Spiraling into Circling the Arm Under (Patrons)

First we review the lesson called A Spiral of Length and Power, then we explore a riddle in the realm of “making the impossible, possible”: from lying on your back, one knee bent, foot engaged to turn you onto your side, how can you become supple enough to learn to circle the arm you’re lying on under your body? Adaptations, kindness, and patience are in the foreground, leading to wonderful new freedoms in your shoulders, ribs, spine, neck, posture, and day-to-day function. At the end, an exploration of simpler actions reinforces your learning – even if you couldn't “do” the whole lesson yet.

More Challenging  back-lying  side-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.

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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 – 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 – 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 – 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 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 – 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 – 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 – 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 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.

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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!

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

If you’ve never explored A Spiral of Length and Power (Patrons) or Lifting Up and Through please explore one of them as a prerequisite.

Emphasized throughout but worth repeating: be kind to yourself! Just do what’s comfortable, and you will improve.

Always allow your head to be fully supported as it shifts and rolls, either by your arm, the floor, or a folded towel. You may be tempted to lift your head at times, but this stiffens you and inhibits the required supple movements of your ribs and spine.

Your iliac crest is the bony outer top edge of your pelvis, often called your “hip,” though it’s not the hip joint.

Try the lesson first, then return to the tip below if you get stuck in the first moments of drawing your elbow under your ribs, around 35 minutes in.

There’s a detail that may be counterintuitive when you first come to this moment. At this point your left knee is bent, left foot standing. Your left hip is lifted, and you’re turned to lie on your long right side. As you begin to introduce your bent right elbow underneath your right ribs, roll forward as you lift those ribs and draw the elbow under your waist and behind you. When eventually your right arm is fully behind your torso you may be nearly lying on your front. As you slip it back under and in front of you, you may find yourself rolling backward a little.

In discussion after this class two students talked about finding the movement impossible on the first side, and possible – even easy – on the second. One reflected that she was “quite amused” by her own early confusion and inability to do all the movements on the first side.

We celebrated this attitude! Viewing our challenges playfully – and without judgment – affords us the best chance to learn something radically new.

Another tip: if you find the first side very difficult, it can be really informative to reverse all the lefts and rights on a second exploration of the lesson.

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

“The last two weeks’ lessons” are mentioned. They included A Spiral of Length and Power (Patrons) and another lesson built on the same ideas.

This lesson was recorded in The FP Weekly Zoom class on Aug 22, 2023 then edited to improve flow, clarity, and sound quality in this permanent audio version.

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3 Comments

  1. Dael Parsons on August 3, 2024 at 11:33 pm

    Amazing lesson Nick. I understand why you return to it many times over the years. I sense profound shifts happening immediately. It will be fun to live and move from this new place of awareness and see what unfolds. Thank you!

    Reply
  2. Lorraine on August 6, 2024 at 2:03 pm

    Great lesson! So much to to learn!
    My learning was helped by the fact that I have a tear in my left supraspinatus tendon and know that to strain or force my left shoulder is damaging. So I needed to be very gentle and very creative. I’m waiting for the learning to transfer to my right side which I did first and could skip some learning by pushing through.

    Reply
  3. B R on November 23, 2024 at 6:04 pm

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    Thank you😭😭😭😭😭there is absolute freedom in rolling with body-happy rolling tears. This is a beautiful lesson. Sorcery, rather.
    It includes so many aspects and Many favors and benefits throughout the lesson.
    The reflection close to the end “how do you get up?” Why side turn rolling.!🙏 A lesson in and of itself – not to leave out beautiful and elegant. There is excellence and mastery in this lesson!!!
    Nick is superb here (and always!) in every detail.
    For some reason I had the image of an old train, the fascinating way the gears work ( don’t know their names:)) like a perfectly oiled mechanics’ display in motion. The lesson done exactly as Nick notes helps, teaches so much more about the shoulder and arm areas, especially positioning the arm properly for other lessons and…life.
    Profound gratitude🤍

    Reply

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