Greetings again, friends!
The "meat" of this article, that is, my version of this Functional Movement Education lesson, the standing turning lesson, itself, begins about a third of the way into this posting. However, I would first like to make some introductory comments.
Often times, I am asked, "What is Functional Movement Education?" I will reply with a verbal answer. However, giving someone a semantic answer may not always be complete for that person, compared to, an inspiring kinesthetic experience. Therefore, some Practitioners like myself enjoy asking the person who is inquiring to, for example, "Interlace the fingers of your hands as if you were about to say Dinner Grace. That is, simply interlace your fingers the way you do naturally. ... Now, please interlace your hands the non-habitual way. That is, move all of your fingers down one notch. How does that feel? ... That feels
differently. That's what our work is about. Exploring options. Finding options in how to be in the world ..." That is one way of explaining or demonstrating our Functional Movement Education work. Another way is the following short, mini - Body Awareness lesson, the popular, "Turning while Standing". It is one of those, as some of us refer to, "Three-Minute Miracles", which leave a wonderful impression with people. For a few years after my training, when asked, "What is Functional Movement Education?", I would, spontaneously, take about 3, maybe even as long as 15, minutes to teach this mini-lesson to many different people, some of whom I knew very well, and others, who were brand-new acquaintances.
Please find below one version of TURNING WHILE STANDING.
TURNING WHILE STANDING
1) I'm going to guide you through a set of five different movements. Always move slowly. Always move well within your comfort range. You'll see that your natural range of movement will improve nicely, without even straining. Notice where you're standing. Bring your left arm straight out in front of you, to shoulder height. Your arm is relatively straight, however, not
uncomfortably locked or rigid. KEEPING YOUR FEET PLANTED, slowly turn your body
to the left as if you wanted to look at something behind yourself. You can allow your arm to also swing outwards to the left, as the rest of your body is turning to the left. Feel your hips turning to the left, the shoulders turning to the left. The head, and even the eyes, all of yourself is turning to the left. Please stay well within your comfort range. I know that, right now, if you had to, you could probably push yourself to be able to turn almost three-quarters of a complete circle (270 degrees). But, that isn't necessary. You'll see a nice improvement soon coming to you, naturally, easily, without any excessive strain. Pick some sort of marker that you can use as a reference point to tell how far you are turning easily. ... Now leave that alone, and come back to neutral, or, the center place. Lower your arm.
[A) In regard to selecting a reference point, if you're inside, you may notice, for example, a painting, a light switch, or some other object, on the wall. If you're outside, you may notice a certain tree, a telephone pole, or a particular house, for example, in the background, as the reference point.
B) Again, please note to KEEP YOUR FEET PLANTED. :-) People's "incorrect" spontaneous reaction is to also turn and shuffle their feet to the left. [Of course, as Practitioners, we often encourage all kinds of spontaneous movement. However, in this instance, it will be easier to appreciate the natural improvement made during the lesson for a positive impression to somatic learning, to be able to gauge your own range of improvement, by requesting a certain standard throughout the lesson, namely, to keep your feet in one place, as opposed to, otherwise, shuffling one's feet, possibly, a different amount for each repetition.]
C) As I mentioned above, it's important to let you know to "allow your arm to also swing outwards to the left". You may, otherwise, attribute the improvement, which will most likely follow in the subsequent steps, to not "correctly" allowing your arm to swing outward the first time you did the original turning movement, as indicated in step #1 above. Sometimes, I may describe this as "Allow your arm to slowly, gradually, swing outward, as if you
were hitting a tennis backhand in slow-motion."]
2) Your left arm remains lowered, somewhere comfortably along your side.
Turn yourself to the left as far as you can comfortably. Stay there, your body
turned to the left. Turn only your head to the right. That is, while your
feet remain planted, and your body remains turned to the left, you're allowing
your head to turn in the opposite direction to the right. Do this a few times,
moving just your head, back and forth, all the while your body remains turned
to the left. ... Bring all of your body back to neutral. Again, bring your
left arm to shoulder height, straight out in front of you, and turn yourself to
the left, all of your body, as far as you can comfortably. Also allow the
arm to gradually swing outward to the left. Notice how far you are turning
now. ["Wow!"] Come back to neutral. Lower your arm.
3) Your left arm remains lowered. Turn yourself to the left as far as you
can comfortably. Stay there. This time, turn just your shoulders to the
right. Only the shoulders. ... That means your left shoulder is coming
forward, while your right shoulder is moving backwards. Do this a few times. ... Bring
all of your body back to neutral. Again, bring your arm to shoulder height,
straight out in front of you, and turn yourself to the left as far as you can
comfortably. ["Wow! Wow! Wow!"] Come back to neutral. Lower your arm.
[Please note that this is a very important step which I will say more on
below.]
4) Turn yourself to the left as far as you can comfortably. Stay there.
This time, turn just your hips to the right. Only the hips to the right ... Do
this a few times.... Bring all of your body back to neutral. Again, bring
your left arm to shoulder height, straight out in front of you, and turn
yourself to the left as far as you can comfortably. ["Wow!"] Come back to
neutral. Lower your arm.
5) Turn yourself to the left as far as you can comfortably. Stay there.
This time, move your eyes to the right. You're only allowing the eyes to go to
the right. … Do this a few times. Move your eyes very slowly, back and
forth. Take your time. This may feel very unusual to you. … Bring all of
your body back to neutral. Again, bring your arm to shoulder height, straight out
in front of you, and turn yourself to the left as far as you can
comfortably. ["Wow!"]
[Step #5, above, involving the eyes, provides a nice icing on the cake. You
are perhaps, afterward, able to appreciate a larger field of vision complementing
your turning movement. Of course, more profound than a simple vision
improvement, note that the eyes are connected to the overall Gestalt of movement. However, somatically inviting someone such as you, by me, to sense the movement of an intense organ, such as the eyes, to the movement of the rest of themselves, may naturally be met with trepidation on some level. Thus, I will sometimes omit this step when I first teach this lesson to someone. Rather, I will refrain from teaching, in the very beginning, the connection of eyes with the rest of the
Self.]
6) Turn yourself to the left as far as you can comfortably. Remained turned
there. However, turn just your head to the right. Pause in this position.
Notice that your head is turned to the right, but the rest of your body is
turned to the left. Begin to turn your head and shoulders in opposite
directions, all the while the rest of your body remains turned to the left. That is,
begin to take your head to the left, while simultaneously turning your shoulders
to the right. Then, take your head to the right, while simultaneously turning
your shoulders to the left. Continue going back and forth, playing with the
relationship between the head and shoulders, all the while the rest of your
body continues to remain comfortably turned to the left. ... Bring all of your
body back to neutral. Again, bring your arm to shoulder height, straight out
in front of you, and turn yourself to the left as far as you can comfortably.
["Wow!!!"]
[End of lesson]
The "learning", as we refer to it, during this movement lesson, for instance, the added range of motion, as well as perhaps, the new "smoothness" you experienced in the movements as the lesson progressed, ultimately carries over into the rest of our functional lives. I hope you enjoyed this lesson.
If you would like, you can repeat the above movements on the "other side". However, please note that in Body Awareness lessons, such as this Functional Movement Education work, sometimes Less is More. If you feel that you've had enough, then let it go. Otherwise, if you'd like, you may go through steps nos. 1 through 6 above, again, where you will be exploring and playing with different movement patterns while turning to the right. Thus, you would go through steps 1 through 6 again, while substituting "left" for "right" and "right" for "left".
However, again, perhaps, you'd like to rest for awhile, in order to allow your body to absorb the learning effects from already working one side, before repeating the lesson on the other side.
The best to all,
James
The "meat" of this article, that is, my version of this Functional Movement Education lesson, the standing turning lesson, itself, begins about a third of the way into this posting. However, I would first like to make some introductory comments.
Often times, I am asked, "What is Functional Movement Education?" I will reply with a verbal answer. However, giving someone a semantic answer may not always be complete for that person, compared to, an inspiring kinesthetic experience. Therefore, some Practitioners like myself enjoy asking the person who is inquiring to, for example, "Interlace the fingers of your hands as if you were about to say Dinner Grace. That is, simply interlace your fingers the way you do naturally. ... Now, please interlace your hands the non-habitual way. That is, move all of your fingers down one notch. How does that feel? ... That feels
differently. That's what our work is about. Exploring options. Finding options in how to be in the world ..." That is one way of explaining or demonstrating our Functional Movement Education work. Another way is the following short, mini - Body Awareness lesson, the popular, "Turning while Standing". It is one of those, as some of us refer to, "Three-Minute Miracles", which leave a wonderful impression with people. For a few years after my training, when asked, "What is Functional Movement Education?", I would, spontaneously, take about 3, maybe even as long as 15, minutes to teach this mini-lesson to many different people, some of whom I knew very well, and others, who were brand-new acquaintances.
Please find below one version of TURNING WHILE STANDING.
TURNING WHILE STANDING
1) I'm going to guide you through a set of five different movements. Always move slowly. Always move well within your comfort range. You'll see that your natural range of movement will improve nicely, without even straining. Notice where you're standing. Bring your left arm straight out in front of you, to shoulder height. Your arm is relatively straight, however, not
uncomfortably locked or rigid. KEEPING YOUR FEET PLANTED, slowly turn your body
to the left as if you wanted to look at something behind yourself. You can allow your arm to also swing outwards to the left, as the rest of your body is turning to the left. Feel your hips turning to the left, the shoulders turning to the left. The head, and even the eyes, all of yourself is turning to the left. Please stay well within your comfort range. I know that, right now, if you had to, you could probably push yourself to be able to turn almost three-quarters of a complete circle (270 degrees). But, that isn't necessary. You'll see a nice improvement soon coming to you, naturally, easily, without any excessive strain. Pick some sort of marker that you can use as a reference point to tell how far you are turning easily. ... Now leave that alone, and come back to neutral, or, the center place. Lower your arm.
[A) In regard to selecting a reference point, if you're inside, you may notice, for example, a painting, a light switch, or some other object, on the wall. If you're outside, you may notice a certain tree, a telephone pole, or a particular house, for example, in the background, as the reference point.
B) Again, please note to KEEP YOUR FEET PLANTED. :-) People's "incorrect" spontaneous reaction is to also turn and shuffle their feet to the left. [Of course, as Practitioners, we often encourage all kinds of spontaneous movement. However, in this instance, it will be easier to appreciate the natural improvement made during the lesson for a positive impression to somatic learning, to be able to gauge your own range of improvement, by requesting a certain standard throughout the lesson, namely, to keep your feet in one place, as opposed to, otherwise, shuffling one's feet, possibly, a different amount for each repetition.]
C) As I mentioned above, it's important to let you know to "allow your arm to also swing outwards to the left". You may, otherwise, attribute the improvement, which will most likely follow in the subsequent steps, to not "correctly" allowing your arm to swing outward the first time you did the original turning movement, as indicated in step #1 above. Sometimes, I may describe this as "Allow your arm to slowly, gradually, swing outward, as if you
were hitting a tennis backhand in slow-motion."]
2) Your left arm remains lowered, somewhere comfortably along your side.
Turn yourself to the left as far as you can comfortably. Stay there, your body
turned to the left. Turn only your head to the right. That is, while your
feet remain planted, and your body remains turned to the left, you're allowing
your head to turn in the opposite direction to the right. Do this a few times,
moving just your head, back and forth, all the while your body remains turned
to the left. ... Bring all of your body back to neutral. Again, bring your
left arm to shoulder height, straight out in front of you, and turn yourself to
the left, all of your body, as far as you can comfortably. Also allow the
arm to gradually swing outward to the left. Notice how far you are turning
now. ["Wow!"] Come back to neutral. Lower your arm.
3) Your left arm remains lowered. Turn yourself to the left as far as you
can comfortably. Stay there. This time, turn just your shoulders to the
right. Only the shoulders. ... That means your left shoulder is coming
forward, while your right shoulder is moving backwards. Do this a few times. ... Bring
all of your body back to neutral. Again, bring your arm to shoulder height,
straight out in front of you, and turn yourself to the left as far as you can
comfortably. ["Wow! Wow! Wow!"] Come back to neutral. Lower your arm.
[Please note that this is a very important step which I will say more on
below.]
4) Turn yourself to the left as far as you can comfortably. Stay there.
This time, turn just your hips to the right. Only the hips to the right ... Do
this a few times.... Bring all of your body back to neutral. Again, bring
your left arm to shoulder height, straight out in front of you, and turn
yourself to the left as far as you can comfortably. ["Wow!"] Come back to
neutral. Lower your arm.
5) Turn yourself to the left as far as you can comfortably. Stay there.
This time, move your eyes to the right. You're only allowing the eyes to go to
the right. … Do this a few times. Move your eyes very slowly, back and
forth. Take your time. This may feel very unusual to you. … Bring all of
your body back to neutral. Again, bring your arm to shoulder height, straight out
in front of you, and turn yourself to the left as far as you can
comfortably. ["Wow!"]
[Step #5, above, involving the eyes, provides a nice icing on the cake. You
are perhaps, afterward, able to appreciate a larger field of vision complementing
your turning movement. Of course, more profound than a simple vision
improvement, note that the eyes are connected to the overall Gestalt of movement. However, somatically inviting someone such as you, by me, to sense the movement of an intense organ, such as the eyes, to the movement of the rest of themselves, may naturally be met with trepidation on some level. Thus, I will sometimes omit this step when I first teach this lesson to someone. Rather, I will refrain from teaching, in the very beginning, the connection of eyes with the rest of the
Self.]
6) Turn yourself to the left as far as you can comfortably. Remained turned
there. However, turn just your head to the right. Pause in this position.
Notice that your head is turned to the right, but the rest of your body is
turned to the left. Begin to turn your head and shoulders in opposite
directions, all the while the rest of your body remains turned to the left. That is,
begin to take your head to the left, while simultaneously turning your shoulders
to the right. Then, take your head to the right, while simultaneously turning
your shoulders to the left. Continue going back and forth, playing with the
relationship between the head and shoulders, all the while the rest of your
body continues to remain comfortably turned to the left. ... Bring all of your
body back to neutral. Again, bring your arm to shoulder height, straight out
in front of you, and turn yourself to the left as far as you can comfortably.
["Wow!!!"]
[End of lesson]
The "learning", as we refer to it, during this movement lesson, for instance, the added range of motion, as well as perhaps, the new "smoothness" you experienced in the movements as the lesson progressed, ultimately carries over into the rest of our functional lives. I hope you enjoyed this lesson.
If you would like, you can repeat the above movements on the "other side". However, please note that in Body Awareness lessons, such as this Functional Movement Education work, sometimes Less is More. If you feel that you've had enough, then let it go. Otherwise, if you'd like, you may go through steps nos. 1 through 6 above, again, where you will be exploring and playing with different movement patterns while turning to the right. Thus, you would go through steps 1 through 6 again, while substituting "left" for "right" and "right" for "left".
However, again, perhaps, you'd like to rest for awhile, in order to allow your body to absorb the learning effects from already working one side, before repeating the lesson on the other side.
The best to all,
James
Guan Yin Acupuncture & Movement-Education CenterDr. Lin Cheng Speer, LAc, OMD, PhD
James Speer, Injury Rehab Therapist
Functional Movement-Education Therapist
Practitioner of the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais
1003 Wilshire Blvd. Suites #203, #208
Santa Monica, CA 90401
tel. 310-395-1952www.drlinspeer.com
"Health Is All that Matters!"
"If you’re in pain, or your body aches, I give you the sensory motor experience to be able to move freely, effortlessly, pleasantly, without strain or discomfort. Say 'Hello' to relaxing, and 'Goodbye' to stiffness and pain!"
To see my popular YouTube video of me demonstrating the wonderful "'2-Minute Movement-Education Miracle' to Free Up Your Stiff Neck", Click Here
James Speer, Injury Rehab Therapist
Functional Movement-Education Therapist
Practitioner of the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais
1003 Wilshire Blvd. Suites #203, #208
Santa Monica, CA 90401
tel. 310-395-1952www.drlinspeer.com
"Health Is All that Matters!"
"If you’re in pain, or your body aches, I give you the sensory motor experience to be able to move freely, effortlessly, pleasantly, without strain or discomfort. Say 'Hello' to relaxing, and 'Goodbye' to stiffness and pain!"
To see my popular YouTube video of me demonstrating the wonderful "'2-Minute Movement-Education Miracle' to Free Up Your Stiff Neck", Click Here
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