Finding and Using Your Spinal Bias to Step Down (Patrons)

Framed by brief explorations in standing, this mostly side-lying lesson helps you discover your primary spinal bias. You’ll explore how a refined awareness and conscious use of your spine’s natural bias can improve how you send your foot out into the world in all upright activities.

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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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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We offer over 50 free lessons, but this one's just for Patrons. You can learn about it in the free lesson notes and comments below. To access the audio, join The FP at the Patron level. Learn more

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The lesson starts in standing, then back-lying, then settles into side-lying. Even if you don’t require head support for side-lying, it may be useful in this lesson: experiencing some slack in your spine may make some sensations more accessible than dangling your head over your shoulder down to the ground.

At around the 9:40 mark, if you’ve noticed and chosen a left spinal bias so far in the lesson you may notice a mistake which takes me about a minute to correct: I had invited you to make a movement of lengthening the arm on your preferred side, but I accidentally start referring to everyone’s right side. If you have chosen your left, please use your left at 9:40.

If you repeat this lesson, it may be an interesting experiment to see if my choice for which side to explore first affected your detection of your bias. So, in the standing start of the lesson, begin by sliding your left hand down your left thigh, instead of the way I cue it with your right.

This lesson is found in Patron Treasures, our collection of lessons exclusively for Patron-level donors, and in our Walking from Your Spine Deep Dive.

Audio quality is a little lower due to different equipment and cloud recording.

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Members and Patrons. Learn more or login:

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1 Comments

  1. Lorraine on October 31, 2020 at 7:38 pm

    In most ATM’s I feel as though I’m discovering a movement that is already in my nervous system. Even though I did this gently, and from the outside I’m sure it looks pretty natural, it feels pretty imposed.
    So I’ll sit with it for a while and later on do it all on the other side, with less doing and more feeling and hope that it comes together.
    I really enjoyed this exploration and am thinking that my initial difficulties will eventually lead to more learning.

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