Long Belly, Strong Back: Short Version
This free preview of Patrons content works well on its own. It’s also at the heart of our Action Heroes Deep Dive course, which includes many variations on this lesson.
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 negatively impacts digestion. This lesson helps you question – through your own felt experience – popular assumptions about the use of the "core" and the associated withdrawn posture of the chest, shoulders, and pelvis. 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.
Got a question for Nick, or a thought about this lesson?
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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.
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!
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.)
This lesson left me with a wonderful sense of ease, comfort, peace and a distinct length in the front of my body. There was much more ease and range of movement, as well as engagement of my whole body, which became evident from the standing test of turning from side to side following the lesson. My whole digestive area was gurgling and suggested to me that it was more relaxed and at ease………”thank goodness….I can relax” it said to me 😃
Love these shorter classes Nick and I appreciate this wonderful resource that I can use anywhere, anytime, wherever I am in the world! That is a “stability” for me knowing I can take care of myself anytime I need it. Thank you!
Oh and I meant to say. This lesson is about the societal pervasive suggestion of having a flat stomach. Well that’s what I ended up with……..a flatter stomach. I guess the lengthening in the exercise helped to release my stomach area, and bingo, a flatter area.😃😃😃 Thanks Nick!
Yes, I realised that I thought working with the abdominals and desiring a flat stomach meant pulling the muscles in. Now I realise that lengthening them will naturally bring that flatness about without effort and without judgement. I have also realised that you can lengthen the back muscles at the same time— I thought it was one or the other!
This has been my go-to first aid lesson for the past 2 weeks after 2 encounters with a new PT. In an effort to strengthen my core, my PT aggressively introduced me to IAP (Intra-abdominal pressure). Although Nick’s warning light went off as I tried to EFFORT my way to push and pull my abdominal muscles, diaphragm, and pelvis, it was my back that screamed at me! I blamed myself for doing it incorrectly, so returned for a second session, and as my back pain returned, I heard Nick’s voice reminding me that my body deserves better than this! Nick’s reference to creating a “cylinder” at the beginning of this lesson confirmed that I was on the right track to lengthen my belly and strengthen my back in a kind way. Each time I do this lesson, I’m aware of spacious length and ease, and a way happier back! Knowing I can turn to Feldenkrais lessons has opened me to a world of options, surprises, and possibilities! I’m so grateful, and in the meantime will substitute PT sessions with ATM’s.
Joyful lesson. I experienced the three-dimensional aspect of the body. I felt like a graceful bird/swan/goose while on the floor. Improved posture at the end. Thank you!
could not find arm exercises
very good lesson for back and moving with pleasure
letting go of mental chatter
thank you
Our pleasure! When the body gets more organized, the mind quiets. You can use our Browse, Search, & Filter and simply type in the word “arms” to find lots of lessons about them.
A learning for me was turning by lengthening my front rather than being focused on the back/spine; I think this made the action softer and longer. The asymmetric lengthening with one leg long felt wonderfully expansive.
I repeated this lesson prior to the Long Belly, Long Back, Psoas to Improve Walking lesson and it was so good that I wonder that despite having it listed as a favourite I had not actually repeated it till now. Too many other lessons to do I guess 😊. I have been having trouble with my thoracic back ( lifetime of sitting hunched 😂) and this lesson really opened up my chest and my back and was a great example of how everything is related…and that when we move, everything moves courtesy of the fascia that connects us from top to toe…unless of course we keep something restricted and don’t allow it to move freely. These lessons become an antidote to a lifetime of restricting our movement with bad postures and bad movement patterns. Am looking forward to doing Long Belly Long Back now and gaining a bit more insight into how my thoracic backpain on LHS is related to hip pain on RHS
Thanks ever so much for providing this great resource…Nick you have an intrinsic understanding of of how the body moves and a clear and precise way of directing us to find this for ourselves…and a voice that is very easy to listen to. Thank you 🙏
I agree wholeheartedly: “These lessons become an antidote to a lifetime of restricting movement”. I can’t get enough of Long Belly, Strong Back kinds of study. Our new “Action Heroes” Deep Dive that lays out a path through all the related lessons is coming very soon!
Thank you for this beautiful lesson Nick! It was my first experience with Feldenkrais shared from a friend. Even though I need to be extremely careful with spinal extension in the lumbar due to spodylolysthesis I still benefitted from and felt safe and supported to modify your cues to honour my body in this moment. I feel more present in and attuned to my body, my bones and biomechanics.
Fantastic! Welcome to Feldenkrais. Feel free to repeat this lesson, or explore our whole Getting Oriented series of free intro lessons.