The 7th Exercise From Thomas Hanna's 'Daily Cat' Series

In this video, I am introducing the 7th exercise in Thomas Hanna's 'Daily Cat' Series. This is a wonderful movement that can at first be perplexing. My hope is that this practice helps you to gain clarity and feel confident in bringing this very beneficial Hanna Somatic exercise into your movement practice.

Transcript

Hi, I'm Lisa. I'm so happy you're here for this hanosomatic education practice. In this practice, I'd like to share with you the seventh exercise from Thomas Hanna's daily cat routine. Which are a group of hanosomatic exercises that give you a way to address and release stress you may have accumulated in your day. And they're actually summary movements from his more in-depth Myth of Aging series. This movement series, Cat 7, Is so beneficial. It does take longer to do, Especially when you're first learning it. And the movement that you're invited to do at your ankles in version E version, It's a movement that for a lot of us, Until we've come to this type of work, We've never done consciously, Intentionally. So I just wanted to take time to introduce you to it. And you can do this as a practice on its own, Or you can add it in to your daily cat practice. In this work we don't force. You're tuned in keenly to what your movement feels like from within. You're tuned into your SOMA. We go just as far with our movement as we can without forcing. We stay within a comfortable range, Which may mean you only imagine a movement today. Or today a movement is micro. And over time, You'll begin to understand that even imagined movements, Very subtle movements, Are deeply effective. We'll be doing this from the ground. It's really nice to do it on a carpet. And you can have pillows, Blankets, Anything nearby that may help you to be more comfortable as you're on the floor, Maybe supporting your head, Maybe supporting your knees. As much as you can, Listen to the instructions. Organize them within yourself and do the version that leaves you in comfort. If you find my words, My instructions are insufficient, Pause what you're doing. Take a peek at what I'm doing. Then go back to doing what you're doing. Try not to watch me as you're doing what you're doing. So let's go ahead and find our way down. Make sure you feel comfortable. You can close your eyes if you'd like. And just start to breathe a little bit slower and a little bit deeper. If you'd like, You can put your attention in the area of your heart. And you begin to make that transition. From an external outer experience of yourself to an inner somatic experience of yourself. So we'll do the first two exercises of the daily cat to sort of warm us up and prepare us for the seventh exercise. Bend your knees, Stand your feet on the floor. Put your attention in your low back, Your pelvis. And as you gently lift your low back without lifting your pelvis, You've created an arch of your low back and you may notice your tailbone has gone into the floor. To do that, You contracted muscles in your back. So now slowly release. And the way you're able to release is your motor cortex is now decontracting those back muscles. To flatten, Gently draw your low back towards the floor. Your pelvis is rocking back. You've contracted muscles in your abdomen. And as you slowly release those contracted muscles, You come out of the flattening pattern. You can breathe in as you arch again, Put your attention in your back. Breathe out as you slowly release. Breathe out as you flatten your attention in your abdomen. Breathe in as you slowly release. Inhaling as you arch your low back. Exhale as you release and return to neutral. Exhale as you flatten, Contracting abdominal muscles. Inhale as you release and return to neutral. Place your hands now under your head for arch and curl. On an inhale, Arch your back, Bring your head and tailbone back against the floor gently. Slowly release. Bring your elbows forward, Chin a little towards chest. And as you exhale, Pick your head up a little bit. And slowly, Really. Inhale to arch your back. Exhale, Release what you contracted, Return to neutral. Curl forward as you exhale, Focusing on all the muscles you're contracting in the front of your body. And then a slow, Controlled release, Which occurs as your motor cortex is now lowering the level of contraction in those muscles. Do one more cycle of your arch and curl. And then take a brief moment. And notice the effects of doing Cat 1 and Cat 2. Okay, So as we go into the Cat 7, I'm going to change my orientation to the camera so that if you need, You can pause your movement and take a peek. You're going to do what's called an inversion of your right ankle. It's a shortening of your right ankle, Which causes the bottom of your right foot to turn in an arcing pattern towards your face. And that causes your right leg to laterally or externally rotate at your hip. And then you're going to slide that right foot. Keeping that inversion up floor a little and your right knee is going to be bending out to the side. And then you slowly reverse out of it until you're resting and you're neutral again. Do that same movement two more times. Invert at your right ankle. Turn the bottom of your right foot in. Feel your right leg rolling out, Right knee rolling out. And as you slide your foot up the floor, Your right knee bends out to the side. And slowly reverse back down. This is where the carpet's helpful because your foot has an easy time sliding. When you next return to neutral pause, We're going to stay with that same right leg. See if you can organize now eversion at your right ankle. You're shortening your outer right ankle. So the bottom of your right foot is turning out away from your midline. And your right thigh, Your right leg, Is being turned medially or inward. As you maintain the eversion of your ankle and start to slide your foot towards your body, Your right knee bends. Now it's going in. It's going towards your opposite side. And then you slowly reverse out. And you can explore that movement again. Evert at your right ankle, Turn bottom of foot out. Feel your left leg being turned in. As you slide your foot towards your body, Your right knee is moving towards your left side. And slowly release. The next time you're in neutral, Pause. Staying with your right leg. Alternate. But remember to keep this as a pandiculation. So you move and you return to neutral before you move again. Invert at your ankle. Your knee bends out to the side. As you slide your foot towards your body, The bottom of your foot is towards the left. Turn your head left. And then reverse out, Return to neutral. Evert at your right ankle. As you slide your foot towards your body, Your knee is going to the left. Bottom of your foot faces right. Turn your head right. And slowly reverse out. Return to neutral. Do two more cycles. Make your movement as smooth and as easy as you're able to. Remember that from a place of confusion, Arriving at a place of understanding happens through a journey of learning. And we are not doing this to become adept. We're doing this for the learning that can occur. When you complete your next cycle, Pause for a moment. Tune into your right leg. Tune in to the sensations you notice in your right leg. That's sensory feedback. And you may find that the sensory feedback coming to your brain from your right leg is much different than what's being communicated from your left. So now let's work with your left leg. Invert at your left ankle, Bottom of foot turns in as you slide your foot up, Your knee bends out to the left, And you can turn your head right. Slide your foot back down. Do that movement two more times. Pay particular attention here. Oftentimes, Sides are different. So you may end up going farther with this side without any additional effort. And you may need to go less far. And then you'll begin to work with eversion at your left ankle. Left leg is medially or internally rotating. And as you slide your foot towards your body and bend your knee, It's going towards the right. Your head turns towards your left. Release slowly to neutral and repeat that pattern another two times. When you've completed, Do about three cycles of alternating. Make sure that after each movement there's a slow, Controlled return to neutral. You want to give the muscles you contracted the opportunity to decontract. When you complete your next cycle. Return to your neutral, Scan your body to notice the effect particularly noticing if your left and right legs now feel more alike. So let's do those movements with both legs moving together. Invert at your ankle, The bottom of your foot turns in. Legs laterally rotate. As you slide your feet towards your body, Your knees bend out to the side. We call this bow-legged. Slide your feet back down. Evert at your ankle as your feet turn out your legs turn in And as you bend your knees, They're going towards each other and up to the ceiling. Knees are close, Feet are apart. Knock-kneed. And slowly re-lean. Alternate between your bowlegged position coming out and then you're not need. Going just as far as you go, Moving with comfort and ease. And when you complete about three cycles, Pause and take a moment to tune in. So that movement, Both legs moving in the same pattern. We're going to do a movement now where you move both legs together, But they're doing opposite movements. It's kind of likened to the skiing motion. And you may find it's helpful to move your arms out a little to make space for your legs. You can start with your legs and feet closer together. Invert your left ankle, So bottom of foot turns in, Left leg turns out. Evert at your right ankle, Bottom of right foot turns out, Right leg turns in. Both legs have turned toward your left. On an exhale, Gently draw your knees and thighs up the left side of your body and you can turn your head right. And slowly reverse out. Now invert your right ankle, Evert your left, Both legs have turned to the right. As you exhale, Draw your knees and thighs up the right side of your body as you roll your head gently left. And slowly. Come back to neutral. Err on the side of doing too little. Gently alternating side to side. Making sure that there's a release, A return to neutral. After each movement. When you return to neutral the next time, Pause. Take a moment to scan. Notice the sensory feedback. Just to address any muscles that maybe became activated in Doing that cat seven sometimes a new movement. We may try a little too hard We're going to use cat number four just as a reset Put your right hand behind your head. Bring your left knee in. Take it gently in your left hand. Find an exhale, Curl forward using your abdomen to lift your head Turn and aim your elbow at your left knee And then slowly release and our cheer bath. Come out of your arch, Take your left knee, Curl forward, Turn, Aim your elbow at your knee. Slowly release. And change sides. And when you've completed a cycle or two. Release your arms and legs down the floor. Find a comfortable position. Just take a moment to consciously experience the effects of the movements you did. As you feel ready, Bend your knees. Stand your feet. Ease your way over onto one side. Use your arms to bring yourself up. Take a moment sitting. As you feel ready, Come up to stand and move on into what happens next in your day. I thank you so much for joining me today and I hope you find this video helpful. Namaste.