Advanced Twisting Part 2
Prerequisite lesson: Advanced Twisting Part 1.
Back-lying, using the tilted crossed legs as a constraint to help learn more suppleness and better upright organization of the spine, chest, shoulders, and neck, with awareness of and sensitivity to one's own biases.
The audio player for this free lesson is below. First, have you noticed how most free websites are funded by annoying internet ads, but this one isn't?
Skipping the ads doesn't mean we don't have costs. Our annual budget is typically over $25,000 in direct expenses for technology and part-time staff, in addition to Nick’s 20 hours per week.
How is The FP ad-free? Our 50+ free lessons are a crowd-funded labor of love!
However, only a tiny percentage of our 5,000 monthly visitors donate to support our vision. Please join the Project and help us share Feldenkrais as widely as possible!
Patron benefits include 90+ more lessons for $21/month or less, about the cost of a single in-person class!
Or simply support the free lessons you love: donate as little as $3 and we'll thank you with Member benefits .
Before you begin read this for practical tips and your responsibilities, and check out Comfort & Configuration below.
Recorded live in a Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement (ATM) class, this lesson is copyright Nick Strauss-Klein, for personal use only.
Tip – Technical Difficulties
Tech tip: If you have any trouble with the audio player, reboot your browser. That solves most issues. If not, try another browser or contact us.
Tip – skip a lesson
Study tip: If you can’t find a comfortable way to do the initial movements or configuration of a lesson, it’s ok to skip it for now and go on to another lesson.
Tip 1 – Interrupted?
Study tip: Interrupted or don’t have enough time? You can return to the lesson later today or tomorrow. Read how best to continue your learning on our FAQ page.
Tip – LESSS is more
LESSS is more: Light, Easy, Small, Slow, & Smooth movements will ease pains and improve your underlying neuromuscular habits faster than any other kind of movement, no matter who you are or what your training is!
Tip – Lesson names
What’s in a lesson title? Lessons are about an hour unless a shorter duration is shown in the title. Thanks to our donors they’re freely offered unless marked “Patrons” – those are how we thank our Patron-level donors.
Tip – Pause the recording
Study tip: If you’re really enjoying a movement and want to explore longer, or you just need a break for a while, pause the recording!
Tip 2 – Social Sharing
Project tip: Try the social buttons below. Please help us to achieve our vision: spreading the life-changing benefits of Feldenkrais study as widely as possible!
Browser/device size and audio player
Tech tip: On mobile or tablet? Once you start playing the audio, your device’s native playback controls should work well.
Tip – What’s New
Community tip: See what Nick and other Felden-fans are interested in right now. Check out What’s New at the bottom of our homepage for recent blog posts and listener comments.
Tip – Complete the Movement
Study tip: Complete one movement before beginning the next. You’ll improve faster if there’s enough time between movements that you feel fully at rest.
Tip – what to wear
Study tip: Wear loose, comfortable clothes that are warm enough for quiet movement. Remove or avoid anything restrictive like belts or glasses.
Tip 3 – Head Support
Study tip: It helps to have a large bath towel nearby when you start a lesson. You can fold it differently for comfortable head support in any configuration.
Tip 4 – Padding
Study tip: Comfort first! Carpeted floors usually work well, but it’s great to have an extra mat or blanket nearby in case you need a softer surface in some configurations.
Tip – Directions are Relative
Study tip: Directions are always relative to your body. For example, if you’re lying on your back “up” is toward your head, and “forward” is toward the ceiling.
Tip – Join!
Join the Project! Members and Patrons see streamlined lesson pages, and can access My Journey (the and above), and the Related Lessons tab below.
Tip 5 – Discomfort
Study tip: If a configuration or movement causes any increase in discomfort, or you feel you just don’t want to do it, don’t! Make it smaller and slower, adapt it, or rest and imagine.
Tip – Rewinding
Study tip: Many instructions are repeated. If you get a little lost, rest and listen. You’ll often find your way. Or use the rewind button on the page or your mobile device.
Tip – Technical Difficulties
Tech tip: If you have any trouble with the audio player, reboot your browser. That solves most issues. If not, try another browser or contact us.
Tip – skip a lesson
Study tip: If you can’t find a comfortable way to do the initial movements or configuration of a lesson, it’s ok to skip it for now and go on to another lesson.
- Comfort & Configuration
- Clarifications
- Curiosities
- Context
- Related Lessons
- Source
- Download
This lesson is found in the collection called Freeing the Spine, Chest, Shoulders, and Neck. It has three recommended prerequisite lessons, which are best studied in this order (or just progress through the whole collection in order).
- It’s directly related to Simple Twisting
- Spine Like a Chain, with a Bias introduces subtle ideas leveraged in this lesson
- Advanced Twisting Part 1
Or you can approach these Advanced Twisting lessons in another context: they’re also in our Free While Constrained Deep Dive.
The legs-crossed, tilting (or sustained tilted) configuration is not about flexibility, though that will likely improve. It’s about the learning opportunities that can be created elsewhere while in this constraining configuration.
ATM lessons often use what Feldenkrais Practitioners call “constraints”: configurations or instructions which prevent some movement possibilities and require you to learn others.
This lesson involves many complex simultaneous uses of the left and right sides of the body. If you get confused, don’t worry, just continue onward. All of the variations are explored on both sides. The many variations are designed to create a very thorough exploration, and it’s ok to miss a step here and there.
It is important that you do part 1 of this lesson before you do this follow-up lesson. The Comfort & Configuration notes for part 1 are all applicable to part 2. The short version:
- Use friction under the standing foot as needed.
- Comfort first! Don’t get attached to tilting your knees a long distance, or the idea that that range must get bigger during the lesson. It may be that as the lesson proceeds you choose a smaller tilt, and more refined listening, in setting up the knees tilted constraint.
Feel free to pause the recording as needed for longer rests.
Tried It? Liked It?
If you like what you heard...
- Join the Project! You’ll support our free lessons while enjoying awesome donor benefits
- Sign up for our twice monthly newsletter featuring free lessons and new lessons
- Spread the word: Simply copy this page's web address to share this free lesson
Got a question for Nick, or a thought about this lesson?
Use the comments section below! Public comments build our community and help search engines find us.
Whoa! Interesting. More difficult than previously because of small movements in constrained positions. But the clear instructions make it doable and despite wondering at times if I was “ doing it right”, the result was really interesting. Very different and lovely sense of my torso as I walked. Freedom and space.
Easier the second time with more confidence about small movements and thus more relaxed. Similar fullness in my torso as a result and some relief if a neck issue.
Thank you for this lesson and for the repeat button!
Love that you called out our 10 seconds back button! It was surprisingly hard to implement – makes me smile to know it’s getting used.
I use it ALL THE TIME. Very grateful you went through the effort of implementing it!
I didn’t need the repeat button the second time I did this lesson, and I felt more free to do less and feel more.
Very nice lesson, thank you from my ribs and spine
Head rolling while in the twist right at the end of the session was so freeing, a profound dimension for me.