Long Belly, Strong Back (38m)

This free preview of Patrons content is a standalone lesson, but our Head Under the Gap lessons (full-length or short) were designed as direct follow-ups.

This simple, powerful lesson is designed as an antidote to pervasive cultural messaging about flat stomachs. The truth is that tensing and withdrawing your abdomen severely limits freedom of movement, contributes to anxiety, and can even affect digestion. Feel for yourself the ease and potency of a long belly and well-organized back, and unlock profound benefits for spinal health, hips, shoulders, posture, confidence, athletic skill, and everyday actions. Framed by explorations in standing.

Average Challenge   back-lying  standing 

38m
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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 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.

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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.

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Tip 5 – Discomfort

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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.

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

It’s helpful to use the minimum head support you need for comfort, and as always it should be smooth so your head is free to move.

– This is a great lesson for reversing all the lefts and rights on a subsequent listening. The approaches to the asymmetrical movements at the end are different for the two sides.

– See the listener comments below for how to practice this lesson in chair-seated—even to make travel easier!

– Unmentioned in this lesson is how clarifying it is for hip joint function. By thinking of moving the pubic bone, extension actions are more driven and coordinated by the hip joints. This learning grows richer as you begin to turn your pelvis near the end of the lesson and in the follow-up. Click the Related Lessons tab for another exploration of the relationship between arching the back and the hip flexors.

– Cultural and personal issues around letting our abdomens be longer and bigger are discussed in a fascinating after-class chat with students from when this lesson was recorded with Patrons. Available below for Patron-level donors. Learn more or login:

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

It’s great to study this lesson in a larger context. As stated above, Head Under the Gap, Supine (Patrons) was designed as a direct sequel.

Also, the two free lesson collections we recommend right after Getting Oriented pick up on your Long Belly, Strong Back learning in different ways:

This lesson was recorded in a Patrons Quarterly meeting on Nov 3, 2024, then edited to improve flow, clarity, and sound quality in this permanent audio version.

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Members and Patrons. Learn more or login:

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3 Comments

  1. Nick Strauss-Klein on November 11, 2024 at 8:34 pm

    Don’t miss the fascinating recorded discussion about this lesson and its cultural implications in the Curiosities tab above!

    And here are two comments copied from when Patrons first explored and commented on the unedited version of this lesson, shared with permission:

    Susie on November 7, 2024 at 3:17 am

    Thank you Nick for the class. I really appreciated your invitation to give attention to the front parts of the body (pelvic bone, sternum) as a way to come into extending the spine, somehow this took the pressure off my habitual pattern of over doing it in the lumbar spine and sacrum. I also felt more integration between the lower and upper parts of the body. The spaciousness of the front body together with the diffused engagement of the back seemed to welcome the breath more fully. I’m left with a lovely feeling of being more whole, and all the gifts that this brings. I look forward to trying the longer length version.

    shan shnookal on November 11, 2024 at 2:13 am

    The lesson worked well for me, in spite of it being short, and in spite of it being a bit of a direct challenge to my normal habit of over-using and over-extending my lower back! I’m active and fit, and can “do lots of stuff”… BUT i find STANDING still and erect really difficult, painful, and it even makes me dizzy with low blood pressure. I ‘d had an active morning before doing this lesson, and my lower back was sore. I didn’t do the beginning standing scan of the lesson, as i “knew” it would hurt and i’d feel wonky. During the lesson i concentrated on doing the absolute minimum with my lower back, and trying to find other places that could participate. I didn’t really feel i’d “succeeded” in that aim, but i’ve done enough Feldenkrais to be comfortable with that. And i felt wonderful – free, strong, balanced and pain-free when i stood up! AND had more easy rotation than i expected!

    Thank you Nick for instigating this wonderful Project (and for the Update), and thank you EVERYONE for being part of such a beautiful, positive and healing community.

    Reply
  2. Barthelemy PHILIPPE on December 12, 2024 at 12:37 am

    I’ve just finished this lesson for the second time. The first time around I did it in the floor, today I changed and did it sitting (in a train!). I’m finding fabulous mobility in my hips, especially propulsing either my left or right side & leg forward. My chest is open, I can feel my breathing filling it, and that feels great. The space between my shoulder blades hurts a bit, which surely has an interesting meaning or cause… I’ll come back to the lesson shortly with special attention to this!

    Reply
    • Nick Strauss-Klein on December 12, 2024 at 7:08 am

      Brilliant! I’ve been playing with lots of lengthening my pubic while sitting, but I hadn’t thought of how easily this whole lesson can be transposed to sitting. In case others are curious and want help finding this for themselves, Sitting and Turning with Length (26m) and Easier Sitting Workshop Lesson 2 (12m) use the movement of “propulsing either my left or right side & leg forward” that Barthelemy describes. (Having done Long Belly, Strong Back, you can even skip Workshop Lesson 1 for now, though it is recommended related study.)

      Reply

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