Easier Meditating By Sitting More Comfortably: A Feldenkrais Lesson

Please find a place on the floor where you can lie down comfortably and spread out.

Ideally,

This is a blanket or a rug versus a narrow mat that would limit your ability to spread your arms and legs comfortably.

Remove your glasses,

Belts,

Or jewelry so you can be even more comfortable.

And now find a way to come up to sit.

Sit down as you are going to stand up again and observe how you do it.

And then lie down again.

Did you pay attention to how you did it?

Do it again.

Come to sit.

Now lie down again.

Take a breath.

See if you can picture in your mind's eye the shape,

The form of your body as it came up to sit.

And now let your attention shift for a moment to the contact that you are making with the floor.

Observe your heels,

The right and the left one,

As they connect to your ankles,

Calves,

And thighs,

Showing you a pattern of contact and distance from the floor that is probably a little different on the right side compared with the left.

See if you can find an infinite amount of kindness to yourself as you observe these differences.

In other words,

If one side feels tighter,

Shorter,

Or heavier than the other,

Make no big deal about it.

Just observe that.

Don't wish to change or for anything to be different.

Follow the contact all the way across your pelvis and into your lower back and let it gently guide your attention towards the back of your head.

So you will sense,

Again,

Little spaces and contact on your lower back,

Your chest,

Your ribs,

The space between your shoulder blades,

Back of your neck,

Your two arms,

And see if the differences also are clear in the upper body.

Maybe one of your arms feels longer,

Higher,

More connected to your torso than the other.

Maybe one side of your chest is a little wider in your perception.

Now let your head move a little bit to the left and to the right and see if you can also detect a little difference in the pathway of the head,

The arc of your eyes as you look to the right and to the left easily.

If you were to choose a direction on which to turn to,

Is it clear to you that one side is easier,

More available than the other?

Is this related to the side of your bed you sleep on or the way you get up in the morning every day?

Is it related to where the door is if you were to get out of this room right now?

Is it because it's the only way you know how to do it?

You always turn to the right.

Now leave your head quiet in that place that is not the left and not the right.

Take a breath and observe the space between your teeth,

Making sure that there is some.

So the jaws are not tight and you're not clenching as you rest and see if you can maintain this space between your teeth as we go through the movements of today's lesson.

If you find yourself clenching your teeth or holding your breath as you move,

Make a little adjustment to create a little more space to bring in a little more air and see if that makes a difference in the quality of the movement.

Now,

In an easy way,

Bring up one of your knees so your feet can stand on the floor and then put it down again and bring the other one.

And observe the difference,

See if the pathway of the legs is the same,

The sensation of ease,

Comfort.

And notice if you hold your breath because you bend in your knee or can you maintain an uninterrupted flow of air coming in and out of your body as you move?

Now for a moment,

Let's just work with your right leg.

So bend your leg and see if you can find a different way to bring your leg up.

So you've done your familiar way a number of times by now and see what would it take for you to explore a different pathway and observe the different sensations that this pathway invites you to experience.

Make the leg long again and find yet a different way.

Some ways may feel more comfortable,

Simpler.

Some of them are complex,

Less easy.

So spend some time looking for two or maybe three ways of bending your knee and standing your foot.

And off the bat,

Don't make a judgment as to which one is more efficient.

Just take them as a discovery process of learning two or three ways of doing the same thing.

Take a moment to rest.

And sense again the contact of your body with the floor and the differences between left and right and see if something is already beginning to change.

Take your head a little bit off the middle,

To the right and to the left and observe again any little difference that you can detect between now and the last time you were moving your head.

Now leave your head again in that place that is not the right and not the left.

Observe your ability to identify that place and bring up your right leg up again.

Bend it,

Stand your foot and see if you've immediately went to the familiar way,

The habitual way or you dared to use by choice one of the new ways that you've explored just a moment ago.

And again,

Have infinite kindness to yourself no matter what you did.

Just observe it.

Now with your foot flat on the ground,

Begin to engage with the floor in such a way that your pelvis begins to move a little bit to the left.

You may call this pressure or more contact.

You may even think about it as if the floor invites your foot to come into your body,

Your leg,

As if it could come into you up and meeting you.

Any image that serves you is helpful.

So play with a couple different ways where you can engage your foot with the floor so your leg moves your pelvis to the left.

And at this point,

Make sure that you have enough space between the left hand and your body so as your pelvis moves to the left,

You don't find any limitation.

What happens to the spine?

What happens to your head?

Is there any movement up in your torso?

If you were to open your eyes and let the head move,

Would you be willing to look down or would you be more interested in looking up?

Do it a few times and let your eyes glide to the left in the direction of your left hand.

And observe if there's a moment where you feel any inclination for your left leg to bend a little bit.

Just watch for the timing of the movement.

Don't force it.

Don't push it.

It's more a way of listening.

And after three or four repetitions,

Maybe five,

You can take another little break.

Make your legs long.

Rest again and sense if there's anything changing anywhere.

You take a breath now.

Is there a little bit more room anywhere for your oxygen to go?

Can you find clearer sensation of your back on the floor?

Of your ribs as you breathe?

Now,

Take your right hand and place it across your body over the left side of your lower ribs.

And bend your right leg again in any way you want,

Extending your right foot and continue doing this movement of pressing or engaging with the floor in such a way that your pelvis turns to the left.

And just observe what happens on your ribs under the palm of your right hand.

See if your left side of your lower ribs feel more invited to lift or to go down.

To come away from the floor or to go down in the direction of the floor.

And if you can,

Let your eyes move to the left.

Let your teeth have a little space between them.

Let your breath be free.

You may notice a tendency of your ribs to either come up or stay in place.

See if you can use your hand to gently guide your ribs in the direction of the floor as you do the movement with the leg.

Gently caressing or pressing lightly as if to find a little more contact with the back of your ribs against the floor.

And after four or five repetitions,

You can rest.

Or even so,

After two or three,

Whenever you feel it's a good time before you get tired of the movement or bored.

Let your rest observe the changes that begin to emerge,

Anything that is interesting to you.

Now,

In your imagination,

Take a big,

Wide paintbrush,

Maybe two or three inches wide,

And dip it in an imaginary paint color of your choice.

Now,

Place this paintbrush on your right shoulder and paint a line,

Wide as the paintbrush,

That connects your right shoulder with your right breast across the sternum to the left side of your ribs in the front.

And around you to the side of your left ribs,

The back of your left lower ribs,

And all the way across your back through the spine in the direction of the right shoulder blade until it joins your right shoulder where you began the line.

And paint this band over and over until it's very,

Very clear in your self-image.

Wide,

Bright,

Connecting your shoulder on the right side to your lower ribs on the left side.

And now,

Place your right palm again over the left side of the ribs in such a way that is on this imaginary band that you just painted.

And bend your right leg again in any way you want,

And resume the movement of pressing or engaging with the floor to tilt your pelvis,

And let the hand merge with this imaginary band in a way that your ribs can go down into the floor and around,

Following the shape of this round band.

You can also think of this band as a big tire.

And look for this movement of rotation or traction as a big wheel that comes all around your chest.

So as your pelvis tilts to the left,

Your lower ribs on the left side can go down and around,

And maybe the right shoulder will lift a little bit off the floor.

Looking for a circular,

Wheel-like motion of this band across your chest that moves at the same time that your pelvis and your head are moving to the left.

Play with this image in a couple different ways.

In other words,

Don't get stuck to only doing it one way.

You can put your attention in different places,

And this might help you find different ways of doing it.

You can think of it as coming from your foot,

Or coming from your pelvis,

Or starting at the band where the ribs are,

Or where the right shoulder is.

You can think of it beginning from your eyes.

You can maybe be so adventurous as to think about all these points at the same time.

And of course,

Listen carefully for that moment when you do need a rest and give it to yourself.

What are the changes?

If you look left and right,

Which side is easier?

What happens to the contact of your body and the floor at this point?

To your breathing?

Now bend your right leg again,

Hopefully looking for a different way,

And not always the same one.

And this time let your right arm float above your body in space in the direction of your left hand.

So not exactly towards the ceiling,

But more or less towards the left,

As if somebody was gently pulling you,

Lifting you off the floor.

And see if you can engage this imaginary band or tire using your ribs to make your arm a little lighter.

It might have to do with the contact of your,

The back of your ribs on the floor on the left side.

Spend a little time reaching towards the left hand with your right arm,

As if you were going to let your torso peel off the floor.

Not by force,

But by using this imaginary wheel,

This band or tire that connects your ribs with your shoulder.

And if at any time you think that the foot and the leg may assist you in this movement,

Feel free to use it.

Again,

Not because you force it,

But because there might be an invitation coming from your pelvis,

A call to action.

But still your intention is in reaching with the right arm in the direction of your left hand across your body,

Making sure that your ribs are not lifting off the floor on the left side,

But coming down and into the floor.

Folding,

Looking down,

Looking at your left hand.

And then do the same movement,

But start from the foot,

Letting your right foot be the beginning,

The initiation of the movement.

So you would engage with the floor,

Take your pelvis to the left,

And then let the ribs come and the arm go towards the left.

So it's not the right arm reaching first,

But the right leg directing your movement first,

And then the arm will reach.

And observe which of these two different ways seems easier for you.

Less resistance.

And is there a moment where the left knee would like to bend?

It's a lot of different moving parts,

And it takes a lot of listening.

So be patient,

Be kind to yourself.

Don't force it.

Observe when do you feel the need to stop moving,

To rest,

To check in with yourself again,

And honor this moment.

Now for a moment,

Let's pay attention to the roll of your left arm in this whole movement configuration we're exploring today.

Think of your joints as points of support and contact.

So not only stabilizing the movement or allowing for more flexibility,

But also as points where if you were to lean on,

You could find support.

Yeah,

Such as you are clearly aware of your feet and your ankles.

See if you can think for a moment of your hands and wrists and elbows having the same potential.

So look for a way to arrange your left arm.

So as if you were maybe going to put weight on the elbow and weight on the palm.

In other words,

Place them where you can use them.

Place the left palm and the left elbow in a position of strength where you could,

If you want to,

Lean on them.

And now arrange yourself in the same way you were just a moment ago with your right knee bent,

Your right foot on the ground.

Your right arm floating across your body in the direction of your left hand.

And as you continue this exploration of turning to the left by engaging your foot with the floor,

Your ribs with the floor,

Observing when does your left knee want to bend instead of keeping it rigid.

Maybe imagining a person gently pulling your arm across your body,

Assisting you in this turning to the left.

When is that moment where you could maybe lift the right side of your shoulders to follow this movement through all the way to sitting?

It might not happen if your left elbow is not available to support you.

So again,

Think of the joint of your elbow and the joint of your wrist and your palm as points of support.

And let your legs be part of the movement.

So the right leg and the left leg can both.

Take a role in the coming to sit.

It'll make a big difference if you can use your ribs against the floor with this imaginary traction of the band that you painted in your mind's eye a moment ago.

Because if you don't,

The ribs lifted and coming away from the floor will be a contradiction to the movement.

As you lean with the right foot and lean with the left elbow,

The ribs are kind of in the middle.

So they have the potential to assist you and become another point of support.

Or if you don't use them,

They may stop you.

They may inhibit your ability to get off the floor more easily.

So as you leave this now and take another rest,

Imagine the movement.

Close your eyes.

See if you can see yourself from above and imagine yourself bending your right leg,

Bringing your right arm across your body and initiating the movement of turning to the left.

Lifting your right shoulder,

Letting your ribs on the left side be active participants supporting your turning.

And observe the moment where your left knee bends and you reach for support on your left elbow.

All in your mind's eye.

See it as clearly as you can.

A matter of timing is almost like a symphony,

The harmony of all the different parts of your body moving together.

In your imagination,

Are you holding your breath?

Are you clenching your teeth?

Can you let the movement be absolutely free?

Imagine a baby playing with this rolling,

Maybe wanting to go on his belly first three to six months of life.

There's a sense of joy and discovery and almost exhilaration in this process that babies engage on for learning.

And as we age,

Sometimes we lose this ability to learn in this way.

And learning becomes a chore,

Becomes a conditioning.

So now as you imagine this movement once again,

Infuse a little bit of this joy or this discovery and excitement for learning something new that you might have seen in a child.

And when you do it again,

Let this feeling be the driving force behind it.

Forget about the sequence.

Forget about the right or wrong way of doing it.

And just connect to this experience of discovering something exciting,

Exciting.

A new way that you haven't explored before and see if the pieces come together in an easier way because your sensation,

Your feeling is different.

Bend your right leg.

Let your right hand float towards the floor and reach for every point of contact that you have.

The ribs,

The left elbow,

The left palm.

Even before your right hand even reaches the floor,

You have an elbow on the left side that you can use to lean on.

You have a rib side on the left that can reach for the floor.

You have a leg on the left side that can bend.

Your head and eyes looking down.

They all support this folding,

This coming up to sit by ways of rolling to the side.

A couple times change the pace of the movement so do it a little faster.

Avoid thinking too hard.

Once you find yourself turning to the left,

Reach for the floor with your elbows,

Ribs and hands so you can come to sit.

It's going to feel new.

It's going to feel unfamiliar.

Maybe it's going to feel pleasurable.

Enjoyable.

Even if so because you are teaching yourself a new way to do something old.

Leave it and rest for a moment.

Observe what has changed.

Not only in your contact with the floor and the sensations of difference between right and left,

But with that internal space within.

And let your eyes wander a little bit off the middle to the left and to the right just to see how is the pathway now for your spine,

For your head,

For your eyes.

Acknowledge how quickly you can change.

You can learn.

Take a breath and enjoy this sensation of learning how to learn in a new way.

Now connect again to this potential of imagining the movement before you actually enact it and imagine yourself doing this to the other side.

So see in your mind-side this sequence as we explored it on the other first initial side.

We began by bending your knee and standing your foot.

You don't have to do it.

Just think of it.

Now the key here is to imagine it with the most precision as you can.

So you can imagine how it,

What it feels like,

What it's a,

The sensation of your knee bending and your foot coming in contact with the floor and engaging so the pelvis moves to the right.

Imagine your left arm floating across your body and reaching for the ribs and moving the ribs towards the floras to remind them that they can be also part of the movement.

Imagine your eyes turning to the right,

Letting your head fold.

Imagine the band across your chest that lets your right shoulder lift when the ribs come down.

And imagine your right elbow looking for the floor,

Your right palm looking for how can it support you in your intention of rolling to the side to come to sit.

Imagine with as much precision as you can the details.

How does this feel for your neck when you're not pulling yourself up to sit?

How does it feel for the leg that is long when it gets invited to move and bend and be part of this whole sequence of movement?

You put together the puzzle pieces of the movement in your mind's eye first.

Imagine it once again,

Completely from beginning to end,

And focus on the enjoyment of it,

That excitement that you felt a moment ago when you put it all together and it worked.

Not during the struggle or the thinking so hard of just moments before then,

But connecting to the feeling of discovery and excitement of when you found it.

See that it changes the quality even of your imagination.

The lightness,

Your ability to enjoy it more makes it easier.

And only then spend the next few moments exploring the movement on the other side.

Take all the time that you want,

All the time that you need.

For successful learning,

We must proceed at our own rate.

Babies repeat each novel action clumsily at their own rate until they have enough of it.

This occurs when the intention and its performance are executed so they are just one act,

Which feels like an intention only.

What is the rate of your learning?

Learning must be pleasurable and it must be easy.

The two make breathing simple.

What is learned otherwise rarely becomes habitually spontaneous.

In awareness through movement,

You make the impossible possible,

Then easy,

Comfortable,

Pleasurable,

And finally aesthetically pleasing.

I believe it is more important to learn the way to learn new skills than the feet of the skills themselves.

The new skill is only useful reward for your attention.

You will feel you deserve this skill and this will help to build your self-confidence.

So once again now,

Roll yourself to sit to the right once in any pace that you want.

And then roll yourself to sit to the left.

So you come back to the floor and then gently turn yourself to the other side.

And just making sure that every single element of this movement is available for you.

Your legs,

Your ribs,

Your elbows and palms of your hands,

Your eyes,

Your breathing and your teeth.

Like one harmonious unity.

Now see if on your way back down onto the floor,

You can also use your ribs,

Your elbows,

Your palms,

Maybe in the opposite sequence,

In the opposite order.

And then change the pace a little bit.

Do it a little faster,

A little slower,

And see if changing the pace makes it easier for you to do it without thinking.

To connect to the joy of the movement.

Do it a number of times until you're satisfied with your own learning.

When you feel you had enough.

And then leave it.

Just then before you get tired,

Before you get bored.

And spend the next few moments observing what has changed in your organization,

In your ability to rest on the floor.

In the contact of your body and the differences between your two sides.

And if you were to roll to the side now,

If I ask you to turn and get up,

Not only the two sides are more available,

But also you have discovered,

Hopefully a new way to do something that you've done many,

Many times before in your own learned way.

And by way of achieving this,

You've gained more choice.

You've gained maturity of your motor skills.

And maybe you've gained an interest to continue learning new ways of moving in the world and thinking,

Feeling and sensing.

Have a wonderful day.