Awareness Through Movement #150

Bending With a Stick - Marianne Rivington

Marianne will be reading twice a month, AND - bonus - she’s also writing the blogs… with diagrams!

Here is her offering for this lesson:

“I found this lesson ridiculously difficult and rather unpleasant at first… at the same time, I started noticing that it was easier to reach my feet eg putting on shoes, socks …so I started to inquire …what had the lesson offered me… …I realized I was making a clearer distinction in how I was bending forward while sitting in a chair. Even though the actual lesson had felt difficult, my nervous system had somehow understood and integrated “something”

The analysis I came up with was a differentiation between two interpretations of trunk (forward) flexion

The two patterns I observed were:

1. The pelvis tilts backwards, the spine rounds and then the line of sight is towards the belly button….”navel gazing”

2a. Pelvis tilts forwards, lower abdomen releases and hip socket (acetabulum) rolls around the ball (of the head of the femur) ie hip flexion….the spine remains more or less “straight/neutral”. The line of sight is along the floor.

2b. The lesson offers a variation in which the face turns so the eyes look at the wall and one ear is directed towards the floor and the other towards the ceiling as the trunk flexes from the hips.

…when the face is oriented towards the right the left ear is down towards the floor and the right ear up towards the ceiling… and when the face is oriented towards the left the right ear is towards the floor and left ear towards the ceiling.

I included these variations in the beginning of the recording.

When listening to the recording may I suggest that you keep in mind :

1. Do everything very slowly

2. Look for the peasant sensation

3. Do not “try” to do well

4. Do not try to do “Nicely”

5. Insist on easy, light movement

6. It is easier to tell differences when the effort is light

If a movement variation feels unsafe or impossible please just listen or do in your imagination.

It is a long lesson…I found myself thinking of it in 5 sections and have included this in the recording as well. During this (or any) lesson, if you find your attention wandering to the point that it is difficult to continue there is always the option to turn off the recording and continue later…but soon enough that you can still remember the moment experience )

I found this lesson offered me multiple opportunities to observe myself experiencing “awareness of impasse”…feeling stuck, confused….tending to revert to making efforts and contortions…which resulted , not surprisingly , in stiffness and soreness the next day.

I will ask you the same question I asked myself…what other options may be discovered by pausing and observing yourself kindly, in the moment of awareness of impasse.

If you feel inclined, I would be most curious to hear your observations.”

Here is the lesson: