Head Under the Gap, Supine: Workshop/Review Version (32m, Patrons)

This lesson has prerequisites: it’s best done either shortly after Long Belly, Strong Back (either the short or full-length version) or as a review of the full-length Head Under the Gap. Don’t miss the 1-minute video demo below if you haven’t done a hand bridging lesson yet.

Designed to clarify and distribute the image of arching and turning your whole self. Explore the unusual support of a bridged hand and its fascinating extension implications for your scapulas, shoulder girdle, ribs, and neck. Great for posture, breath, athletics, confidence, and groundedness.

More Challenging  back-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 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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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 – 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 – 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 – 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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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.

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 – 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 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.

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Tip 1 – Interrupted?

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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
  • Curiosities
  • Context
  • Related Lessons
  • Source

The bridge position of the hand can be challenging for many reasons, but there are lots alterations available:

  1. I visually demonstrated and showed adaptations right before the audio recording starts. Here’s that video demo:
  2. It’s also possible to stand the palm on a small pillow or a bundled pair of thick socks, so the angles of the fingers and wrist can be more relaxed.
  3. See the Curiosities tab to learn how bridging your hand isn’t even necessary!

On another note, it’s helpful in this lesson to use the minimum head support you need for comfort, and as always it should be smooth so your head is free to move. You may find you want even less head support as the lesson progresses.

If both shoulders are reasonably comfortable, on a subsequent listening you might start with the other arm bridged.

Many people struggle with the bridged hand position. Don’t worry if you can’t do it, or can’t do it for long. After our full-length version of this lesson students reported discovering that the bridge position of your hand is not that important to what the lesson offers:

  • “The hand position didn’t feel so necessary…it was about the chest.”
  • “I realized I didn’t need to use my hand much, but just move the ribs.”

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

This lesson was recorded in my Long Belly, Strong Back workshop for the global Feldenkrais Festival on Nov 14, 2024 then edited to improve flow, clarity, and sound quality in this permanent audio version.

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Got a question for Nick, or a thought about this lesson?

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3 Comments

  1. Dee on January 12, 2025 at 4:15 pm

    Hi Nick, I know there is no such thing as a dumb question, tho this one feels a bit like one…! I couldn’t understand where my head was meant to be, or what the “gap” was when, part way through the lesson, you said “under the gap”… I tried various different things like turning head left and right, up and down, and I knew it was somehow related to the hand position, but… Could you elaborate please! 😉

    Reply
    • Nick Strauss-Klein on January 17, 2025 at 6:03 pm

      No dumb questions, and I’m so glad you asked, because it made me realize I’ve got a few readily available photos this.

      For anyone reading this before doing the lesson: DON’T CLICK the following two links! Try the lesson first. It’s better if you don’t have an expectation.

      Here’s one photo and here’s another. NOTE: It’s not at all necessary to be so far “under/through the gap” as the man in these photos is. But you can see how the back of the head slides back through the gap created by the bridged arm.

      Reply
      • Dee on January 18, 2025 at 7:12 am

        Great! That’s so helpful – thank you. The exploration has resonances with Baby Liv’s explorations on your ‘what is Feldenkrais’ video page!

        Reply

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