Curiosity, Not Mastery: Three Dimensional Shoulder and Hip Circles (Patrons)

Familiar ATM explorations are cast in a new light as we discover how the torso interacts with the ground and reshapes itself three dimensionally to generate action in faraway parts of the body. Later, a few playfully elaborate variations humble us all, but the goal is curiosity, not mastery. Notice how much change takes place, how much more ease and control is created, when "failure" is lighthearted. Framed with brief explorations of the diagonal relationships of walking.

Average Challenge   back-lying  side-lying 

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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

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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 – 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 – 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.

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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 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.

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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.

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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 – 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.

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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.

Browser/device size and audio player

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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.

We offer over 50 free lessons, but this one's just for our Patron-level donors. You can learn about it in the free lesson notes and comments below, but to access the audio you’ll need to join The FP as a Patron. Learn more

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  • Comfort & Configuration
  • Clarifications
  • Curiosities
  • Context
  • Related Lessons
  • Source

Avoid high friction surfaces (like sticky yoga mats) for this lesson.

Have a bath towel to fold for head support in the side-lying parts of the lesson, even if you don’t need it or you often use your arm for head support in other lessons.

Don’t be tempted to make the movements larger than what’s comfortable. If the range expands but your movements are still pleasant, slow, and smooth, that is welcome.

Cultivate your curiosity. Don’t worry about mastery. In the lesson’s most complex variations it’s not important to be able to complete the oppositional circles and other unusual movements. No one will find these coordinations easily – I certainly didn’t!

In discussion after the lesson, one student said of these variations, “I couldn’t imagine some of these movements, and that’s when it got really fun.” Another said “when I embraced the messiness is when I re-found the ease.”

Though you’ll “get lost” at times, if you rest a moment and start over with a quiet and clear intention, and a lightheartedness about the messiness that follows, you’ll begin to find more and more control and ease with at least small portions of the movements, and that’s fantastic for your learning.

If you’re enjoying the challenges you can even pause the recording and take more time with these variations.

The lesson is designed asymmetrically to maximize chances to sense and learn how you organize one side of your body with relationship to the ground to create action with the other side.

It can be very interesting to repeat the lesson and do it “the other way” within a few days, while your first exploration is still fresh in mind. Start with lifting the other shoulder, and try the other side for the side-lying steps, if both are comfortable.

Notice it doesn’t feel like a “mirror image” exploration, but a totally unique learning experience that creates different images and takeaways. How does you benefit differently from each version?

In addition to sparking curiosity, there’s another purpose for the “messy” variations and the comically complex ones. They introduce an element of randomness to your learning. When there’s far too much to control then we’re likely to do something new and unexpected, which can lead to discovering “adjacent possibilities” that arise outside the patterns we know. If you’re curious for more about this, look up Dr. Neil Theise’s talks on the topic of complexity.

This lesson is found in Patron Treasures, our collection of lessons exclusively for Feldenkrais Project Patron-level donors.

This lesson was recorded in The FP Weekly Zoom class on February 6, 2024, then edited to improve flow, clarity, and sound quality in this permanent audio version.

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