Spine Like a Chain, Freeing the Shoulder Girdle
Back-lying, knees bent, learning to gradually lift and lower the pelvis and spine. This variant of a classic Feldenkrais lesson cultivates awareness especially around the middle and upper spine and ribs, the shoulder blades, sternum, and C7 (seventh cervical vertebra) region.
61m
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Thanks. After a day of driving and sitting in a chair this was really helpful. Really helped a sub-acute neck problem too.
I really enjoyed this lesson and was able to convince my husband to try Feldenkrais ATM for the first time. He was amazed!
Love that together we made a new Felden-fan! Thanks for spreading the word in your own home!
My neck, shoulders and upper back feel released, warm and wonderful. One of my hamstrings cramped after lifting my pelvis multiple times, so I moved my feet further apart and that adjustment helped. I’ve noticed that I need to stretch my calves and hamstrings after these lessons, even though I rest often. If I don’t, they are very tight the next day. Am I doing something wrong?
Hard to say from a far off computer, but if you have discovered a value to resting even more, it sounds like the answer is no, you’re not doing something wrong! It also sounds very wise that you are experimenting with the width of your feet while lifting your pelvis. You might also explore how close your feet are to your bottom (how bent your knees are).
Finally, the first four lessons in our collection called Lessons for Better Posture, Walking, and Running may also help, as well as the lesson called Breath, Belly, Back, and Hips.
Thanks Nick. This is an incredible lesson. And after some time away reminded me of the many simultaneous benefits of Feldenkrais — on nervous system as well as muscular skeletal system. Much appreciated!
Hi I love your lessons. One question I have is when my legs are extended when I’m lying flat on the floor are my legs supposed to be rolled to the side or am I supposed to be on my heels. My legs don’t want to sit on my heels very comfortably. When I put them on my heels there’s a large space between the floor and my knees. Should I keep working with my legs in the heel position or should I just let them lay over on their side.
You can let your legs roll outward into external rotation. Usually that’s an option with more ease and comfort, and we’re interested in the rests being as truly restful as possible. Also, consider exploring Legs as Free as a Baby’s, or returning to it if you’ve done it before. It may be helpful.
What might you say is the overall purpose of this lesson?
Hi Sarah. The title and the italicized lesson description are pretty direct about my intentions, but also there’s basic Spine Like a Chain goals for this classic type of lesson. Maybe you’re asking about that? When we organize ourselves to lift and lower our backs in this precise way we’re exploring a sophisticated coordination of our major postural muscles in the context of thrusting the legs into the ground, and moving our bodies upward and forward. This relates to (and is intended to improve) what we do on our feet all day long when standing, walking, running, etc. Please reply again if you have more questions.
I have lots of curiosities!! 1) When you lift the pelvis high and all the weight is on the C7 area, I feel like my neck wants to tuck in to my chest. Is that correct/safe?
Also, I love how you mentioned that muscles tend to want to “impulsively tighten” because that is my life: muscle memory.for every tense situation whether it be positive or negative, my neck muscles want to tense. Once you become aware with the “lulling” that they are tense, how do you get them to relax??
Finally, I loved all the breathing stuff, not sure I understand how it relates to the rest, but I trust Moshe and you. But in regular life, and exercise, lifting weights, etc. what is the most ideal way to breathe? some say belly breathing should be 100% goal 24/7, others say, no. I’m just curious on your opinion if you don’t mind.
1) Going slowly and gently enough to listen for safety and comfort is always essential, and yes, it’s a biomechanical “normal” to let the back of the neck lengthen more (and therefore the chin tucks) when you lift your pelvis high.
2) You growing awareness is the primary tool of learning to let go of compulsively tight muscles. It takes almost a “zen” attitude when encountering strong longtime tightnesses: noticing they’re tight in new contexts in the lessons, and not really trying to do anything (just noticing, moving gently, and enjoying/emphasizing movements that seem to ease things even slightly). When we “try” (even “trying” to relax), we tighten! So don’t try, just pay attention and go kindly. Those longtime compulsions will improve over time, and along with everything else.
3) Breathing: as in all function, what we’re looking to improve is your capacity to adapt and respond well to the current moment. So the most ideal way to breathe is…”it depends”! 20 years of Feldenkrais study have made me exceptionally wary of any authority that tells me there’s a 24/7 100% goal. That’s always an external authority. I study Feldenkrais so that I can better sense and rely on my “internal authority.” I know what satisfying, productive breathing feels like when I’m sprinting. And when I’m meditating. They’re quite different!
Thanks so much. THese will be my goals. Your insight and I really respect your insight will help me continue to go on and progress and have success in winning against my “compulsive muscles”. thanks and God bless you again and always!
Hello Nick, I have a generic question: i really like this lesson, so i have done it several times. I also explored a few others but this is my favorite and since i tend to have tension in my neck and upper back i really feel i get a lot out of it. Unlike other practices like Yoga, etc, it seems that in Feldenkrais you can do this or that lesson freely. Is there any generic concept/guidelines about repeating the same lessons many time versus exploring new ones? or it is more an intuitive process in which are all invited to follow our instincts?
Thanks!
Guido
I think the answer is closer to the intuitive process you describe, but I would add that there is great value to a “survey course” of lessons (while also returning to favorites as often as you wish). I’ve tried to create ways to branch out from favorite lessons by progressing through the collection you find them in, and also by exploring the lessons mentioned in the Context and Related Lessons tabs, which you have access to as a donor. Thanks for your question and your financial support of the FP!
Thanks a lot Nick! I understand what you say. And also, i think that exploring different lessons will work somehow improving and creating new patterns of movement. I had a teacher of Wing Chung many years ago who told me that we learn these kinds of things, not so much in a lineal sequence but randomly like filling the holes of a gruyere cheese. I suspect this applies to Feldenkrais too! Thanks again
Thanks Nick, that was a soft but powerful ATM! I really liked the direction to have inaudible breathing, it gave me much needed room in my throat and jaw and gave me an idea to release the fist like pressure in my sacrum. Enjoying deep diving into the Feldenkrais project through your website, thanks for the offering!
Revisiting spine like a chain during a bought of the night wakes (insomnia). This is the first time I’ve done your version of this lesson. I’m on my third year (give or take) of doing ATM lessons. When I started Feldenkrais, my lower back would protest loudly whenever I attempted spine like a chain…I hated it, it was so hard for me. In my sleep deprived mind, I decided to give it a try-such a difference, so much less tension, more gentle awareness. Thank you for your excellent teaching and this precious resource!
Thanks! I think a lot of listeners resonate with your experience of this genre of lesson. It’s challenging at first for many people, but you’ve developed the experience and found the self-care you needed to make something great out of it!
I am really enjoying this series of lessons. Each is a gem in itself but together they add up to more than the sum of the parts.
Well said! I think so, too. I’m very conscious in the collections and miniseries about the sequence of lessons. It’s remarkable how our learning experience can accumulate!
Dear Nick, this is one of favorite lessons and especially if the tight neck coming back. My husband and the rest of my family practise with your lessons almost daily and we have regular ‘feldy’ discussions about what we learnt or what helped and mostly about how much better we feel after every lesson. So I am deeply grateful to you for this project. Feldenkrais is about the only practice that really releases and changes stuckness and I have tried EVERYTHING. Lol! -) So a big wonderful thank you to you!
Amazing! Thank you for your inspiring words. I love how the Project works, and comments like these keep me motivated! Thanks for sharing Feldenkrais with your whole family!
Hi, this lesson was wonderful for allowing my thoracic spine to become more mobile. My lower spine (pelvis/lower back) is still tight and comes down in a chunk and feels a bit painful. Is there a lesson I can do to help this area to become more mobile?
Thank you
Sure, a couple ideas: 1) If you like this lesson genre and haven’t done our simpler, smaller version of it, try Spine Like a Chain, with a Bias. But perhaps that may be too direct an approach. You could also try 2) one of our folding lessons (use our lesson search for “folding”). Finally 3) try one of the early lessons in our Pelvic Clock “Primer” course. These are nice, gentle ways of mobilizing the pelvis and lower back that work well for most people. As always, follow your ease and comfort toward the learning path that’s best for you right now.
I have been working from home now for 3 years, so find that the movement i used to do whilst in an office has diminished over that time. I have also not been as committed to Nick’s classes as I was when I first started working from home, even though I am a donor! Go figure…….
Anyway, an increasing neck issue over the last month has pushed me back into taking these wonderful Classes and I started back with this one today. The sense of comfort, calm, peace and relaxation that Feldenkrais always gives when you do the Classes is palpable.
This Class has sure set me back on the straight and narrow. I began the Class with a very stiff pelvic area and could hardly lift it, but by the end of the Class, I could raise it all the way up to the C7 area with little or no effort.
The profoundness of Feldenkrais of LESS is MORE is never a truer word spoken. Thanks Nick for expanding your website and building it to a point that it has become so much easier to navigate and participate. I sure appreciate you and your team to make such an effect in peoples lives, even at a distance. (I am in Australia) This technique truly is amazing! God Bless Moshe and your teaching ability to keep it going. Thank you!
Isn’t it sweet to return to studying Feldenkrais when we need it? We love just “being there” for folks when they’re looking for support. Thanks for your comment, and for supporting us!
Awesome lesson. It is starting to open up my shoulder girdle area that has been very held. I will do redo these lessons to keep bringing awareness and ease to myself.