This collection of Feldenkrais lessons and brief talks is designed to help you learn more comfortable and lively sitting skills for home and work, and even while driving or traveling.

All these lessons approach what the Feldenkrais community calls "dynamic sitting" in different ways, emphasizing different types of awareness and movement.

For optional introductory info, read Nick's About Dynamic Sitting post, or the expanded version he wrote for the Feldenkrais Guild of North America's website called Building Better Sitting Habits, Even in Your Car.

Descriptions of each lesson below give you a sense of its aim, though everyone's learning process is unique and you may find other benefits.

For a more detailed description of dynamic sitting's anatomy and physics, first try at least one of the lessons below, then check out these dynamic sitting principles.

Follow your comfort and ease! If a lesson isn't comfortable initially, it's fine to skip it and come back to it later.

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“Most people who find sitting uncomfortable have the idea that if they could just find the 'right' chair and the 'right' way to sit in that chair they would be able to sit for hours without moving. I used to believe this too.”

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SAFETY FIRST:
If after studying the lessons below you practice how you sit and move in your car seat, please practice only when the car is parked.

Easier Sitting Workshop

5 min

Talk 1

Nick introduces the workshop, and discusses how to stay comfortable in the lessons, and why we're often tempted to try harder than is useful for the learning and improvement process Feldenkrais harnesses. The sitbones are discussed. 

1 hour

Lesson 1

Chair-seated, with a middle portion in back-lying. Identifying the sitbones and enriching your awareness of them, then developing the relationships between the head, sitbones, and spine as they relate to plumb (the line of gravity through the vertical skeleton).

7 min

Talk 2

An intro to lesson 2. The value of sitting dynamically and moving as an integrated whole, no matter what constraining situation is expected of you. Challenges of modern cultural expectations and chair design. Underlying principles of the workshop.

12 min

Lesson 2

Chair-seated. This brief lesson directly follows up on the previous one and is intended to be explored after a short break. Turning relationships of the head, eyes, chest, pelvis, knees, and sitbones are explored, using imagery of sitting in the driver's seat.

Driving and Dynamic Sitting

1 hour

Floor Practice

Mostly back-lying. Begins and ends in floor-seated. With explorations and benefits for all sitting situations, this lesson uses imagery of being in the driver's seat to promote lively, dynamic sitting and turning while negotiating the challenge of a typical "bucket" car seat. Postural expressions of rounding and arching are clarified, then used to improve the range, comfort, and awareness of whole body turning movements.

1 hour

Chair Practice

This chair-seated lesson focuses on clarifying the skeletal support provided by our sitbones and discovering their lively role (and roll!) in all seated movements, with some emphasis on side-bending. All three planes of movement are discussed, explored, and differentiated, first in "pure" forms, and then blended together into natural movements.

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Don't forget: our Getting Oriented collection includes two short chair-seated lessons (#2 and #4) closely related to the lessons above. You may have already done them, but they're great for review any time.

To explore and improve the transition between chair-sitting and standing, try What is Good Posture? (Patrons).

You might also want to browse our Learning Guides for ideas to help bridge your Feldenkrais learning into everyday life, or continue your studies with our Freeing the Spine, Chest, Shoulders, and Neck collection.

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