Side bending

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Introduction

Many of us forget to side bend when we walk. It's one of the first patterns to go out the window when we have back pain and we start the “back pain teeter” of shifting side to side like a board to avoid any movement that might be painful.

Reintroducing the side bend is vital for recovering your full potential for human movement. We think we're doing it, but we’re actually locking up our ribs and throwing away the key.

But not to worry, by making slow, incremental improvements in the spine's ability to side bend, all the fundamental planes improve even more.

Try this side bending section and then check out twisting or flexion and see what happens. Your spine will love you for it. 

Sitting on a hard chair, you will scoot over to the edge and sit on one sit bone with the other one hanging in space. Letting this sit bone sink toward the floor with many variations elicits a wonderful waking up through the entire skeleton.

Sometimes your hand is on the head, sometimes it’s up in the air. Each time your brain finds more and more ways to bend the vertebrae.

Here is the second part of this sitting and dropping the sit bone lesson.

Clarifying side bending is the undiscovered plane of human movement. It’s so important for improving walking, swinging the legs, and letting go of tension in the low back and hips.

(AY509)

Simple, slow movements to invite the spine to bend while lying on the back. Opens up the ribs, and it's nice to do before bed.

Slow, gentle exploration of side bending to the left. 

This lesson slowly increases your skill in bending, testing constraints and variables and then observing the outcome in many slow, meditative movements.

The brilliance of this lesson is the “ah-ha” moment when you realize how much bending is actually possible when you take your time sneaking up on it instead of pushing hard.

I often say that Feldenkrais is like sneaking under the radar of our habits and shining a flashlight on our options.

This is a weight-shift lesson that uses a functional side-bend to counterbalance the leg and the head. As you play with it, feel how the shape of your ribs helps you move with lightness and ease.

Tip: If you get stuck, could you move your ribs even more? Who put that limitation on how much you’re allowed to move your ribs?

More lengthening lessons for the spine and ribs:
173 Super light arms, lengthen whole self # 1, 2, 3
409 Lengthen spine, roll arms overhead
146 Lengthening and expanding, standing tall

Counterbalance with weight-shift is a very important skill to learn if you don’t want to fatigue your muscles all the time. Follow the trajectory of your leg and hang the head. I love this lesson for offering yet another logical, counter-balanced way to come to sit.

Tip: If you get stuck, hang your head. Most of us try to lift it. It's counter-intuitive at first, but let it hang.