A healthy spine

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A brilliant flattening out lesson to relieve back tension. Moshe Feldenkrais called this lesson “advanced jelly pudding.” It means a lot of jiggling. Very precise, clear connecting jiggling, but still jiggling. If you want to feel more upright and balanced, these oscillating lessons are amazing.

(Moshe SF evening classes, Advanced jelly pudding)

Here Moshe links the upper back, pelvis, and head in many variations. My students love this lesson. Anyone with tension in the spine will appreciate it. You are rolling up the spine for some of the movements, so rest often and take care of yourself. It’s worth playing with!

Also see 71 Spine like a chain with diagonal reaching

(Esalen workshop)

Rolling your back over a blanket is designed not to stretch, but to help your muscles adapt. Moshe Feldenkrais used to say that if we knew how to lie on the floor properly, we wouldn’t need Feldenkrais! This lesson is to help your muscles more easily adapt to shifts in gravity so that when you lie down, you’re not still standing in your muscles.

(Ruthy Alon, Mindful Spontaneity, Magic roller series)

Do the whole magic roller series:
230 Release neck on rolled towel
89 Dipping hips on a rolled blanket
59 Release shoulders and mid-back with a rolled blanket

I am really on a roll with the oscillating lessons because they are so helpful for releasing tension. This is as advertised, connecting the opposite foot to the opposite arm. Feel how much ease you have from the feet to the head as you let go of tension in the ribs. Then, test walking after this!

(AY224)

Arms behind is a strategy Moshe used in many lessons to create a strong constraint around which the ribs and spine have to move in new ways. Usually we move the arms relative to the middle, now we’re moving the middle relative to the fixed arms. It’s an eye-opening series.

Tip: If putting the arms behind the back is a challenge, use a rolled towel instead and bring the arms out to the side.

For more lessons with the arms behind, see: 
72 Arms behind #2
74 Arms behind #3
18 Rolling pelvis over arms to soften low back and ribs
453 Tilting legs with arms behind

(AY220)

Same thing with the arms behind. If you can do them right after each other, I recommend it.

I teach this lesson again and again as the reference movement changes so dramatically. It’s about bending the back, the very tiny beginning of a back bend, but the skill is in connecting with the spine and softening the ribs.