Sliding the Sternum, Twisting with the Miracle of “Just What’s Comfortable” (Patrons)

Nick’s other teaching of Sliding the Sternum can be enjoyed here. Either can be explored first.

This alternate teaching of Sliding the Sternum takes the same Moshe Feldenkrais source lesson in different directions. Spatial awareness, developmental connections, integrating the arms, the length of the axis, and spiraling up and away from the legs are all emphasized in movements exploring how the sternum supports twisting with length.

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 – 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 – Got Questions?

Questions? Am I doing it right? How do I study if I don’t have an hour? How often should I study? I can’t get comfortable – what should I do? See our FAQ!

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.

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.

Tip – How to find lessons

How to find lessons and courses: Use the checkboxes and advanced options on our Lesson Search to apply powerful filters. Alternatively, try Searchable User Comments or our Birds Eye View.

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 2 – Social Sharing

Project tip: Try the share button near the lesson title above, and help us on our mission to spread the life-changing benefits of Feldenkrais study as widely as possible!

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

Tech tip: On mobile or tablet? Once you start playing the audio, your device’s native playback controls should work well.

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 – Lesson names

Lesson access: Thanks to our donors, our lessons are freely offered unless the title ends with (Patrons) – those are how we thank our Patron-level donors. Lesson duration: If you don’t see a duration listed with a title, it’s a regular hour-long class.

Tip – Technical Difficulties

Tech tip: If you have any trouble with the audio player, reboot your browser. That solves most issues. If not, try another browser or contact us.

Tip – Join!

Join the Project! Members and Patrons see streamlined lesson pages, enjoy My Journey (marking lessons played  saved  and “faved” ), and can access the Related Lessons tab below.

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.

Tip – What’s New

What’s New? At the bottom of our homepage you can find all our news, newest lessons and courses, and current comments, questions, and discussions with listeners.

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.

Tip – LESSS is more

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!

Tip – Logo Homepage Content Guide

TIP: Our homepage is our content guide for newcomers. You can always get there by simply clicking our logo at the top left of any page on our site.

Tip – Comments

Project tip: Leave a lesson comment below! It’s a great way to give feedback or ask a question, and it helps google find us so we can achieve The Feldenkrais Project’s vision!

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.

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

Donor Tip: Skip this login next time! See Why & How to Stay Logged In (and why it's safe)

  • Have a bath towel nearby to fold for head support. You’ll want to adjust its thickness frequently to accommodate the lesson’s different body positions and movements.
  • Said in the recording and the lesson title, but worth repeating: comfort first! Take good care of your lumbar or anywhere else that is resistant to twisting. It’s not necessarily to make large movements in this lesson. Let your comfortable range expand organically, not by force or stretching.
  • It’s always reasonable to place something between your knees in side-lying lessons, if needed. If this better enables you to sweep your skyward arm back behind you without lifting your knee, it’s not cheating.
  • As one student pointed out in discussion, if you’re experiencing a lot of discomfort as a background to your study, you might translate “just what’s comfortable” to another phrase: “just what’s curious and doesn’t increase discomfort.” In some life situations this is the best quality we can find to work with, at least at first. As you explore, follow any little pleasures that emerge, even pausing the recording to play with them.
  • After the lesson some women in the class had a discussion about breasts in certain aspects of this lesson. When I ask you to find the bottom of your sternum while lying on your side and twisted back, if breast tissue is in the way, start from higher on your sternum, working your way down if possible. Additionally several women commented in the Zoom text chat about choosing to wear less restrictive bras for ATM study. Some suggested no bra.

We ran a little short on time and skipped, on the second side, the step of sliding the sternum sideways. You might pause the recording sometime after 45 minutes, sometime when you’re lying on your right side, palms stacked together, then…

  • Sweep your left arm through the sky and to the left. Pause in a comfortable twist.
  • Bring your fingers to the base of your sternum and play with sliding the skin, then inviting the sternum and ring of rib bones slightly left.
  • Move up your sternum little by little, doing this at different heights.

While tricky, it may be very interesting to reverse all the lefts and rights on a subsequent exploration of this lesson.

There’s a lovely final variation we didn’t have time for: back-lying, knees bent or legs long, arms open wide, simply think of moving your sternum alternately toward one hand and the other. How does your whole axis – and your whole body and spatial attention – support and respond to this?

There are subtle and interesting connections to the Long Belly, Strong Back sequence of lessons. As you turn into the ground from side-lying, how can your sternum lift forward and up, away from your lengthening abdomen and pubic bone? The entire exploration encourages and benefits from a light, distributed extension through your whole axis: head, sternum, spine, and pelvis.

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

It was recorded in our Pay-What-You-Can Weekly Class on June 25, 2024, then edited to improve flow, clarity, and audio quality.

Members and Patrons. Learn more or login:

Members and Patrons. Learn more or login:

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

Use the comments section below! Public comments build our community and help search engines find us.

horizontal-squiggle

1 Comments

  1. Colby Nolan MBA on July 17, 2025 at 2:29 am

    Relearning how to be upright again, after all these years. It all makes me think about my beautiful, beautiful mother.

Leave a Comment