Because all that we have done is very much related to our ability to be upright and to walk and to act in life. How do you relate to the ground now? How do you relate to the floor? And what is your sense of uprightness? How do you carry yourself? How is your trunk carried on your legs? And then walk. It's nice to see how the heads are carried in the room. OK! So, you can have a very elegant coffee break.

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ATM Lesson 228: Rocking on the BellySource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 227Date: 1999, August 13Teacher: Elizabeth Beringer

1. All right. Lie on your backs. Take a moment — a gestalt — and then lie on your stomach.

2. And now bend both your knees, so your feet are towards the ceiling like you did with Anke, and now turn your head to turn to the left, put your right hand up near your head. Your head is turned to the left and your right hand is up somewhere near your head. And now with your left arm reach back to hold your ankle, toward your ankle. See, where is your ankle, and if it's reachable in any way. Reach out to the side and hold it and let it go; hold it and let it go. Now, if you can't hold on to your ankle you can hold on to your pant leg or your sock or whatever you can get to comfortably.

2a. And now keep holding on to your foot and move it left and right. You're holding with your left hand your left foot. You go left and right. It's the movement you've done with Anke this morning, now done from the perspective of your leg, moving your leg like this in and out. And pause for a moment.

When an ATM starts and you have really a difficulty that you're coping with, a shoulder or a leg — feel free to start on the other side. We don't know how the ATM's going to go; maybe a lot on one side or back and forth, but as much as possible you want to start with your easier side; for all the reasons we were just discussing.

3. Now bend again your two legs, hold your left ankle in the same way and now slide your knee left and right, on the floor. So you may have to take your knee away from the floor a little, at least lighten the contact, and the idea is that your foot stays more or less in the same place, not strictly. And then you move that knee in and out. So you'll notice again some similarities to things you were doing in the movement with Anke. If you can find out how to have that leg slide lightly. And if keeping the foot still is getting in your way, it's more important that the knee slide comfortably. So if you need to have your foot move to the inside and the outside so that your knee can move, then you do that. Figure out, how the knee can slide along the floor. It's as if your knee would start to slide up to the side like you did with Anke. As if you were going to see it, and then it would go to the other direction to meet the right knee. Leave that and pause for a moment.

This is one of those lessons where there may be some steps that are challenging for you. But if you encounter a step like that you can always do the best with that one, and then the one after that may be more accessible.

4. Now again bend both your knees and take your left hand back to hold your left ankle and begin to take your left knee away from the floor. Away from the floor and put it down again. Is there more than one way you can do that? Is there a way you can have it be easier to take the knee away from the floor? What are your options here?

4a. Let's say, there are no constraints at all. What would make it really be easy? Well, you have to keep holding on to the ankle. I know, I said no constraints. No constraints at all, but holding on to the ankle. What could you do? So, a popular

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way people are doing this is they're taking their heel towards their buttocks and lifting, so they're really flexing their legs.

4b. An alternative way is: take your foot away from your head, straighten your leg more. And see if you can bring your knee away from the floor like that.

4c. Now, put your right hand in a push up position. And as you straighten your left leg, let your head and shoulder come away from the floor.

4d. Now, leave your knee on the floor a few times and just straighten your leg. Straighten that leg so that the straightening of the leg pulls your head and shoulder away from the floor. Can you get that connection? So you can leave your knee on the floor now, taking your foot back towards where it was when your leg was straight. You can push a little bit with your right arm so you can get that sense of the pulling of your arm. That's it. OK. and rest.

5. Now again bend your knees, hold on to your left ankle in the same way, and now again just take your knee away from the floor. See the variations you just did, if you can use those, without necessarily doing them explicitly. But how can you take your knee away from the floor in the simplest way, what's the easiest way for you? Is it easier if you lift your head or if you keep your head down? Is it easier if you straighten your knee or if you take it more toward your buttocks? Which way is the lightest for your knee?

5a. Now straighten your other leg. What affect does that have? Just keep it on the ground as you're taking the left knee away from the floor.

OK. And leave that, rest again. You can rest on your side or on your stomach.Watching Romi's baby, which is just always a pleasure to watch a baby, I was so struck yesterday, it is so clear, how the movement of her head and her eyes lead her into action. You can just see: she looks, so then she rolls, she is going to find herself on one side because she looked to one side. And then she looks to the other side and her head is very heavy, so she ends up rolling to the other side. It's so evident.

6. And roll again onto your stomach. And now turn your head the other way. Put your left arm up, turn your head to the right and reach back to hold your right ankle. And now move your right foot to the left and the right just like you did on the other side. Feel that freedom in your hip joint. You're making that distinction with Anke: how much you can move your leg until your pelvis comes in? Here you're free to roll your pelvis: you can just notice how far you move before your pelvis starts to roll. Is it getting a little bit easier to reach back and have your ankle? It looks like you learned something on the other side, and your starting out as a group it looks like you're having a little easier time getting your ankle.

6a. Now, move the knee left and right. Sliding it, as best you can. And then straighten both legs and pause for a moment.

7. And then bend both your knees again, reach back for your right ankle, and now begin to take your right knee away from the floor. Find out, what is it like on this side. How are you going to organize that on this side, what makes the most sense?

7a. And now begin to straighten your leg. So that, as you take the knee away from the

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floor, you straighten your leg.

7b. And then leave the knee on the floor and straighten your leg. Really get that sense of: your arm is passive. Your arm is passive in the sense of it's just like a rope that's connecting your foot and your shoulder. It's like somebody has tied a rope to your foot and to your shoulder, and so your foot moves, your shoulder moves. The only effort you need in your arm is to hold on to your ankle. And otherwise the action is coming from your leg. OK. and rest again.

8. And bend both your knees. And alternate, reach back to hold on one ankle and then the other ankle. You alternate. Not both on the same time. And as you go to reach your ankle, let your head come away from the floor. You go to one ankle, your head comes from the floor, and then the other ankle. You just take your head from the floor, so it's just a little bit easier to get to your ankle. One side and then the other side.

9. Now hold on to both ankles. And look over one shoulder at one foot and then over the other shoulder at the other foot. If you can't hold on to both, just have your knees bent and have your arms back like that.

And take your arms away. And now turn your head to the right and have your left arm up. And just rest like that for a moment. It's one thing to catch one ankle. And it's get again a degree harder to get both ankles. So utilize your socks and your pants for this as best you can. If you can actually hold something like that in a way that makes sense, you do your best approximation of it. You can hold the knee, for example.

10. Now hold your right ankle with your right hand, put your left hand in a push-up position. And now a few times straighten your right leg, taking the knee away from the floor.

10a. And then stay with your knee away from the floor, let your head come up and now rock yourself towards your knee and then towards your left shoulder. You rock yourself, so your right knee goes back to the floor and then your left shoulder comes towards the floor. Your left hand's in a push up position, it's helping you with that. So you start out in the arched position and then you stay kind of fixed in that position and you seesaw back and forth. So as your weight goes towards your left shoulder, the knee comes further away from the floor, and as your knee comes towards the floor, your head will come further from the floor. So you can say it's a balancing between your shoulder and knee or between your head and your knee. All right. And leave that. Rest for a moment.

We're doing a lot of different variations, but not letting them accumulate, not spending a long time with one in particular.

11. All right. Turn your head to the other side and put your right arm up. You're looking to the left, your right arm is up. Bend your knees. And now reach to get your left ankle. Is that any easier? This is the first ankle you were holding.

11a. And now do the same thing: you 're going to make the seesaw movement from your right shoulder to your left knee. So you put your right hand in the push-up position, you arch yourself, so that the head and the knee are away from the floor, and then you rock back and forth. The tricky thing is: once you've got your head and knee both away from the floor, then you have to move like a piece. All the

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relationships stay basically fixed. If it's easier for you to do with your right leg straight, feel free to do that. What's happening with some of you is, that there's a lot of movement in your lower back. In fact, once you've kind of decided on the amount of arching in your lower back, it stays the same. You goes just back and forth. So, your knee comes up, your shoulder goes down. You push with your hand, and your knee goes down. That's it. OK. And rest again.

12. Now reach back and hold both your ankles. And now take first one knee away from the floor and then the other knee away from the floor. Can you take again the knee away from the floor by straightening the leg? Generally speaking that's the way we're doing things in this lesson. You straighten the leg as much as you can. Pull the foot away from your head so that your shoulder moves back and your head comes away from the floor.

12a. A lot of you are doing it with two knees. Go ahead and do it with two knees. It's actually easier to do it with two knees, probably, than one at a time. So take two knees away from the floor and then go back down again. And with two knees, you're doing that, your heels are moving away from your buttocks. How much, we don't care, but that the heels are moving from the buttocks and helping to pull your shoulders and your head.

12b. So turn your head each time: you go down, your head's turned to the left, you're pulled up and you go down, your head's to the right. As you keep doing this, do it slowly, rest when you need to. You do it a few more times and really feel if you can have that, the movement spread through your back. Be careful you're not overworking; it's going to be the lower back probably. You feel your shoulder blades coming together in the back, that upper part of your back is engaged also. So you may need to lift your head even a little bit more. Let your shoulder blades move towards each other, make sure the strain is not going in one part of your back. If you're feeling that, really back off and figure out, how you can do it so it's comfortable. That's it. And rest again.

You are going to find yourself in this situation again next week. But you're going to get to it in a very different way. Then all of a sudden you'll all remember me saying that.

13. So now reach back to hold both ankles and now move the two feet towards each other and away from each other. As much as you can with all the constraints of this situation, just separate the feet like you did in the lesson with Anke, and then you bring them together again. Sense the mobility in the hip joints, the hip joints then really have to move independently of the pelvis. The pelvis can't help both. So it has to kind of stay in the middle.

14. And now hold for a moment, I'll describe the next movement to you. Again you're going to use the movement of pulling back with your feet to help lift your head away from the floor, you're going to get yourself in that bowed position and then rock forward and back in this position. Again: once you decide how much you're going to be arched, you stay that arched. So, don't arch too much. Just arch in an amount that's comfortable and then you go back and forth. And really use gravity. You use your head. Your head can go back and forward a little to help you. What else? Do you need to use your trunk somehow to help with this? How can you rock like that, but basically keep the same position? Where's that action going to come from? So, you're rolling over your belly. And you may find that doing it faster is actually easier because you get some momentum. I

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leave that up to you. You do it, then you stop. You do it again, you stop. OK. And rest again.

15. Now turn your head to the left, put your right hand in a push up position and reach back to hold your left ankle. And now do the movement here on this side. Pull, straighten your leg, taking your head away from the floor, taking your knee away from the floor, do the one sided movement. Just arching, and then coming back down again. Just lifting your knee and your head and coming back down again — not the rocking movement. Just see how that is now on this side and get a nice support. For some people it's either the head can be up or the knee can be up, even if it's just a little bit. Both your head and your knee are away from the floor. You're straightening your leg, your heel moves away from your buttock, you can use your right arm. That's great. Rest again.

15a. Turn your head to the other side. And do the same thing on the other side. Just a couple of times. So now you're holding your right ankle with your right hand and your left hand's in a push-up position. And you just bring your knee away from the floor on this side, supporting it with the lifting of your head. The knee and the head come away from the floor and they go down again. Your belly goes forward as the knee and the head come away from the floor. Don't push it. See if you get a nice coordination between the two. You're straightening your leg, so you have that help, your shoulder moves back by the straightening of the leg.

OK. And roll on your back. And notice, how you're contacting the floor. Do you feel more or less contact to the floor? Let's see: how many people feel more contact? How many people feel less contact? A lot more people feel more contact.

16. The people, who are feeling less contact, you go ahead and interlace your hands behind your head and bring your elbows and your knees towards each other. And anybody else, who feels like that would be a nice thing to do, you do it, too.

As we are talking about the balance at the musculature today: the flexors are designed for swift, powerful contractions. And there's less of a chance if you do a folding lesson, that you going to end up with the person being more flexed. But when you work with the extensors, which are designed for continuous work, spread out over a long period of time, not as powerful contraction, but just more continuous, you see this kind of difference in an ATM. So sometimes when people have been arching a lot, that will continue.

So, rock yourself lifted: interlace your fingers behind your head, bring your knees and your elbows toward each other and then apart. And now everybody do that a few times. Really find out: how close can you bring your elbows and knees towards each other. And just really rounding moving in the other direction. On your stomach you were bringing your head and your knees away from each other, now you bringing them towards each other.

18. And then one last time, roll on your stomach. And I'm just going to describe what you're going to do before you do it. Hold both ankles, and then very simply, two or three times, slowly, breathing, with a quality you're happy with, you straighten the legs, letting that lift your shoulders and bring your head away from the floor. And you just do that movement two or three times without trying to achieve anything other then a satisfying movement. You get this really enjoying that way your back arches, the support of the movement from your shoulders, connected to your breath as you do it. Go into it and you come out of it, slowly and continuously, both the going into it and the coming out of it.

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18a. And really look up, as you do it. I didn't mention the eyes — really use the eyes, you look up, that'll help.

And once you have done it a couple of times, then roll over again onto your back. And again notice your contact with the floor after having done the folding and then this last movement on the stomach, again an overall sense.

19. And when you're ready to stand up, stand up in one continuous movement. It doesn't matter how fast or how slow, stand up in one smooth movement. A movement just continuous from your back up into standing. And notice, how you're standing now. What effect the arching like this, extending like this, ability to do that, how does that show up in your standing. Notice, where you're looking now. If you notice that you're looking higher than usual, your head is tilted back slightly; just fix your eyes in front of you and nod your head, very gently. Take your chin away from your sternum and toward your sternum. Breathing as you do that, just letting your head find an easy place, independent of your eyes. And now stop fixing your eyes, and begin to walk.

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ATM Lesson 229: Gently Folding Toes to Invert FootSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 228Date: 1999, August 16Teacher: Arlyn Zones

1. Stand up and walk a little bit around. When you step on your right foot feel the way the weight passes through the right foot and what you do with your toes, which toes you feel. If there's some movement in the toes, or if it's more like the whole front of the foot touches and how the weight goes from the heel, or maybe it doesn't start from the heel. Where does it first touch the floor and how does it pass through the right foot? Compare that to how you feel the left foot in contact with the floor. If the weight is passing in a different way, if this foot has a larger area of contact with the floor or not as large. Which of the toes you feel. Just walk a little bit more and sense from the feet up through the legs to your hip joints into your back. Feel where your head is in space.

2. Now go lie on your backs. Take a moment to scan down through your spine and feel what's happening with the lower back in relation to the floor. Is there a gap or does the lower back touch? Feel the width of your lower back area and the lower ribs. And both the hip joints from in front, the right hip joint and the left. And think of your right and left hip joint from the back. Pay attention how you feel the right leg lying on the floor, the right heel, the direction of the leg, the toes, where the toes point in space. Compare that to how you feel the left leg, the left heel, where the toes point in space.

2a. Turn your right leg in and out a few times and follow that all the way through into the hip joint.

2b. Stop a moment and do the same thing with the left leg. Perhaps you feel some differences in the quality of the movement, the ease, the clarity on one side or the other. Maybe one leg feels lighter or heavier than the other. Now leave that and come to sitting.

3. Put your left leg out long in front, straighten the left leg on the floor and bend the right leg so that the right heel is near the middle of yourself and with your left hand see if you could take a hold of your baby toe of the right foot. The right knee will be turned out to the side. From here get a hold of your right baby toe. Probably it's better to take your socks off. So you take the right baby toe and you pull it a little bit longer, and then you take it in the direction of the middle of your foot. So lengthen the toe and then pull it a little bit to the sole of your foot. Do that a few times. Each time you do it feel how that toe can get a little bit softer, how your way of pulling the toe can soften and begin to follow that up through the joints of the baby toe. There are several joints which you can feel all the way through the metatarsals, into the middle of the foot. Gradually each time you do it you can feel how the movement travels up to the foot. Maybe even feeling something in your ankle.

3a. And then stop that a moment and take the baby toe and the fourth toe together and make the lengthening and then take the toes in the direction of the middle of

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your foot. As you begin to take the toes to the middle of the foot like that you can feel that the foot actually begins to turn a little bit. What we called last time the inversion of the foot. So it's not only taking the toes straight to the middle but the whole foot starts to turn a little bit and the two toes come actually a little bit away from the others. So keep on doing that and feel that through the other parts of your foot and of course letting the breathing be easy.

3b. And then go to the three toes together. First the elongation, because many people are having curves in their toes, so first the elongation and then you take the toes turning the foot a little bit. The more toes you take the more you can begin to feel that there's something in the ankle and perhaps into the bones of the lower leg.

3c. Go ahead and take all four toes together, and maybe you can put your left thumb in between your right big toe and your second toe. So you make a real separation of the four toes from the big toe. Lengthen the four and take them towards the middle of the sole of the foot. Now you make more of an inversion so the toes are folding in the direction of the sole of the foot. There's a movement in the ankle. Keep on doing that and see if you can feel that all the way up to the bones of the lower leg. There's a slight movement that's possible in the two bones of the lower leg. Can you feel that a little bit?

3d. Do it a few more times and as you take the toes towards the sole of the foot make a bigger space between the big toe and the other toes. So you pull the big toe a little bit away from the other toes. It's serious, but is it really that serious? What's just the right amount of seriousness?

Lie on your backs and rest a little bit. As usual you can see and sense through yourself if you feel a difference in the side you put your attention on, the sensation of the feet. Babies do this kind of thing for hours and hours just playing with the toes.

4. Come up to sit again. And now straighten out the right leg. There are a few possibilities to sit, you can sit cross-legged and put the left foot on top of the right thigh. Go for your own comfort. Now with the right hand take the left baby toe and begin to lengthen. Just do the lengthening a few times by itself and do it in such a way that every time you relate to yourself something gets softer, something in the toe gets softer, something in the breathing gets softer, something in your thinking, in your hands. So it's not mechanical but it's really feeling that each time something can be different.

4a. Then gradually begin to take the little toe toward the middle of the foot, toward the sole of the foot where the foot is arching. Feeling that through the different joints of the foot, beginning the inversion, the foot turns a little bit.

4b. Then go with the two toes, and pull and lengthen and feeling that. Like everything we do, it's the way we sustain the attention that creates the possibility for an improvement. Each time the toes get the idea they get a bit softer, the foot gets softer. Gradually you can become aware of what's happening in the ankle and now with the three toes lengthening, pulling the toes away and bringing them in the direction of the arch. So you are folding and turning the toes and if the toes don't yield you can also make some side-to-side movement like you did in the FI with Larry. Just play a little bit with that. So instead of taking the toes towards the

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center of the foot just separate the baby toe a little bit right and left, make some movements in the other plane, but not changing the quality of your breath.

4c. And then go back lengthening the three toes toward the middle of the foot and feel if it's a little bit more subtle, yielding.

4d. And then passing to the four toes. Put your right thumb in between the left toe and the other four toes and as you lengthen the toes toward the middle of your foot take them away form your big toe. So you make a big space there in between and make the inversion, so that as the four toes start turning towards the middle of the foot the knee could actually open a little bit more out to the side. If your knee is already flat on the floor you may not feel it quite as much, otherwise you will feel some movement there.

Let go and lie on your backs. And again compare the two feet.

5. Bend your knees and put both feet standing. Slide your right hand in between the space that's existing between your right heel and your right buttock. Slide the right hand through that space in the direction of your right heel. So you slide it your hand down in the direction of the foot at first, and as it goes closer to the foot you actually begin to slide toward the inside of your right ankle. So the palm of the hand is on the floor and you slide the fingertips down in the direction of orienting them toward the inside of your right foot. Do that movement a few times, and you can feel of course how something on the right side needs to fold a little bit and something on the left side gets a little bit longer. You know that you can move your head a little bit. What can you do with your breathing to make it a comfortable movement that you would like to keep on doing? As you slide the fingers down you go in the direction of being able perhaps to touch the inside of the right ankle without forcing. Could you touch the right side of the right ankle and turn the toes of your right foot a little bit, invert towards the middle, but keep the foot on the floor and turn the toes of the left foot in toward the middle? But not curling the toes. Keep the toes flat on the floor. The heels turn out and the toes turn inward. They don't need to touch. See if the hand slides a little bit lower now towards the right ankle and could you actually get a hold of the right ankle of the inside of the right foot. And if it's not possible maybe you can do a little bit of cheating here. If the hand can't get to the foot maybe the foot goes to the hand and you can get a hold of the ankle and maybe even down in the direction of the toes.

Stop it a moment and put the legs down. Just scan through the lower back on the right and through the right leg.

6. Bend your knees again and put your left arm overhead and do the same movement. And this time you use the lengthening of the left arm on the floor to help the reaching down of the right arm but without being ambitious. You know what the ambition looks like? When you do four times larger movements just because the instructions changes and it gets much faster. So go slow. And make that lengthening. You did a lot of movements having the arm overhead and connect the movement of the arms through all the parts of yourself. Lengthen the left arm, reach down with your right arm, see if the right hand comes a little bit closer to the toes.

6a. Change over the arms, put the right arm overhead and put the left arm down, the left hand on the floor and begin to slide the left hand down, using the lengthening

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of the right arm right from the beginning. The left hand is going to the inside of the foot, toward the toes and feel is it easier to reach on the left side, the shortening, the folding or not as easy. What about the right side lengthening? How close to the toes could you come. Stop it and rest.

7. Bend your knees again, make the feet wide apart and go with the right hand in the direction of the right ankle from the inside with the other arm down now and move whatever you like to actually get a hold of that ankle, turn the foot — remember we did the movement of turning the toes — make the inversion of the foot like that and bring the sole of your right foot, if you can safely, underneath your left buttock. Now in order to do that you have to lift the bottom. So the hand grabs the inside of the foot and you turn the toes, you make the inversion and you bring that arch of your foot to fit underneath the left buttock. But you don't have to if it feels dangerous. You push the left foot into the floor and you lift the left buttock, that's how you get it to go under the left buttock. Now you know that you can do it with holding your breath and forcing, go slowly and take the foot being under, take the foot out and start as usual making your attention a bit more global, so that it's not just dragging that foot but you feel what happens with your pelvis when you lift the left buttock. If you feel that it's too dangerous to put the buttock down on the foot, because it's too much of a pull on the knee, you definitely need to honor that. Particularly people who have a history with their knees should do a third or 10% in the beginning. So you feel that you do something with your chest and something with your ribs, with the abdomen. Stop it and rest a little bit.

7a. Bend your knees and do the same thing with the left foot. Get a hold of the left foot from the inside and start to invert the toes. Why not even do just the beginning that movement a few times. So you feel that kind of sweeping movement of the inversion of the foot, the sole of the foot now going into the direction of the right buttock. You feel as you do that the hip joint on the left side opens a bit in the front, the knee opens also more to the floor. The right foot is going to press into the floor. You definitely need that right foot pressing down, because it's the pressing of the right foot into the floor that makes the pelvis on the right side light in the lifting. It's almost like if somebody came and pulled the right knee and took it away from the head and that allows the right foot pressing down, the lengthening of the right knee away from you allows the pelvis on the right side lift a bit and the foot could pass under. Stop a moment, put everything down.

8. Bend your knees again and come back to the same movement, bringing the left foot toward being underneath your buttock. Go much slower, much more gently. See if you can do it as an exploration. You don't need to do it but play with it sometimes, lift the right buttock, see if you can become aware of what's happening with your pelvis on the right side and the left and letting the belly really push out so that the whole chest can become softer, because if the chest doesn't yield to the movement than all the lengthening is going to happen in the knee and this is actually part of how people hurt the knees. Feel if you can distribute the movement through the chest, through the spine, through the abdomen, through your neck, so that the pelvis gets light on the right side. If it feels safe actually bring the weight down on the left heel.

8a. Put your buttock down on it and stay there for a moment. So the weight is really on the foot near the arch and then lengthen the right leg down long in this position. Sit on the heel very slowly and lengthen the right leg down and feel that all the way

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down through your chest, through your back and then bend the knee again and take the foot out and put both legs down and rest.

8b. Now bend your knees and bring the right foot under the buttock with the help of your right hand. In the beginning you leave the left foot on the floor because it has to push down in order to lift the pelvis. See would it be safe to actually put some of the weight there and then put the left leg down long, lengthen the left leg. Stop that a moment and put the feet for standing again.

9. This time without holding the left foot. Slide the left foot on the floor in the direction of the right buttock as if you would slide it underneath and as it starts to come nearer to the right buttock, see if you can take the four toes of the left foot with your right hand. As you slide your left foot toward your right buttock can you get a hold of your four toes with the right hand. Up to now we've been doing a lot of things with same hand and foot, now it's opposite hand and you get a hold of those toes with the right hand, you lengthen, you turn them and you bring the foot underneath your buttock. Gently because it makes a certain demand on the knee to really pull the toes like that, curve the foot like that. Now for many of you what starts to happen is that you actually bringing the foot even further to the right. It's not in the midline anymore. See if you could sit on it like this once or twice. Put the legs down and pause for a few seconds.

9a. Bend your knees again and do the same thing again. Sweep the right foot in the direction of the right buttock as it comes closer, take a hold of those four toes with your left hand now, lengthen the toes, invert them, take them towards the sole of the foot and the foot going underneath the left buttock. Feel if this turning movement of the foot is a bit clearer when you hold the foot with the opposite hand and move the toes like that you can feel again up through the bones of the lower leg, the hip joint. When you lift the left side of the pelvis, what do you feel in the right side of the pelvis and the left? That's it. Stop that and come to sitting.

10. Bend both knees for the moment, put your right hand on the floor, lean on it and first of all get a hold of your left foot with your left hand and see if you could bring the sole of your left foot underneath your right buttock. The right knee is bent so you can lift up a little bit. How do you lift that buttock up? You use the right hand to push a little bit. So the pelvis has to lift on the right side.

10a. What about pushing your belly out? Would that help? Can you feel how your pelvis can lift of the floor when you do that?

10b. Now hold the stomach in when you do that, make the stomach as tight as you can and lift the pelvis and feel what happens in the knee.

10c. OK, change over the legs and do the same thing on the other side, leaning on the left hand, lift the pelvis if you can, bring the sole of the foot underneath. So the pelvis on the left side comes a little bit forward, the knee comes a little bit forward and the belly pushes out. The lower back comes forward, you arch the lower back a bit. Stop it a moment and rest.

11. Come up to sitting again and take the easier side. Do you feel which is easier? Bend your knees and bring the sole of the foot underneath the opposite buttock. See if you

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could sit on the foot of the easier side and then on that side bring that elbow toward the floor, walk yourself down and lie on your back if you can. Without holding your breath. Take the leg out and rest a minute.

12. Change over but start lying on your back. Put the other foot underneath your buttock and then see if you can come to sit like this. It's not clear whether the leg is bend or straight.

Put the legs straight and go back and lie on your back. Put your arms down. Come back to this first impression of the length of your spine. How you sense your lower back. The width of your ribs, of course your breathing and the two legs.

13. Bend your knees and a few times get a hold of your right foot with both hands. You can start the movement first with bringing the right foot toward the left buttock. The right hand takes the ankle if you can, the left hand takes the toes and put the left thumb in between the big toe and the four toes, turn the foot and you bring the bottom to go over the foot. Feel now how much more to the left you can bring the foot. Play, take it under and back again feeling that movement through your lower back, through your chest, your sternum, both sides of the pelvis, the abdomen, keep letting the abdomen expand.

13a. Take the foot out and do the same thing a few times on the other side and observe if your experience of this movement as usual is involving your entire self, all the different parts. Stop and put everything down.

14. Roll to sit and come to stand. Feel the weight your feet have now of contacting the floor. Walk around a little bit and you can feel now if you have a bigger surface of the foot in contact with the floor, more spreading of the foot, wider maybe or more differentiation of the toes or perhaps for some people you feel it in another place, maybe you feel a difference in your lower back. So we stop here.

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ATM Lesson 230: SquattingSource: Year 3, Segment 2, Tapes 229-230Date: 1999, August 16Teacher: Larry Goldfarb

1. Please stand up. Put your hands somewhere in front of you on the floor comfortably. And find a way to really have your hands, not just your fingertips, but really your hands on the floor. That means you can bend your legs, so it's not gymnastic class. And now, very slowly begin to lower your pelvis as if you were going to squat, as if you were going to sit on your buttocks. As if — in the general direction — approaching. We are keeping track of who is the first to do everything. Like I noticed who was the first person to stand up when Arlyn said, "Stand up slowly." You probably noticed if you were the first too, because you were looking over everyone's head, but I won't say who you are. And a few times, you can come back up and rest, but go in the direction of squatting. And think about, just how far this movement is. When is the last time you found yourself squatting? When is the last time that you saw somebody in the street or at a party squatting?

It's a really important movement for a lot of people all over the world. Somehow we've exchanged the chair for a squat..

So your hands stay in the same place. Your feet stay on the floor, your whole foot, your toes, your heels, the ball of your feet. Otherwise it's a ballet squat. We don't do this in —

Please lie down and rest, lie on your back. And just take a few moment to enjoy your contact with the floor. Sense how you're lying there. How does your contact now compare to your contact in the morning at the beginning of the class? Is it more like it was at the beginning before you did the ATM or like it was at the end of the ATM?

2. Please roll to your side, come back to standing: come up to sitting and slowly up to standing. So maybe we could have a reversed contest you know. If you were up and you saw almost every body lying down, then that won't count as winning. Please put both of your hands around your right foot: so you put your right hand to the right of your right foot, your left hand to the left of your right foot, between your feet, so your hands are around your right foot, more or less. Your palms are on the floor. You don't have to put them exactly, but have your right foot more or less between your hands. Both of your hands flat on the floor, your knees bent. And from here begin to squat. That's it lightly, easily. So some of you are moving your hands a little to find the right place, that's good. Which direction does your pelvis move? What do you do with your head? When you lower your pelvis, do you lift your head or do you lower your head? So your right knee is going to come between your arms. That's what it means to have your hands on either side of your leg. And a few times lift your head as you lower your pelvis. And a few times lower your head. You know you are lowering your head because you are going to be looking at the floor when you are done. So you let your head hang forward, you have no parasitic work in your neck. Both of your feet stay flat on the floor. If they can't stay flat on the floor you went too far. That's all there is to it. So it might be a very small movement. But hopefully that's OK with you now. You are not going to go home at the end of the day and say, "Oh! it's such a small movement!" Rest standing. Isn't that funny to rest standing?

For many people in the world squatting is the way they rest.

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2a. Put your hands on either sides of your left foot: so your left hand on the left side, your right hand on the right side, and now begin to lower your pelvis towards the floor, keeping both feet flat on the floor. And come back. It could be a very small movement. Lower your head as you lower your pelvis. So let your head hang down. As, not before, not after, but while. That's it. What happens with the contact with the floor of your left foot? How much do you bend your left knee, your right knee?

2b. Come back to putting your hands on the outside of your feet, just spread your hands a little wider than your feet. And once again squat a few times. Lower your pelvis toward the floor, gently. Let your head hang down at the end. That's it. And how close is your pelvis to the floor? Would you be able to slide a chair behind your pelvis, or a stool, a cushion, thick dictionary or a cheap paperback novel. Stop, lie on your back and rest. Enjoy resting.

2c. Please roll by way of one of your sides up to sitting. Come to standing. Put your hands on the floor. It does not have to be exactly between your feet, it can be a little towards the front of your feet but your feet are wider than your hands. So now when you lower your pelvis your right knee goes to the right of your right elbow and the left knee goes to the left of the left elbow. Can you do this movement without accelerating, without changing the speed when you are moving. So you don't start slowly and then go quickly. Or start quickly and then go slowly. But you move at the same speed and with the same effort throughout the movement. Maybe it's really small. It's easy to feel that your knees are bending when you do this, but what's happening with your back? Is this happening in your lower back, in your middle back? What happens with your hip joints and your buttocks? With your lower ribs?

2d. And now change your hands so that they are on the outside, and your knees and your feet are together. As close as is comfortable, but really as close as you can get them. And then do the same thing keeping your knees and your feet together lower your pelvis keeping your heels on the ground, keeping your feet flat. Maybe it makes a difference where your hands are? How easy is it? How far down your pelvis would go? What some of you are finding out is: for your pelvis to go down, your hands have to come a little closer to your feet. If that's the case leave them there when you lift your pelvis up. And don't lift your pelvis up that far. Your heels stay on the floor. Just do as much as you can keeping your heels on the floor and then lie down, otherwise you are just wasting your time.

Please lie down and rest again. Just something nice and simple and relaxing to end the day. Notice your contact with the floor. What is it that prevented you from going further, from making that movement a little bit more easy, a little bit more comfortable? Where did you feel the difficulty? In your ankles, or in your knees? Somewhere in your back? Even though this may be an unfamiliar movement, did you find a familiar limitation?

3. Roll by way of one of your sides, come up to sitting and from there come to all sixes: on your hands, your knees and your feet. And very slowly begin to sit back towards your heels. And come forward again. Leave your hands fixed on the floor. So it's not a matter of sliding your hands towards your knees, your hands stay fixed. And you just sit back

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towards your heel and come forward again. And it's as if getting there does not matter. If you think that there is somebody watching, you would think that you don't have a goal. What is it that when you watch somebody you can see that there are striving? Can you do this without striving? What do you do with your head when you sit backward? Do you drop your head or lift your head? Do what's easiest. Do this in the laziest way possible. So your feet are pointing away from you. Your toenails are on the floor, you are not standing on your toes. Sit and rest a moment.

3a. Come back to the same position and now as you go towards sitting back begin to slide your knee a little bit forward. As you go towards sitting back, begin to slide your right knee a little forward. So that means at the same time. So, if you want to slide your knee forward, what would you do with your weight? You'd probably take it off of your knee, yeah, and your knee slides straight forward. And as the movement gets easier let it get a little bit bigger, and you continue to sit back. So you are sitting back towards your heels, which heel do you go back towards? Well, if your right knee is sliding forward, your right heel is getting out of the way of your sitting back. If you go directly backwards, then you get to a point where your knee can lift a little. If your knee goes directly forward, and your pelvis goes directly backwards — a little bit. And you keep the top of your foot on the floor. What happens to your pelvis? And what if instead you wanted to put your pelvis down? Your knee comes forward, and makes a little space for your pelvis on the floor. So your knee goes forward, your pelvis goes straight back until the end of the movement and then you begin to move your pelvis to where your right foot was. Now, you don't have to pick your knee up, something different can happen. The right knee slides forward and you bring your pelvis towards the floor. So come as if you were going to sit. So your right knee is coming forward, your right knee is going to end up somewhere between your hands and you are going to end up with your right buttock on the floor. Do this ever so gently, so it is kissing the pelvis to the floor. Your pelvis kisses the floor, it does not slap the floor. And then when you come back up, come up very gently, very smoothly.

Sit back and rest a moment. That was a moment! Come back into the same position. Well lie down and rest a little. How has this affected your contact with the floor? Your sense of how you are resting? What parts of yourself are more present? Is it what you expected?

3b. Please roll to your side and come back to all sixes. And now begin to sit back and slide your left knee forward. Just slide it straight forward at first, you're in no rush to get anywhere. That's the theory any way. Could you reflect it in your practice? Notice what you do with your head, and your breath. As your knee comes further forward, as your left foot comes closer to your right knee, you can begin to bring your left buttock towards the floor. Bring your pelvis backward first and then to the side. And how do you find yourself sitting? Your knee has to come forward enough. What can you do with your back so that your knee can come forward enough? Your pelvis kisses the floor. What has to happen with your head when your pelvis comes down? Do you lift your head or lower it? When you want to lift your pelvis up, what direction does your head go? Of course if your neighbor is going in the other direction you are going to kiss your neighbor's pelvis rather than the floor — with your pelvis I mean! Does this position seem familiar? How many lessons have we done where you might find this position?

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Stop, roll on your back and rest. When you did this movement with the left leg did this even out your sense on the floor? Or did it just switch which side is highlighted for you?

3c. Roll by way of one of your sides to sit again. And begin to alternate sides...

(Blank on the tape.)

... All right, here you have to have your knees far enough apart so that the foot that's sliding forward comes next to the other knee, so that you are, what do we call this position? Side-sitting.

I always think of side-sitting as the undiscovered developmental transition. If you look at how many times you go through this place in how many different lessons, and yet if you look at books about developmental movements it's almost never spoken about.

One leg comes forward the other leg goes back, very gently so you are not jumping from side to side. The movement is smooth, smooth as silk we say, not smooth as corduroy, smooth as silk. No little bumps. It's as if your pelvis never stops moving. And most of you have discovered that in order to do this, going from side to side, it is no longer one knee going forward by itself, it is: one knee goes forward and the other one goes back. And then you switch. So both knees are moving continuously. Can you keep your hands on the floor? That asks something more of your back. What do you do with your head when your knees are to the right are you looking to the right or to the left? What happens with your pelvis and your hip joints? Stop, sit and rest a moment.

3d. Come back to the same position. Bring your knees together, your feet together. Sit back towards your heels and come forward again. Just sit back and come forward again a few times, keeping your knees together, keeping your hands on the same place on the floor. And now as you sit back, keeping your knees together, let one knee slide a little bit forward, just a little bit forward, and bring your pelvis towards the floor, keeping your knees together though. And then pick your pelvis up and let it brush your heels and sit it down on the other side. So you don't sit up. Sit back toward your heels and now stay there and just bring your pelvis to the right and to the left. One knee has to slide forward. When you go to the left your left knee slides a little forward, and you bring your pelvis from side to side. Your pelvis brushes over your heels. And you let one knee slide a little forward to help. It's like your are sitting to either side of your heels, keeping your knees together, keeping your feet together. And you might not go all the way to the floor if you keep your hands in the same place, it's OK. It's like you are cleaning your heels with your buttocks or cleaning your buttocks with your heels. Which is it?

Sit up again and rest a moment. OK, lie down and rest. Lying down becomes a reward. How did these movements affect your contact with the floor? Your sense of yourself?

3e. Please return to that same position to your hands, knees and feet. Have your knees separate now, your feet apart. And kind of spread a good distance, a little wider than your hips. And now begin to slide both of your feet to the right. So your knees stay where they are and your feet pivot around your knees to the right. And as you do that sit your left buttock towards the floor. You want your knees to be wide enough apart so that your left foot comes towards your right knee. So you pivot your feet to the right and sit your pelvis to the left, your right foot comes toward your left knee. And can you sit your pelvis down on the floor? Your feet

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sweep the floor. This is definitely the cleaning lesson.

3f. And then in the other direction, sweep your feet to the left, bring your right foot towards your left knee and bring your pelvis toward the floor on the right. So that you are sitting down, bringing your pelvis to the floor really gently. And then coming back up. What do you do to come back? Where do you start the movement? What direction does your head move in? What happens with your pelvis? Your hands stay stuck to the same place on the floor. You are moving around your hands and your knees, everything else can move. Stop, rest sitting for a moment.

4. Come back to the same position on your hands, knees and feet. Put your right hand somewhere to your right. So you are just going to use your right and not your left for the moment. And now begin to sit your pelvis down. Which direction would you go to with your right hand on the floor, so that your right hand could help your sit down? It would be easier to the right, wouldn't it, to bring your pelvis to the right? And then come back. And then let your right hand move somewhere so you can begin to roll onto your back. So just your right hand on the floor and you are going to let yourself sit with your pelvis down, and then move your right hand somewhere where you can begin to roll onto your back. So from side-sitting to lying on your back. We've only done this 873 times! And then come back up the same way. It's not like your left hand died, you are just not using it to help. You can still touch the floor with it or you can leave it somewhere comfortable. But use your right hand for support. And then come back up. So your right hand needs to be further to the right, to your right side somewhere. So you come to side-sitting and then you roll onto your back.

4a. And come back up onto your hands and knees. Put your left hand to your left, side-sit, roll onto your back, come back up to side-sitting, come back up to being on all five. OK. How about a little faster and little lighter. Stop lie on your back and rest.

5. Bend your knees, put your feet flat on the floor, and now using your arms to help come up to sitting. Your feet stay flat on the floor, that's the constraint. Can you come onto your elbows and come up to sitting and bring your pelvis so that you are standing on your feet. So you come on to your feet, so you put your weight on to your feet and then come up to standing. And then come back down. Your feet stay on the floor, your heels stay on the floor the whole time. It's the same constraint throughout the lesson here. Use your hands to help you come up to sitting, bring your pelvis so that you are standing on your feet, come up to stand. And now how can you make this smooth and easy?

5a. Let make this a little easier, just come from sitting to standing, we'll skip the lying down part. So you are sitting, you come up to standing, and notice, which is the last hand to leave the floor? So most of you lift up one hand and then the other hand, so you lift up the right hand and then the left or vice versa, when you come forward. Which is the first hand to come back to the floor? Now, notice there is some strange consistency here. The first hand down is the last one to leave.

5b. Switch it. So that you lift the last one first. Good. Next time you are standing, rest standing for a moment.

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5c. Put your hands in front of you on the floor, somewhere comfortable. And lower your pelvis toward the floor. Has that changed? As you do that bring your knees together and apart. As you lower your pelvis you bring your knees together, and then apart several times. Your feet stay in the same place, you just bring your knees together and apart. It's like a little wave. Your feet stay flat on the floor, it's a very small movement. And your knees just go a little bit together, a little bit. Let's make it so only you know that your knees are going together and apart. Even the person next to you won't see it. Just the smallest movement. Your knees a little together, a little apart. And then bring your pelvis down and up a few times. Keep your hands on the floor. And then just lower your pelvis. Don't worry about what your knees are doing. Now, is it a dictionary, a phone book, your agenda?

Stop, lie on your back and rest. Notice how you are making contact with the floor, now that I've told you that that is the end of the lesson? How is your contact changed since this morning? Since the beginning of the lesson? Slowly, roll by way of one of your side up to sitting, come to standing and we'll call it a day. See you tomorrow.

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ATM Lesson 231: Foot, ankle, knee and hip relationsSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 231Date: 1999, August 17Teacher: Arlyn Zones

1. Lie on your backs and put your arms down along by your side. Come back to what you have felt this morning with your right leg, the right foot, the direction that the toes are pointing now. Where do you feel your heel, your right knee, the right hip joint, the right side of your pelvis, how it lies on the floor, your lower back? And then do the same thing with the pressure of your left heel on the floor. Where the left toes point, the left knee, the left hip joint? Feel the way the back of your pelvis is lying on the left side, the lower back on the left. Now feel the back of the head on the floor. Feel the point of the clearest pressure of the back of your head. And then take a moment to sense yourself from in front of you, how you feel the middle of yourself, like a line going through the middle of yourself, through the face, through the nose, through the chest, the pubic bone down to the middle of your two legs. Do the same thing from the back, through the middle of the back of your head down through your neck, your spine, your tailbone and down to the two legs.

1a. Now bend your knees and put both feet standing on the floor. Get a hold of your right knee with both hands from below the right knee, from in front. Not from behind the leg but from in front, so your hands are on your shin bones from in front and you're holding below the knee. So from this place just make a very small movement of taking the knee a little bit towards your chest and back to neutral. As you do this movement very gently, you can begin to sense the bones of your thigh, the femur, the movement in the hip joint as you bring the knee towards yourself and away. And feel the direction of that movement. If you think about the whole space inside the hip joint, everyone has a particular direction they pull the leg, an easy direction. Is it more to the middle of yourself, a little bit to the outside? See if you can feel very clearly the pathway of that movement through space towards your chest.

Then put the right foot down. Feel the way the weight comes on the foot.

1b. Take a hold of your left knee with both hands and do the same thing now with the left knee. Very gently take the left knee a little bit towards the chest and again if you can think of sensing this movement through the bones of your left leg, the femur, maybe you can feel also where the bones of the lower leg are and notice that probably for most people the pathway of the movement of the left leg is in a different direction. See if you can make this comparison, when you take the left knee towards your chest, is it a bit more to the outside, to the inside, is it a different direction? Could you say where the easiest neutral is for the movement of the knee? Can you feel some differences there? Feel also of course the movement of the back of your pelvis going a little bit closer to the floor as you bring the knee towards the chest.

Then gradually put the knee down. Just let the foot stand for a moment. Feel the way the

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weight comes through the foot into the floor. And then put both legs down and rest.

2. Bend your knees again and take a hold of your right knee with both hands from below the knee and very gently begin to make a small circle with your knee through the air in space. So you take the knee first of all a little bit towards the chest and then you go in which direction you prefer to continue the circle. Do you prefer to take the knee outside first or inside? Everyone has a direction that they spontaneously choose. Notice which direction you make the circle and begin to pay attention to the places that are very smooth and round in that circle of the knee through space, and the places that are not clear for you, that are not round. And you can also of course feel that inside the hip joint you are making a kind of a circle, and there is a change of pressure of the back of the right side of the pelvis on the floor which is also circular. So you have these three different places that you can pay attention to, to see where it is very clear for you to make this movement and where it is not as clear and as smooth or not as easy. That is nice. Just feeling, sensing that the movement of the knee through space is easier maybe to the outside or the inside. Do you go much to the outside and not so much to the inside? Be clear about what you do with yourself.

Stop a moment and put the leg down. Put both legs down. And feel any changes just from the circular movements of the knee on the lower back on the right side or the pelvis, the hip joint.

2a. And again bend the knees and take the right knee with both hands and change the direction of the circle now. If you began with the outside, now you begin with the inside and hold with both hands, so your hands are on your shin bones. Again first of all think where the knee moves in space. So do you make a big circle to the outside and something smaller to the inside? Or is the inside of the circle clearer for you? And once you feel very clearly where the knee moves through space. You can begin to also have the circular pressure on the back of the pelvis on the right side in your sensation, like drawing a line. Is that really round? And the movement inside the hip joint.

Put the right foot down, feel the way the weight comes through. How you have an impression of that leg bent and that foot standing, where you feel the knee in space relative to the foot and then put the legs down for a minute.

2b. Bend your knees again and take a hold of your left knee now with both hands and make the circle with the left knee through space, again being aware of the direction you start. Everyone spontaneously goes one direction or the other without thinking. It is as if your organism uses the path of least resistance. Notice which way you chose. Make the circles first thinking of the knee making a circle through space and then becoming aware of that circle that is been drawn on the back on the left side of the pelvis and you may find now the part of the circle that is easier or not as easy is very different to what you felt on the right side. Feel there are some parts of that circle that are really smooth, even, round, and other parts if you went a bit faster you wouldn't touch it at all. It is only by paying attention and making an attempt to being really smooth and round, that you go to these points.

2c. Just feel the difference and change direction now a few times, feel how that changes it. Do a few more and be aware as you are making that circle of the knee, the back of the pelvis, of the foot hanging down, of the lower leg, feeling the whole

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leg even so you are making the movement of the knee relative to the hip joint and still sense the lower leg. That it is there in space moving.

And leave it. Put the left foot down standing. Feel the way the weight is coming down through the two feet, not stretching the legs but for a moment feeling that both knees are bent and the feet stand on the floor. And then put the legs down. Really rest a moment, sense your breathing. How do you sense your back on the floor?

3. Bend your knees again. Take a hold of your right knee with both hands. Now make a little circle with your right foot in space. There is a couple of different ways doing it. So be specific. We will say that the lower leg doesn't move, so it is a circle of the right foot, of the ankle joint. You feel the movement at the ankle joint and the lower leg doesn't move in space. Make that a few times and while you make that circle, which part of your foot are you tracking through space? How do you know you are making a circle trough space? Is it the big toe, is it the heel, the baby toe? You remember sometime this year Larry talked about the tripod of the foot, the big toe, the heel, the smaller toe: so make a few circles and think of the big toe, making the circle just one or two and then the heel, then a few times the baby toe.

Put the foot down for a moment and pause, don't rest, just pause. Each time you put the foot down, you can just take that moment to have that register that the foot bares a little bit of weight in this position, where the knee is, how the foot contacts the floor.

3a. Take a hold of the knee again. Change the direction of the circle of the foot and let your attention follow a few times the big toe, a few times the heel and a few times the baby toe, making sure not to interfere with your breathing, not to daydream. Just very gently bringing the attention back again to include a little bit more, so that you can feel the big toe, the baby toe and the heel simultaneously a few times. Could you feel all three of those points moving through space?

Put everything down. Stop and rest. Sense the difference between how you sense the foot on the right side and the left.

3b. Bend your knees again. Take a hold of the left knee with both hands and make a few circles of the left foot relative to the ankle, the lower leg being still, and for yourself play with which part of the foot you track through space, and let that change. So go through different parts— the big toe, the baby toe, the heel — and see when can you feel two points circling of three. Make the experiment for yourself having a more complete sense of how the foot is moving in space and the smoothness of the circle, really going to all the points around. It is interesting to feel the toes and the heel, because they are making circles in opposite directions.

3c. And then change the direction of the foot, not interfering with the breathing, and finding the tempo where you can really feel all those different movements. There is some movement of the bones in the lower leg, not though space but relative to each other.

Put the left foot standing. Have that feeling of the weight coming through and stay there for a moment.

One of the things we didn't talk about yesterday is that in balance the adaptability of the ankles, of the foot to go in any direction, is a very important component for the function of balance, and of course this is — when we talk about working with older people — this is one of

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the things that they loose, that makes them feel precarious in their balance, and it is one of the things that we can bring back to them in their functioning.

Put the legs down and rest.

4. Bend your knees again. Get a hold of your right knee form below with both hands and let your right hand slide down the outside of your right leg to take a hold of your right ankle. Just let the hand slide down and hold your right ankle with your hand and hold from below the knee with your left hand. Very gently until you feel what is being asked of you, begin to take your right heel out to the right. This is a movement of the foot relative to the knee. So you hold with your left hand below the right knee and you begin to take the right heel out to the right and the knee is going to move a little bit unless you want to break the leg off. The knee is going to move a little bit in the opposite direction. The knee moves to the inside and the foot moves to the outside. And this is the beginning of a circle. We won't do the whole circle right in this moment, but that would be the beginning of a circle of the right heel, where the movement of the foot would be relative to the knee. It is a different movement of the heel, than of the knee, because now the bones of the lower leg are clearly moving through space.

4a. And if it is safe to do so and you need to probably lean on your left foot, go ahead and make this movement a little bit bigger, so that the knee starts to come more and more inward to the left. And really hold the front of the outside of the ankle, not the sole of the foot. Now allow that movement to get a little bit bigger, so that at a certain point you begin to feel something is happening in the hip joint, in the right side of your pelvis, maybe even the lower back, maybe the lower ribs.

Put the foot down, leave it standing. It is a kind of an unusual movement for many people.

4b. Go ahead and do the same thing with the left knee. Take the left knee with both hands and then slide the left hand down to the outside of the left foot. Begin to take the left heel to the left. The left knee goes to the right, to the inside and now let that movement get a little bit bigger until you actually begin to direct your left knee towards the floor on the right. Wait, wait, I know what I'm talking about! Go slow enough that you can feel all the different articulations, all the different joints. So you begin to take the left knee to the right towards the floor and the knee moves to the right and the heel moves to the left, something happens in the hip joint on the left side, the pelvis begins to come a little bit away on the left, shifts a little bit more to the right, there is something that begins to happen in your lower back and there is a kind of twisting that can very gradually allow to go through your skeleton, the chest. Find out the easiest place to hold the ankle. Some people have their hand really in a place that doesn't allow the arm to move. So think of direction of the knee across yourself towards the floor. And once you have made the movement of the bones of the lower leg relative to the knee, relative to the femur, relative to the hip joints, the pelvis relative to the lower back, you may find that it will be possible to take the knee closer and closer to the floor, but you needn't do it today. Many people do it, keeping the head fixed to the floor. I don't think that's going to work. You can turn your head, your spine.

Rest for a moment. It is not one of our main movements in life. I mean it is not so familiar taking the knee in and taking the foot out. I suppose for skiers they do a bit of that.

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4c. Change over the legs and get a hold of the right knee and do the same thing. You slide the hand down and you take the right ankle with the right hand and the left hand holds the knee, but now that you know you can do it, don't do it. Don't go over yet. Give yourself a chance to feel the movement of the foot relative to the knee, the movement of the thigh relative to the hip joints, or in the hip joint, the movement of the pelvis, that differentiation that goes on there, that the lower back starts to do something, the lower ribs, and the movement begins to go up through your spine, your chest, and the head begins to help you with the rolling. So that you are really taking the right foot to the outside and having a clear sense of the way the different joints participating is more important than getting there. That you start to get more sensitive to the movement of the different parts of your ankle, the bones of your lower leg can actually move a little bit relative to each other, the pelvis, the chest.

Leave the head on the floor. Put the legs down and rest a minute.

5. Now come up to sitting and put your right leg behind you and your left leg in front of you and lean on your left hand. And now in this position could you lift the right knee away from the floor? Do that a few times and use as many parts of yourself as you would like to help you and notice that as you lift the right knee away from the floor, the knee begins to become more able toward being over your right foot and the inside of the right foot can also move away from the floor, so that you could go to having the knee over the foot and the foot standing. Do that a few times sensing that again in the knee, in the ankle, in the hip joint. How do you breathe when you do that?

5a. Now stay like this but stretch the left leg out long in front of yourself and do the same movement a few times, still leaning on the left hand. Could you actually take the right knee to touch the floor outside of the foot? So it is like flopping the leg all the way to the other side. So play a moment like that back and forth. Someone asked me would I give you an ATM as if you were children and I don't know if I will or not, but here's a moment. So you can enjoy yourself. So play a little bit, flop the leg. Enjoy the flopping back and forth using your whole self.

5b. Now change over. Go through the whole thing. First do it with the right leg in front and the left leg back and lift the left knee away from the floor and back and feel that movement in the pelvis, in the ankle, in the foot, the toes. Then just find out for a moment what can you do with yourself? What sort of things? A moment of free play. Try out different possibilities. Maybe you come up with something Moshe didn't think about. A new movement. And you can maybe play flopping the leg one way and the other, the leg is straight or bent. Maybe you find out something else you can do. Does your movement get a bit freer when you play like that?

Rest a minute on your back. Come back to what we did in the beginning in the scanning. Scan just for a moment through the right heel up through your right leg, the back of your pelvis on the floor and then your left heel up through your left leg, maybe the differences between the two legs are less strong or less noticeable. And then feel the point of the back of your head on the floor and coming down through the middle of you in the front, the midline from in back.

6. Bend your knee and take a hold of your right knee from below with both hands and now

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again come back to the circles we did in the beginning in either direction. Making a circle of the right knee through space slowly, and feel now if the quality of that circle is more smooth, more even, more clear, and the circle on the back of your pelvis.

6a. And change the direction of the circle and notice now if you can make the inside of the circle just as easily as the outside or the other way around. Maybe you have a different way of feeling the parts of your leg, your knee, your hip joint

6b. And then change over and do the same thing with your left knee. Feel if this circle of the left knee is more uniform, if the way you listen to yourself is more precise. In other words the quality of attention is also improved along with the movement.

6c. And change direction.

And stop that. Put both feet down. Roll to sit anyway you like, you can flop the legs and roll to sit.

7. Stand up but don't walk. Face the front of the room which you will probably do anyway. Stand for a moment and feel how you have a certain impression of your feet on the floor or how the weight comes down. Does the weight really come down? Now put your feet a little bit apart, pretty wide apart. Put your right hand on the floor in front of you, go into the squatting position, take your bottoms down and find out if the bottom is any closer to the floor.

7a. Put your right hand to the outside of the right foot and put your left hand to the inside and see if you could bring your right buttock to the floor. Could the right buttock touch the floor? You could flop your knees to the right? Tilt or drop your knees to the right so your legs knee goes towards your right foot, your right knee goes to the outside and your right buttock caresses the floor. Just touch and come back to the middle. Do it a few times and notice if there is any kind of a dÈj‡-vu. Did you do that movement a lot in the first year of your training?

7b. Come back up. Stand up and go down. Just do the same thing to the left. Take the left side of the pelvis towards the floor and tilt the legs to the left and then come up. So when you are sitting with your left buttock on the floor you are in this position with one leg in front and one behind and then you push yourself with the left hand and you reach forward with the right hand and you come to squatting. So you bring the knees back to the middle, you push with the left hand, you take yourself forward, reach forward, right in front of you with the right hand and stand up. Now you have your orientation. And then go down, put the left hand to the outside and sit down and then bring the knees to the middle, come forward, stand up.

7c. OK, then one more time go down to squatting and feel how is it different then when you started yesterday in the ankle, in the knee, in the hip joints, in the spine, in your head? Did it improve?

Stand up and walk a little bit and feel the direction of your right leg, where your feet are pointing, the general orientation of walking through space, some ways in which it is more direct. Feel through the middle of yourself, this midline, and now you can go for a few minutes back to your partner. Watch them walk.

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ATM Lesson 232: Sitting on Heels, ISource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 232ADate: 1999, August 17Teacher: Larry Goldfarb

1. Notice your contact with the floor, please. Sense how you're feeling from all that we've done today. How are your legs resting on the floor? How does each heel, or foot, make contact? How does your right foot feel connected to your right leg? Has that changed from what we've done this morning? And even without asking that question, just how do you sense your leg, its length, its width, its thickness? Can you sense that long central axis of yourself from your pelvis to your head? Take a moment to notice your breath. Where do you feel the movement of your breathing? And if you stay sensing your breath, what other places do you sense as being involved with your breathing, as moving when you breathe in and out? Do you sense your sides as well as your front? Between your armpits and the tops of your pelvis do you feel a movement of breathing? Is it clearer on the right side or on the left? Can you sense your back? How does your breath move your back along the floor? And keeping your breath present in your experience come back and sense your legs, the orientation of your feet, where your toes are pointing, how your heels are resting, where your knees are pointing?

2. Slowly roll by way of your sides up to sitting. Don't worry, there's no squatting. However, there are things worse than squatting! So I'm going to ask you to come onto your knees. For some people that won't be comfortable unless they put some padding under their knees. So please, feel free to grab some pads. For the moment you're just going to be on one knee. I'd like you to half-kneel, so please stand on your left knee and your right foot. And reach with your left hand back for your left heel, and come back. Just do that a few times. Find a way to make it comfortable for you to be able to reach your heel. How would you do that?

2a. You can sit back a little if you want, so you could hold on to your heel — no, no, no, not to rest — as you reach for your heel! Not all the way back, but just a little bit. You want to be able to hold onto your heel. What would you do with your right hand? Would you put it on your right leg, on the floor to make it easy to hold your heel? What are you doing with your toes? Point your toes backwards so that you're resting on the top of your foot. Your foot is not for running.

2b. So you hold on to your left heel with your left hand, and now turn your heel a little to the right and a little to the left. You can press your heel a little into the floor. This is a movement of the heel in which parts of your leg? Obviously you're not detaching your heel from your leg in moving it. So what else is happening? It's an invitation for your leg to move in some way. Yeah, and once you found how big you could do it, maybe you can make it small, and comfortable? Stop, sit and rest a moment.

2c. Come back to the same position. Which way does your heel turn most easily? For most people it turns in more easily than out. We've taken a survey, we know this as a fact: so are you "most people"? This is not easy. In fact it isn't even comfortable. So don't do too much of it! Yeah? This is a difficult movement, in fact

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for a lot of people it is almost painful. It'll get easier. Stop, lie down and rest for a moment.

3. Slowly come up to sitting. Sit with your right leg straight in front and with your left leg bent behind you. And now can you bring your left heel close to you and your toes pointing away from you? So that your foot is in the same position as it was a moment ago? The top of the foot is resting on the floor, more or less. And in this position with your left hand turn your heel in and out, gently. OK, so it will get easier, but if you hurt yourself in the beginning it's not going to get easier. Don't worry, we're going to be doing this for days, so it doesn't have to improve right away! So how would you hold your heel? And you're turning the leg, turning the lower leg. Can you find even a small movement? Start with the smallest possible movement; and really, the toes have to be pointing backwards.

3a. And staying in that position get a hold of your little toe and begin to do the movement that we did yesterday with Arlyn: bending the toe, pulling and bending it and bringing the pad of the toe towards the sole of the foot. The sole of the foot is called the plantar surface of the foot, like the palm of the hand. So this is called plantar flexion — flexing the toe toward the bottom of the foot. This isn't a command, it's a request. Just ask your little toe, what would it be like to do this a little bit. What has to happen with the rest of the foot? And you have the advantage from doing the FI with each other; maybe your feet are a little more flexible, little easier to move.

3b. And then take the fifth toe and the fourth toe together and bring them towards the bottom of the foot, very gently, very easily. What does this ask of your lower leg? Can you feel some movement inside of your foot, between your foot and your heel? Can you breathe while you're doing this. Can you remember the rest of yourself, so that there's more to this movement than your fingers and your foot and your lower leg? There's your thigh and your pelvis, the other leg.

3c. I guess you can imagine what we do next? Take the next toe and bring that into the movement, very gently. So now you have three toes together that you're bending.

3d. When you're ready add the next toe, without any insistence, doing the movement easily, and thinking about the whole foot being invited to participate.

3e. And if you still have a toe that's not included, please include it, so you're bending all of your toes, very gently, towards the bottom of your foot.

And then stop, lie down and rest. You can straighten your knee out first. Sense how has this movement moved you? It's interesting since we've been spending the whole day addressing the movements of the foot and the leg to continually feel how your experience of your leg and foot can change. Has doing this with your foot affected your breathing?

4. Please bend your right leg and put your right foot standing. Cross your left ankle over your right thigh and bring your foot as close to your pelvis as possible. Bring it towards the groin so that you're resting your ankle on your upper leg as close to your pelvis as is

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comfortable. You decide where that is. Now you're going to take your right hand and slide your index finger between your big toe and your second toe so that you'll be seeing the back of your hand. Yeah? You take your hand, your index finger, your third finger, slide them between your big toe and your second toe and grab your toes with your fingers, and your thumb can hold your little toe if you want. So you're looking at the back of your hand. Now very slowly begin to bring your knee and your toes toward the floor. Your knee and your toes — no, your right leg does not move. That's not it. Your ankle stays on your thigh, and you bring your left knee and your left toes towards the floor at the same time. And you turn the bottom of your foot towards you. It's like your heel comes towards your head, and your knee and your foot goes away from your head, that's it. It's not an easy movement, but you have to figure this out! I give you as much time as you want. The foot does not slide, it stays exactly where it is. It's a very unusual movement! Listen to the constraint: Your right foot stays flat on the floor, the left ankle stays in exactly the same place, and you're bending the knee and the toes at the same time over your thigh, your upper leg. So you're bending your leg over your thigh. It's a very small movement; it asks for something of your lower leg. That's exactly it! So stop and rest a moment, OK?

4a. Come back to the same position. So you cross your left ankle over your right leg, rest it there, you slide your index finger with all the fingers together between your big toe and your index toe, so you're facing the back of your hand. Then you hold on to your toes with your hand. Now do the opposite movement: bring the toes and the knee toward the head a little and keep the foot on your thigh. Now you're bending the foot in the opposite direction. It's a really small movement, so you have to be satisfied with a little because that's all that's possible. Any more than that, we have a term for it: it's called a medical emergency. We're not looking for that; this is asking for something that you wouldn't find very easily, right? But once you find it, it gets a little clearer.

4b. And now alternate. So when you bring your toes and your knee away from you, your heel turns a little bit toward your head. It comes three millimeters closer to your head, and your foot rolls a little in a funny way, your lower leg turns. And then when you go the other way, what happens with your heel when you take your toes and your knee towards you? Do you feel how it turns a little in the other direction? Something happens with your tibia, the big bone of your leg, the shin bone; and with the other leg, the little fibula, the safety pin bone of your leg.

Good, stop, put your legs down and enjoy resting for a moment. These movements of the lower leg are almost forgotten, they're very unfamiliar. So as strange as the instructions sound, think of how they elicit, how they call forth something that would otherwise get very difficult to get to. Has this affected something other than your foot? Do you feel a difference in your leg, or in your hip? Remember: make the mistake of doing too little.

5. Please roll by way of one of your sides up to half-kneeling, so you're standing on your left knee and your right foot again. Reach back with your left hand and turn your left heel left and right. Is that a little easier now? Imagine that there is a peg, a small round wooden post between your big toe and your second toe, like there was a finger sticking out of the floor and that you're pivoting around that. Can you feel now, what happens in your lower leg? Does this feel a little bit easier? So you want to stand with your weight

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on your whole right foot.

5a. Now put your right hand somewhere on the floor in front of your left knee and begin to slowly sit back towards your heel. Just slowly lower yourself, and put at least your right hand on the floor and gently sit back towards that heel. And then come forward and keep sitting back until you find a way to sit back onto your heel.

5b. Good, and now sitting on your heel — you can have your left hand to the left to make sure it's comfortable — begin to move your pelvis a little to the right and to the left. So you sit as if you wanted to sit inside of your left heel to the right of it, and then as if you wanted to sit to the outside of your heel. Let your leg turn on the floor. In a way you're doing the same movement with your leg, but now from your pelvis. Very gently, you don't have to go all the way to sitting. You just roll your pelvis a little from side to side; you don't actually have to sit on either side of your heel.

Good, lie down and rest. Sense your contact with the floor. Sense your two feet and your legs.

6. Please roll by way of one of your sides up to sitting and then to standing. Come to stand on the toes of your right foot, on your tip-toes, your left foot is just there for balance. And come up and down a few times and feel what that's like.

6a. And then shift your weight onto your left foot and come standing on your left toes. Do you feel a difference? Great, stop, come back to the floor.

7. Half-kneel the other way, so you bring your right knee to the floor and you stand on your left foot. Reach back with your right hand and begin to turn your right heel right and left. So we're going to explore the same movements now on the other side. What can you do to make reaching for your right heel easier? What would you do with your left hand? Maybe you can sit your pelvis back a little closer to your heel? If your heel is further away, one way to bring it closer is to bring your pelvis a little bit closer. Make sure your left foot is really standing on the floor, though. Which way is it easier to turn your heel, inwards or outwards, leftwards or rightwards? Can you feel how you use your heel as a handle, like a doorknob, for turning your lower leg? Good, stop, lie down and rest.

8. Bend your left leg, put your left foot standing. Cross your right ankle over your left leg, and now on your own begin to explore these movements. Now you're going to slide your left hand, all the fingers together, between your big toe and your index toe. You're looking at the back of your hand. Hold onto your toes, and now slowly move your toes and your knee away from your face, towards the floor. It's like you're bending in that funny position your leg over your thigh. And when you do that your heel turns a little towards your head, the outside of your heel comes a little bit away from your thigh. A little bit! It really matters here to have your ankle over your thigh and not be in the middle of your lower leg; having the maledus, the bump that we call the ankle, resting on the thigh.

8a. And then bring both the foot and the knee in the other direction, so they both come toward the head. And the outside of the ankle presses a little bit into the thigh, and the foot, the heel turns in the other direction.

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8b. And then alternate. It's almost microscopic, this movement. I mean, when you have it, it's very clear that you're doing that movement. Great, stop, put your leg down and rest a moment.

9. Please roll to your sides and come up to half-kneeling again, so that you're standing on your right knee and your left foot. Reach with your right hand back for your right heel and turn your heel inside and outside. Is that a little easier now? Can you feel how your foot and your lower leg move in your knee? When your knee is bent your lower leg can move in relation to your upper leg, it can twist. It can't do that when your knee is straight. Is it a little easier to take your heel to the outside?

9a. Put both of your hands on the floor in front of you and slowly begin to sit back toward your heels. Don't go all at once! Very gently, especially if you have some problems with your knees, take it easy here. We all know it's possible for anyone to do any movement once — that's not the point.

9b. Great, and once you're sitting back just move your pelvis a little right and left again. Feel how you can get your leg to turn now by moving your pelvis and your body around your lower leg.

Great, stop, lie down. You can straighten your legs out if you like, and rest.

10. And now lying this way, please bring your right foot back to where it was a moment ago, so you bend your right foot back alongside your body, You bring your right knee away from you and your right foot towards you. You can roll onto your left side, but the left leg stays straight and you're bringing your right foot to lying on the floor the same way as it was. It won't necessarily be possible to have your knee on the floor, but you bring it towards the floor, and the toes are pointing towards your head. That's right.

You see: don't you wish we were squatting?

And now slowly take your toes, and starting with your fifth toe begin to bend your little toe towards the plantar surface, the sole of your foot, the palm of the foot. Be gentle here, be very easy. You can roll more onto your left side, so you can be lying more on the side and less on the back. The idea is to have your right foot on the floor pointing back towards your head as much as is possible for you, to have your knee as close to the floor as is comfortable, and you bend your toes — well, you know the routine. It's kind of like reminding yourself in this position that all the toes are still there; just check and make sure that no one took one.

10a. And just add one toe after every few moments, gently. What has to happen with your belly and your pelvis in order to allow your foot to approach this position? It's an interesting thing to look around the room and see the variety of positions that people are in. Some people are turned fully on their left side, their right foot is pointing to the wall at their side. And their right knee is way up in the air. And some people are actually lying on their back with their toes more or less pointing towards their head, the top of their foot and the front of their ankle resting on the floor, and their knee on the floor.

So there's a huge variety; this is asking a lot of you. And for most of you this is asking for something that's difficult, that's not evident, that's not easy.

Stop, straighten out your right leg, and rest.

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11. And now let's do that same thing with the left leg. Bring the left foot backwards toward your pelvis, bring your knee toward the floor, you can roll onto your right side. Reach for your left foot with your left hand and begin to bend your toes back. And just like in the lesson Arlyn taught this morning, it's really clear that one leg is much easier than the other, isn't it? I mean, neither one of them might be easy, but one is still easier. Can you sense your breathing while you're doing this, so that your focus isn't on your feet, or on that strange position your leg is in, but maintaining some degree of comfort for yourself, so that you can be in this unusual position without compromising your comfort. You can come back a centimeter to a slightly more comfortable position, you can breathe a little easier.

And after you've reminded all five toes that they're still there straighten out your leg and rest for a few moments.

12. Please bend both of your knees and put both feet standing. Keeping your feet on the floor turn your big toes towards each other, so that your toes are closer than your heels. And with your right hand begin to reach for your pelvis, and then between your pelvis and your right leg, and reach around the inside of your right ankle for the front of your ankle. Put your thumb with your fingers so it's like a monkey paw, and then come back. Just do that a few times, just reaching in that direction.

12a. And when you're holding your ankle, or your foot, begin to take your ankle to the right and roll your foot to the outside edge of your foot. You roll so that only the little toe remains on the floor. You can keep your knee up as much as is comfortable, but you're rolling to the outside of the foot, your ankle moves to the right. And then begin to let the knee come down.

12b. So there are you standing on the outer edge of your right foot. And now lift your pelvis and bring your foot underneath your pelvis. So you sit on the bottom of your foot, it makes a little pillow for your pelvis. Somebody asked, under the right side or the left side — well, I'll be happy under either side of the pelvis. (Laughing) What is easiest for you?! I mean, for most people it's not really a choice, right? It's just under there, and you're happy it's there.

12c. And then with your left hand reach for your toes, and once again do that same movement with your toes. Your right hand holds your ankle, and your left hand holds your toes, and each toe you ask it to bend in that same way, gently, easily. Yeah, the movement of the toes is easy, the position of your leg, that's another question. No, I'm, serious: take care with your knees here. If that doesn't feel safe, stop. Your left leg is standing, the left knee is in the air, the left foot is on the floor — that way you can control how much weight your pelvis is putting onto your other foot. So you pull the toes and bend them, very gently; first the little toe, and then the little toe and its neighbor, which I like to call the mystery toe, and then the middle toe, and then the second toe, and then the big toe. And then stop, and if you can straighten your leg, and rest.

This lesson is asking you to ask of yourself to do these very unusual movements that are within the domain of possibility for all of us. But they're like a forgotten part of our language, or a room in your house you haven't been into for so long you forget it's there.

13. Good, and then stand both of your feet, bring your toes so that they make a little 'V', and

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then reach with the left hand between your pelvis and your left foot, snake your hand around the inside of your ankle, and hold the front of your ankle with your left hand, your thumb with your fingers. Begin to roll your foot to the outside edge, so you lift up the big toe corner of the tripod. Can you do that without bringing the knee to the outside? Maybe it moves a little bit, but you don't have to bring it on the floor. It's really a movement of your foot in your ankle and your lower leg.

13a. And once you can do that push with your foot, lift your pelvis up in the air and bring your left foot underneath your buttocks. You can hold onto your foot with your right hand, as well. And then slowly begin to pull and bend your toes, first the little toe, and adding each toe, plantar flexing each toe. Gently, just a few times with each toe, so that even in this strange and unfamiliar position you can do these now familiar movements, remind your foot that it's still there and can move. Feel how this affects your lower leg. Even in this position your lower leg can move a little. Perhaps you can feel it in your knee or in your pelvis, your hip joint. Is your belly pulled in? Can you push your belly out a little to make this a bit more comfortable to be here? And then stop, straighten out your leg, and rest.

Just notice, what do you do when things get a little difficult, or frustrating? For a lot of you it's much easier to think, that I was wrong than to try to figure out what I was asking you to do at first. What do you do in these somewhat challenging positions? Can you be challenged without compromising your comfort, without forgetting to take care of yourself? Is it possible to be both challenged and comfortable?

14. Please bend your knees, put both feet standing, turn the big toes towards each other, with your right hand reach around and hold onto your right ankle, with your left hand reach around and hold onto your left ankle, and now alternately bring one foot under your pelvis and then the other. Now look, it's not possible for everyone to hold onto both feet, so just take turns: reach for one foot, hold onto it, bring it under your pelvis — not both feet at the same time, just one (laughing) — and then the other. So you can let go of the opposite ankle if you want, but just take turns. With your right hand bring your right foot underneath your pelvis and sit on it like a pillow. Let your knee come to the floor. And then bring your right foot standing again, and then hold onto your left foot and bring your left foot underneath. Make sure the other leg is standing, otherwise you won't be able to control the weight of your pelvis.

14a. Take whichever leg is easier and keep it underneath your pelvis, straighten out your other leg, and now just roll your pelvis very gently right and left, So you lift your right hip a little bit off the floor, and then the left, ever so slightly.

Great, stop, let go of that leg, put it standing, bend the other leg, hold onto it with the other hand, and change over which leg you put underneath your pelvis, straighten the other leg, and roll your pelvis left and right.

14c. Good, stop bring both legs standing. Can you hold onto each leg now? Is it a little easier? And now alternately bring one foot under, and then the other foot under. There you go. What do you have to do with your hip joint? When your knee comes towards the floor and you bring your foot underneath your pelvis, what happens with your hip and with your belly, with your ribs and your back? The other foot stands on the floor!

Great, stop, let your legs stretch out — you might want to let go of them first — and rest

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a moment. Notice, how you're resting on the floor.

15. Roll by way of one of your sides up to sitting. Come up to half-kneeling — you choose whichever way you want, we're only going to do one side. Just for a moment reach back with the hand of the foot that's pointing backwards, and turn that heel. Is it easier to reach back? Can you turn your heel now? Can you think of the peg being between your index toe and your big toe, so that you're pivoting. As if there was a finger stuck in between there and you're turning your foot around that?

Great, stop, come up to standing. Amazing, isn't that a miracle — you can still stand! Feel how your feet are on the floor. Feel where your belly is, how long your back feels.

16. Take a little stroll, walk a little. Sense how you're walking, how your hips are moving, how your feet are working. And turn that stroll into your end-of-the-day, on-your-way-home activities. We'll see you all tomorrow. Have a good evening.

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ATM Lesson 233: Upper Back Clocks ("Abs of Steel")Source: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 232BDate: 1999, August 18Teacher: Katrin Smithback

1. OK, so lie on your backs please. And today because of the lesson we're going to be doing, you might want to direct your awareness, your attention, to how your spine is contacting the floor. And maybe first just do a general scan from the base of your skull down through the top of your pelvis, including your pelvis and your tailbone. And just feel in general, what's your sense of your whole spine? The rhythm of how it undulates from your head down to your pelvis?

1a. And then divide up your spine into three parts, and notice how your cervical spine, your neck — how does that feel in relation to the floor? Do you have a sense of how your neck is curved, how it's arched? Does any part of your neck, of those seven vertebrae contact the floor? Or is the whole thing lifted?

1b. And then if you pay attention to your thoracic spine, those vertebrae to which your ribs connect, how do they feel? What does this part of your spine, this area feel like? How do these twelve vertebrae contact the floor? And because the ribs attach to these vertebrae, does your sense of the pressure of your ribs on the floor affect your knowledge or your awareness of what's happening with your vertebrae? Do you feel more pressure on one side of your rib cage? On the other side? Which parts of your spine contact the floor more clearly? If you divide your vertebral column up this way into three different parts, can you feel differences? Does one of these bits contact the floor differently from the other two bits?

1c. And then move down to your lumbar spine, the last five vertebrae there, below the rib cage, above the pelvis. Feel how this area is, what is the shape of these vertebrae? What shape do they take together, in their little grouping here?

1d. And then you can sense your pelvis, and then your whole self lying here on the floor.

2. Now bend your knees, so your feet are standing, and interlace your hands and put them behind your head. Now I hope you had a nice restful evening, because we're going to work today, baby! So the other name for this lesson is "Abs of Steel". Do you know what "abs" are? Abdominal muscles. You're going to be doing a lesson today that requires a bit of work on your part. So feel free to rest, to really maintain your comfort level, even though you are going to be doing some work here.

2a. So lift your head and your pelvis off the floor, and see if you can continue to lift so that you have a sense of yourself as a bow. Your feet stay on the floor. This is not the levitation lesson I promised you! You're going to lift your pelvis and your head, and notice when you do that you start to rest more clearly on certain vertebrae. So lift your pelvis, lift your head and feel which vertebrae do you rest on as you do

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this? How far up can you lift your head and your pelvis? Can you feel that the higher you lift your head and the higher you lift your pelvis the more you are going to lean on one or two vertebrae? That you start out leaning on a bunch and now you're moving to lean on just one or two? OK, now stop a second.

3. This time lift your head as far as you can comfortably, now lift your pelvis, keep your head where it is, do not let it go down at all and lift your pelvis as far as you can comfortably. Now keep your pelvis where it is and can you lift your head a little bit more? Now keep your head where it is and can you lift your pelvis a little bit more? I'm serious — so you can use this to slowly continue to move more and more onto one or two vertebrae, so you're not going to have much of your back resting on the floor. Your abdominal muscles will be contracted. Your head will be lifted during this lesson, at certain parts as high as you can comfortably, and your pelvis will be lifted. You're in a sort of bow. And now relax very briefly.

4. And while you're here lying on the floor just imagine a clock on your back. But this is a different kind of clock than the ones we know so well. Imagine the twelve on this clock is between your shoulder blades. The six on this clock is somewhere down round about your belt line — at the bottom of your lumbar spine. And just imagine for you, if the twelve is up around your shoulder blades, between your shoulder blades, the six is down somewhere by your lower lumbar spine. Where would the center of this clock be? Where would the hands of this clock connect? Do you get a sense in your spine of where the middle is between the twelve and the six?

4a. And now interlace your hands once again, bend your knees so your feet are standing and again lift your head as high as you can comfortably. Lift your pelvis a little. Lift your head again and see if you can come to rest on the center of that clock. So that the twelve is lifted and the six is lifted and you are resting right where the hands would meet.

4b. And then from that point slowly roll up towards the twelve and down towards the six. And as you do this go slowly, so you feel a few things here. One is: can you really make this just a few vertebrae? If you're not lifted very far you'll be rolling on a number of vertebrae. How few vertebrae can you be resting on? And you can take the rest of this lesson to figure this out. You don't have to figure it out all at once. See if you can get a sense of moving one vertebrae at a time, so that you can sense as you roll down from the twelve to the six which vertebrae can touch the floor? Are you to the right or to the left of some vertebrae? Again take your time, rest, do it again, and really get a sense of moving from between your shoulder blades all the way down to the top of your pelvis. And again your stomach muscles, your abdominals will be really contracted to do this. And then stop.

So many ATMs that we do don't require a lot of work and in those ATMs it's often easier to feel how you can relax certain parts of yourself, how you can eliminate the effort. It can be a lot more challenging when you have to do a lot of work in one area like in this lesson, to figure out what is unnecessary work because you're doing so much in one area.

5. So interlace your hands non-habitually this time, bend your knees and find a comfortable place for your feet. Where is a place where your feet can really support you? If your feet are too far away, it'll be very difficult to lift your pelvis. If they're too close together or too

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far apart it'll make it difficult. Can you find a place where you can really have standing feet, that you can use to push on?

5a. And now lift your head again, and lift your pelvis and feel that you're really working your abdominals, but where can you let go? Xan your neck be long? Can your shoulders be relaxed? Your shoulders have to be pulled up to your ears or can they be relaxed? And as we go through find ways that you can not work, not use effort, and those places that don't need to be involved.

5b. And now roll on up to twelve, so you'll be lifting now your pelvis and your head will be lifted, but not as high as it was. And now from twelve, imagine if twelve was up at the top, imagine three is to the right side of you somewhere in your rib cage and nine is to the left. And now start to move from twelve to one and back to twelve. And now twelve to one, to two, and you're going to be doing a quarter of this clock. Going from twelve to one, to two, to three and then back up to twelve. And as you do this, again you can take rests and come back to it. As you do this, pay attention not only to what's happening to the right side of your spine, your ribs. So you're going to the right here, the three is on the right.

5c. Imagine also that the floor has just been freshly painted and that it's a little damp. So that as you press on the floor some of the paint will come off on you. And notice if you can pay attention not only to the pressure of yourself on the floor but also to the design that you're making on the floor as you remove some of the paint. So the floor will have a white line where you're rolling over it. Notice if you're rolling over the same part of that line. Can you keep in your attention, in your awareness not only what's happening to you, what you feel like, but also what's happening to your environment?

And stop, relax, straighten your legs. And again take a breather here. Notice as we go along — you're asking a lot of your abdominal muscles here during this lesson. Feel when you rest, when you do your scan what happens when you stop working. What happens to your breathing? The movement of your ribs?

6. Then again bend your knees, interlace your hands non-habitually. And again lift your head and your pelvis so that you come to rest in the center of where the hands would join, half way between the twelve and the six, the center of your clock.

6a. And now roll over so that you're on the three, on the right side of the rib cage and now from here start to move from the three to the two and back down to the three and to the four. So starting at the three you're going to roll symmetrically up and down. One hour at a time increasing slowly until eventually you'll be rolling between twelve and six, by way of the three. Now notice which parts of this clock are easier, rounder. Can you feel how as you do this, that because of the amount of work you have to do, notice your attention. You may find it more difficult to focus the attention, because you're working so hard. So you're going from the twelve around to one, to two, to three and you're lifted as high as possible as you go down to the six. Your pelvis is still rolled as you hit the six, and your head will be lifted as high as it can go. And still pay attention not only to the pressure on your back, but how this hypothetical paint is being removed from the floor and how you press against the floor along that line. And then stop.

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6b. Feel your pressure against the floor again, notice how the front of you reacts to being asked to work really hard and then to stop working. The other thing you might notice as you do the lesson is: to be able to contract your abdominals what has to happen with your back muscles. Can you get a sense as you lift your head and lift your pelvis of the lengthening that happens in the back that allows the abdominals to contract. The more you can allow the back to lengthen the more easy it will be for the abdominal muscles to work.

7. Now bend your knees again, so your feet are standing. Interlace your hands anyway you like. Again lift your head and lift your pelvis, and now this time start in the center, as if the clock said six o'clock and you were rolling down the hands.

7a. And once you get to six o'clock then come around the outside of the clock so you're going to come from six by way of the outside to five, to four, to three, to two, to one, to twelve. Continue going along the outside and then go down the center and as you do this which foot, which leg is more necessary? If you had to straighten one leg to do this movement, which leg could you straighten?

7b. And try straightening one leg as you do this and see which leg allows you, which leg do you need to do the movement and which is superfluous or potentially superfluous, unnecessary? So you're doing the movement of rolling from twelve straight down the center of the clock to six, and then from six rolling out to five, to four, to three — the right side of you. Up to twelve, and as you're continuing to do that, twelve down to six and then the outside, straighten one leg. And see which leg makes it possible to do the movement. Straightening which leg makes it still possible to do the movement?

7c. And then try straightening the other, and feel what happens. Especially as you get down to six, can you feel that down at the bottom of the clock, the six, five, seven area is really the most rigorous, and usually the most difficult because of how much you have to lift the head, And how much your chest has to soften to be able to lift your head. Let the leg that's uninvolved just be resting on the floor.

And then stop. And once again, let yourself relax onto the floor.

8. And now bend your knees again, so your feet are standing. Interlace your hands, put them behind your head. And now lift your pelvis again, lift your head again and go all the way up to twelve. So that your head is lifted but your pelvis is lifted even more.

8a. And now from twelve go a little to the right, to hit one and back to twelve and hit eleven. So now you're going to move symmetrically on either side of twelve. Hitting one number at a time, and as you do that pay attention to your contact with the floor again. Feel the line that you would make against the floor, if you were removing this slightly wet paint. What would the arc be that's described? And feel as you roll right and left, are you rolling symmetrically? Is three directly across from nine, is two directly across from ten? So you're paying attention not only to the feeling of where you're rolling on yourself, on your ribs, across your spine. Also to where you're rolling on the floor — you have a sense of your environment here. You're doing the top half of this circle. Is your jaw relaxed? How much do you need

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to use your shoulders? And then stop once again.So throughout this lesson not only are you paying attention to how you're contacting the floor, to how you feel, the subjective presence of your spine and your ribs, the movement of your chest — all the things you notice. But also to the path that you are moving over, the floor, to what this line on the floor is like. So you're paying attention to yourself and the environment, which is something really important to do when you do FIs. And sometimes when we do ATMs we get really involved with how we feel and lose the environment. And sometimes when we do FIs we get really involved with what we're doing and lose the sense of ourselves. So in this lesson you're being asked to really pay attention to both things.

9. And now bend your knees again, interlace your hands. And now we're going to do the more difficult part of the clock, so feel free to take a break when you need to. Do a small amount, come back to it. And now lift your head as high as you can comfortably, lift your pelvis and move down to six. And six is right at your belt line. So your pelvis will be lifted the whole time, you're not on your pelvis or your sacrum. It's above the top of your sacrum, right around your belt line.

9a. And now from six start to move symmetrically left and right, hitting five to the right, and seven to your left. And slowly moving out until you get to three and nine. Can you feel what you have to do in your chest? How your chest has to soften to allow the ribs in front to sort of collapse, you may feel some shaking in your belly as you do this, in your abdominals. The higher you lift your head, the fewer the vertebrae you'll be resting on as you do this. So your body is kept in this bow the whole time, get a sense of the roundedness of your back. The ends lifted — your head and your pelvis lifted. Take a break when you need to. Yes this lesson is unusual in that we don't often do hard work like this, this is work. You have to keep these muscles constantly contracted as you do that. And really pay attention to the symmetry of this movement, is it the same to the right of the six and to the left of the six?

And then stop, straighten your legs. Feel as you lie here if there's any reverberations from the lesson, any place that you feel where maybe you've been working too hard, obviously you've been using your abdominals, but how are your shoulders feeling? When you lift your pelvis like this are your feet relaxed, your toes? Notice as you do the lesson, what can you not use, what's unnecessary to the movement.

10. And now bend your knees again, so your feet are standing, interlace your hands, put them behind your head. Lift your head and your pelvis, again as high as you can, so you're in a bow. The head lifted, the pelvis lifted.

10a. And now this time roll over to nine o'clock, right in the middle of twelve and six on the left side. And from here start to go symmetrically one hour above the nine. One hour below. An hour earlier, an hour later, slowly increasing, till you move from twelve through nine to six. How does this compare with how you felt when you moved to the right, to go between twelve, three and six? What is the arc of white? As you roll over the left side, feel the paint coming off the floor. What is the white line that it makes? Do you go over the same line over and over? Can you feel as you go all the way over to six, the head as lifted as it can be? Can you breathe as you do this movement? Can you breathe even though your abdominal muscles are contracted?

And then stop. Rest up for the grand finale here, feel your contact with the floor. Notice

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how the front of you responds to this request to really work hard, What's your sense of your ribs and your abdominals? And how did the back of you respond?

10b. And now bend your knees again, interlace your hands non-habitually. Lift your head and your pelvis, roll on up to twelve o'clock now and start to do a clockwise circle. So you're going to go from twelve over to the right, to one, to two, to three and then down around to six. All the way around, paying attention to a couple of things. One is, what is the symmetry here, is it the same on the left, on the right? Are you hitting three and nine across from each other? Is it easier to roll to one side compared to the other? Find a way to really work hard in your abdominals and not so hard in other places that don't require it. How can your back lengthen so your abdominal muscles don't have to do such hard work. So they're not working against the back of you, but with the back of you. Notice which parts of the clock you can't even touch? Are there some numbers you can't even get to? And then stop.

11. And now in your imagination, just lie here, you can put your knees bent, feet standing or have your legs long, it might be easier to have your knees bent. And in your imagination think about doing a counter-clockwise clock. In your imagination how far would you have to lift your pelvis to get to twelve? Where exactly between your shoulder blades would the most weight be, when you hit twelve? And moving around to the left to eleven, to ten, nine. Where is your sense — without doing all that work, but just imagining it — where is your sense of contact with the floor? And moving counter-clockwise do you have a sense of it being easier or less easy? Imagine the back of you lengthening so the front of you can shorten.

11a. And whenever you feel ready, interlace your hands, lift your head and your pelvis and do the counter-clockwise clock, Feel that coordination between the front and the back of you. Feel the differences between the two sides. Sense the differences between clockwise and counter-clockwise.

And finally stop and take a well-deserved rest here. Straighten your legs, your arms alongside you.

12. And scan yourself on the floor, notice if you go back to how you felt at the beginning, do a general scan of your spine going from your head down to the top of your pelvis and then including your sacrum and your tailbone. Just your general sense of the whole spine, how that fits together as a whole, how those curves move and undulate from your head down to your pelvis.

12a. And now if we go back to these semi-arbitrary divisions, just pay attention to your neck, the cervical vertebrae, from C7 up to the base of your skull. Feel what's the shape of those, the curve of those vertebrae as a group.

12b. And then move down to your thoracic spine, feel the ribs, these twelve vertebrae to which the ribs connect. What's your sense of weight or pressure of this part of your spine against the floor. Are all of these vertebrae against the floor, are some of them lifted? Do you feel more pressure on the right side, on the right ribs, or the left side?

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12c. How are the last vertebrae, the lumbar spine organized in relation to the floor and in relation to the other parts of your spine?

12d. And then as you generalize your scan, and feel the front of yourself how has your rib cage in the front, your abdominals interacted with this lesson. So that as you lie here on the floor at the end what's your sense of your breath, the movement of your ribs in front of you? How available are your ribs and your abdominal area for movement as you breathe?

13. And then slowly roll to your side and come on up to sitting, to standing and once you've come on up to standing take a second in standing to just feel how your chest is organized over your feet, your head. What's your sense of your pelvis, is there any work in your abdominals now? Maybe you'll never want to pull in your stomach again in your life. Just feel how you are in space and then take a little walk around and walk right into a fifteen-minute break.

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ATM Lesson 234: Sitting on Heels, IISource: Year 3, Segment, Tapes 233-234Date: 1999, August 18 Teacher: Arlyn Zones

1. Lie down, and see if you can let this compliment spread throughout your entire tonus. Come back to the memory of the end of the ATM this morning. Can you remember something about when Katrin was finished with the ATM and you were sensing yourself, your length? How do you find yourself now? Now come stand on your knees. Hmmmmm. Put your right foot standing. Tuck the toes of your left foot under as if for running. Feel what you do to balance yourself. Very, very gently begin to reach back towards your left heel, and then back. Do that movement a few times, and pay attention not so much now to the way you touch your foot, but what you do to keep your balance. What happens to the right knee as you do that? The right foot, the right hip joint, the pelvis? And the left? That's nice. That's lovely.

1a. Now, take the left heel with your hand, and see if you can take your pelvis a little bit forward in that position so you don't push too much on the toes. Maybe you can lengthen the right knee a little bit forward, and from here, so in other words not leaning back and pushing down into the heel so much. You make contact with the heel, but you keep the weight light on the left heel.

2. Can you very gently turn the left heel in and out? You can think of the bones of the lower leg moving a bit relative to the knee. Feel the movement of the ankle joint. Just turn the foot a little bit in and out. To rest, how would you make the transition from this position? Let go of the foot, bring yourself to sit in any way you like. Take a rest sitting.

So we talked a little bit in my small group today, that when we work with people it's not necessarily that we're trying to make them more flexible. We're trying to show them a more efficient organization. That's not always more flexibility. Sometimes it's less flexibility. Some people stretch their legs at the bar or whatever. They have, like, maximum flexibility in the hip joints, and maybe that's not the greatest way to organize yourself for walking, for instance. In these lessons we're doing something to look at the way the forces are going to come through the feet. How the forces will come through the toes, up through the skeleton.

3. Take the position again. Because this is not so much about flexibility. It's about a certain way to feel oneself. Now, very gently, lean on your left hand on the floor. Maybe, put both hands on the floor. Tuck the toes under. From here, very gently. see if you could lift your left knee away from the floor so that your left heel starts going in the direction of the floor behind yourself, and back. That's it. Start taking the foot as if to stand on the floor, but you don't have to do it. Notice, as you do that, how do you do that movement? Do you do it by straightening the knee? Do you keep the knee bent? Where do you feel the pressure coming? Which toes have the clearest pressure coming through them? Between the big toe and the second toe? Is it at the middle toe, the baby toe? How do you feel that? Stop it and sit down again.

3a Come back. Lean on your right foot and your left knee. Tuck the toes under. Now, this time, begin to lift the knee a little bit off the floor. Take your left heel back toward the floor. Don't do it by straightening the knee. If you don't think of bringing the heel back by straightening the knee, if you leave the knee a little bit bent, it's

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different. How do you use yourself differently? Here there is something about flexibility, which would be some kind of flexibility of the ankle. Do it once one way and once the other way, so that you can feel that without straightening the knee —keep the knee a little bit bent — there's a lot more that goes on at the ankle itself. Good. Sit again.

For the dancers, we're going to take away your turnout this week. You didn't really need it anyway, did you? You didn't really have any to begin with? OK. You see, if I walk like this like Charlie Chaplin, it's not — the legs support the pelvis, the spine — and if I go like this everything kind of falls down, and then I have to compensate by lifting my sternum up. Does this look familiar for the dancers? You see, if I just turn this out, my legs are not pushing me up, so I have to compensate and lift my chest. There is a certain point where I realized that it makes so much sense that ballerinas would lift their chest. It's perfect, because the way they hold their legs, if they don't lift their chest they would be like this and nobody would want to see them. So this is not necessarily a great way to support my back, or to support my pelvis. It's a nice organization for flying through the air, maybe but for walking it's not the best.

4. Come back to the same position. Tuck the left toes under. Lean on the hands. This time lift the knee a little bit away from the floor. Don't take the foot toward the heel being on the floor, but slide the knee a little bit forward and a little bit back parallel to the floor like it's moving along the same plane. Feel as you do that if you could breathe and do that. If you could make it a bit lighter. What is happening at the ankle? The back of the heel? That's right. The knee slides a little bit forward, a little bit back, and feel the toes are really tucking under. Stop a moment. Lie on your back, and rest.

4a. When you're ready, come up to sitting. Change over the legs. Kneel on your right knee and put your left foot standing in front of you. Tuck the toes of your right foot under. Very gently feel the balance. Everyone usually has one side, like everything else, where the balance is easier, more automatic in a way. So if you feel it's easier to balance on this side, or not as easy. Begin to take the right hand back toward the right heel. Could you take the pelvis a bit forward as the right hand goes back? What would that be like? Which side do you think of? Could you push your belly out a little bit? So that the left knee actually goes a little bit forward. You can still turn your head and look at the hand. That's nice. Good. Sit down a moment. And up again.

5. Tuck the toes of your right foot under. Put your left foot on the floor. See if you could get a hold of the right heel and turn it in and out. Now as you do this, can you become aware which is the easier....

(Change of tape. Some text missing. Continues resting lying down.)

When we go through this lesson it can be interesting sometimes to — when you sense your legs in resting — your right leg, your left leg — can you think of the bones of the legs? You could think. You could visualize. You could sense. To begin to have a more skeletal image. You can do that through sensation as the muscles change, or you can think of all the legs you've touched today. Looking at the skeletons. Does your sensation begin to come a little closer to the bone?

Somebody asked last week about Gerta Alexander's work which we will say a bit more about later maybe. She developed Eutony, which means good tone, or tonus. She would do things — I think Larry and I both took workshops with her — like have you lie for an hour and have you sense the contours of your femur. It made our work look like we're hyperactive. Our work looks like attention deficit disorder compared to her work. But after the hour sometimes you had a very different sense of your skeleton. This is why I took — you see, I studied Alexander work and it was too serious, and Gerta Alexander too disciplined, and with Feldenkrais you

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can be wild and still learn, which is why I chose it.

6. Come. Sit up. Put your left foot on the ground. Tuck your right toes under. Good. Begin to take the sole of your right foot back toward the floor. Lean on your hand, one hand or both, see which is more comfortable. Begin to lift the right knee, and take the right heel toward the floor in back of yourself. Do it the easiest way initially. What way do you do it so that you feel that the sole of your foot can come closer to the floor? That's it. Feel what kind of demand this makes on your ankle? Where do you feel it? Maybe you can feel it in the sitting bone, this place that your partner was pushing on. Something happens in the sitting bone, in the pelvis. Now do it the other way a few times without straightening the knee. So that you really think of taking the foot backward, and making this very strong articulation bending at the ankle. Take the weight off the hands. If three people take the weight off the hands the others are not far to follow. You know this because you're ATM teachers yourself now. Rest in sitting a minute. Feel your breathing in sitting. Feel any part of yourself you like.

7. Come back to the half kneeling position. Put the right knee on the floor, the left foot standing. Lean on both hands. Now take the other movement where you lift the knee a couple of centimeters. Lift the knee off, and like it's on the same plane, let the knee glide forward and back. Keep the toes fixed, but the heel goes back and forward a little bit. So it's not a question of letting the knee come closer and farther away from the floor. You lift the knee a certain amount, a distance away from the floor and that's fixed. From there, you're really kind of pushing forward and back on the toes. Can you feel when you take the heel back the toes kind of tuck under? Can you feel now, that the weight starts to come more clearly between the big toe and the second toe?

7a From there just begin the straightening of the knee, not straightening it all the way, but take the heel back toward the floor. Think of feeling really clearly the brunt of the pressure coming between the big toe and the second toe. Actually, if you're interested in running, or the other end of the spectrum of walking, the more refined way, this is the place where you really go from. The heel to the outside and then pushing off from this place. Lie on your backs and rest.

8. Bend your knees, and put both feet standing. Come back to this moment of feeling how the bones of your lower legs stand. The verticality, the weight, the contact of the feet on the floor. You've had this moment so many times today to feel yourself, feel the standing of the feet, the legs. Very gently, now, lift your pelvis, and with the help of your right hand, holding the outside of your right foot, bring your right heel underneath your right buttocks. It's different than the movement we've been doing, because now it's not bringing the sole of the foot, but the heel under the right buttocks, somewhere near the sitting bone, so that you stand on your toes. The toes are tucked under. The toes are touching the floor. You lift the pelvis. You push the left foot into the ground to help you lift the pelvis, and you see if you could bring your right heel underneath your buttocks, and you want to really use the left foot into the ground, so that you're there but you're not putting all of your weight through the toes of the right foot. Take it out, and put it down a few times slowly. Bring the heel under, with the toes tucked, and then take it out. Find out what this is asking of your pelvis, chest, back, abdomen. You have to find a kind of yielding throughout other parts of yourself. Maybe you feel this yielding is actually more available to you today than yesterday. Is there some place that feels a little softer today than yesterday? Maybe the ribs, or the spine? Stop and rest.

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8a. Then do the same thing with your left foot. Bend your knees, push your right foot into the floor. See if you could bring the left heel underneath the buttocks. Maybe this side is easier or not. It's one way to find your sitting bone like this: just find it with your heel. Take it out, and put it under a few times. Feel how the whole surface, the whole front of yourself gets a bit longer. The abdomen can push out. What's happening on the hip joint in the left side when you do this? Can you relate this movement to the pulling through the knees. Can you feel that as you bring the left foot under the buttocks the left knee goes forward, and the left hip joint opens a bit. Except the pelvis is up in the air. Rest when you need to. Any time. Come back to scanning your legs in your thinking, in your sensing. What would it be in your feeling? To have a sense of a relationship to that part of yourself. Bend the knees again and feel the way the weight comes through the feet into the floor. Lift your pelvis. If you can do so safely bring the right heel under the right buttocks. In this movement it's easier to take the ankle with the right hand from the outside. As you bring the heel under, very gently, you have to really lean on the left foot. The left foot has to be very clear on the floor because it's holding most of the weight.

9. Could you make a little circle with your right heel around whatever point of contact you have now of the heel on the buttocks? First of all, you could do a little bit right and left. You could do the four directions. Maybe you need to hold it. I think it's easier. Could you take the heel a little bit to the right, to the left, a little bit forward, a little bit back. Then, connecting those points. You feel some movement in your ankle. And of course your toes. The pressure of the toes on the floor changing. Take the foot out. slowly. Just stay with the knees bent and the pelvis on the floor.

9a. And now do the same thing with the right foot, but change the direction of the circle. Lift the pelvis. Bring the right foot underneath. Change the direction of the circle, letting your attention move through all the different parts: the toes, the ankles, the lower leg. The knee is actually also drawing a little circle in space. The heel is really making a circle. At a certain point the knee comes a bit more forward, back, and to the right, to the left. Slowly put everything down. Put the legs long. That's nice. Some of you now, you go back to that idea of making that circle really uniform.

Maybe since I started talking about Gerta Alexander, well you can read her book if you want to know more about her. She's dead now, but like all these somatic pioneers, all these people who developed a method, it came from their own difficulties. This was the motivating force. She had problems with her heart. They told her at the age of 17 that she would maybe only live a few more years. So she had the idea that she would just conserve her energy, and if she just used herself without wasting any energy maybe she could live a bit longer. And she did. She lived until her late 70's. I guess she figured something out. So I think if we're really healthy, and everything works perfectly in life, we don't get the motivation to study. All these people made their methods up from a real internal need to understand something. But she also worked a lot with the standing reflex. A lot of her work had to do with evoking this feeling of the standing reflex.

9b. Now, bend the knees, and bring the left heel under. Tuck the toes of the left foot under. Bring the left heel under the left buttocks. See if you can make a smooth circle of the left heel in whichever direction you spontaneously choose. And you may find that one direction — the inward direction for most people — will be easier than taking the heel out. And that the knee is also moving. Change direction. Rest when you need to. Think of the heel, of the ankle, of the knee, your breathing. Be

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more interested in feeling precisely where the heel goes, than achieving it, but really knowing how you're making the circle. Stop again. Stay for a moment with both knees bent on the floor.

10. Now bring yourself up to sitting and kneeling without your hands on the floor. On two points. Kneel on two knees. And now, a few times, without having to do it, be like the children that go like, "I wonder what this would be?" Go toward touching both heels with both hands, but don't do it. Don't be the first person to do it. We'll give a prize to the last person to do it. Toes are tucked under. It actually makes it much easier to touch. Now that you know that you could do it if you really had to, just alternate. Now you see when you do one at a time, some people take the pelvis forward, and some take it as if to sit back on the heel. Can you take the pelvis forward? Push the belly out. It means you actually get less pressure on the feet. If you take the pelvis back to touch, as if you are going to sit down, you can feel it's a lot more pressure on the feet. Now could you take both hands to touch both feet, while you take the pelvis forward and push your belly out all the way down to the pubic bone? If it's safe. It means you take your back into a bit of a bow. That's nice. Lie on your back and rest again, but first come out of this position.

11. Now bend your knees, and bring your right heel underneath your right buttocks, and very very gently begin to take your right knee toward the floor. Don't touch! Go in the direction.

Why are we making such a big deal out of it? I think it's because it's kind of a deep compulsion that the minute you find out someone can do it, you want to do it. Then you've done it, and the learning ends.

11a. Change over, and explore it on the other side.Moshe used to say, "Once you've achieved the goal, then the learning stops." He gave the example of Pavlov. You ring the bell, and give him the food. But once you have given him the food, you can ring the bell as much as you like, nothing happens. He has had his food, and he doesn't care about process or learning. Delay the gratification.

Bring the left knee in the direction of the floor. Take the left knee down, and feel the yielding through your skeleton, through your muscles, your self, in the chest, the ribs, the spine, and then put the legs down, and rest. Come back to sensing your two legs. Feel the length of them. The boniness.

12. Bring yourself up to your hands and knees. Tuck your toes under. Put your heels a bit toward each other. Turn the heels in, and tuck the toes under. Now, slowly begin to lift both knees off the floor, which means you take the weight on the feet. Then put them back down. Now as you start to lift both knees off the floor, could you go back towards sitting on your heels?

You can't? OK, give this man a chocolate bar. We're going to change the whole educational system. If you can't do it you get rewarded, if you can do it they beat you over the head with a stick, it's going to be great.

Lift the knees and bring both feet back toward the floor, both heels back toward the floor. Bring the pelvis over the feet, so you're squatting. Go back on your back. Bend your knees. Lift your pelvis. Bring your right foot underneath your buttocks with the toes tucked under. Bring your left foot underneath your buttocks with the toes tucked under, and very gently bring both knees toward the floor. Gently. Be more interested in how you feel your whole self than the size of the movement. Every time the knees come a bit closer. You go through your hip joints, through the lower abdomen which people

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could...you could get a bit fatter most of you. Some people will feel that the shoulders practically lift off, or the head slides a bit. Good.

Put the feet down. Put everything down. Put the legs down. If you would like to do it again, you can. Otherwise you can take a moment to come back to scanning yourself. Through your ankles, through the bones of your lower legs, through your thighs. Really taking time in the lying position to search for the bones. When people will come to you the whole idea that they could feel the skeleton or feel something about bones — most of our sense of ourselves is about muscles, or muscular effort. So the whole idea about being able to sense through the skeleton is in itself something very different for most people. Sensing up through the length of your spine.

13. Slowly come up to sit. Come up over the bones of your feet. As you're standing sense the directions of where your heels are facing, how the toes contact the floor. If you feel what your general physiological state is. Are you more tired than when we began or less tired? Where your head is. Walk a bit through the space. Feel this push from the back of the heel to the front of the foot.. Feel the foot touches the floor, it pushes away, and that begins a force which travels up. How do you feel that going through? Does it go all the way up to the head, or do you feel it someplace in the back.? Does the back feel long? The front? In a way it's a much more forward orientation. It's not a smell the roses kind of walk. It's like 'I'm going somewhere.' Forward. Do you feel that?

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ATM Lesson 235: Making a Circle with the Top of the HeadSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 237ADate: 1999, August 19Teacher: Chris Lambert

1. Lie for a moment. Feel the space underneath the back of your neck. Neck is an interesting word, isn't it? Because, where does your neck start and where does your neck finish? In your own imagining, what does it feel like? You know there is an arch in your neck, because of the skeleton and because of your own feeling. All the times that you have been lying on the floor and began to scan the shape that you make on the floor. How much of a curve is there on the back of your neck? How close or how far away is your chin from your breastbone? That is, is your nose pointing up towards the ceiling, or a little bit down towards your feet, or a little bit up towards the top of your head? What's the angle of your head as you're resting on the floor? You might care to drop a little line from the bottom of one ear lobe to the point of your shoulder. Feel how long that is. Measure it in your mind's eyes. And then do the same thing on the other side, from the bottom of the ear lobe to the tip of your shoulder, see if it's possible to feel if one ear is closer to a shoulder, or one shoulder is closer to an ear. If you would open your eyes, would you look straight up to the ceiling or would you look at an angle, as into the room a little? You might like to open your eyes and see if you look directly up or look at the paint work a little ahead of you or a little behind you or a little to the side of you. Just notice what direction you make your gaze. And check too, is there one ear that's closer to the floor? That is, if your nose is a little turned to the left or to the right.

2. And leave it, roll by way of your side up to sit, and if you're comfortable sitting, in cross-legged sitting, that is tailor's sitting, then sit like that with your hands on your knees. Just imagine that you've got a pencil, a little short pencil, and it's attached to the part of your head that's closest to the ceiling. You could call it the top of your head if you'd like. And above the pencil you have a piece of cardboard, which is level with the floor, horizontal.

2a. Begin to take the pencil in a circle, on the cardboard, to draw a circle. So you take your head around a little bit, to make a small circle, directly above your head, with the pencil that's attached to the top of your head, on the paper or the cardboard just above you. As you make this circle, feel whether the circle is fuller in the front, or in the back, or out to one side — to the left or a little bit more to the right. Is it a circle or is it an ellipse, or is it a circle with a bump in it?

2b. Find a way to make this circle so that you can feel the spine under you. That the spine supports all the vertebrae in the neck, as you take yourself round in the circle.

And then pause, rest for just a moment, and if you'd like you can adjust the way you're sitting so that becomes more comfortable. If cross-legged sitting doesn't work for you find another way.

3. Begin to make the circle again, with the pencil right on the top of your head. The part of your head that's closest to the ceiling. A short pencil, so you don't have to make a large

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circle. Notice that you've chosen to go in the direction that you've chosen.

3a. Reverse it. Whichever way was your habitual way, if you went clockwise, go anti-clockwise, and if you went anti-clockwise, go clockwise.

4. To get the idea of whether this is really a circle, make just the front half of the circle. Remember, you have the front in front of you. So you make a half circle. It means that you move your head forward and around to the left, and then forward around to the right.

4a. Then do exactly the same thing with the back half of the circle. See, is it the same size? Is the front half of the circle equal to the back half of your circle?

4b. And put the two together, and check the circle on the piece of paper above your head, the piece of cardboard.

Leave it, roll down onto the floor and take a bit of a rest. Out of interest, did anybody have any color other than white or cardboard color for the piece of paper? When I was trying this out for myself, I had a bit of white cardboard, and then I thought " how uninteresting, I could have picked red, or green. "

Rest on the floor, take just a moment to feel whether the head is resting on the floor the same way?

5. And come back up to sitting. Sit comfortably, cross-legged if it suits you, take your right index finger, and place it on the point of your head at which you had the pencil attached. From that point, slide the point of your index finger over to your left temple. That means that your elbow stays up in the air and you slide your finger over your head, keep going until you come down to your left ear, and till you find your left temple. Your left temple is that point that is just a little deep behind your eye. And leave it there. Once you've found where your temple is, leave just your index finger there. So that you have made a mark on that spot. Imagine that you've got a little circle, a little crown sitting on that spot, and it goes all the way around your head. Just make a line around that. A circle all the way around the circumference of your head. Just so that you're clear where the circumference is. This circle is horizontal with the floor. Take your index finger all the way around and draw a line. This means it goes from your left ear back behind you, not over the top or your head, it goes round behind you, like you've got a circle of ribbon around your skull. Once you've drawn your circle and know where it is, rest your arm for a moment.

6. And then, take your finger and place it back on your left temple again, with your elbow up in the air. Leave your finger there. Your arm and your finger no longer move, and begin to move your head around the point that your finger is making, so that you follow the line that you've already drawn. The finger stays absolutely still, the elbow is still, and you move your head so that it follows that line. This isn't easy; it means that you've got to move in and around the arm. The finger stays still, the elbow stays still. There will be parts of the circle where you want to move your finger. Don't worry about it for now, we are going to do lots of this.

Would you like a rest? Yes, lie down. Another way of imagining where the circumference of your skull is, is to imagine that you've got an old-fashioned hat, one of those bowler hats. And you sit it on top of your head. Where the band of the hat is, is the circumferencial line. This lesson is going to be finding out whether it's possible to keep

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your finger and your arm still, while moving your head in contact with that still finger to trace the line of the band of the hat.

6a. Roll back up again, sit comfortably and this time take the left hand, the left tip of the index finger on the right temple. So you are doing the other side. Find a way to have your elbow up in the air, the index finger is gently in contact with the side of your head, and begin to move your head so that the line of the hat band is touched by the finger all the way around. So the head moves while the finger is still. That means that the finger is moving on the head, but the finger is still in the room. Another way of thinking about it would be that the finger is just hanging there, just touching the head, and the head is moving around the tip of the finger. Again notice that you've chosen to go in one direction as you are going around in this circle. Find a way to do this so that your nose stays pointed forward. So that you continue to look directly in front of you. Go slowly, it will come, don't worry. It means that you have to shift.

You can think of the FI. demo we just did.

It requires some shifting of the head relative to your shoulders.

And leave it, roll back down, take a rest. Feel how your head is resting on the floor, find a way to make yourself comfortable.

7. As you're lying here, in your imagination attach that small pencil to the top of your head — for those who are still sitting, you need to be lying down for the next part of the lesson. You've attached your pencil to the top of your head; bring your head up off the floor as if to look at your feet, have your piece of cardboard directly above your pencil, and begin describe the circle again, just like you did in the beginning. Now you need to do this in small amounts. Make sure you take lots of rests. Just feel, is it possible to take your neck around in a circle, just a little bit? And put your head down again. Find a way to make a circle; if it's not a pencil, you could think of a flashlight, describing a circle on your piece of paper. And pause. Is the circle you made the same direction that you chose the last couple of times?

7a. When you are ready, lift your head again and go in the other direction. So you begin to make a circle around in the opposite direction. Can you feel that your neck is going around, if you like, in a cone? You're moving around in a circle from further down the spine.

And leave it and rest. It's hard to pick 8 kilograms of water up against gravity.

8. Please roll over and lie on your stomach. Have the left hand somewhere resting out towards the side near your left ear. And with your right hand, take the index finger to the top of your head over to your left temple. Find the left temple as you're lying here. Now the top of your head is your top. Not the back of your head closest to the ceiling, but the top of your head. Top relative to you. Lift your head up and your elbow up. And begin, holding that elbow and your finger still, to take the head around the hat band circle. Here you can tell whether your arm is moving in space or not, because the elbow won't stay still. You're lying with your right index finger resting on your left temple; so that means your nose is down towards the floor. And then you lift your head and your arm up a little in the air, so the elbow is away from the floor, your nose is away from the floor, and you hold your right arm still, so that the index finger makes a little indicator. And you begin to

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move your head relative to the finger. So the finger begins to make a circle around that hat band. But it's the head moving, not the finger. The head is moving relative to the floor, but the elbow and the finger are just staying parallel to the floor. Go slowly enough so that you can feel what's happening in the vertebrae of your neck.

And rest. Just rest face down, whatever is easy. When you're doing this movement, this exploration, you're looking for the possibilities of moving your head relative to the index finger. So when you come to do this on the other side, your elbow will be a couple of inches off the floor, around about, the index finger gently touching your right temple. And then you'll begin to move your head relative to the index finger, so that your nose stays pointing down towards the floor. It means that your head is translated a little left, and then forward, and then right and then a little backwards. And the finger stays absolutely still. Hopefully.

8a. When you're ready, put your right hand somewhere to the right, bring your left hand over your head to touch your right temple. And then you need to lift your head and arm a little away from the floor, so that your head has got a space to move. It's not possible to push it down through the floor to get around your finger. Go slowly, feel what's happening through the neck, the vertebrae, down towards your shoulders, the cervical vertebrae, low down C7, 6, 5. Is there anything happening there or is it happening more towards the base of the skull? See if you can feel where the movement takes you. What part of your neck is doing the work.

And leave it, take a full rest. If you want to roll onto your back roll onto your back, or stay prone. So what happens in your thinking when something doesn't feel possible? What options have you got to try and solve the problem of a non habitual movement? Something that's outside the common everyday experience of moving through the world. Just think for yourself how you feel, what your reaction is to an instruction that sounds bizarre. Think whether there are possibilities for other ways of exploring. Another option, another way, another pace, another style.

9. Please roll onto your back, that means facing the ceiling. Lift your head up off the floor and rest your elbows back, leveled with your shoulders, so that you can see your feet but with the support of your hands. So your forearms are on the floor, your elbows are on the floor, and you are leaning up on your elbows. You don't have your hands behind your head, your hands are sort of at waist level, your elbows are underneath your shoulders.

9a. In this position reattach the pencil, place the piece of paper over the top of the pencil, and begin to go round in a circle. Feel that in this position, your shoulders have a particular relationship to your neck. And it is just possible — well, it is easier — to feel what's happening in the neck, in C7, the lower cervical vertebra, when your shoulders are in underneath your neck and you're supporting yourself. Make it a fairly small circle so you're not working hard. If you find it tiring you may wish to adjust your elbows so that they are truly supporting your shoulders and the weight of your thorax.

9b. Take a rest whenever you need it, and when you are ready go in the other direction. Whichever one you chose to go the first time, reverse and go backward in the other way. And notice as you change direction, is this the easiest for you or the harder one? Did you pick the easy one first?

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I think that silence means that none of it felt easy. Arlyn did promise you an easy day!

Leave it and rest back down for a minute, give your head a rest.

10. Roll back up, put your elbows in underneath you so that you are leaning on your forearms and the palms of your hands, and then shift your weight across onto your right arm so that you can free your left arm. Take it over the top of your head, and put the left index finger in contact with the right temple. And in this position, keeping the elbow still and the finger still, begin to go in that same movement again, where the head stays facing forward, but moves around the tip of the finger. Find a way to do this so that you continue to face forward. You don't let your head drop backwards; it requires a certain shift. You can feel it around the very top of the cervical spine, in underneath the occiput. To keep your face forward and relatively level, you need to be able to shift the atlas and the axis, the top 2 vertebrae. Very top parts of your spine.

Pause. What does it take to keep the part that usually moves still, and the part that's usually still moving? Is it possible to discriminate? To make a distinction between the movement of the arm in space and the movement of the head in space? That is to keep the arm absolutely still, and to move the head around the tip of the index finger.

10a. As you're lying here, just imagine that you're going to do this on the other side. In your imagination, you are resting on the elbow, the other arm is over the top of your head, the index finger on your temple. And in your imagination, your face is absolutely pointing forwards. If you like, looking towards your feet. You feel the tip of your index finger still in the air as you move your head around it. Is the pressure of your index finger on your skull a firm pressure or light? Are there parts of the circle that are easy and smooth, and other parts less known?

10b. When you have it clear in your mind's eye, please come up and do it.

10c. And when you've taken your head around in one direction to your satisfaction, reverse it, and go in the other direction.

10d. You might like to go back and forth between going clockwise and anti-clockwise. Feeling which way is easier, more comfortable. Is it becoming easier to keep your arm still while the head moves? Breathe, just a little reminder, breathe.

10e. Please rest. As you rest on the floor, feel the weight of your eyeballs resting in the sockets, in the orbits. With just a tiny movement, look a little left, a little right. Begin to move your nose just a couple of millimeters to the right, and to the left, and gradually increase the movement, so that you roll across the back of your skull, comfortably. And then, each time you roll your head to the side, decrease the movement, 5 millimeters each time, smaller and smaller, until eventually you come to a full stop, and your nose is directly in the middle. Feel the quality of rest when you come to a full stop in the middle. Your breathing can be quiet and easy.

11. And with this quality of rest, roll by way of your side and come back up into sitting. Sit cross-legged, place your hands on the crest of your hips. Your hands are on your hips, and imagine that there is a string hanging from the ceiling above you, with a small steel ball at the end of it. And that small steel ball is just touching your right temple. So the ball is going to stay relatively still because it's quite heavy. Begin to take your head around

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the ball, so that the ball just touches the hat band shape that's around your head. All the time your nose stays forward, your face stays forward, but you find a way to shift your neck around the spine. The ball is going to stay absolutely still, but you can feel the cold of the steel ball just touching your temple, and then into your hair, you feel it on your forehead. It's a magic ball, it doesn't bump. Find a way to breathe so the breath doesn't interrupt the clarity of the movement, the smoothness. And for the points that feel a little difficult or unknown, spend a little time finding a way to shift around that point.

11a. When you're done, pause and consider what it would be like to go in the other direction. So that steel ball would be by your left temple. And really, 'direction' might be a wrong word to use. The other side. Have you chosen to go clockwise or anti-clockwise? Whenever you're ready reverse it, so that the ball is hanging by the left temple; put your head in the opposite direction, the opposite circle. Don't clench your teeth, don't hold your breath. I'm pretty sure squeezing your eyes won't help either.

And when you're ready please lie down and take a rest. So the atlas is the ring-like bone that's directly under the skull, the topmost vertebra in your neck. It has two facets, flat spots, articular surfaces for the occiput to sit on. And these two facets underneath that sit on the axis, which is a big vertebra. So, your skull can sit on top of the atlas. That's what allows you to nod your head, which is a rocking motion.

And it's probably a wise idea, somewhere today or tomorrow to have look at the skeleton. Make sure you feel around with the atlas because most of the time it's facing the wrong direction. It's very loose on the skeleton.

So you're looking at the possibilities of movement in the neck, of discriminating between that cone-like movement, which engages all the vertebrae of the neck, all the way up to about C3, that allows you to spin your head in a circle. First is the movement that occurs more in atlas and axis, at the top of your spine, that allows you to nod or to poke your head forward, or to draw your head back a little bit. Also you are looking to discriminate between a movement that's occurring more at the top of the spine, to the sort of movement that's engaging most of the vertebrae of your neck, and the thoracic vertebrae in underneath.

12. Please roll over onto your right side, bend your knees up so that you're comfortable, have your arms somewhere comfortably out in front of you, out to the right — you are lying on your right side — and attach the pencil to the top of your head. Lift your head away from the floor, place the piece of paper above and begin describe a circle on the piece of paper, as you are lying on your side with your head lifted away from the floor. Find what sort of movement occurs in your neck now that you're lying on your side. You've changed orientation, you've got a different way of moving in response to gravity. Make a full circle, rest your head down whenever you need it. Don't move into that space where it takes effort, and then effort takes over the sensation, and there is no noticing anything out of the effort that's occurring. Find a way to rest down frequently.

12a. And take your head in the opposite direction, the other way of the circle. Feel what's happening in your head and your back. And notice if the size of the circle you're making here, is the same as the size of the circle you were making in sitting. Pause for a moment, pause when you're done with that, rest on your side.

13. Then take your left arm over the top of your head, place your index finger on your right

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temple, with your head away from the floor, and, holding the elbow still in space, using your index as a marker, begin to make a circle around the tip of your index finger. So that you know that you're going to keep the tip of your elbow still in space, the finger hanging at the end of it. Begin to circle your head in a way that allows the tip of the index finger to follow that line of the band of your hat on your head. The circle of leaves for the Roman gladiators, the crown, the piece of ribbon around your forehead and the back of your head. And your face is staying relatively looking forward of you. Feel what demands this makes on the vertebrae in your neck. Is it possible yet to keep the arm still while you circle the head? And rest.

13a. And this time, think of taking your right arm so that your right ear is resting on it, the arm goes over the top of your head, and your right index finger is touching your left temple. This means that your elbow is on the floor, you lift your head so that it's possible for your left temple to touch, if not the index finger, some people are using their middle finger. The elbow stays still on the floor and you begin that circle again, finger stays still, but this time you move your head around a fixed finger, elbow on the floor. Does this make the movement any clearer? Does it become easier, once you fixed your elbow to the floor, not having to hold your elbow still, has this made it easier?

And rest. As you're resting here, what orientation does your head have in relationship to the rest of you? How are you organized on the floor? Where is your nose relative to your chest, and your ears relative to the floor? Think back to the beginning of the lesson, when you paid attention to where your gaze was directed.

14. And then for the last time today roll up to come to sitting, sit with your legs crossed, have your hands comfortably resting on your legs, or your lap, or besides you, whatever is right for you, place the pencil on top of your head, a piece of paper above you, and again scribe a circle on the piece of paper. Notice now what's happened to the shape and the quality of that circle.

14a. When you are ready go in whichever direction you want to reverse it. Just enough to know how you are doing it now.

14b. And then take one arm over your head, attach your finger to the other temple, and see what happened to your ability to hold the arm still in space, and begin to circle your head around the point of your index finger. Remembering that your face stays relatively forward, the arm stays still. Pause.

15. And imagine what it would be like to put both movements together. Can you imagine, without having your finger in space, the possibility of making the cone like circle of the pencil, joining it up with the circling of your head?

15a. Just imagine what it would be like, and when you are ready just give it a go, just see whether the two would go together, what sort of movement that feels like. I'll repeat. The movement that you're making with the pencil attached to the top of your head, that circular movement: combine it with the movement of the head around the index finger. So that you begin to shift your head as well as circle it. You may like to use your index finger as your indicator. It is called in Latin 'indicus'. You'll probably feel this in your pelvis; and your face is staying forward.

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15b. And then reverse it. And give it up, it's enough.

16. Think now of coming up, when you're ready, to stand. When you're ready come up to stand. And come up to stand so that immediately as you're standing you pay attention to where your gaze is directed. Where you're looking in the room. Take your time coming up; just because some of the room came up quickly it doesn't mean to say you have to. Feel where the top of your head is.

16a. The homework is that you could lean against a wall with your elbow sideways, attached to the wall, with the arm over your head, attach the index finger to touch the temple that's facing away from the wall, and the wall will hold your elbow still and you can begin to move your head in standing around. This is something to explore another time and in another place. But today is supposed to be a light day and you are allowed to go home early. Have a walk, see what it's like after you've been moving around C7 so much and around atlas and axis.

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ATM Lesson 236: Re-educating the EyesSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tapes 237B-238Date: 1999, August 20Teacher: Paul Newton

1. Settle down. Bring your awareness to your five cardinal lines, the lines that a child would use perhaps to draw a stick person: the midline that could represent your spine, the two lines for the legs, the two arms and with the circle for representing your head. You have scanned the five cardinal lines many times before or at least several times before. What do you notice this morning as you pay attention or direct your attention to these five lines? How are they represented in your awareness? Are portions of the lines more represented, others less, more difficult to find or do they have a different thickness? Bring your awareness to your breathing. Where are you breathing? Is it more in your rib cage, your chest, more in your belly? The rhythm of your breathing? The length of the inhalation and exhalation? Are there any poses between the inhalation and exhalation? Just notice without interfering. Throughout this lesson you will be mostly lying on your back, so feel free during the lesson to either have the legs long or pulling the knees up towards the ceiling standing on the feet. That is up to you. Close your eyes, and throughout this lesson also work with your eyes closed.

2. Now begin to do a very slow and uniform movement of moving the eyes from the right to left many times, slowly, and get a sense of if you feel satisfied with the movement. How do you sense the movement of the eyes going from right to left? Does the movement seem uniform? Do the eyes go as far to the right with the same quality of movement as they do to the left, and vice et versa? Keeping the eyes closed all the time. There are two different things we do with the eyes. There are at least two different things! But we can make a distinction between the movement of the eyes, the movement of the eyeball in the socket and focusing when we are seeing. And now see how this movement changes when you think of scanning the horizon? Scanning the horizon from right to left. Then begin to sense if you are also getting a feeling seeing the middle. So you have the middle point as if you were looking something straight ahead at the horizon, and right to the middle, and left to the middle. I am sure many of you are beginning to sense that the eyes move very differently as you look to one side than they do when you look to the other. This is a very common thing.

Just leave that for a moment, keeping your eyes closed, sensing your breathing.

3. Return to the movement, starting off in the middle, and then scan the horizon with your eyes seeing, with closed eyes, as you move to the right, to the middle, and to the left. Making the movement as smooth and as uniform as possible. How far away is your horizon? Just notice what you are doing when you think of the horizon. How far away is it from you? How close is it to you? Now continue with the movement and do very small arcs of movement. Think of the image of an arc, so as you scan the horizon, it is not a straight line, it is curved. We perceive the horizon to be curved; you start very small and then you gradually expand the size of the arc. Always returning to the middle, emphasize the middle. Making the movement uniform in the range of movement as well as in the smoothness of the movement.

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3a. And then as the arc is very large, begin to do a large sweeping arc from the right to the left, no longer stopping in the middle. As you do that begin to pay attention to your lower belly, lower abdomen, and notice how you are breathing. That you make your breathing as uniform as the movement of your eyes.

Then leave that, keeping your eyes closed, and now just attend to your breathing, just bring your awareness to your breathing. Once again, as you are breathing, check those five cardinal lines. Paying attention to the lines, how they are represented in your awareness as you breathe. That the breathing is uniform.

4. Slowly, keeping the breathing uniform, return to the eye movement. And see if you can sense where in your body the lack of uniformity in the eye movement is linked with the lack of awareness. It is as if the places where your eyes don't move smoothly, there is also a lack of awareness in your body. See if you can sense that as you scan the horizon right to left. There is a place where often the eye will stop in one direction, and feel that place that you bomb into with your eye. And then scan the five cardinal lines at that place.

5. Continue with the movement of scanning the horizon and sense that as you make the eye movement more uniform, this changes the particular way that you are holding yourself. So that perhaps there is a way that you are holding in your back or that one leg seems to have a higher tonus or if you could imagine yourself in an action such as standing or sitting. Then make the eyes movement as smooth as possible and feel how that influences that holding in that place. Can you find a way to let that holding go? With each one of you it would be a different place. The movement of the eyes can affect a particular twist that you have. Slowly, you may begin to sense that a particular part of you really looms, comes forward into your awareness. And feel the direct connection between the movement of your eyes and this place. That this part of you comes more and more efficiently under your control. Notice if you are holding your jaw. If there is more space between the teeth on one side, the upper and the lower teeth, than the other? The shape of your face also is very closely related to the movement of your eyes and the structure of the bones in your head. You might sense sometimes more holding on one side of your face than the other.

6. Now just do three more movements, moving the eyes in a wide sweeping arc, left to right and back again, and count them. Scanning very clearly the whole horizon.

Keep your eyes closed and take a rest. Notice how you are now contacting the floor. The quality of your attention.

7. Now with your eyes closed, select a place on the ceiling directly ahead of you. Imagine that there is a feather that begins to gently and very slowly float downwards towards right between your eyes. Begin to follow that feather as it slowly floats down, very gradually. Notice, as it comes closer and closer, that there are certain places along the way where you stop. And then you can get the feather to move again. And those places are the places where you focus with your depth very clearly. When the feather comes right in front of your eyes, begin to float it back upwards towards the ceiling. Try to make the feather move uniformly, smoothly, as smooth and uniform as possible.

8. The next time that the feather is up at the ceiling leave it there, and move the feather

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very out into the sky. Begin to float the feather down to the ceiling. Uniformly! Noticing if there are places there where it stops as you move it down towards the ceiling. When the feather arrives at the ceiling, float it down once again towards your eyes. Begin to see if you can make the feather stop at other places than those which you initially chose. These places being places that you could focus more clearly with your depth. And then back up to the ceiling.

8a. Then leave that, and do a few movements of the eyes scanning the horizon from the right to the left.

9. OK. Now the next time that you return to the movement of the feather up and down, from the ceiling to in front of your eyes, choose let say three different places, three specific different places and see if you can stop the feather there and make that as easy as those places where you would habitually stop. Notice the movement of the eyes, that as the feather comes closer to your eyes, the eyes go closer to your nose. And as you go up towards the ceiling the eyes would move apart.

10. Now after you have done that three times see if you can do the movement very smoothly, uniformly, harmoniously. Now begin to play with the quality of the movement in terms of tempo. Can you make the feather softly rise and float but at a greater speed, faster?

11. Return to the movement of the eyes scanning right and left, and play also here with the tempo. Can you increase the speed?

12. Leave that, and with your eyes closes, very slowly come up to standing. Sense with closed eyes what you notice different in your organization as you stand. And notice now where did you just direct your attention? Was it a more global checking in? Or did you go specifically right to one place to see how that place is doing? Open your eyes and sense what it is like with your eyes open. What do you notice about your organization standing here?

Those of you how have gum in your mouth, please take it out.

13. Come to lie on your belly with closed eyes. It is just too many things to track: the movement of the eyes and the chewing of the gum. And also it is very interesting when you chew the gum, where do you chew it, more on the left, more on the right?

Find a way to bring your chin onto the floor for a few minutes, the hands can be as you like, your eyes are closed, and once again scan the horizon from right to the left as before. And check in with the uniformity of the movement in this position on the belly with the chin on the floor. Is it different from lying on the back, as when you were lying on your back?

14. And then very gradually begin to make the movement from the right to the left faster. But as you go faster don't loose the uniformity of the movement, that the eyes move through each point in that arc on the horizon.

15. Then look to the extreme right and stay there. So you move your eyes as far as they can to the right and you stay there. And then imagine a ball, a point or a circle. It can be white or black, whatever works for you. Begin to follow that circle as it moves further off

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to the right, it will move away of to the right and you will follow it until it disappears very gradually on the horizon. It won't disappear all at once! Then gradually it comes back, it will become clearer, larger and still more clearer and bigger until it comes right before your eyes, touching your face. Do that several times. It moves off to the right, you follow it of to the right, and then gradually it begins to disappear bit by bit off to the right getting more and more fussy and loosing it's contour. And then slowly it reappears coming back getting larger, clearer, until it touches your face. Repeat that until you see this point move away and come back again. And it becomes clearer with the same clarity that you had as you scan the horizon with the eyes before. So you are going away off to the right. The eyes start at the right. Begin to notice as you do this movement, do you notice a certain pattern of muscular activity on one side of your neck? That the movement of the eyes somehow influences the muscles of the side of the neck? That they do something different on one side than the other. And to become more aware of that, experiment with having the point way over to the right and very quickly flicking it over to the left.

15a. Do the movement one more time and direct your attention to all of those background sensations that you have during the movement.

15b. Then move the eyes to the right and to the left again and notice what has changed.

16. This time move the eyes way over the left, as far as you can. You have scanned the horizon way over the left and then once again find this point. That point begins to move further to the left until, very gradually, it begins to disappear bit by bit, not all at once, loosing its contours. And then it reappears into the field of your peripheral vision. Looming larger, getting clearer until it gradually touches your face, your head.

16a. Repeat this movement several times checking in with all those background sensations. Noticing the change of tonus on one side of your neck, that the muscles do something different. That the point gets smaller and smaller gradually receding until it disappears, and then it reappears and it looms larger and larger until it touches your face.

OK. The next time it touches your face, leave that. Keeping your eyes closed, do anything you like so that your head is comfortable. Why the chin on the floor?

17. Bring your chin back onto the floor. Now this time feel the bridge of your nose. Really find the bridge of your nose in your awareness. And begin to do the movement to the right and then you look at the bridge of your nose and then you go of to the left and come back and really look at the bridge of your nose.

17a. Now see if you can do this movement also with the sense of scanning the horizon going off to the right and then left being aware of the bridge of the nose.

18. Now the next time that your eyes are in the middle, not at the bridge of your nose but looking straight ahead with closed eyes, look through the floor at an other horizon, and begin to do that movement as if you where floating a feather down to a specific point directly in front of you. And then back up again, thinking of the middle. So you let an imaginary point go in front of you away into the distance and let it come back again. And see if you can really sense that it is coming back to the center, and not to the right or the

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left of center even if it is just a millimeter.

19. Then leave it there the next time it goes to the horizon, where you have a sense of the middle at the horizon. And then scan the horizon from the right to that middle, to the left and the middle, several times.

20. Then from the middle, go to the extreme right and then straight to the middle. Is it easier for you to come straight to the middle with one eye than the other? Do it from the horizon in, through the floor. And then find the middle again.

21. Now this time change the initiation, start in the middle and go off to the left, and back to the middle. And start in the middle and go off to the right and back to the middle. Does this affect the movement? Does it help a bit more with your orientation?

22. Now find a place, the mid point between your heels and move on up to the middle of your butt, between the two gluteus maximus, find the middle of your sacrum, the triangle, the middle of your spine between your shoulder blades, the top vertebra of your scalp. And this time begin to follow a movement up above your head, come down, find that first vertebra, go down the midline of your body, the middle of your sacrum, between your butt cheeks, down between your heels and get a sense of what it is like to follow the movement with your attention and your awareness as you move the eyes. Notice as you do this movement, is it as clear all along the line? Is it as uniform all along the line up and down? Along this plane that divides the midline of the body? As if you were split right down the middle.

22a. And now only do the movement from between your eyes and up as far as you can go following a point, and bringing it directly in front of you without any deviation to the right and to the left. Getting a sense of that middle. Noticing the depth of the horizon that you choose in front of your eyes as if you were also looking through the top of the dome of your scalp, on the inside.

23. Then leave that and move your eyes from the right to the left in large sweeping arcs, and see how this movement has changed.

24. With your eyes closed come once again to standing. Slowly! With eyes closed! Sense what comes more into the foreground, in your awareness. And now do a few steps slowly with closed eyes. There are some people still lying on the floor, so I do mean slowly. Those of you who are lying on the floor should take care of yourselves, because the people who are walking in front of you have their eyes closed. That means it is make up time!

24a. Now open your eyes and walk a little bit with your eyes open. What is different? What do you sense now?

25. Now come back to your places on the floor. I think we can do a bit more. Come to lie on your back. Now, if you had a little creature lying between your eyes and you want to see it, what would you have to do? A creature? Kleines Tierchen. You can choose it. You can make it something very sweet like a ladybird, they bring good luck. This little creature begin to move down the bridge of your nose. Close your eyes. How does that effect the particular twist in your body? It begins to move down your nose at that place

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underneath your nose at the top of your lip there is a growth. Can go right down the middle of your lips through the cleft in your chine, if you have a cleft in your chin, along the neck over the Adam's apple, if you are a man, between the breast on the sternum down the middle of your belly button, right — your navel — right through the middle of your pubic bone, right over your sex, between your legs, between your knees, right down to that place between your heels. Notice as you did that and as you do it again bringing the creature back up again, are there certain places where you lose sight of your little friend? And places where it is more easy to see it? See which points are clearer? The pattern of mobilizing the eyes for the different places along the way.

26. Now bring your eyes down to that place between your feet, between your heels, between your toes and now you have this sense of a midline, and then flick your eyes back up to the place right between the eyes. Then flick the awareness down between the heels. So a flick, it has that quality that I am trying to use in the word, flick! It is a fast light movement. It has a suddenness to it, but also a very light quality. Up and down! Then one last time follow your creature along that midline in the continuation of it, between your legs. And a continuation of it above your head. Do a few movements not carrying whether you do them well, up and down, up and down.

27. Leave that, and begin to scan the horizon one more time from right to left. Noticing how this movement has developed. Checking in with those background sensations. Can you do the movement now in a more uniform way? Do you notice little micro-movements of your head as you scan with your eyes? Sense your heart beating. All the muscles in your torso are also affected by the smoothness or not so smooth movements of your eyes.

28. Begin to allow the head to move together with your eyes as you scan the horizon. Your tongue moving inside of your mouth, resting peace fully inside of your mouth. A uniformity in your breathing.

29. Now begin, without sacrificing the uniformity of the movement or the breathing to move your eyes in the opposite direction of your head, even if it is just the tiniest movement. It can be a small, small arc. Minute!

30. Leave it, roll by way of your side and come up standing. As you like! Take a few moments before you walk to sense your organization here in standing. The quality of your attention. Then without talking to one and other, you can either put on your socks, but go outside and sense yourself in the environment outside. Sense how your sense of space have been affect by the lesson. How you relate to space? Just take a few minutes for doing that, and then come back inside once you sensed your relationship to space outdoors.

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ATM Lesson 237: Sitting on Heels, IIISource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 239Date: 1999, August 23Teacher: Arlyn Zones

1. Instead of doing the floor scan, we begin the lesson with a walking scan. And if you want your mat folded so nobody steps on it, please fold it. Otherwise if it's OK for people to walk on your mat, you can leave it, but stand up. Begin to walk around the room slowly.

Many people probably had a chance to do walking this weekend. Did anyone notice an easier walking this weekend? Anything about walking that you could feel? Not sure?

OK. Now pay attention only to what is happening when you step on the right foot. Feel the transmission, first of all feel the way the weight goes from what the first point of contact is, and then does it go on the outside of the foot, the inside? Which toes do you feel the weight coming onto clearly? And then try to feel the transmission, what we call the transmission of force from the way the right foot touches the ground, and how then it passes through the ankle, the knee, the hip joint and upward. When I asked that, one person spontaneously — actually several of you — started to walk very slow to feel that. So go ahead and do that. Make the walking much slower. Almost like these very slow motion things. Step on the right foot and feel how is that push, from the foot against the floor? From the floor to the foot? How does that force that begins with that push go up through your skeleton? And does it pass all the way to the head? Do you get taller when you step on the right foot or do you go down a bit as you step on your right foot? Do you get smaller or taller as you step on the right foot? Can you feel that? It is as if when you go slow you can feel not only your foot pushing against the floor, but in a way the floor pushing also, pushing me back a bit. That's it. And then feel, does the weight come more towards the front of the foot? How much of the weight is being taken in between the big toe and the second toe? Can you relate that to same things we started last week? Do the toes bend at all? And how much movement is there at the ankle as you go from being on the right foot? Start to bring the left foot forward. Feel what happens with the right ankle. How much give or bend is there?

1a. Now start paying attention particularly to the left foot. First of all, what's the first point of contact of your left foot on the floor? And if the heel is the first point does it then go to the outside of the foot? To the inside? Which toes get the most pressure? Which toes move? And then begin to feel the transmission of the force, from the foot through the ankle, the knee, the hip joint. Do you get taller or smaller when you step on the left foot? Does this contact of the way you put the foot on the floor, push you up or lengthen you? Or do you tend to get shorter over the foot and come down a little bit? That could be what you do with the pelvis or with the ribs. And now stay with the transmission as you step on the left foot, and begin to bring the right foot forward. How much give do you have in the ankle, in the left ankle? There is this moment when you're pushing off with the back foot, that the weight is coming even more clearly over the front foot and that bones of the lower leg make a kind of movement.

1b. Now alternate and walk a little bit more normal. It doesn't need to be faster but just alternate and feel with the right foot the direction in space, like we did the last week, on Monday. The sort of the directionality of the right foot, the directionality of

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the left foot; and for many people the feet go a little bit different in their pathway through space in their direction. Can you feel, when you stand over it, which foot clearly gets taller and the other foot not as much? Can you make a distinction? Maybe you get more clearly taller over one foot than the other. Or the way the force is transmitted from the foot upward seems more efficient somehow, more clear?

1c. And now walk a little bit faster, and think of yourself as almost as someone who will be running, you don't need to run but think of a walk which has the idea to really propel you forward in space. That all the force generated from the floor takes you forward through space. So that if it would have more momentum it could almost become running. Feel the way the feet help you, the toes and the ankles. How much forward is forward?

Stop it now, come back to slow walk and find your places and lie down a moment. And just take a moment to feel the quality of your contact with the floor.

2. Roll up to sitting and bring yourself to stand on your left knee and your right foot. For those of you who missed the beginning of last week I will just tell you that: please go very gently with these movements until you find out really what they require. Don't rush in to it!

See if you can balance in this position. Tuck your left toes under and untuck them and make that movement a few times tucking and untucking. Take a padding if you need it for the knee. Can you put it somewhere where you feel the weight stands clearly in between the big toe and the second toe?

2a. Leave the toes tucked like that, go back and hold your left foot with your left hand slowly. And take the heel a little bit inward and a little bit outward. As you do that, of course, you feel that the distribution changes, the toes press more into the floor, it changes. Can you find a place to put the heel where it really helps this contact with the big toe and the second toe? And maybe you even play with the foot a little bit, play, with the toes. Find some way to organize the foot even if you need to go back with the hand and move the toes a little bit — yes — move the toes! Change the orientation of the foot maybe if you can so that you really feel where this contact is. That's it.

2b. Now standing like that with the weight on the second toe and the big toe, put your right hand on the floor in front of you, keep the right foot standing, put the right hand down, and maybe you can even have both hands. Lift your left knee a little bit away from the floor and put it back. The lifting of the knee, it doesn't need to be a big movement but you feel that the left heel goes a little bit backward towards the floor, and the toes begin to really stand and take more and more weight. Just feel how you're organizing the foot to have the weight come through a very specific point as the heel goes back towards the floor and you lift the knee.

That's it. Lie a minute and rest. Leave it, come onto your back.

3. Come up again, change over, stand on your right knee and your left foot, and tuck the toes of your right foot under. Of course all the way through you can be invited always to feel the differences between the two sides, just feel if this side feels like it can come more clearly with the weight between the big toe and the second toe, or not as clear.

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Now with the help of the right hand take your right heel and turn it a little bit outside and inside. Remember last week we talked about this movement of the tibia and fibula. Go gently, and perhaps you can feel the bones of your lower leg turning a little bit as you do that, the movement of the heel. Feel which is easier for you, is it to take the heel out or in? And is there some pain anywhere in the toes? How many people have pain in their toes? Oh, maybe it's going to change. I don't know whether it will change in a little while or tomorrow or the next days but we'll see. Maybe it will change. Take the weight off if you need to, anytime you need to.

3a. Otherwise stay with the toes tucked under, and lean on your left hand now, or both hands, and see: maybe you can do it with one hand, or maybe you need both. Lift the right knee away from the floor a little bit and take the heel backward and back. Try to feel that you take the heel in a direction through space where it really clarifies this pressure; the most pressure coming between the first and the second toe. So if you take the heel to far inward or to far outward maybe you won't feel that. Play with the orientation of the heel as it goes back toward the floor. Good. Stop it and lie again on your back.

4. Come up again. Stand on both knees this time and find out if it would be possible to —yes, with the toes tucked under — hold both heels with the corresponding hand. So the right hand holds the right heel and the left hand holds the left heel. Stay there if you can. Maybe you could push the belly out a little bit and use your back. Search for the power in the back!

4a. Very gently until you find out what it is, could you actually come to lift one knee a little bit off the floor and then the other knee a little bit off the floor, could you? Maybe one knee is possible and the other knee is not so possible. Move your entire self, you don't have to stay back in that arch, you can move a little bit, maybe bring the weight a little bit more forward to do that. Just find out! Move the pelvis, move your back.

Good, stop it, lie down again. It's interesting to see all the different strategies. Some people turn quite a lot, some people don't, some people use the pelvis more.

5. Now bend your knees, put both feet standing on the floor, lift your pelvis and with the help of your right hand bring your right foot underneath your buttock. Maybe the right hand will hold. Standing on the toes, not the sole of the foot, you are tucking the toes under, so your right heel is underneath your right buttock near your sitting bone. Hold the right foot with the right hand from the outside and then see if you can hold the inside of the right foot with your left hand.

5a. In this situation could you take your right heel a little bit right and a little bit left? Without breaking anything! Feel what is happening in the ankle, in the bones of your lower leg, in your breathing, slowly, gently! It might be a very small movement for some of you. But it's not having the sole of the foot under your buttock, you are clearly standing on the toes with the right foot. So again as you take the heel in and out, you are changing the way the pressure is coming through the foot.

That's it, put the foot down, put everything down for a moment. And feel — many people have a bigger breathing now and I don't know if that's because it has exhausted you or if something became a bit more free in the ribs?

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5b. Bend your knees again, come into the same position, bring the right heel underneath your right buttock, somewhere near the sitting bone if you can. This time you keep the foot, hold the foot on either side of the ankle, wherever it feels secure. This time, without holding your breath, you fix the foot, you don't let the foot move. Now you move your pelvis a little bit right and left relative to the foot. It takes a few times, I think, in this movement, to know where in the world your pelvis is. You have to do it a few times to get clear about what sort of movement the pelvis is actually making. So sliding a little bit, to the right and to the left, maybe one side is getting shorter or longer. What sort of movement happens as you take the pelvis to the outside of the foot, on the right, a little bit further to the right, and then inside?

Rest whenever you need to, many people are coming down, so come down for a moment. Stop. Come at least having the knees standing.

5c. Take that position again, bring the right foot under, hold with both hands and take the first movement a few times again. Take the right heel, leave the pelvis, take the right heel in and out. See if you can feel that your whole back could help you near the foot movement. How you could move the foot, the heel in and out, but that you could have more participation in the hip joints, in your spine, somehow in your chest?

5d. Then go back to the other movement of taking the pelvis, sliding the pelvis right and left, leaving the foot fixed and feeling the movement not only now of the pelvis but of your whole back. Also in this movement, when you fix the foot and you move the pelvis relative to it, again you are also moving the bones of your lower leg relative to the foot. You can really feel the possibility again in this movement of the fibia and tibia. Rest again.

6. Bend your knees, bring your left foot underneath your left buttock, helping with both hands, bring the heel under and stand on the toes. Maybe this side will be more comfortable or less comfortable. Begin the movement of taking the heel a little bit to the right, a little bit to the left. Again begin to allow the attention to become more general, so you feel what's happening in the knee, the hip joint, the lower spine, the ribs, different part of your spine. You see, it already made a big jump in the quality now on this side. It is much more refined, which as usually comes from listening to yourself in a more precise way, in a more global way. People are using about half amount of force now, that they were using on the other side. Find out how to use your whole self.

Just take the weight off, put the foot standing, stay with the knees bent and with both feet standing for a moment.

So it's really a moment of seeing that what we say about the Feldenkrais method, that it is learning how to learn, it seems to work. It's seems to be true that you have learnt how to learn and so you can find this way of allowing steps to be small, going away from the achievement. That is a whole other quality of course than you see in the beginning classes where they can't make this kind of distinction at all, of how they use themselves, how they pay attention to themselves.

7. Now bring your left heel underneath your left buttock again, somewhere where you can feel the weight coming through the big toe and the second toe. That's also getting much clearer now for many people. Now leave the foot fixed and make a movement of the

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pelvis relative to the heel. You shift the pelvis a little bit to the right, a little bit to the left. And begin to feel what kind of movement in space your pelvis is making. Not just the pelvis but how, when you take the pelvis to the outside of the left foot, there is a lengthening through the left side of yourself. When you take the pelvis to the inside there is a lengthening on the right side. So there is this lengthening and shortening. The whole chest can respond. And stop and put everything down. Rest.

8. Bring yourself up to your knee, standing on your knees again. This time instead of having the toes tucked, leave the toes flat so that the front of your ankle will be nearly touching the floor. And stand on your knees, take a hold of your right heel with your right hand, breathe and gently — yeah, all this in breathing. See, could you roll the heel in and out with the toes flat? That's it! As you go to hold the heel like that and roll it, you actually put just a little bit of pressure into he heels so that the front of the ankle comes a bit closer to the floor; like as if you were pressing the front of your foot into the floor and opening the front of the ankle in the opposite direction to what we have bee doing. Gently, just feel, it's actually a bit a relief after all of this.

8a. And then do the same thing with the other, with the left heel.

OK, just sit for a moment. So there is all these different strategies of how people go back to take the heel. Some people round over and take the head down, some people arch quite a lot, some people turn, some people go straight back, a lot of different things.

8b. Come up again, and see, if you take now both heels, how do you do it? You take both heels, feel then you have again to look for this power — find this arching, pushing the belly forward. Could you roll?

No your sitting on your heels is very creative, but that is something different.

But now if I say go back to holding the heels and take the pelvis forward and the head back! What would happen? Would that be something else? If you can! Later maybe we will do movements where this will be the thing, but OK.

8c. So could you, without hurting the knees, the feet, the toes, take the heels in and out? And how would you do it? I mean, there is a couple different ways to do it. You can take both in and both out or you can take one in and one out. Could you play with both feet at the same time? And feel what is happening in your shoulders, in your back, your hip joints. All right, now you know how Erin Eckenrow feels?

And rest. Ah, it's a lot of work, that's why she gets so tired in the videos. OK, rest on the back a little bit. Yes you can complain with your whole self.

9. OK. Now maybe we do the movement that Marie Anne wanted. Come up and hold the heels and now sit near or on or very close with the toes flat and now from here come forward by lifting the pelvis and arching the back. So you sit back a little bit and then you lift the pelvis. Do that a few times slowly, and you can always breathe. There is a moment when you might inhale or exhale. Yeah, laughing is good, it makes a little air come out. Hahahahaha. Good. Could you push your abdomen out all way down to the bottom of the pelvic floor? Could you think if you could see the sky here, like you would push your breath out all the way to the pubis, the base of the pelvic floor. What if you thought of pushing the belly out that low, that far? Does that have any effect on the

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ability to arch your back?

That's it, that's nice, great. Lie when you need to and rest. And again come back to your breathing, feeling in the hip joints, in the abdomen.

10. Bend your knees and bring your right heel underneath your right buttock, your left heel underneath your left buttock, and feel now, just bringing the pelvis away from the floor, so your heels are underneath near the sitting bones. How close together could you bring the heels, bring the heels as if to touch? Somehow find a way to get the right foot in a bit closer to the midline and the left foot in a bit closer, and turn the toes out. So the toes go a bit away from each other, the heels go together, and you bring the heels in, as close to the middle of yourself as possible. Now can you feel that actually the last little thing we did of pushing the belly out, can you feel in this situation that if you think about letting the abdomen be free all the way down to the pubis, it actually has a big effect on what can happen in the hip joint and the chest?

10a. So from here gently begin to take your knees down in the direction of the floor —gently! Negotiate, negotiate, do it maybe 10-15 times so that you don't need to go all the way down. There is nothing to prove to yourself. The less you prove the more you are going to get a change. So just go very slowly and feel, as the knees come closer, how you push the lower belly out, expand the abdomen, the ribs in the front come a bit away from each other and the chest, there is a kind of yielding. If you go slowly it's almost feeling of a spinal chain, so if you can go so slowly that you feel the movement going little by little up through your spine. Feel if the weight is coming between the big toe and the second toe.

Oh good, and now stop it a moment and come out of that position, slowly come out. I don't know, maybe you don't remember how it was last week, but certainly your ability to feel what you do with yourself in this position today is much clearer. Take a very long rest and you can be aware of nothing for a while. Be aware of whatever you like. It doesn't mean a break unless — OK, some people are going sneak off to the bathroom. Just rest a minute, charge the battery.

10b. And then come back into that same position. Have the heels near each other, touching in fact so they are touching near your, in between your two buttocks. I guess we would call that the anus, near the anus. And a few more times, the toes are out, make the rocking. If it feels safe to do so, at a certain point you can find a way to push the elbows, bend the elbows and push the elbows a little bit more into the floor, which helps the head get light. So you rather would be resting on top of the head or for one or two people who can actually bring the knees all away, the head actually comes off the floor. But just feel of certain moment you could push the belly out and push the elbows a little bit more into the floor and that takes the knees a little bit lower, opening the chest and the front. That's it. Now come out off that.

A lot of noise going on? It's not coming from the teachers, is it? No, the teachers are doing beautifully, it's coming from somewhere back here, a lot of noise. It's the coffee machine. It's not you it's the coffee machine.

10c. Make the heels a bit wide, put them under your buttocks and do the same thing slowly, bring the knees down with the heels wider apart. Again see if you can bring the pressure over the big, through the big toe and the second toe. But feel where

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you put them so that when the knees start coming forward it comes over the toes and you feel the pressure really clearly through those first two toes. That's nice, very nice, and think of pushing the lower belly out. The moment you do that the hip joints really can open and the knees can go a little closer to the floor. Good. Stop it and rest again.

11. Now take the same position, bring the heels under, wide, so that they are quite wide; they are nearly under the hip joints. As wide as you can, and standing on the toes. In this position shift your weight, shift your pelvis right and left. Hold the feet and shift the pelvis right and left; with the feet wide like this you can feel even more clearly what kind of movement is going on in your spine. You are end-gaining over there, the persons who understand that word 'end-gaining'. Don't try to go on with the next step, just find out what this one is. Just shift a little bit and feel what is happening in your spine and your pelvis and the two sides of your chest. Good.

11a. Now take the feet out and come stand on your knees. Tuck your toes under, hold both heels with each hand and now see if you could shift your weight to the right and lift the left knee off the floor, and shift your weight to the left and lift your right knee off the floor. We did it before. Is it easier? What do you do with yourself new that makes it a little bit easier? First of all you don't need to achieve it so much, but you can feel you do more with your back and your shoulders and your ribs and your pelvis. Good, lie down again.

12. Now bend your knees and bring your heels together underneath, close to the middle of your buttocks. Put your right heel as close to the center as you can and then the left heel, so now the heels are touching. Slowly bring your knees down toward the floor and back, do that a few times. As the knees start going toward the floor can you feel how much flexibility is been demanded at the ankle? So the lower leg, the bones of the lower leg really need to come forward relative to the fixed position of the foot. Just go back and forth and feel the play now at the ankle. Take the knees as close to the floor as you can comfortably. The toes are pointing out and the heels are touching. Take the knees close to the floor. From here could you shift your weight right and left a little bit? Take the feet out, rest with the knees bent and the feet standing.

13. Now bring just your right heel underneath your right buttock, close to the middle, close to the sitting bone, and bring that heel under the sitting bone so that you can really feel that you stand very clearly between the big toe and the second toe. So if you had your foot turned in you would be standing somewhere completely different; so the foot is turned out a little bit. In other words the toes are turned out relative to the heel. Now your are going to make sure that the weight is really shifted to the right such that you could stand only on that right foot. Hey how did you know? OK, good, so how do you know if you are only standing on one foot? So you lift the left foot and slowly begin to bring the foot up towards the ceiling. It's a little bit like the Can-Can with one leg, at least that's what you all look like. Did you think that you could learn to do the Can-Can? Slowly, well you can do the Can-Can or the Can't-Can't but so, you stand on the right foot and you lift the left leg, slowly. Then you really feel the organization of how the weight is coming through these toes, good. Rest a minute.

But you know if we say Can't, then Can't right. So it has to be the Maybe-Maybe, because you have to leave it open that very minute. It's so interesting, especially when you do a series of lessons, if there is certain movement that just really feels impossible, and so you say, "I really

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can't do this movement" and whatever. And then you go on, you do something else in this series and you come back and all of a sudden this new ability appears. But in the moment that you say I can't do it, everything gets a bit heavier and more difficult because your nervous system actually accommodates that, says, "Oh, OK, we can't, let's kind of shut down." So it's always an interesting moment. That's why you have to keep open, open attitude about things.

13a. Bend your knees and put the left heel underneath your left buttock, maybe this will be easier for some of you than standing on the right foot, organize the foot clearly so that the weight comes through the big toe and the second toe, and shift the weight to the left and lift the right foot now. A few times lift the foot up towards the ceiling. And come out of that. Rest on your back.

14. And now one more time bend your knees and bring your heels together close to the middle of yourself. Bring your knees towards the floor, push with the elbows a little bit if you like. Find out if there is any change in your way of doing this movement. Maybe the way the movement is passing through your spine is more clear, more direct up through the middle of yourself. Push the lower belly out, all the way down to the pubic bone. Good, very nice, very nice. The ankles are flexed. It's not a question of pointing your toes. It's a question of making a very clear ankle of your lower legs relative to your feet. Some of you are trying to straighten the ankle in front. It's just the opposite, it's really flexed.

14a. Now bring yourself up to sitting. This time have the toes flat, so that the ankles are not flexed, the front of the ankle is extended, as open. It's so easy for you to sit on your heels now, it's like, it's the least of our worries. Can you feel? Is it more comfortable than usual? It's quite easy! Good, come up, bring yourself up onto your knees. Just kneeling on two points. And then make the knees a bit wider apart. And go back, make the heels wide, make the knees much wide and see if you could go back to sit on your heels in this position, no arching, just sitting back. That's it. And then keep making the knees wide and the heels wider until you could bring your buttocks to the floor in between the feet. Maybe? Could you bring your buttocks to sit in between the heels? That's it. Just feel what this feels like. Good.

14b. And now come up to stand on your knees again and tuck your toes under. Separate your knees a little bit and lift your right knee only to take your right foot back toward the floor. As if the sole of the right foot would almost touch the floor and then come back and do that on the left side. And do that a few times. Some people, many people are turning, some people aren't.

14c. But now keep the toes tucked and put your hands on the floor, put the heels together, put the hands on the floor in front of you, lift both knees and bring both heels back to touch the floor. Good. Do that a few times as if you wanted to go into the squatting position. So instead of bringing your buttocks up toward the ceiling, lift the knees and bring your buttocks towards the floor. That's right, so you push the whole foot. That's right, that's it. So you go from the knees to pushing back to squatting with the heels together, then you can make the, keep the head low! You don't understand? Should I say it again? So you lift the knees, the heels are together and you bring your bottom backward toward the floor. Squatting, that's it, and the head is down. Now stay like that for a moment and balance yourself, just meditate or take a moment to appreciate the extraordinary improvement in this

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movement from a week ago, hm?! You see you are so busy worrying about all this difficult movements that this movement is just like a kind of "by the way", ha? Do you feel how much your squatting improved? Can you stand up from here?

14d. And now separate the feet a little bit and go down like we did Monday afternoon and just feel how it is.

Good treat! So supposedly this ability to squat is some thing which helps organize a better balance between the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system. So it means you can find out if there is a calming down effect from some of this. Funny, for some people they feel very very energized by the lessons, and some people feel more calm.

15. Stand on your feet. Walk again like we did in the beginning, slowly. Feel the directionality of your two feet. Feel the way the force is transferred from the heels. Can you feel now that this abstract sentence of the weight coming from through the big toe and the second toe is not as abstract, it's a more concrete experience? It starts to have some meaning. Do you feel you can relate to this forward direction more? Just allow the walking slowly to get a bit faster and think of this propelling. You see we talked about this continuum of function and going from someone who can't walk at all to an athlete. Here we have the transmission of forces much more clearly organized. From the push of the foot up through the ankle through the hip joints and into the spine. So the loss of power would be much less if you were running. It means, with the principals of the method, the work done would all be transmitted into movements, rather than some of the force being lost somewhere along the way. You can go a bit faster if it feels. Probably you don't want to lean back, it's not going to help you to propel yourself. Good, now think of something you want, a cup of coffee or a cup of tea and go and get it!

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ATM Lesson 238: Sitting on Heels, IVSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 241ADate: 1999, August 23Teacher: Larry Goldfarb

1. Just take a few moments to be in contact with you. With yourself. When I asked you to be in contact with yourself, what did you notice? Did you notice how you are feeling? Your emotions at this moment? How you feel about the day, about yourself, about the training? Do you know what you are sensing? Your contact with the floor? How soft your belly is, where you are breathing? Take a few moments on your own to do an inventory, to check in to notice your contact with the floor. Have you already finished noticing your contact? How detailed are your questions? How much time to respond do you give to each one?

2. Please bend both your knees. Put your feet flat. Take a few moments to notice how that changed your contact with the floor. Not just the contact that your pelvis and your legs make, what happens with your back, with your chest. And with your right hand get a hold of your right ankle of your right foot and bring your right foot underneath your right buttock. And with your left hand get a hold of your left foot bringing it underneath your left buttock. Pull your feet underneath your pelvis and your are resting the weight of your feet on your big toe and your second toe. Bring your heels close together, so your heels are close together and your feet are further apart. And very slowly bring your knees a little bit forward, push your knees forward and pull on your feet with your hands so you have a little bit of a contra-pull. Your hands pull your ankles towards your head and your knees push towards the floor and come back. Your knees are going towards the floor, gently. And let the movement build. Start with a small movement. What happens with your ankles, what happens with your back? So can you feel that your heels are closer together than your toes? So as you keep going you can lift your back a little bit more, so as your knees go forward pay attention on how that affects the contact with the floor. As your knees go forward, your back arches. You can come up on your elbow a little bit and eventually come on the back of your head. Do it in small steps. Stop for a moment.

2a. Put your feet flat on the floor. Put one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest and a few times do some seesaw breathing. You expand your chest and you expand your belly. And as you do this notice where you put your belly hand. Is your hand above your bellybutton, over your bellybutton, or below your bellybutton? Put your hand between your breastbone and your belly button. And now do the seesaw breathing pushing that out.

2b. Now put your hand between your belly button an your pubis and do the seesaw breathing. Expand your chest and expand your belly. Do that with your knees bent please. And notice what happens when you expand your belly. What happens with your lower back, your pelvis? Make that nice and easy. And so that you are thinking of pushing your belly as if it would roll over your pubis.

3. So you hold on to your ankles and can you find that lower valley as if you are going to put your lower belly on to your thighs. You are pushing it forward and downwards so it does not go directly to the ceiling but it goes to the ceiling above the stage. The top of

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the arch if you are facing that way. And now how can you make that movement of pushing your belly out a part of the movement of bringing your knees towards the floor? Can you do that together so that you begin to pull on your ankles and push your knees to the floor and push your belly out? And make it a sequential movement, so as your knees push, as your belly, pushes there is this kind of wave like movement through your back. And just go as far as it is easy. Stop, put your legs down and rest a moment.

4. Bend your knees, put both of your feet flat on the floor and if I asked you to bring the easier foot underneath your pelvis, which one would it be? Bring the easier foot underneath your pelvis. And hold on to it with both of your hands so that you can stabilize the foot and your pelvis can rest on it, sitting on it however it is comfortable. On your left buttock or in between your buttocks. And begin to shift your weight on to that foot, so that the other foot gets light and you can lift the other foot into the air. Just a little bit and put it back down. And really find a way to use your hands to stabilize your pelvis. You want to have the weight between the second toe and the big toe. So that the strongest part of the foot is holding up your pelvis. And next time you have your pelvis up in the air, straightening as much as it is comfortable and then turn the heel outside and inside, so that as you are looking at your foot, once you look at the outside of your ankle, the other time you look at the inside of your ankle. So your leg is up in the air and you are rotating in the air. And you are keeping the other foot stable so that your pelvis and your foot is stable. Stop, put your legs down and rest for a moment.

5. Come back to the same position. Hold on to the same foot and notice where your thigh is. Your upper leg. You bring your leg up so it is more or less parallel to the floor. So you push your knee forward and off. And in this position again lift up your other leg and turn it around itself. So the trick here is can you pay attention to both legs? The one that is up in the air turning and the one that is on the floor? Where is your weight on the foot on the floor? Can you sense the foot that is on the floor and the foot that is in the air? That is what happens when you take that step. This is a giant's step: one foot pushes back, one foot reaches forward.

6. Put your leg down. Bring your foot out from underneath your pelvis and change over your feet. So bring the other leg underneath your pelvis, the one that was in the air, hold on to it with both hands, find a way to make your foot stable and affix where your pelvis is in space. Bring your thigh so it is parallel to the floor, push your knee a little bit forward and then lift the other leg up. Pause a moment and then come back to the movement again.

And then stop and rest. Take a moment to be with your contact on the floor. And with the contact with yourself.

7. Please roll to your sides and come up to sitting. And come to standing on your knees. Stand on your knees and your toes, you bend your toes as for running. Separate your knees so that they are wide apart and bring your feet together, so that your heels are touching. Put your hands in front of you somewhere comfortable and slowly, without moving your hands, sit back to sitting on your heels. And every time you sit back drop your head and when you come forward you lift your head. So your heels are together and they stay together and you bring your pelvis back towards your feet. An you can bring your pelvis back to sit on your feet or you can bring your pelvis back and lift your knees. And bring the heels towards the floor that's what we are doing. So you drop your

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head as you sit back. And don't worry to go all the way back, just do what is easy. And find a way to make the breathing part of this movement. Your hands are between your knees, your knees are wide apart. Your hands are closer together than your knees, so when you go back your arms are between your knees. Notice what you do with your belly and your lower back when you do this movement. Sense what happens between your shoulders. Do this without any insistence. Stop. Lie on your backs and rest for a moment.

8. Please bend your left leg and lift your right leg into the air and begin to make some circles with your toes in the air. You can hold your leg behind your knee if you want, the leg doesn't have to be straight and just make some circles in the air. You are turning your foot at your ankle and notice, does your heel make a circle too? And think about the circle your heel is making. Keep going in the same direction with your foot and think you are making a circle with your foot. Your heel is drawing a circle in the air. And now keep the circle going but pay attention to your toes again Your toes make the circle again. And then pay attention to the heel again. And now can you relate what your toes are doing to what your heel is doing? When your toes are going to the right, is your heel going to the right or to the left? It goes to the left. Can you feel how the circle of your heel reflects the circle of your toes?

8a. Change direction, go a little faster. Are you still circling your toes and your heel? Once again change the direction of the toes and go very fast and very light. A lot of people want to go very fast, stop moving their heel and they just move the forefoot. Can you do both? That means it is a movement of the ankle. Stop.

9. Change over your legs. Do the same thing with your left foot. Make sure you go in the other direction. And stop, put your leg down.

9a. Put your leg back up. And now do it quickly. Can you do it quickly without losing the sense of a circle? The secret to doing it quickly is to make it even smaller. All right, stop and rest.

10. Roll on to one side and come up on your knees. Bring your heels together and your knees apart. Put your hands in front of you and as you sit back, look up. So you are going to take your pelvis backwards and bring your knees away from the floor and as you do that lift up your head and push out your belly and gently arch your lower back. You might want to start with your hands a little bit closer than where you have them so you can leave the hands in the same place. So that you can count on your hands for support. So as you go back can you stick your belly out and arch your back as you bring your heels toward the floor? The hands remain on the floor for balance. Where is your belly? Are you going to stick it out or where is it? OK. Sit back and rest a moment.

10a. Come back to the same position. That is with your heels together, standing on your toes and your knees apart. Bring your right knee up and your right foot towards the floor. The right knee towards the floor. And then you bring your left knee. What happens with your ankles when you do this? So you can shift your weight on to your other leg so that the knee you are bringing back doesn't have a lot of weight on it. Keep your hands where they are on the floor so that you have to move around your hands. What happens with your pelvis when your are doing this? Can you kiss the knee to the floor? There is no banging of floor. You are not

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going to beat the floor up. It is very slow. Now look straight ahead and do the same movement. Stop and rest again a few minutes in sitting.

11. Come back to standing on your knees and toes. Put your hands on your knees and just sit back onto your heels and then sit up again. And come back up standing on your knees. Your hands on your thighs come forward and back. Balance yourself from going standing on your knees to sitting on your heels. Look straight ahead. And feel as you sit back, you are standing on your toes, you are resting on the big toe and your second toe. Stop, lie down and rest.

12. Please lift your legs up in the air, both of them. Put your hands or arms behind your knees and on to your legs there. Bring your feet and your heels together and now with both feet slowly make a circle in the air. Your toes are touching and your heels are touching. Go slowly and really move your feet together. So you are holding your knees together comfortably and your thighs together and move your feet in a circle. And then go in the other direction. Stop. Put your legs down.

13. Roll to your sides, come up to standing. Stand with your feet relatively close together, just a small distance between your feet. Put your hands on your thighs and then please come down to lift your heels up. And now bring the right knee towards the floor directly in front of you. And then come back.

13a. And then bring the left knee toward the floor, directly in front of you. Keep your head focused to the front. And you keep your shoulders to the front, so that the turning comes from your pelvis. You are not turning the whole body to the side. You keep your head and your shoulders oriented to the front of the room and you are moving your knees and your pelvis. You do not have your hands on the floor so watch your balance. See if you can do this lightly and easily. Your head stays free. You can stop and rest and come back to it. Stop and rest.

14. Come back up to standing. Once again put your hands on your knees. And come back down to sitting on your heels. And slowly bring your pelvis a little bit forward and a bit towards the floor. Very gently. Keep your face forward. Where is the weight on your toes? So your weight needs to be on your big toe and your second toe. Put your hands on the floor and now slowly go and bring your knees to the floor, keeping your head up and then bring your heels towards the floor. You bring your pelvis forward and backward. What happens with you ankles? When do they open, when do they close? Keep your hands on the floor but can you look forward? Let the movement happen in your back, so that you have the feeling that your head and your shoulders are independent. All the action happens underneath them.

Stop. Lie on the back and rest. Notice the contact with the floor.

15. Once again lift both of your legs. Hold your legs behind your thighs or behind your knees. Your legs are together, your feet are together and now slowly take your heels together a little to the right and back. The toes stay where they are, the heels move. And then both heels move a little to the left and back. And then both heels move a little to the right and back. Which side is easier? So, it is a movement of your heels, it's a movement in which joints? Do you feel the movement in your lower legs, in your hip joints? What happens with your pelvis and your lower back?

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15a. And now move your heels alternatively left and right. Which side moves more, which side moves less? Now do the movement very quickly, very lightly. Stop and rest.

16. Once again come up to standing. Put your hands on your thighs. Sit back towards your heels so your lift the heels of the floor and come on to them and then alternately put the right knee in front on the floor and then the left knee on the floor. So your feet should be close enough together here. And then do this quickly and lightly. Feel what has to happen with your ankles and your hips. And your lower back. Sit and rest a moment.

17. Stand up. Put your arms in front of you. They are reaching forward nice and relaxed and now sit down on to your heels. And then do the same thing as before: bring one knee down in front and bring it back, and the other knee in front, keeping your head oriented to the front and keeping the arms in the same place as if they would rest on somebody's shoulders in front of you. So now you can tell how much you turn your shoulders. So can you find a turning in your chest? So one hand would not go in front of the other. And how about both knees together? Can you bring both knees to the front with your arms in front of you? So what has to happen in your back? So your ankles, your knees, your hips and your back have to work together. If it is too difficult you can put your hands back to the floor. If it is too difficult just lift one knee and then the other. Stop, lie on your back and rest.

18. Please bend your knees, bring each or your feet underneath your buttock, hold on to your ankles and make a little circle with your knees in the air. Do both knees together and make a little circle with your knees. And feel how far you feel these circles. Is your pelvis involved? Does your bellybutton make a circle? How does the breastbone get caught in the movement? And stop for a moment.

18a. Once again sit on your heels and stand on your toes and make circles in the opposite direction. Both knees go out, both knees go down, both knees go in and both knees go up. And now how does that move your pelvis? How far do you feel that movement happening? Let the movement implicate everything of you. Stop the circling and start to bring your knees towards the floor. So you pull on your ankles and come back to the movement we did at the very beginning of that lesson: you bring your knees to the floor, you come on to your elbows and the top of your head. Is that easier? Can you feel what is happening in the back, the hip joints, the belly?

19. Stop, let your legs stretch out and notice the contact with the floor. Come back to the same checking you did at the beginning of the lesson: whatever you noticed and however you noticed. What's changed? In a few moments I'm going to ask you to roll to your side, come to standing and walk around. But before you get up can you imagine what you are going to notice? What do you think you feel? How will your head feel on the top of your neck? If this would have had some effect on your eyesight; how would your eyes move, how would you see with them and through them? Will it make a difference on how your back feels? The length of your back, the width of your back? Will there be something different in your walking? On how your heel hits the floor and how your toes push you forward? Are you better able to notice your walking and your breathing?

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20. Slowly, by one of your sides come up to sitting. When you are ready come up to standing. Take a full moment to feel yourself in standing. And then go for a little walk. An we'll see you tomorrow.

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ATM Lesson 239: Sitting on Heels, VSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 241BDate: 1999, August 24Teacher: Arlyn Zones

I really think in terms of the intensity of the material that we were putting into room, it is really like planting. You go out in the garden and plant a lot of seeds and you don't know, next year, which flowers will blossom. And then the year after maybe some other flowers will blossom. So it's a bit like that with the material. We were planting a lot of seeds, which will blossom or bare fruit, at some time in the future, that we cannot predict. It's unknown, when something will become available to you in terms of your own doing, your own action. So, at the moment you know certain things could be done and then later you will know, that you could be the person to do them, I mean, because you'll do them. But the first thing is, just to know that it's possible. So, that's the way of saying: don't worry, be happy.

1. So, bend your knees, lift your pelvis and bring your right foot underneath your right buttock and bring your left foot underneath your left buttock. And stand on your toes. See if you could do something with your feet, so that you would know more precisely, where the weight is coming. And you could even make a little mistake — right. You could do something, where the weight is actually more to the outside. So you would feel, how you could get pain like that. We could find out few different ways to make the toes have pain, but we will save this for another time. And then, really put the heels somewhere, where you can orient the toes in a certain direction, so that you can feel the weight clearly coming through the big toe and the second toe. And the heels are toward each other and the toes are turned outward. What we talked about in walking with the feet less turned out that's not exactly what's happening in this lesson. Because you have the feet parallel in this position and you try to bring your knees to the floor. It's a big pull in places that are not going to appreciate being pulled on like that.

1a. So, turn the feet out and see if you could bring your knees down toward the floor. Rest when you need to take care of yourselves. And bring the knees down towards the floor and back and remind yourself of this possibility of having the lower belly, the hara, pushed out. Push out the hara. Make your lower belly full. You can feel the pushing out even in the small ribs, in the lower back like a tire, like inflating. Come out of it. That's nice. Many, many people lifted much easier when they did that. Rest a little bit. We managed to giggle, loose some of the seriousness, I guess.

2. Bend your knees, put your heels together and do the same thing: lift the pelvis and bring the knees a little bit toward the floor. And this time don't think that you need to bring the knees all away down, but just make a very small rocking, so that you begin to bring the top of your head, just going in the direction, the top of the head comes to lie on the floor and then back a little bit.

2a. And then somewhere in a comfortable range you rock a bit without the top of the head on the floor but just rock so the chin comes towards your chest and away, push the lower belly out, push it out toward the pelvic floor, toward the lower back. Feel what is happening in your upper ribs now, around the clavicle, the upper chest, the spine in between your shoulder blades. Push your lower belly out. And come out of it again. Stop a minute.

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2b. Pay attention to your breathing as you are resting. The tempo of it. The direction. Is there some movement in the upper ribs, as you are breathing in and out in the lower ribs, the small, the back? Every time you change your breathing you change your state. If you wanted to, think of somebody being more anxious than you feel right now, it would be something in the breathing. Just feel, when it gets a little bit more free. Feel some quieting down, somewhere else in yourself.

3. And bring yourself up to sitting. Stand on your knees and hands. Spread your knees apart and put the heels a bit closer together. And tuck your toes under. And go back towards sitting on the heels little bit. And see if you can stay in the squatting position. Your heels don't need to touch the floor, but see if you could just lift the knees away from the floor and put them back down. You can do that a few times. And see, when you go to the squatting position, do you round your back and take your head down, do you lift —do you arch your back? What do you do?

3a. And now, stay squatting and erect yourself a little bit and take the hands away out in front of you. Put the right hand on the outside of the right knee and the left hand in between your knees on the floor. So, your right hand is on the outside of your right knee and your left hand is on the inside of your right knee on the floor. And now, just take the right knee down to touch the floor and bring it back. Do that a few times. Think of getting a little taller as you do that. So that the right hip joint opens and the pelvis comes forward on the right side, the lower back arches a little bit.

3b. And then change over the hands. And do the same thing on the left side. Try to feel how the left hip joint opens, the pelvis comes forward on the left. Many people feel now actually, they just hardly touch, because they know what's coming next and they are preparing for it. Or they touch with just one hand.

3c. And then you can lift the hands in front of yourself. Keep the arms soft and see, if you could bring one knee down — the knees have to be pretty wide apart — one knee down, then the other knee down. And as the right knee goes forward the left knee opens to the outside. And as the left knee goes forward the right knee opens. And yes, you can breath. Feel that one side of the pelvis comes forward and the weight shifts over to the foot. Stop for a moment, come off the feet.

3d. Come into the same position, going on the knees, tuck the toes under, go sitting on the heels, heels together, toes away from each other. Do the movement just a few more times without the hands. And feel that in this situation, the one knee comes down and the weight, the pelvis is also passing over to the other side. So, you feel the toes of the other foot are taking weight also. That's it. You feel much lighter now in your chest, in your lower back and in coming back, taking the pelvis folding it.

4. One time, see if you could go with both knees down, simultaneously and come back up. The pelvis has to go hup-juuuuuuu backward. You are allowed to do something with your chest, when you go back; you needn't hold it. Good. Lie on your back and rest.

5. Bring yourself up to sitting again. Stand on your hands and knees. And this time we do

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something a bit different. Make the knees wide apart. And the heels are not touching now. Make the toes flat. You see, if we do something ten times in a row, it's already a habit. Everyone put the toes tucked. It's funny because that is what you expect now. So don't tuck the toes. Have the feet flat. And now, pivot or slide your right toes inward and your right heel outward without moving your right lower leg. So, you make a movement at the right ankle. The toes are flat on the floor and you turn the right foot, the toes inward and the heel will go out a little and come back. What you are doing is you are taking your foot almost, for those who can really do a complete movement, the foot is almost in a right angle to the lower leg. Could you imagine it? You could at least imagine what that would be like. You could do it once.

5a. Do it with the left foot a few times. Maybe that will be easier. Left foot, slide the big toe in and the heel out, so that the foot is going in a right angle to the lower leg. Just sit for a moment and take the weight off your hands.

You know all these movements, probably those of you doing martial arts, all this stuff with the inversion of the foot, we did it with the "pretzel legs". There are moments, when you are thinking why we are doing this? Where did he get this from? In martial arts, maybe Elizabeth showed you, where they use to sweep the foot out from under the opponent. That's a way to trip people. By the end, maybe even on this day, you start to feel, that the foot gets a kind of suppleness like the hand.

6. Stand on your hands and knees again. So, this is coming back to this inverted position of the foot, that we started with on the first morning together. And now just find out how far away your knees need to be. Start turning, sweeping the right foot inward.

6a. And as you do that, begin to take your pelvis back, as if to sit on your right foot. Don't go all the way down but just start that movement. And of course you feel, as the pelvis goes back, the foot actually turns a little bit more, so that the weight starts coming to the outside of the right foot. And the gap in front of the ankle gets pressed a bit to the floor. In other words, the front of your ankle comes closer to the floor. And eventually you can use your pelvis to move your foot a little bit. As the pelvis comes nearer and nearer, so that you are sitting, the outside of the foot has a clear contact. And as your pelvis comes down, you can feel, that the bones of the lower leg turn a little bit and the heel actually comes much more to the outside. And for many of you now, the image of having the right foot in a right angle to the lower leg has meaning, makes some kind of sense.

6b. Change over. And you rest your hands whenever you need to. And do the same thing with the left foot. Turn the left foot, the toes inward, take the buttock back, so that the left buttock starts to get in contact with your left foot and then the heel goes to the outside of the foot. And you are actually sitting on the sole of the foot.

6c. Now, stay back on the left like that and move your pelvis, so that you sit more in the middle, of the foot and then more down the toes and then more in the middle. And just play around with where you can have the points of contact of your left buttock on the floor. It's almost as if you were working on your own foot, using a part of yourself. That's it. Good. And stop that. Go on your back and rest a little bit.

7. Then come up to sitting and stand on your hands and knees, have your knees wide apart. Turn your toes inward toward each other and your heels outward. And now begin to go back toward sitting on both feet, slowly, slowly and back. And feel now; we spent a

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lot a lot of time with the movement of flexing at the ankle and now open the ankle in the other direction. Feel the kind of rolling in your legs as you go back like that. The heel, the ankle, the bones of the lower leg, that's it, good. Well, when you can't. Maybe you can't. There is always somebody who has to agree not to be able to do the movement. Your ankles are completely flat, it's completely fine. It's like sitting the Japanese way. OK.

7a. From here could you put your right hand behind yourself and bring your right elbow a little bit closer? Put your finger tips pointing forward, bend the elbow and come back. And when you come back, reach forward with the left arm. Pull yourself forward. Find out where you need to put the right hand. The elbow needs to really go out to the side a bit, needs to go away from the center of yourself. You see, it's too easy for you. OK, so now these people in the front they think we should lean on both elbows. OK, let's try. It's too easy for them we have to find something more difficult. Go down on the left for a moment. And if it's really painful, you really don't have to do it. OK. Just come out of it for a moment.

The hardest thing in the world is to see a group of people do something and to decide not to do it. This is a whole major thing to learn in a training. That I think, I hope for everybody there is at least one hour in your training, where there is an ATM that you absolutely can't do and you have to not do. Because I think this is, to me it's a major experience. That's very, very useful for people to have this; to have that choice to say it's OK if everybody in the world can do this and I can't.

Lie down and rest a little bit.

8. Now bend your knees, just as you are lying on the floor and bring your heels now underneath, Bring your right heel underneath your right buttock near the sitting bone. You can use your hands to help. And bring your left heel underneath your left buttock. And now, please listen for a moment before you do this: you are holding both feet, the toes are tucked under, the heels are near together, the toes are bit apart. And now you are going to lift the pelvis a little bit higher up, a little bit forward. And as you do that, you are going to lift your right toes away from the floor and bring the sole of your right foot to lie underneath your right buttock. You are in a change of the orientation of the foot. You have to shift the weight a bit to the left and stay there. Slowly. And put it back.

8a. And then do it on the left side; alternate like that. Just feel, they both have to lift your pelvis and shift it to the side. And breathe. Nice. If you could to make it simpler, little bit lighter.

8b. Put the right foot underneath the right buttock, the sole of the foot, so now the toes are going toward the middle of your two buttocks. And then lift the other foot and also bring the sole of the foot a little bit outside the other one. So, the outside of your left foot will be on the floor. So, one will be crossed inside and the other will be crossed outside. But they will both have the same orientation. And then, the knees are going toward the floor. So here you are lying on your back with both soles of the feet underneath you.

8c. Take one out and straighten the leg and lie only on one. Take the other one out, straighten the leg and lie with both legs long and stay there and rest and take the arms out.

I think these lessons will be the kind of thing when you go back to your life next week — I probably shouldn't mention it, right? — that all of a sudden some time in September you'll find out that there is a whole other quality of power in yourself, in feeling the skeleton. You may not

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feel it until you go back and take a walk in your familiar neighborhood and you know it's like you go back and you feel a difference.

9. Now, bend your knees and with the help of your hands, see now if you can lift your pelvis and bring the sole of your right foot to lie underneath the right buttock, leave the left foot flat now, just bring the sole of the foot. So that foot is on the inside. And then bring the left sole of the foot to lie in the front of the right foot. It's not tucking the toes; the foot is flat now. It's the inversion of the foot. The sole of the foot is touching, it's not the heel. So you are lying with one foot, inside closer to the buttock, the other outside. But they both have the orientation of the sole of the foot facing the buttock and both knees are toward the floor.

9a. And now see if you could change over the crossing of the feet. Lengthen one leg, lengthen the other leg and then bring the feet in the other way. So if you do, if you pulled them in one at the time, one is going more on the inside, the other is more on the outside. So it's not the same as having two big toes touching. OK, so the right foot is on the inside.

9b. Now you bring the left sole of the foot into a similar position and the left knee toward the floor. And now change over. So, one is actually a little bit in front of the other. Now change over and whichever one you put inside you put outside. Yeah, they are parallel, they are not crossed over. So your ankles are not crossed. But both feet are inverted and one is clearly touching the buttock and one is touching the other foot. OK. The heels are not tucked under but the feet are inverted.

9c. So bring the sole of your right foot in contact somewhere in between both buttock, the inversion. We did this the very first day. And then bring the other foot in front of that foot. The left knee outward and the left sole of the foot facing in the same direction as the right. One foot is not on top of the thigh. So now invert the left foot and bring the knee down toward the floor. Good. OK. And now that you understand — it's a very good thing once all come to understand, it's a nice feeling! OK.

9d. Just stay there, feel the understanding and now lift your left arm up in the air. I mean, you may as well feel the understanding before we go to the next misunderstanding. No, sorry. Lift up the right arm in the air, roll to your left, lean on your left elbow, roll your head to the left and see if you could come to sit. You are allowed to go 'oh' but do it softly! And then reverse it. So you are rolling to the left. You see with the right foot inside the right pelvis is already lifted a bit more away from the floor and the pelvis is tilted to the left, that's it. So you lift the right arm, you take it over to the left or you could even circle it over the head. You fold your chest and you come up. Rest a little bit.

I don't know how Moshe comes up with it time after time. He just asks you to do something and you think, this is completely impossible, right? That was a moment, this like completely impossible and then suddenly something changes.

Just rest a minute.

10. Now, change over. So now that you have understood this business of the inside and the outside foot let's go back to your previous understanding. Bend your knees and change over. Bring your left foot to the inside now, left sole of the foot make the inverted

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movement. And then bring your right foot, have the sole of the foot also facing, but be the outside foot.

10a. And now change over the rolling, maybe you find one side easier. Circle the left arm to the right, turn the head. Some people find it much more difficult to this side. Do you know when you are breathing in or breathing out? That's part of what you need to know. OK, good.

10b. Now stop a moment and stay just sitting with the feet in the same position, one inside and one outside. And put both hands facing forward and lean behind yourself, lean on your hands behind yourself but the fingertips face forward. Bend both elbows very wide to the outside and go straight backward. Take the top of your head toward the floor and see if you could arch yourself a little bit in this configuration. Push your belly out. That's it.

10c. So you lean on your elbows and let the head lift the pelvis a bit away from the floor, lift the lower back. Lean on the forearms and take the top of the head back. And then slowly let your arms slide and lie on your back and let one foot come out and then the other foot come out. That was a nice sound: haaaaaa. And role to your side, sit up, stand up.

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ATM Lesson 240: SphinxSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 243ADate: 1999, August 24Teacher: Larry Goldfarb

1. Take a moment to sense your standing. Did what you just did with partners have some effect on your sense of standing, some effect on the sense of your length? Can you get a sense from what Paul was talking about when he talked about length, he talked about the front and the back getting long. The back gets long and the front gets short, that's called flexion; and if the front gets long and the back gets short that's called extension; but here we are thinking about length. Just turn your head right and left with your eyes open so you are looking. Just feel what it's like to turn your head, the top of your neck; and where are your eyes looking? Would you be finding money? Would you be looking at the stars? Are you looking straight ahead at the horizon? And then walk a little bit. And as you walk notice: how does your head feel? The top of your neck? Can you look to the right and to the left easily? And please walk back to your space and lie down.

2. And take a few moments to enjoy your contact with the floor. Take a few moments to notice the rhythm of your breathing. And kindly roll onto your front and come onto your elbows, so that you rest your elbows underneath your shoulders and you lie in this sphinx position. And notice: how much space is there between your shoulders? How are your shoulders organized? Where are your elbows and your hands? Your hands are palm forward, palms towards the floor. And look straight ahead so that you are looking at the horizon or at Arlyn, depending on your vantage point. And very slowly bring your head a little bit closer to the floor without taking your eyes off of the horizon. So you let your head sink toward the floor and then let it rise away from the floor. So you don't change the angle; it is not a matter of looking down. Your head sinks and then it rises in relationship to the floor. Good, stop, put your head down and rest.

One of the things that is unique about human beings is that we can be in almost any position and have our heads oriented to the horizon. And that ability of having our head sit on the top of our spine and be oriented to the upright, to the vertical, and our eyes be oriented to the horizon, is important because of where our eyes and our ears are; our teleceptors, our sensors for telling what's going on at a distance.

3. So, come back to this position resting on your elbows and your hands.

3a. And now bring your elbows a little bit further apart from each other, a little more to the side and do that same movement of sinking your head, letting it sink and rise; and your face stays more or less parallel to the wall that you are looking at; your forehead stays in the same relationship to your chin and you just lower and raise your head a little.

3b. And now bring your elbows closer together. Closer together than they were when you started. So that they are a little bit inside your armpits. Your elbows are closer together than your shoulders are wide. And now do this movement of lowering and raising your head. Which movement becomes easier when your elbows are too far apart? And which one becomes easier now when they are too close together?

3c. And now bring your elbows someplace where they are not too far apart and not too

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close together and bring them back towards your pelvis. So slide your elbows back towards your pelvis. And in this position do the same movement. What does that help, what does that hinder?

3d. And then slide your elbows forward of your shoulders, above your shoulders and do the same movement.

3e. And now can you find a position where the elbows are not too far forward and not too far back, and not too far to the side and not too close together; where they are just right. Where would that be for you? Good, stop, put your head down and rest again.

4. Come back once again to the same position, on your elbows and your forearms, looking straight ahead. And now, having found that place where your elbows can support your shoulders, once again look with your eyes on the horizon and let your head sink toward the floor, a little bit, and then rise toward the ceiling. What happens with the rest of yourself when you do this? What happens with your chest? In the front? What happens between your shoulders? What do you sense in your belly? In your lower back? Good, stop, roll on your back and rest. How has this movement moved you? How has that affected your contact with the floor?

5. Please roll over onto your belly. Come back to that same position and once again let's do that same movement looking straight ahead and begin to let your head sink toward the floor. It's as if you are carrying something on top of your head and you don't want to tilt your head when you do this movement or it will all come crashing down. Whatever you will want to save from crashing down, your grandmother's crystal glasses. And if you tilt your head back maybe ice cubes will not be such a good idea. Can you think about keeping the top of your head so that whatever is on top of your head isn't going to slide? And notice what happens with your shoulders. When your head comes toward the floor, can you feel your shoulder blades come together? So that your shoulders go toward one another? They don't come toward your ears but they close a little bit in back and then when the head comes away from the floor, your back widens and your shoulders move away from each other. You can feel your elbows pressing a little bit into the floor and that pushes your head like an elevator away from the floor and widens your back. OK, put your head down for a moment, your arms down too and rest.

6. Now come back to the same position. So you are resting on your elbows.

6a. But now instead of looking straight ahead, bring your chin toward your chest, keep your head in that position and now let you head go toward the floor and away from the floor. So you do the same movement with the rest of yourself but your head stays looking down. So you push with your shoulders and your chest rises away from the floor, moving backwards, and then you let your chest sink toward the floor but you keep your head oriented toward the floor, looking at the floor. Which movement does that help? Does it make it easier to sink your chest between your shoulders or does it make it easier to rise away from the floor backwards?

6b. And now change the orientation of your head so that you are looking to God for a little bit of help. Not promising it will come but just look up there. And now do the same thing, sink and rise, looking up, your head tilted back a little bit. Which

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movement does that help and which movement does that hinder? Good, come back and rest on the floor again. Briefly.

7. Once again come back to resting in the sphinx position, on your elbows and your forearms. And now, with your head neither looking down nor looking up, with your eyes on the horizon, do that same movement again. Is it a little bit easier now? Very gently; don't go as far as you can; make it delicate, simple; make it light. What happens with the front of yourself when your head goes away from the floor, when your head goes up? What happens with the front of yourself when your head goes down? How does the contact your belly and your pelvis and your legs are making change? That's it. Stop, roll on your back and rest.

8. And then, the most lazy way possible, please roll slowly onto your front side.

8a. Come onto your elbows and your forearms. Look comfortably ahead and now here, once again, can you do the seesaw movement: so you expend your chest and then you expend your belly. And you think of your back moving as well. Can you find it? Stop, put your head down for a moment.

8b. Make a little pillow out of your hands; put one hand on the floor and the other hand on top of it and your forehead on your hands. And lying this way, can you do the seesaw movement, so that you inhale, hold your breath and alternately expand your chest and your belly? So that you hold your lungs full of air and feel yourself move that volume in your chest, from the top of your chest down toward the bottom of your belly and back. Good. Let your air out; take a few normal breaths; and then when you are ready come back to that same movement of lying this way, on your belly and doing the seesaw movement. Just do it again. Can you make it quick and light? So if it's going to be quick it's going to be small. Without lifting your head up, your head is still resting on your hands. Here we go. Good, stop.

8c. Come onto your elbows; lift up your head and once again do the movement here, looking forward. When does your head tend to go toward the floor, sink a little? When does it tend to rise?

8d. Stop the seesaw movement and once again sink your head and then raise your head. Here we go. What can you do with your belly to help? Would you pull your belly in or push your belly out when you raise your head? How about when you lower it? That's it. Stop, lie down and rest in whatever position you like.

9. Once again come back to the same position, resting on your elbows and your forearms, lying on your belly; and as delicately as possible, even if it is a very tiny movement, very easily just do the small movement of sinking your head toward the floor and then raising your head away from the floor. Taking the top of your head toward the ceiling. Where's the top of your head? Not the back of your head, not your nose, not your forehead. Here we go. Very small. Do as small as you need to do to make sure that you are keeping the orientation of your face; that you are looking forward; that you are looking at the horizon. It could be so that somebody even right next to you could hardly see any movement. Good, stop, put your head down for a moment.

10. Bring your head back up; put your hands back where they were.

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10a. Straighten your right elbow as much as possible. No no no, your hand doesn't move; your hand stays where it is and you straighten your elbow. Yeah, as much as is comfortable. So one elbow will lift, yeah, and in this position lift and lower your head. In this asymmetrical position. Put your right elbow down.

10b. Straighten your left elbow and do the same thing. Sink your head and let your head rise. Which side is it easier to do this on? Is it easier with your left arm straight or your right arm? OK. Stop and lie down again.

10c. Come and do the next variation. Here we go. Straighten both arms and do the same movement. Yeah. So you lift up your chest even more. Can you still sink your head and raise it? OK, good, put your elbows back down.

10d. And now do it with your elbows on the floor. It will be a lot easier. Great, stop, roll on your back and rest.

11. Please roll onto your front sides; come onto your elbows.

11a. Turn your right knee to the right and slide your right knee up so you are resting on the inside of your right leg. A kind of a partial crawling position. Yeah, something like that. And in this position, la la la la la la la. You know. Lift and lower your head. So both of your elbows are still on the floor. Both of your forearms are still on the floor. The right knee is up and here you are looking for that same thing of getting a little taller if you want, in this position. But do it with some sense of delicacy and ease. So it's not like you are pushing up somewhere but you just get a little bit taller. Very lightly and then you sink. Sinking is easy for most people. Toward the floor; and you come out of that a little bit. Very easily; delicately. Yeah. And then come down and rest.

11b. And when you are ready please switch over your legs so you bring your left leg up; come onto your elbows; and do that same thing, lift and lower your head very gently, just a small movement. And now, as you continue to do this, turn your head a little bit to the left, as you sink and lift. So you turn a little to the left and back to the front. Without loosing the horizon. You are looking along the horizon. That's it. So your head is bobbing. It's like riding a little wave. Good, stop, put your head down, bring your leg down, put your arms somewhere comfortable and rest.

11c. Once again come onto your elbows; slide your right knee up and now sink and lift your head and turn your head to the right and back to the front as you do that. So your head sinks down and you look a little more to the right, your head goes up and you look a little more to the right and your head floats down and back up. Let turning ride over the sinking and rising of your head. So in the time it takes to turn your head to the right just a little bit to the right, your head sinks and rises two or three times. That's it. You can think of a salamander looking for flies if you like. Here we go. Good and stop; put your head down; straighten your right leg out.

11d. Come back onto your elbows and now lift and lower your head a few times. How does it feel? Is it any different? Is it a little easier to keep your eyes on the horizon? Great, stop, roll on your back and rest.

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12. Bend both of your knees and put you feet standing.

12a. With your left hand, get a hold of your left ankle between your legs and in front of your ankle. So you go underneath your knee and around the front and now bring your foot underneath your pelvis. You can use your right hand to help, too, so that you sit on the inside of your foot and the back of your foot rests on the floor. Just like we did at the beginning of this segment. Make a little pillow with your foot; the top of your foot rests on the floor. That's it. And then with your right hand get hold of your right foot and bring it underneath, so that you are sitting on both feet. The toes are not turned under, you are sitting on your feet. Yeah, yeah. The toes are not turned under: the toes of the left foot are pointing to the right and the foot is turned under. There you go. And the knee is close to the floor and then the same thing with the other foot. Here you go. Is that a little easier from this morning? And then take your feet out.

12b. And now bring your feet back under but now this time stand on your toes. Here we go. And slowly rock your knees a little bit toward the floor. If you hold onto your ankles, in front of your ankles, when you pull back on your ankles as you push your knees away from you, it makes it a little easier. So you pull on your ankles as your knees push away from you. And just feel; is it a little easier to come onto your shoulders, off of your shoulders and onto your elbows, to lift your head up to come onto the back of your head? Your knees come a little closer to the floor. What happens with your upper back? Your chest? Stop, put your legs down, put your arms down, put your head down and rest.

13. Roll by way of one of your sides up to sitting. Please come to standing. Moshe's analogy was that the head is the periscope and the pelvis is the engine if you are a submarine. So how do your periscope and your engine feel? Do you want to take it for a little swim? So walk around. Notice how your head feels on top of your spine. Look to the right and to the left. And now I wish you a fully submerged evening. And we'll see you tomorrow. Let's call it a day. Have a nice evening.

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ATM Lesson 241: Sitting on the Heels, VISource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tapes 243B-244Date: 1999, August 25Teacher: Larry Goldfarb

1. Please lie down. Notice your contact with the floor. So what have you been learning this segment, if you where to take a few moments and reflect? How about this last week-and-a-half, meaning learning for yourself, about yourself? We say the work is about awareness through movement. So what have you become aware of? You do not have to answer this in words, maybe you can answer it in sensations, in pictures. What has become possible for you? Where has movement gotten a little bit easier? Where has your understanding of yourself in sensations, feelings, thoughts and in actions changed? And how have you noticed those changes, you are not on the floor, in your daily life? If the Feldenkrais Method was about moving better on the floor then we would all be becoming floor-fish. It is not the purpose, is it? In a moment I am going to ask you to do a movement. I would like you to do this movement without accomplishing it. And in fact that will be the theme for this whole lesson, to accomplish non-accomplishing. You will have plenty of time to work on it, so if you fail and accomplish you will still have a chance to come back and not accomplish. 'Accomplish' means to succeed, to reach the goal. So without reaching the goal, without concern for the destination I am going to ask you to enjoy the journey. And even if it proves to be unenjoyable, to experience it with as much comfort as possible.

1a. Very slowly, without getting there begin to move in the direction of coming onto your right elbow. And then come back to lying and just do that several times. Just like we were doing yesterday with Arlyn. From where you are now, begin to move as if you were going to sit up resting on your right elbow. As if you were going to bring your right elbow underneath you. Your legs stay long and you do something with your head and your shoulder and your upper back. What would you do with your head? How would this become an easy movement? When you think of coming to your right shoulder, does your head go to the right or to the left? Some people begin the movement by lifting their left arm up and reaching across themselves. Some people begin the movement by lifting their head and turning their head. Do this as slowly and as gradually as you can stand it. Do it slowly enough so that at every moment you can sense your breathing. What happens when you begin the movement? Do you breathe in, do you breathe out, do you hold your breath? And notice the moment when your breathing becomes more difficult. When you begin to hold your breath. When your breathing becomes even a little more labored before you hold your breath. Can you come back from that place and once again approach it? And notice as you continue doing this movement, do you just do the same thing with a little more umfph?. A little more determination? What kind of variations do you try? What do you think about?

1b. OK, and then a few times begin to roll towards the left elbow instead of the right. Is this easier? Which side feels like it is downhill? And which side feels like it is uphill? Which side is more effort and which side less? Maybe it is not even effort, it is just attitude. (Inge demonstrates.) Ooh, not this side again. So the idea here is that the legs, though they move do not really assist. It is not a matter of bending

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your knees, of bending one knee and sliding it up. Your legs stay relatively long and they just come along for the ride. It is not like you are sitting up. You are just going to come to rest on your left elbow, partially sitting up. Where would your elbow have to be so that you could rest on it? And some of you move your arm to a position that would be really hard to get your body over your elbow. So, let your head move from side to side, your shoulders roll. Something happens with your back, your chest. Good, stop, lie down, rest again.

2. Please roll by one of your sides up to sitting. And sit with your left foot close to your left buttock, so you bend your left leg back, bring your foot next to your buttock on the outside. And your right leg is straight in front of you or comfortably in front of you, and slowly with your left hand get hold of your left heel. And once again begin to roll your heel a little to the inside and a little to the outside. Notice how the rest of yourself participates in this movement. So do you allow your pelvis to move a little to help with the rolling of the heel? Does your back participate? And again, it is not about getting your heel to the outside and then to the inside and then to the outside. It is really about the movement, however small it is. About making the moving last longer than the time that you are at either end.

2a. And as you do this, can you begin to feel that the top of your foot begins to rest on the floor? Your toes are pointing away from you, your ankle flattens. So you go in the direction of having more and more of your foot on the floor. What can you do with your pelvis and your back to help? Can you begin to think of turning your foot so that the toes, your toes of the left foot begin to point to the right? So begin to take your foot and point it towards your pelvis, maybe even begin to bring your foot a little bit underneath your pelvis. Just very slowly. You can move your foot a little and then turn the heel, and move your foot a little bit more. And very slowly, can you bring your foot to rest underneath your pelvis? So that you are going to turn your foot inward toward your buttock and bring it underneath your buttock. Gradually, so that you bring your foot so that it is inverted, your heel and your foot are resting on the outside of the foot and you are sitting with your left lower cheek on your left foot. Your upper cheeks being on your face, your lower cheeks what you are sitting on. So you are coming back to that position where you were in yesterday and we played with it the beginning of the two weeks here. You are sitting on the foot, your foot is turned towards the other leg, your left foot is bent at right angles to the inside to the right. And you are sitting with your pelvis on that foot.

2b. And hold the arm to your heel with your left hand, your right hand is somewhere on the floor and with the help of your right hand begin to bring your left elbow towards the floor. With the help of the right hand begin, do not achieve it. So it does not mean your right hand should push your elbow down, it means your right hand should probably stand on the floor to the right so you can help to lower yourself down. You find where you put your right hand, so it can help. Your elbow comes behind you, and then come back up. Notice what do you do with your head. Make this movement as smooth and as easy, as fluid as possible. It is not easy. So you have to make it as easy as you can. Holding on to your left foot with your left hand, your left heel with your left hand, you begin to sit back to bring your left elbow toward the floor and then come back.

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2c. And then bring your right elbow toward the floor to sit back on your right elbow.

2d. And then come back to sitting up and alternate going back to the left and to the right. What do you have to do with your lower back? What happens with your belly muscles, how do they participate? What do you do with your head? When you go towards your right elbow where does your head go in space? When you go towards your left elbow, how does your head help or hinder?

And stop, lie down and rest. You can take your foot out before you lie down. So one of the things that is for me a hallmark of the Feldenkrais Method is that when we teach people things we take them out of the context of what they want to learn. So if somebody comes to me, and they would like to learn to be able to run a little bit faster, to decrease their time in a race. Or they want to learn to be able to run a little bit easier. Or they want to learn to be able to run. I am not going to teach them this by standing them up and teaching them how to walk and how to run. I am not going to teach them running through running. But I am going to look at how they run or how they walk or how they stand and notice the way they coordinate their movement or what we would say, the way they organize their movement and ask what could they learn? And then I am going to take them out of the context of that situation. It does not matter whether it is sitting at a desk or driving a car or walking. I take them out of that situation to teach them something about it. One of the reasons we do that is because as long as you stay in that situation you face the challenge and the frustration that are associated with it. And in development, if you think about how a child learns to sit or to walk: They learn how to do that by doing other things that prepare them for that thing. Which is why an answer to: "What is learning?" What you get most of the time is kind of ridiculous. If you ask most people: How do you learn something? They tell you: "Through repetition". Which is kind of silly. How do you repeat something you do not know how to do? That is not learning, that is improving, perhaps. Though when you repeat you do not learn how to do something better, you just learn how to do it automatic. So there is something about learning; that you learn how to do something by learning other thing, out of context, what it is you want to learn. Which is what we do in the Method.

3. Please come up to sitting again. Bend you right foot back next to your right heel on the outside. Straighten your left leg, turn, slowly, your right heel a little to the right and a little to the left. Is this easier than the other side? When you turn the heel can you feel the lower leg? The fibula and the tibia? I kind of like that version better. We can have our own invented anatomy. And after all, the femur is the humerus of the leg, is it not?

3a. And once you can find a little bit of movement there to can remind yourself that there is still the possibility to adapt, to change slowly begin to lift your pelvis up a little and bring your pelvis toward your foot. So you begin to lift your pelvis up a little, you can hold on to your foot with your right hand and slowly, you begin to lift your pelvis and to bring it a little bit towards the right foot and then away from it. And as you do that, use your right hand to help you turn your right foot to the left, to bring your right foot underneath your buttock. So now last time we brought the foot underneath the buttock, this time let us see if you can think of bringing the buttock over the foot. Your right hand can help you turn the foot and maybe you will notice as you bring your pelvis towards your heel, towards sitting on the inside of your foot, the bottom of your foot your lower leg can turn and allow you to come to sit on it. Very gently, so it does not become a matter of forcing the foot to do this but it is like opening up a little space and letting it get a little bit bigger each time, so it becomes more and more easy to sit on the bottom of your foot.

3b. And when you are there stay holding on to your right foot with your right hand and

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slowly using your left hand for a little bit of help and support begin to bring your right elbow towards the floor. And do not try to do it all in one slow floop, one fell swoop, but gently. And notice, what do you do with your head? Some people take their head back, you want to be careful about not putting to much weight back there before you have some place, something to support you. How can your elbow come there and then your weight come onto it? Your hand holds onto your foot. I know it will be much easier if you let go, believe me, I know.

3c. And then when you are tired of that come down on the left side, there you can leave your left hand wherever you like. Notice when you go down on the left side what happens with your right knee? Do you still stay sitting on your foot? Or do you slide off of it? What do you do with your breathing? Can you keep your attention open enough so that you do not just think about the elbow, so that your entire universe does not get reduced to the point of your elbow heading some where backwards in this darkness of space toward the floor. Now you think about your pelvis and your head and your breathing. And who cares if you can do it or not? But can you do it and stay awake? Can you do it without compromising your comfort? Good, stop, take your foot out and lie down.

4. Please bend your knees, put your feet flat. Reach with your left hand underneath your left knee and around to the front of your ankle, between your knee and your foot. And begin to bring your foot, your left foot underneath your knee to the front of the ankle. And begin to bring your left foot underneath your left buttock. So, I just feel so unlistened-to. They just do not listen to me, Arlyn, you know. So look, you are holding the outside of your ankle and you bring your left foot underneath your left buttock, you will be in the finger crushing position. Your ankle is going to grind your fingers into the floor and you are going to think what an evil man I am but that is not what I am asking you to do. Your hand is going to end up between your buttock and your foot. So you have the nice soft bottom resting on your fingers instead of grinding your knuckles into the floor. So you leave your left hand there, with your right hand you can hold onto your toes and bring your foot even a little bit more underneath you. That is nice and comfortable, a little pillow.

4a. And then take your hands out, straighten your right leg, leave your hands resting at your side. And now with your right hand begin to lift your head and come up toward your left elbow. So you use your right hand to help and bring your head to the left, bring your chin towards your shoulder, lift your right shoulder off the floor. Begin to move your head through space to come onto your left elbow. Just go in that direction. Remember you're accomplishing not-accomplishing. Your left hand is resting at your side. The right hand is behind your head. Gently, your chest has to soften, your lower back has to let go. Think a little bit of that lesson Katrin taught you, here your belly muscles really have to do some word, the right leg is straight comfortably straight, not maniacally straight. Just very gently. So perhaps this is a challenge to your faith, here you are faced with a difficult obstacle. And once again, all those years of experience — if I just push a little harder, hold my breath, squeeze my legs together, whatever — but just work on making this a little bit easier, a little bit gentler. Think about what your lower back can do to help. When you bring your head to the left, what happens with your lower back? And then stop, take your left leg out and rest.

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5. And now bend your legs again, bring your right hand on the floor underneath your right knee, reach around to the front of your right ankle with your right hand and bring your right foot underneath your pelvis. You can use your left hand to help turn your foot, so that your foot is really inverted, your knee is out to the side, your foot is underneath your pelvis and then take your hands out and let go of your foot.

5a. With your left hand begin to lift your head, lift your left shoulder and come on to the right elbow, come in the direction of being on the elbow. So it is really a matter of finding the trajectory. Which direction would your head go? Where do you take your head? If you take your head too far to the side you end up rolling to the side. So that is not it. You want to take your head so that you the weight of your chest and your shoulder begin to move in the direction of coming onto the elbow. The arm stays resting on the floor, you might want to turn your hand palm down. Just think: What would you do to take the weight of your chest, the weight of your upper body towards your shoulder? And then towards your elbow? Is your arm in the right place? Of course you want your arm be in such a place that you can bring your head back down without falling. The journey home is just as important as the journey away. Notice if you think of your lower back participating, the belly helping, how can your leg being long be an advantage? Some of you are lifting your left foot from the floor. Why don't you all try that, see if that helps. If you lift your left foot from the floor: not really, eh? Kind of rolls your pelvis in the wrong direction, be cause you want your weight to roll toward your foot, toward your leg as you bring your head up. All right, enough of that, stop, let your legs straighten out, your arms come to your sides and rest.

One of the big questions in the psychology of learning is: How does learning transfer from one context to another context? In fact, this is a subject that kept psychologist and graduate students busy for decades. And they have proved, beyond the shadow of a reasonable doubt, that it is impossible to transfer learning from one context to another. So if you take a airplane pilot and you teach him or her certain things and you put them back in the cockpit, people just do not seem to remember what they learned in one place or another. I mean all people, does not matter how smart they are. So that is kind of a big puzzle. It would seem to suggest that is impossible for human beings to learn anything except by doing it. But when they do not know how to do something they can not do it. So it is impossible to learn, so I guess we could all go home. One of the observations that is pretty easy to make about all of this research is that they teach somebody something in one context and then try to find out if it applies in the other context. But we do something different here. Think of what Arlyn did at the beginning of the series. She asked you to walk and notice how you are walking. And then you came and you did some movements and then you came back to walking. Somehow none of these studies have had the insight that perhaps you want to have somebody try to do something first, then learn about it, then come back and see how it is changed. That is what we do. It is by first doing something, noticing how it is to do that and then learning and then coming back to that first context, that we can notice what is changed. Without that it is pretty difficult to know that we are learning cause we do not have any comparison.

6. Please roll by way of either side up to sitting, stand both your feet in front of you and then bring your right foot to sit underneath your pelvis, however you like. And now put your hands on either side and slowly — straightening your left leg — slowly begin to come back towards sitting. Bring your right elbow back, lean on your right elbow, and then come back up, and then bring your left elbow back. Just go in the direction, it does not matter if you get there. So you go down on one side and come back up, go down on the other side.

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6a. What do you do with your head? Notice how you have to move your head from side to side. Can you do this maybe bringing your head back, let your head hang back as you go back towards one elbow. Let it stay hanging back and come across to the other elbow. So you go from elbow to elbow leaving your head hanging back. If it is not possible, then do not try it. Come back up to sitting, bring your foot out from underneath your buttocks and rest a moment in sitting.

7. When you are ready, change over your legs, put your left foot underneath you and do some of the same things, bringing your elbow back, going towards sitting. Take your time. Work at the quality of the movement, how smooth can you make it, how easy can you make it for yourself. What is it that gets in the way of your ease? Is it your requirement that you should accomplish something, that you should arrive somewhere? I mean, maybe if you could just get that elbow down, then everything would be all right. Figure out what stock to buy so you do not have to worry about money, figure out exactly what to say to each person in your life, so everything would work out fine, it is just that damned elbow. OK, stop, take your foot out, lie down and rest.

I remember, when I was at the university, I had some friends whose model was, it was never too early to fall behind. Do you understand? You know why wait till the end of the semester to stop studying, you could stop studying at the beginning of the semester. And then of course the day before the exam, what would they do? Well, they would take these little tablets of speed, amphetamine, so they cold stay up all right, read all the things they had not read, memorize all the things they had not memorized, so they could go and take the test the next day. And they would walk into the room, just as the speed was wearing off, which was a problem. Because what you learn on speed, you can only remember on speed. It is called state-dependent learning. Your physiology is required to be in the same situation in order to be able to remember anything. Of course we have a similar problem: I mean, how many people lie around and roll around on the floor? Only in certain professions you get to spend your entire day on your back. So really, how do we think about this problem of transfer of learning? The goal here is not for you to be able to move beautifully lying down. I mean, certainly that is useful in certain situations like swimming for instance. That would be really good for swimming! But what about everyday life? How do we take what we learn here and bring it into everyday life, right? And that is a challenge. It is not just a challenge for you as a professional, as a future Feldenkrais teacher, as a current ATM teacher, but it is a challenge for you as it is for all of us, as it is for me in my own life. How do I take what I learn here and use it?

8. Please bend your knees. With your left hand reach underneath and get hold of your left foot and bring it underneath your buttock. And sit on your foot and then with your right hand reach and bring your right foot in front of your left, a little further away from you. And bring that underneath also, so you can have as much as possible both feet underneath you. If you like, you can think of sitting your left foot on your right foot. One foot is sitting on the other. They are slightly crossed over. One foot is sitting inside the other. Does that make sense? As much as is it possible. And hold on to your feet, please. So grab your ankles or wherever is comfortable to hold on. And now slowly roll a little to one side towards coming onto your right elbow, and a little to the other side, just coming onto your left elbow. And I know, it would be so much easier if you were not holding on to your legs. But that is the challenge. It is really difficult to do. So do not worry about whether you get there. What can you do to make it a little bit easier to get you in that direction? Think about what you did lying on the floor already.

8a. Stop, let go of your feet. Let your legs straighten out. Bring your arms to your side. Leaving your legs straight, slowly begin to roll your head and your shoulders to come a little bit towards one elbow and little bit toward the other. Just like we did at

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the beginning of the lesson. Is that easier? Stop, bend your legs....

(End of the tape.)

OK, stop, lie down and rest.

9. And now bring your other leg underneath, you might want to bend the other knee, that will help to lift your pelvis and bring your foot underneath, hold on to your heel with that same hand and the other foot the toes with the other hand. So you hold on your left foot with both hands, straighten the leg you are not holding onto. And slowly begin to roll your head and your shoulders a little to one side and the other. Maybe it helps not just to roll your head, but to lift your head from the floor. And you now lifting the head from the floor might remind you of some lessons we have done before, about how to lift your head the easiest possible way. You might want to bring your chin toward the shoulder that you want to lean on that arm. So tilting your head back when you lift your head not only does not look very pretty but it is not very comfortable. Gently. So some of you are rolling way to your side now. Remember when we were getting up before it was not a matter of rolling to your side. It was a matter of rolling enough to put your weight on your elbow. If you roll too much to your side, you going to end up on your belly and not on your elbow.

OK, stop, let go of your foot, let your legs stretch out and rest. So part of what makes a lesson effective, is that at the end of the lesson, when the person comes back to whatever they were doing at the beginning — remember in the Feldenkrais Method awareness is not the end. It is not awareness for the sake of awareness here. We are not sitting on some mountain and doing yoga in order to become enlightened. I always tell people the Feldenkrais Method is the martial arts of the everyday life. It is about function, about action, about being able to do things in the world. So an effective lesson is one in which the person's ability to do, their ability to turn intention into action, improves. If you forget about function then you are doing something else. That is the frame, it is the context, it is the reason that we are doing this work. It is the raison d'Ítre of the Feldenkrais Method: Improving functioning. But there are some challenges. How do you take what happens in this altered state of consciousness — whether it is an Awareness Through Movement lesson or a Functional Integration lesson — and weave that into people's everyday life? One way you do that is by starting in the framework of some everyday movement. So that the person then knows where to take their awareness, where to put it to work, what it is good for. People have different strategies for doing that, for learning, for becoming clear about what they have learned, what new things they can sense, they can appreciate in themselves. How this can be clear and available.

Just take a moment to notice your contact. Come back to yourself, to sense your breathing.

10. Slowly roll by way one of your sides up to sitting. Come onto your hands and your knees and your feet. Spread your knees wide. And bring your right foot towards the inside, towards the middle, and bring your left foot to rest on your right foot, inside your right foot. So your feet have to be really wide here. No, your ankles are not crossed. One foot is resting on the other. And now slowly begin to sit back toward your heels. And notice as you sit back, your heels turn to the outside, right? Your ankles come closer to the floor and you are sitting back with one foot sitting inside the other, in the meditation position. Not your ankles crossed over, your feet crossed. There we go. Very gently, leave your hands where they are, just sit back and come forward, easily.

10a. Great, next when you get to the place where you can sit comfortably with your heels crossed over, take and bring your hands behind you on the floor and your fingers pointing forward and then slowly begin to go back towards one elbow,

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towards the knee of your arms, towards one elbow and towards the other. Very gently. And the idea here is that your head keeps moving the entire time. So you move a little bit to the right elbow and then come forward, and then a little bit forward to the left elbow. What has to happen with your pelvis, with your hip joints? Your chest has to become even more malleable, more moveable. If you have the idea that your chest is a cage in which you are imprisoned, it would be very hard to do this movement. Think about how your ribs and your breastbone and your spine are all moving. Do you let your head hang back or keep your head up? How can you keep your shoulders moving? Your shoulder has to move back in the direction of the elbow. Feel what happens on your side when you bring your left elbow back, how your left shoulder moves away from your left hip. Moves away from your right hip. How your front gets longer. What do you do with your belly? And how do you bring yourself back up? Do you do that by pushing with your hand or can you push your belly out or do you pull your belly in? And the easier you can bring yourself back up from however far back you go, the easier you can come back to sitting. The easier it will be to go back the next time. So take the journey home as seriously as the journey away.

OK, stop. Uncross your legs, your feet, let your legs straighten out. Lie down and rest a moment.

When I was in Australia in February in one of the advanced trainings, actually in Sidney where Chris is, one of the practitioners said with great disappointment: You now, when I lie down on the floor I still notice just the same things. I have been doing the work for so long. Am I stupid? Is there something wrong with me? And I said no. Feldenkrais Method is not doing something and boom: You are different, and that is it. You know you do not do a lesson so you become unconscious in a better way. Right, that is not the purpose. I mean, awareness is not necessarily easy and sometimes is not even pleasant. We talked about that, before you become aware of things before you can change them. And the fact is, the Feldenkrais Method is not about getting over being human. The grain is in the wood. If you are an artist and you want to make something beautiful out of a piece of wood, you have to pay attention to the way the wood has grown already. We say in English: the grain, the way the lines of the wood are going. And that is true about you and me. I am not doing the Feldenkrais Method to become somebody different. Or to change who I am. I do it in order to be able to live with who I am. In order to be the best of who I am. And the fact is: habits do not disappear. In fact, they will come back. They will keep coming back. If you do not notice that they come back, then you would not be able to do much about it. And so what happens in the Method is that we get better at knowing what we are doing and knowing what to do about it and noticing the habits sooner and sooner. But it is not an easy thing. And it is not a finished thing.

11. Please come back up to sitting. And now put your hands in front of you, spread your knees wide and sit your feet one inside the other, the opposite of what you just did. So most of you had the right foot behind and the left foot in front, so switch that over. You cross your feet, not your ankles and begin to sit back. And as you sit back, feel how your lower legs turn, how your heels move away from each other a little more to the side. Make it a little bit easier as you go.

11a. And once you can sit back bring your hands behind you and begin slowly to bring one elbow and then the other back. You alternate, going down towards one elbow, going down towards the other. What do you do with your belly? One of the things that we have done in other lessons that might help you here, what would you think about? Can you keep your head moving? So you are going from one side to the other, one elbow goes back a little, the other goes back a little. Leave both hands on the floor if you can. So you just go a little towards one, a little towards the other,

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maybe you can bring one elbow back and then come back up. Then the other elbow back and then come back up. Some of you maybe you can bring both elbow back. And then come back up bringing one elbow forward and then the other elbow forward. Do not have to go straight back and straight forward. Go a roundabout way. Great.

And then stop. Uncross your legs, uncross your feet, let your legs stretch out, lie down and rest.

Usually, when people come to see me, when I tell them about the Method and what it is about, I mean this is my thing to say. I am not saying everybody should say this. But I tell them that the method is about awareness, learning to understand what you are doing and what you can do. But I also make clear to them that I do not think change equals awareness. Change equals awareness and responsibility. Sometimes somebody will come to a class that I am doing for people with back problems and they will come back the next class and they say, well that lesson was not very good. It only lasted one and a half days. And I say, well did it help you at first? Oh yeah, it was great. And did you do it again? Do it.......again? Well, if it works once, maybe you would want to try it again. Oh. And that is kind of part of what I mean by responsibility. That people, you and me included, can do these things and sometimes we can keep doing them if they help. But it also means responsibility taking what you learn here and putting it to work when you are not here. Whether here is this training, or class, or lesson. So that begins to be less and less that something happens to you. And more and more that you begin to notice what it is that you are doing. And that, my friends, is really the difficult part of the Feldenkrais Method. Because it is impossible in our society to talk about responsibility for more than 277 seconds in a row without that ugly creature raising its disgusting head. Because you can not talk about responsibility without people thinking about guilt. This is where the Alcoholics Anonymous people have it right. They say that before you admit you are an alcoholic you are not responsible. Because you do not know, you are not aware. But once you say that, once you are aware, then you become responsible, from that moment forward. Guilt about the past is the excuse that people use for not being responsible about the future.

12. Slowly bend both of your knees, bring one foot underneath your pelvis and then the other. Can you bring it so that you sit one foot inside the other? Do it whichever way is easiest for you. And now with your arms to your sides, not holding onto your feet, can you bring yourself a little bit towards one elbow, towards the other, just a little bit. What can you do with your arms to help? So you can do anything you want here. Maybe with one arm you reach across to the other side. It is not about getting there. I will be really disappointed if you accomplish it, so please do not disappoint me. Just explore. OK, good.

12a. Take your legs out. Straighten out your legs. Leave your arms resting at your side, leave your legs long and now slowly come up to one elbow and then back onto your back and then to the other elbow. Just like we did at the beginning. Can you leave your arms on the floor and do this? Can you leave your arms so you have to lift your head up, lift your shoulders up and you come towards one elbow and towards the other elbow. So that your back is folding. Your belly has to work, your lower back comes towards the floor and make this easier.

Good, stop, rest a moment. Notice your contact with the floor.

13. Please come onto your hands and knees again, fold your feet under so that you rest one foot inside the other, sit back onto your heels, put your hands on your knees — bring your knees together, bring your knees as close together as you can, all together it you can — bring your hand on your knees and here alternately round your back and arch your back. When you round your back, lower your head, and think about the rounding of

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your back starting with your lower back rolling backwards, your pelvis rolling on your feet. Your lower back getting longer and sinking back and then come up to sitting, let your head come up, get tall and then round your back again. Gently, that's it.

13a. Think of the movement coming from your pelvis and your lower back. Your lower back softening, your pelvis rolling back, your back rounding, your head dropping. And your head stays more or less over your pelvis. It is not like you going to bring your head under your knees. It is not a matter of bending forward, it is a matter of your whole back rounding backwards.

13b. Good, stop, change over your feet. And bring your other foot resting on the other foot. Put your hands back on your knees, bring your knees together again, do the same thing in this position. Round your back and then come up, make yourself smaller and taller. Think about what happens with your belly. You put the belly in, you roll back, you get short and round and then your push the belly out.

13c. Can you start the movement of coming back from being rounded by pushing your belly, your lower belly forward, not just toward the stage, but as if you were going to put it on your knees or between your knees on the floor? So your belly comes forward and downward. And that moves your pelvis and that erects your spine and lifts your head and makes you taller. And now very slowly let the movement happen more quickly. So bit by bit make it quicker, it can be very small. Do not have to make such a big movement, but make it small and light. Round, and tall, and short and tall, very quick, very, very quick and light. Let your head be a part of it, boom, boom, boom, boom.

14. Great, stop, come to standing. Take a moment to sense yourself in standing. In a moment I am going to ask you to stand up and walk around. So please walk around, look left and right and up and down, walk backwards perhaps, and let us take a coffee break.

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ATM Lesson 242: Diagonal LengtheningSource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tapes 246B-247ADate: 1999, August 26Teacher: Katrin Smithback

1. (Walking) And just start to be aware of these relationships that crossed through you,between one leg and the opposite shoulder. And you can feel which are clearer, which diagonal, which relationships do you feel more easily? Which are less clear? Or maybe you don't even feel it at all. Maybe your sense when you walk is something very different, and it's hard to get a sense of the diagonal. It's less a sense of an actual structural diagonal that moves from your foot to your shoulder, but it's more a sense of a relationship. How can you relate what you're doing with your foot and your leg with what's happening with your opposite shoulder? And then walk yourself over to your mat.

2. And lie on your backs. And see in this position, out of gravity, what your sense is of these relationships. So if you start with your left heel, sensing the pressure, the weight of the left heel on the floor. And then get a sense moving from your left heel and foot along your left leg, up towards your pelvis and crossing your pelvis over, feeling the weight of the ribs on the right side, going up to your right shoulder. Just go back and forth between your right shoulder and your left heel in your imagination a few times and sense: How do you sense the connection, the relationship between your left heel and shoulder. And then maybe sense from the top of your right shoulder moving across the top of you going to the left foot. Do you sense a relationship there in the front of yourself? The right shoulder in front, clavicle, going across the ribs in front, over your pelvis. And can you find a way to sense the entire, your entire leg through your pelvis and chest to the opposite shoulder. So it's not just sensing pressure on the floor, but it's really getting a sense of volume and weight, and the whole leg through the center of you, to the right shoulder.

2a. And now do the opposite diagonal. Sense your right heel, going to your left shoulder. You can feel the weight, the contact with the floor, going from the heel through the leg, across the pelvis over to the back of your left shoulder, and then coming around in front, over the front of you. Notice, if it's easier to sense these connections or relationships if your focus is on the back, the front, or going inside, feeling the volume.

3. Now bring both of your arms overhead, and have your arms spread comfortably, your legs a little bit apart. Feel free to move yourself, as you see what we will be doing. Feel free to move yourself, so that it makes more sense. So your arms are overhead, resting on the floor, over the top of your head. And find a way to make this comfortable, so that your arms don't feel like they are in an uncomfortable position, your elbows resting on the floor somewhere. So overhead has to been modified with your ability to have your arms in this position. Your elbows straightish, so your elbows can be slightly bend. Some of you have your elbows bent a lot, have your arms straightish. Which may mean that your arms feel a little bit more out to the side, than overhead. So you have to negotiate with yourself here, and find a comfortable way to be in this position.

3a. And now with your left arm, start to lengthen your left arm upwards, as if you're

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reaching for something. So lengthening and upwards, keeping your arm on the floor. Upwards, maybe not quite up. In other words, if your arm is lying a little more out to the side, lengthen in the direction that your fingers are pointing. And feel as you do this, what comes along? If your elbows are really bent, what you'll feel first is the straightening of your elbow. So lengthening your arm there is very little you can do in your arm and then the movement has to move into the rest of you. And feel for you, what parts of you can invite it. As your arm starts to move, what parts of yourself get invited along to this movement? See your left arm is creeping upward on the floor. And then let it go, and do that a number of times. And now stop.

3b. And do the same thing with the other arm. So let your left arm be quiet and start to lengthen your right arm. And because we're all usually either right- or left-handed, we know that there are differences between how we use our arms and how they feel. Notice what differences present themselves when you're in this position doing this movement. As you lengthen your right arm, what parts of yourself start to move in response to the lengthening of the arm? And is it the same as what you felt on the other side?

And then stop. Slowly, slowly, slowly bring your arms down alongside you. Give yourself time to adjust to a different position of your arms and shoulders. And take a few moments here to feel these relationships now, between your right leg and your left shoulder, and vice versa.

4. Once again, bring both arms overhead. Now this time bend your left leg, so your left foot is standing, your left knee is bend. Both arms are overhead, your arms apart, your legs a little apart.

4a. And now start to lengthen your right arm again. Except this time, can you generate the length of this arm by pushing with your left foot. So the movement will start with a push from your left foot. And the movement will move through you and lengthen your right arm. Now this is not about rolling to your side. How can you push on your foot, so that the movement is translated through you, directed through you? The force moves to eventually lengthen your right arm. That's not about rollingfrom side to side. It's about pushing through and following the force, as it moves from your foot through your pelvis, across your back, into your right arm, so that your right arm lengthens in response to this push from your foot. Go slowly so that you can really follow this movement. The push comes from your foot and moves through you, you can follow it sort of snaking through you, so eventually your right arm lengthens. Both arms stay on the floor.

And now stop. Straighten your left leg, bring your arms slowly down alongside. And feel now, as you lie here, what your sense of this connection between your shoulder and the opposite foot is. Has any sensation been heightened, any awareness been brought more in the front?

4b. And now bring the arms overhead and bend the other leg. So your right leg will be bent now, both arms overhead, right leg bent, right foot standing. And now direct the force from a push from your right foot diagonally through to your left hand. Do you have a sense of your right foot as being a standing foot? Would there be a better place to put your foot? So that as you push, you can get a better sense of

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the force moving from your foot. So that sense of a standing foot that pushes and directs the movement or the force through to the opposite arm. And notice the places where the movement gets lost. Perhaps at a certain point you feel more friction than movement. Or perhaps at a certain place you feel more rolling. This is not a movement about rolling to your side. Pushing with one foot and finding a way for the movement to move through you. So that at the very end your arm lengthens in response to the push of your foot.

And stop again. Slowly bring your arms down alongside you. And again you can come back to these relationships that we started with, between one foot, through the leg to the opposite shoulder. And feel the reverberations from the movements in your awareness when you are quiet and not moving.

4c. Now bend both of your knees, so both of your feet are standing, and bring both your arms overhead. Again some distance between your arms and feet. And now alternately push with one foot towards the opposite arm, lengthening the opposite arm, and then the other foot. And feel as you do this, there is a number of things you can notice, as you see how the force moves through you, to eventually lengthen one arm and the other. You can notice where the force of movement crosses your spine. Maybe it's not even your spine, maybe you feel it crossing lower, at your pelvis. And is it the same place that it crosses you, where it crosses your midline, is it the same when you push the right leg as when you push the left leg? It's not about rolling.

4d. OK, and after doing a few movements alternately one side and the other, then push simultaneously with both feet. Your pelvis stays on the floor. Push simultaneously. Can you figure out a way, to have your pelvis mainly on the floor, so that the movement moves through you to your arms.

And stop, put your arms down alongside you, straighten your legs. And again come back to your sensations. The connection, the relationship, between the parts of you. Can you feel if these movements have clarified anything else?

5. Now roll onto your stomach. And take just a few moments to feel. How do you feel these diagonals, these relationships, now that you've changed the relationship to the floor? Move your awareness from one foot through the leg and the thigh, across the pelvis, to the opposite shoulder.

5a. And then the other diagonal. See if anything is clarified for you by this change of position. What things become easier to sense? Or to feel? And perhaps there are other things that become a little less clear.

5b. Now start to lengthen your left arm in this position. Just think about lengthening the arm, and feel as you do this, you're lengthening the arm overhead. It's not a lifting movement, it's a lengthening. Following your fingertips. And feel as you do that; clearly if your arm is straight very little can happen to lengthen your arm, in your arm. So it's a movement of your arm, but where is that happening? You're lengthening your arm, it's not lifting the arm, it's lengthening in the direction that your arm, your fingers are pointing.

5c. And then do the same with the other arm, lengthen your right arm. Would it be

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easier to do this, if you turned your head? If so what would be the easiest direction to have your head turned, to do this movements?

Now stop, and just relax in this position. You can bring your arms down to be a little more comfortable, but remain on your belly.

6. Now put your toes, your feet in a runner's position. So your toes are tucked, so that the bottom of your toes are contacting the floor. The soles of your feet are oriented to face the wall below you. Have your arms overhead again, both arms on the floor overhead. And turn your head to the right, so that your head is resting on your left ear, facing the right.

6a. And now start to push with your right foot to lengthen your left arm. You're pushing with your right foot. Pushing on your foot, to lengthen your right foot, to lengthen your left arm. How can you get a sense of pushing through, moving across, crossing yourself to lengthen your left arm as you do that? Compare this to what it felt like to push with your right foot, to lengthen your left arm on your back. Does this feel easier, clearer, not as easy? Feel where the movement gets lost, where you don't feel a clear skeletal push, where the movement is moving through the bones, through you to lengthen your arm. Notice where perhaps the movement moves off to the side, or gets pushed into the floor, so what you feel as friction against the floor. So you're pushing with your right foot, so as if you are pushing upward, as if you wanted to reach with your left hand.

And then stop and roll onto your back. And again come back to sensing this diagonal, this relationship. Feel any changes in the clarity, in the ease of sensing this relationship, following that from the right heel to the left shoulder and vice versa.

6b. And then roll onto your stomach again. And turn your head in the opposite direction, so your head will be turned now to the left. With your head turned to your left, resting on your right ear, so you're looking to the left, and put both feet in a runner's position, both arms overhead, but now you will push with the left foot to lengthen your right arm. And really see if you can follow this. So it starts with a push in the foot. And follow that movement as it moves from your foot, through your leg to your pelvis, across your pelvis, through your spine, your ribs, your shoulder, your clavicle, up through your arm, so eventually your fingers slide on the floor. Feel where the movement moves clearly in that direction, where it slides off to the side or gets lost in friction, or maybe where you loose the clarity. Do you still have a sense of the diagonal as you come back, after you stop the push and you resume just lying there? Everything returns to lying on the floor. How does the movement move back? Now stop a sec. Just rest here, find a comfortable way to rest on your stomach.

6c. Now this time put your feet again in a runner's position. Have both arms overhead and rest your head on the forehead. So have your head more or less in the center, resting as comfortable as possible on the forehead. The arms extended overhead, the legs long with the toes tucked under in a runner's position. And now alternately press on your right foot towards your left hand, then on your left foot towards your right hand. Compare those two diagonals. Feel the ease with which, as you push with the foot, the movement moves through each diagonal. Does this relate at all to any of the things that you feel in walking? In walking where you use the

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propulsion of your foot to move you through space. As you use your foot here, how does that compare to some of the things, patterns, ways you move when you're walking?

6d. And now start to push with both feet simultaneously to lengthen both arms. Again the same thing, this pushing, lengthening your arms upward. Pushing with your toes.

And then stop, relax. Roll onto your back and take a break on your back, the arms alongside you.

7. Now roll to your side. Come on up to sitting. And sit with your right leg in front of you, and your left leg behind you: so in a z-sit. The right leg in front, the left leg behind. You can rest on your right hand, use your right hand for a little support there. And now bring your left arm so that it's facing the ceiling. So you're directing the left arm more or less towards the ceiling. And again as you see what the movement is, you may change the direction of your arm.

7a. And now start to lengthen your arm, as if you were go to reach the ceiling. And feel as you do that, again follow that same idea of looking, as you lengthen your arm what gets invited and what doesn't. How do you mobilize your chest, your ribs, your spine, to interact with this movement of the arm? Can you slowly reach higher, so that your pelvis starts to get a little invitation, that perhaps your pelvis could lift? And if you kept going higher, reaching more slowly, bringing more of yourself into this movement, you could come up onto your knees. Don't get too excited by the idea. So take your time and really feel if you can do this, that the movement of your pelvis is not because you're just shoving yourself up, because you think you should get up on your knees. But it really make sense, it connects to this reach. Maybe you have to reach in a different direction. Where do you have to reach, to make sense of this movement, where you feel your pelvis responding to the movement of your arm, as it moves through you? If you come up onto your knees, your right arm, your right hand can come off the floor. Feel if you can sense in this direction, in this relationship to gravity, how this movement of your left arm is connecting diagonally through you to your right leg, your right knee. If you're keeping your right hand on the floor, see what happens if you start to let, at least, the pressure lighten, or maybe the hand come off the floor altogether. Again, as usual, more important than actually getting up onto your knees, is really, what's the quality of this movement.

7b. Now switch over your legs. And do that on the other side. And do that so, that you're looking of course at following the movement of your arm, inviting more of yourself along. But really the point is, how can you make this light? How can you make this as easy, and as pleasurable as possible. So that with each movement you clarify another relationship, such that there is less stress in each individual part of you. And the movement moves through you in an easy and comfortable way, because all parts of you are moving to support the movement. The pelvis is lifted, not because you intend to push yourself up, but it's in response to this reaching movement.

And then stop, and lie on your back once more. Can you feel, in each of this changes of position, lying on your back, lying on your stomach, sitting, the movement of lengthening

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your arm is a constant about how you have to interact with that movement? The change in demands, all those things become different depending on the position. And different things, different awarenesses, different sensations are highlighted, are muted depending on how you do the movement, how your comfort level in that position, your relationship to gravity is.

8. Now bend your knees again, so your feet are standing. Bring both arms overhead. Start to push with your right foot to lengthen your left arm. Do that once or twice. Feel how that movement moves through. It starts at the foot and ends at the opposite hand. Just a couple of times. And then stop.

8a. And gently, easily, slowly move your right arm to take hold of your left wrist somewhere. Very lightly, it can be just a hint of pressure there. Find a way for your right arm to somehow reach over and take hold of your left wrist or hand. And now start to push with your right foot to lengthen your left arm, and as the movement moves through you, you can use your right hand to emphasize this lengthening at the end of the movement. So you're going to help your left arm lengthen by pulling, or suggesting a length. It's less a matter of yanking on your left arm. You're using the right arm to just adjust the direction and lengthening connected to your right foot. Can you find a way to do this, so that this movement, the use of the right arm, clarifies the connection between your right foot and your left hand? So it highlights maybe something that you didn't notice before. You're still starting with the push of your right foot, to use that to lengthen your arm, and you're getting a little help at the end with the opposite arm. And then stop.

8b. And now change over, so that you're ready to use the left arm to help to lengthen the right. So you push this time on your left foot. You use the push to lengthen and then at the end use the other arm to accentuate the end of the movement. And then stop, take a few moments here to rest.

8c. And once again, bend your knees, bring both arms overhead and just a few movements, push through both feet. Feel that movement move up. Notice as you do this, do you retain that sense of the diagonal? Of the push going from your left foot through to your right arm. Or does it become something different, when you do both simultaneously? So you're pushing with both feet to lengthen both arms. And stop.

9. And roll onto your belly once again. Lengthen both of your arms overhead and you grab your right wrist with your left hand. Put both of your feet in a runner's position, the toes tucked under. Turn your head in which ever way it seems to make it a little bit easier for you.

9a. And start to push on your left foot, following that movement as it moves through you to lengthen your right arm and then at the end, using your left hand to accentuate the end of that movement, the lengthening of the arm. Find a way to use this pulling, or this suggestion of pulling with your left arm to make this movement easier. To clarify something about the relationship between your left foot and your right arm. How direct can you make that line? For some people this is a challenging position, to have your arms overhead like this. If that's the case, feel free to make use of your fertile imaginations here. This would be a great ATM

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to really use your imagination, because these lines don't actually exist anyway. There is a relationship, but there isn't a physical line, leading from your heel, across to your opposite arm. So you're not really paying attention to a line drawn by a pencil, or a line that exists in your anatomy, there is no bone line there. It's this how do you clarify this relationship? And now stop, take a brief rest here.

10. And now tuck your toes under once more. Have both arms extended. And put your head on the forehead, resting on your forehead. And now push through your feet to lengthen both arms. Notice what happens to your head as you do this?

10a. It's interesting, we have a couple of different ways of doing this. Some people are pushing through their feet, so that their heels are moving in a upward direction, towards their head, to lengthen the arms. Other people are pushing through their feet, so that the heels are moving away from their head. Try both ways and notice, what you have to do to lengthen your arms, depending on one way or the other. Can you imagine why someone would do the opposite of what you chose to do? And then stop and roll over and lie on your back.

11. And now bring your knees once more, feet standing. Is this the same place that you had your feet the whole time? What's your sense of how your feet are standing now? A few times, push through your feet to lengthen your arms. Feel how this is now. You're going to push through both feet simultaneously. Just a couple of times.

11a. And now bring your arms down alongside you. And now start to push again from both feet and feel this go up to your head. So you push your feet, so that your head starts to respond to this movement. Both feet simultaneously, you're pushing through both feet straight up to your head. It's not a matter of rolling right and left. It's pushing up to your head.

11b. And now start to add a little speed to this. A little change in the rhythm. So you're going to start to push with your feet, to a smaller quicker movement, so you'll start to rock. And find what rhythm works for you here. Play with different rhythms, different speeds. Find one where you feel like you have to do very little, but the push from your foot gets translated up to your head and everything between your feet and your head can get easier and softer. So you're sort of moving like jello in between. Moving like a pudding, jelly, or something that can move and rock. And as you do this, experiment with your rhythm, the size and the speed of the movement. The emphasize on freeing everything in between your head and your feet. So that this push from your feet can just move through, easily up to your head.

And then finally stop. Straighten your legs, arms down alongside you. Once more feel this imaginary diagonal, that runs from your left foot to your right shoulder, from your right foot to your left shoulder. Is anything changed in the way you feel or think about this line? Can you sense how these parts of you are connected through the center of you? And have these explorations of the diagonals changed, or affected your sense of midline?

12. And take your time and roll to either side, come on up to sitting and then to standing. And take a minute to stand. And just stand where you are. If you want to move off of

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your mat, you can.

12a. And now in standing get a sense, press a little on one foot, your right foot. And feel that it moves diagonally through, to your left shoulder. Can you get a sense in standing? Just a small increase of pressure on your right foot. How does that relate to your left shoulder? See if you can create a relationship there, in your sensory experience of the right foot connecting to the left shoulder.

12b. And then the left foot, increase the pressure a little on the left foot.

12c. And then start to walk around. Go slowly and feel if you still retain a sense of that diagonal relationship between your feet and the opposite shoulder and arm. Notice how your feet are contacting the floor. And how is your head moving in space, between these two diagonals? And if you think back, the very first thing you did before you lay down, which was walking and sensing them. Is anything changed in your ability to feel this relationships?

And then, let's take a little break now.

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ATM Lesson 243: Sitting on Heels, VIISource: Year 3, Segment 3, Tape 248Date: 1999, August 27Teacher: Arlyn Zones

1. Squatting however you like, try a different way this time maybe. How can you come up to stand on your feet? And then from here put both knees on the floor, so you stand on your hands and on your knees, and tuck your toes under. Tuck the toes of the right foot under and the toes of the left foot under. For the moment have the heels apart, just for the moment. And lift your hands off the floor so you stand only on your knees.

1a. And now take your right hand to touch your right foot behind yourself, and take your left hand and touch your left foot behind yourself, leaning the pelvis forward. By the way, do you remember how you did it the first time — hmm, many people? You kind of made yourself small and really round. Can you feel now, did you get a little more power in your backs in these two weeks? Did you get some improvement in your own ability to balance in some unusual situations?

1b. And then you can put both hands behind you. Think of pushing your belly forward and arching, opening all the front surfaces of the chest, the ribs, the belly being able to be more free, the clavicles. Go back and come forward a few times. Not sitting, but stay, so you reach back with both hands and let the hands go and stand on the knees, and then reach back with both hands and then let the hands go and stay on the knees. That's it, good. Then slowly let that go and lie down again for a moment.

2. Now bend your knees and put your feet standing. Bring your heels together underneath the middle of the buttocks, and stand on your toes, so that the right heel is underneath your right buttocks and the left heel is underneath the left buttocks. And in this situation think again about finding the precise place where the weight could come through the big toe and the second toe.

2a. Then just begin, have the ankles flexed a bit and just begin. So it's not a question of having the toes pointed and the ankle open, but the knees come forward and there is a folding at the ankle. And then just begin the movement of bringing your knees a little bit closer to the floor, just a little bit closer. Heels are together, toes are apart, so the heels touch and the toes turn outward. And if you can feel more and more precisely, are you really bringing the weight in between the big toe and second toe?

2b. Just to get clearer about it, introduce, make a mistake. Make it gently, so you don't hurt yourself. But make a mistake in the way you have your feet. So do something so that you're clear that the weight is not coming between the big toe and the second toe, and just feel the difference. Can you feel? Take the knees a bit forward with the weight a little bit more outward, and you feel it's really a strain.

2c. Now bring it again in between the big toe and the second toe and let yourself rock a little. Let the knees rock a bit more toward the floor and feel now how that goes

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through your spine, through to the chin, and if the transmission of this force through your skeleton is becoming clearer, through the center of yourself, through the center of your spine. That's nice. And of course the abdomen being pushed out in all directions, and the surface, the front surface being very long and the back as well. Everything is long. Slowly come down and rest again.

3. And stay with your legs down long and begin to think that with the legs long you are going to roll a little bit to the right so that you can lean on the right forearm, the right elbow, as if you would begin to come to sitting. Just begin the movement, maybe you remember something from Wednesday that you did with Larry. Just begin to roll a little bit to the right, and find the trajectory of the movement. To the right side only for the moment, and think not so much of rolling way out to the side, but think that as you turn the head a little bit to the right and you lift the left shoulder away from the floor, you begin to direct your left shoulder towards your right hip joint. You can lift the left arm in the air if you like or not, but think about this folding across a diagonal which doesn't exist. Think about the link, the kinematic linkage, from your left shoulder to your right hip joint. As you find that kind of folding across the middle of yourself, so that the left ribs are really twisting around your spine, around your sternum, and the right ribs are getting softer and softer so that you can roll over them. You have to find out where to put the right arm so that you can bend the elbow. What trajectory? Does the head lift? The head lifts in the air. And at a certain moment as you start to come up, the right hip joint, the right lower back actually extends a little bit. Again it's an example of a very differentiated movement. Yes, the right opens as you come up to sitting. The last moment is almost as if you can lengthen a little bit your right foot and then you come up to sitting. So you come up with the right leg long and the left leg long, and leaning on the right hand, and then reversing the movement and going back leaning on the right elbow and coming back, and just stay. Rest a minute.

3a. Now, change it over to the left. But again just take that time in the beginning to feel yourself, to feel, sense, listen to, see these different parts of yourself. So you take your right shoulder now in the direction of your left hip joint and fold across yourself, and you come up to lean. That begins the movement and at a certain point, how does this trajectory need to change a little bit, so that you end up reaching more forward and leaning on your left arm? Think that you are rolling like a wheel. See if you can feel the roundness in the front surfaces of yourself in this movement, and in the spine and the neck, in the chest bone, like a wheel. Rest, and rest a moment.

3b. And now a few times come up once on the right and once on the left, and taking care that you do not fatigue the neck, so you have to feel at each point how you could really fold and soften the chest. What would you do, you would exhale and you would let all the air out, and the ribs, the upper ribs would become softer and softer, and that would allow the head to lift. And when you come back through the middle, you don't hold on to the head or the neck in any way. You really let it fall to the ground, that's nice, that's beautiful. And as usual it's a whole different quality than how you began. Rest again, put eveything down.

4. Now bring your right foot underneath your left buttocks and put your left leg long. A few times play with rolling to your right, as if you would sit up with one foot tucked under. The sole of the right foot is underneath the middle of your two buttocks, or underneath the

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left. So the foot is inverted, if you can. Now don't come any further than you can go, keeping the same quality that you just had a moment ago. So even though the movement is a bit more challenging, go only as far as you can go with that same quality that you were moving before. And if that's not very far, it does not matter, but what will be helpful is to stay with the feeling that you move within an easy range. No matter how small that range may be. The feeling of ease, so do only as much you can do, and maintain the feeling of ease, and not straining. And each time seeing where you could soften the chest a little bit, breathe.

4a. Then change over and take the right foot out, put the left foot underneath, and do the same thing, coming up to the left. Just begin the movement. You may have felt from what Katrin did yesterday, that one diagonal is clearer or one shoulder relates more clearly in a certain way to the opposite hip. So maybe this side will be easier for you, or not as easy. Really feel that folding in the upper ribs, in the ribs underneath the shoulder blade, in your chest bone, in your sternum. Many people felt a whole other level this segment, of really letting the belly go. Here you're actually not letting it go, you're actually using it. But the fact that you learn to let it go means a whole kind of softening became possible in your chest.

And stop it, and rest again. Actually you have to let it go, in order to contract it and make it strong. If you hold it all the time, it's not actually strong, it's this using and a kind of the antagonism between the abdomen and the muscles in the lower back being able to mobilize one set of muscles and not the other, back and forth. That gives a certain power, the alternation between the use of the flexors and the extensors, or between the belly and the lower back.

5. Come sit up. Stand on your knees, and put your right foot resting on top of your left foot, so that the right foot is on top of the sole of the left foot. The knees are wide apart. And now in this position, could you explore the possibility of taking your right elbow back behind yourself to touch the floor? Let me say that again: could you explore the possibility, in a lyrical way, lyrical means poetic, of bringing your right elbow to lean, to take yourself as if you would begin the movement of going back to lie on your back? And no frowning is allowed, so if you are frowning you have to find another way to do it. And just put the right hand somewhere and gradually begin to bend the elbow and feel the kind of turning in your chest. As you do that, what would you do with your head? What would you do with your spine?

5a. And then do the same thing on the left side. This is a very African kind of lesson today, all of a sudden, you know, after seeing the African and the limbo.

5b. So OK, go side to side. You can imagine some kind of music, see if that helps you. Go side to side. Like a dance, begin to go back on one side. How do you bring yourself to the middle and the other side?

5c. And then maybe once you have one elbow down, you can bring the other elbow down. And find a very safe way to take yourself, your head, your shoulders to the floor, without taking the feet out, unless you must. Bring yourself to the floor. Then slowly take one foot out, don't break it, it's our last change, it's our last day, we want you to go home with the same number of parts you came with!

Take one foot out at the time and lie on your back. Feel the simplicity of the situation

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now? I was remembering this morning something similar to what Chris said, when she said to do your homework, but I had a little different way of putting it. A friend of mine who was a musician and a composer told me that some famous composer was writing about his creative process, his artistic process of composing music. He said, "I never really know when the muse is going to show up." You know what the muse is? The translation: la musa, la muse, die Muse, but anyway, he said, "I never know when the muse is going to appear. So I go in and sit in the room at the piano every day just in case that's the day she comes." So it's a bit like that, we never know when the new Gestalt, the new things coming together, the new inspiration is going to come, but if we spend a little time doing the Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement, and doing our homework, and just going into that domain we will be there for the moment when the muse comes. So that's my way of agreeing to doing things between segments.

6. Bend your knees and bring your right sole of the foot toward lying under your pelvis and then your left sole of the foot, so one is inside the other. The right foot is inside the left and the two feet are underneath your pelvis. It's not a crossed-leg position, as much as you can, the sole of the left foot is touching. The right foot is inside. So then the sole of the left foot is touching the back of the right foot, as close as you can. Like the position you were in in sitting, like sitting back on the heels.

6a. Now, from this position could you again roll to the right and begin to sit up. Slowly, slowly. Now the feet are fixed and the knees are in a certain position and just think through the trajectory. The feet stay on the floor, so that's the one fixed point and you are moving everything around that fixed point. The feet are a fixed point on the floor and you could roll to the right or to the left. The knees are open. There are some interesting ways of cheating going on. The knees stay apart, so it's not a question of bringing your knees together. OK, you guys are getting ambitious again. Just think you know that you came here and there was some other kids that you wanted to play with, sort of like: "Oh this is cool, let's see what we can do in this position." Right? Just have a playful attitude, don't try to achieve it, but use your awareness to find out what it is you are doing with yourself. So how does the head lift and where do you put the right arm? Think if you put your right arm above your head, you may break it off, I am not sure that's a good place. But where you are going to put the right arm, to lean on it and where would you put the left arm to lean on it. Make a break. Rest a minute.

6b. Now change over the feet so you cross the left inside the right, and just begin the movement of rolling to take the weight on the left elbow. Keeping the feet fixed, the feet inverted, one inside the other, so the ankles are not crossed. It's not a question of having the legs crossed, but one foot is touching the other, so the knees need to be more open, so the feet can lie. And begin to roll to one side, to lean on one elbow and then the other, lift the head, come through the middle and let the head fall back and then lift the head, and you go up to the other side. So it's like your head is making half of a circle.

6c. And now lean on both elbows behind yourself, just bend your arms and lean on both elbows and see if you could come straight up to sit. Push your belly up, push your elbows into the ground, and see if you could bring yourself with the feet underneath, if you can. Could you push yourself up to sit down that way, so you're leaning on both elbows, that's it, and stay like that. Stay leaning on both elbows with the knees as close to the floor as you can.

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6d. Lift your heads, and now begin to lie down on the right side and take your head to the right in a half of a circle and then come back up through the middle and begin to lie down on the left side, and swing your head to the left in a half of a circle. And alternate like that: begin to go down on one side and then come back up to the middle, begin to go down to the other side and, stop it and again it's not clear. It's OK, rest a minute, it's not clear because it's not clear, because you're tired, or because it's hard, whatever. Just rest a moment. See if we can make it more clear.

7. Roll to sit, stand on your knees, and put your right foot inside your left, so the feet are touching, and the knees are wide spread. Take your right elbow behind you, so you can rest on your right forearm, as if you would go and lie down, and then bring yourself back up to the middle, like we did before. Reach and bring yourself to the middle, and then change over. Then put your right forearm down and stay there. And now put your left forearm down, your left elbow. So you stay with the right elbow down, and then put your left forearm down, so now you have both. And now you begin to go down to your right shoulder, as if you would lie on the right side and come back up. And go down to the left side, and come back up. See if you can feel the circling of the head.

7a. Now come back up on both hands, so you lean on both hands behind yourself. The knees are touching the floor and you are leaning on both hands. Take your right elbow to the floor and come up, and come up. And take your left elbow to the floor, and come up. And go back and forth like that and let the head roll in a circle, in a half of a circle. And then see if you can do the same thing when you lean on the elbow, you start to go back, let the head fall backwards, and then come up to the front and make a half of a circle and let the head fall backward. So you begin to actually make three quarters of a circle or a circle — aha, a whole circle.

And look here for a moment at Ute. So she puts one arm and she takes the head back, and then she leans on the other elbow and she comes up. And she leans on one elbow and she takes the head backward, she leans on the other elbow and, she rests. OK. Can you do it? Can you play with it? It's beautiful, huh? It's just because you've been around Africans a lot that you can do that, right? OK, let's see if the rest of us non- Africans can do that. There's a bad joke, I don't know but we can regress a little. I can tell you a really bad, it's not a joke, it's something true. There was a man in Moshe's San Francisco training program and he said: "You know Moshe, no matter how much Feldenkrais we do we're never really going to be able to dance like African people, are we?" So I don't know after seeing that guy from Norway I don't know, I really — he was trying, but you know he was still a guy from Norway trying to go: "....and the pulse, and the pulse..." But we can improve it, we can get a little bit better!

Rest a minute. And as long as we keep improving over time, who cares if we reach the goal. As Franck said, if you keep taking two steps forward and one step backward — which is not what I said, by the way — over time you have gone forward twice as much as you have gone backwards. That's not bad.

8. Now come up and stand on your knees. And put your heels underneath your buttocks, and tuck your toes under. And sit on your heels, go back towards squatting, lift your knees. You can keep your hands on the floor, lift your knees and take your heels back, and then put the knees back down. And when you lift the knees, get taller, erect yourself, you might want to lift your hands. See if you can sit on your toes and get taller. And then with the help of your hands, bring your knees back, if you need them, or you can just put the hands resting on your knees.

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8a. And now come up and squat like that on your toes, and with or without the hands bring your right knee down toward the floor, and come back, and the left knee and come back. And can you appreciate the delicacy now, and the lightness, for many people with which the knee touches the floor, do you remember how it was the first time, "plonk, plonk."

8b. And as you take one knee down, let the other knee open to the outside, and feel that you arch the back on one side quite a lot, as the hip joint opens, and the other knee opens.

8c. Then take both knees down without the hands if you can, and back, and see if you could do that a little bit faster. Extending your lower back, pushing the abdomen forward, and rounding the lower back and lifting the knees from the floor. It's not unlike the carp in a way, I mean you're folding and then mobilizing the belly, and then mobilizing the power in the lower back. "Toc, toc, toc". Stop, lie on your back. Beautiful, great, and rest.

9. And now, come back up to sitting. Stand on your knees, put your right foot inside your left...

(Missing part. Not on the tape.)

(...) so that you can sit back on your heels. And now with the knees wide apart, hold the feet, actually hold your ankles. So now we are going back to the inversion of the foot. And from here see if you could bring your right elbow down toward the floor, roll the head in a half of a circle back, behind yourself, arch your back and then keep making a circle. And then bring the left elbow to the floor and keep making a circle with the head, come up on the left elbow. You can push with the right hand and go around again holding the feet in a circle, and many more people can understand my English. So that the head falls forward as you come up to sitting, and as you go back toward arching the back, the head rolls back.

9a. And change direction. So you come and you stand on one elbow. That's it, with holding the feet it makes it much clearer in a way this movement of one shoulder and the other shoulder, the elbow, the chest, the head. That's beautiful, beautiful.

Take the feet out and stop again for a moment. Now some people like doing it, they get the feeling it's not too difficult. You can rest in sitting if you want. It's a rebellion! It's a good moment for a rebellion. They don't feel like resting on their backs, they want to rest in sitting. Rest however you like.

10. Come up to sit. Change over the feet and put the left foot inside the right and now put both hands behind you. Put both hands behind you and see if you can go from this position now straight back. So you begin, take both elbows toward the floor, take the head backward, let the head fall back and then from there make the elbows go a little bit wider away from you. Slide them until the shoulders can touch the floor and you can come and lie on the back. So you are going gradually, make the elbows go apart, the arms straighten a little bit, the shoulders touch the floor, the head touches the floor, and you lie on your back with the soles of both feet.

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10a. And now see if you could reverse it and come up through this plane of movement. Bend both elbows, lean on the forearms, and lift yourself up, and push your belly out.

And now very gently, let everything come to the floor, take your shoulders down, take your back down, take your head down, take your feet out. Take your feet out. "Got it! Oh, I'm going to get it if it kills me!" Oh right, she got it and it didn't quite kill her, almost. Less skill and more will, huh? OK, rest a minute.

11. Bend your knees and put your feet on the floor, and bring your right heel under your right buttocks, with the toes tucked, and the left heel under the left buttocks, with the toes tucked. And now again with the heels together and the toes turned outward, the knees wide spread, just bring your knees toward the floor, to the extent that you can. And see if the top of the head could come off the floor, and the knees, and you could bridge a little bit. Just let the head go, stay back. Could you bring the knees to touch the floor now?

11a. And come in and out of that taking the head back to the floor and then bringing the knees to the floor, and appreciate your improvement in this movement. The suppleness now in the upper ribs, in the abdomen, in your spine. The first day we did it, one person could do it and it was painful to that person, or maybe two people, now just feel that you could stand on the top of the head and the knees could practically touch the floor. And leave it alone, rest, put everything down.

12. And roll to your side. Sit up, jump up, stand up. And walk. Maybe you can feel yourself, the front of yourself, the back. Which parts of yourself hold you, support you, with the chest being soft and the back being strong. And maybe we could have a little break.

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