Twist Supine Handout E

ATM Analysis: "Coordinating Flexors and Extensors"
The action scheme explored in this FI is loosely based on the fifth lesson from the "Awareness
Through Movement" book "Coordinating Flexors and Extensors". By examining Feldenkrais's
ideas and strategies, we can learn to use them in developing a FI lesson based on this ATM.
Feldenkrais spoke often of the human structure in terms of three upside-down pyramids:
1. The head going into the base of the neck

2. The shoulder girdle and rib cage going into the lumbar
3. The pelvis through the legs into the feet.
Moshe's 3 pyramids
 Head
 Chest
 Pelvis
In this lesson, one of the main themes is differentiating the chest pyramid from pelvis and
head pyramids.
How does this differentiation take place in this lesson?

The answer is: "With twisting".
"Differentiation" is not enough information to form a picture. Add "twisting" and the picture
becomes more complete.
To analyze the lesson, ask the questions:
"Movement of << What >>, << Where >>?"
Constraints
The constraints of an ATM are important and shouldn't be changed.
In this lesson, you see the use of constraints as a learning strategy.
• Constraints are a type of auxiliary movement.
• Adding a constraint changes the dynamic of a relationship.
• A constraint serves to take away certain choices, so than you can then elicit certain
movements: "liberation through limitations".
• To find a constraint, look for a triangle. Inside the triangle, everything is fixed.
Everything between the point and the base moves as one piece.
• There are positional and instructional , as well as environmental constraints.
Instructional constraints
• In the "Dead bird" lesson there's a good example of an "instructional constraint" in
which a relationship is maintained: You hold your hand limply in front of your face and
look at the top of it while you turn. By maintaining the relationship of the head, eyes
and hand, there's little movement in the neck and shoulder girdle and the movement
most occur elsewhere.
Positional constraints
In this lesson there are two good examples of positional constraints: the crossing of the legs
and forming a triangle with the arms:
Action Scheme: Twisting on back

1. Variation of tilting crossed legs
When the legs are crossed, there's a different effect than tilting the pelvis with both legs
standing. Several things happen:
• There is greater weight in the pelvis being tilted when the legs are crossed
• Instead of two hips moving with more degrees of freedom, the pelvis moves as one
piece. The movement is more simple as a result of the hip joints being taken out of
the picture.
• Another value of the constraint is a simplified situation to sense the pelvis moving.
The task is simpler to track in the sensation. There is also a contrast between tilting
the pelvis with the legs standing compared to tilting with the legs crossed.
• The pelvis answers the question of "What is moving?". Follow the chain of movement
to answer "Where is the movement taking place?". As the lumbar spine has only up
to 8˚ rotation available due to the form of the facet joints, the rotation must take place
in the thoracic spine.
2. Tilting arms with "triangular arms" constraint
The point of the triangle is fixed at the hands and the base of the triangle is fixed across the
shoulder girdle, clavicles and sternoclavicular joint.
• When tilting the arms the sternum has to move. If the hands slide, the angle of the
shoulder joints change and a proximal movement isn't required. The upper thoracic
spine is caught between the hands and must twist. You ask the shoulder girdle to
move more like a pelvis by reducing the degrees of freedom.
3. Arms crossed with elbows aligned on sternum: "Self-hug" constraint
When moving the arms, which are fixed on the chest, the degrees of freedom of the various
shoulder articulations are constrained and the sternum moves relative to the thoracic spine,
which is fixed by the student’s weight on the floor.
4. Additional strategies
A further important point to is to sense the alignment of spine with tilting and moving the head
different directions.
Feldenkrais named the lesson: "Coordinating Flexors and Extensors". One reason is that to
tilt the legs, the flexor muscles along the front of the self need to be free. To return them back
to the starting position you need to activate the stomach muscles to lift the weight of the legs.
While activating the flexors the extensor muscles must be free – reciprocal inhibition.
“0 – Point, new home, new neutral”: the legs have a “new home” in the tilted position. You
use this as the place of departure to leave and return, easing limits.

Overview Twisting, Supine: Moves, values, strategies
Reference movements
• Observe walking, especially the turning of the pelvis and the shoulder
girdle. Notice where there is either a surplus or lack of movement in
relation to other parts. Observe the hips, feet, shoulders and swing of
arms, the head shifting one side to other, C7 and how the ribcage is
relating to C7. One foot may be "sounding" while walking. Wait for
something that “speaks to you”, “springs into your eye”.
Test movements: Lying on back
Some possibilities include:
• Pull through the arms as student tilts their legs. Notice how the ribs and
spine support the lengthening of the arms.
 Tilt the legs, attending to the transmission of the movement through the
spine to the head.
Moves
Beginning
Supine: legs tilted with support
1. Tilt the legs. Choose the side which seems easier and provide support
between the legs and behind the pelvis.
2. Flexing foot, turning foot, and relate to the knee via the fibula. With
knee difficulties, the sole of the foot should be on the floor to avoid
twisting the knee.

3. Develop the “gestalt” – the new home: lengthening one side and
shortening the other. The head glides down to elicit extension.
Middle
Effort substitution: take over the work on the short side
1. Pull through the arm on the side that untwists the shoulder girdle,
bringing it into a congruent organization with that of the pelvis.
This will lift the cervical thoracic juncture and sink the area around the
bottom of breastbone. Experiment with the three different elements of
trajectory (path of the arm), elevation (height of the arm) and rotation
(degree of internal rotation) that best elicits the movement.
2. Turn shoulder girdle to relieve twist
3. Relate C7 and shoulder to sternum and ribs

4. Float the head: does the tip of the sternum sink at the bottom?
5. Compress through pelvis into the “C-curve”, turning it to relieve twist.

Possible handles include the greater trochantor, ileum and sitbone.
Provide lumbar support.
6. Differentiate the shoulder from the ribs
7. Take over the work of the extensors and shorten the ribs

8. Hands interlaced behind head, lift head to flex trunk, aiming for the hip
of the top leg. The bottom of sternum will sink and the thoracic lumbar
juncture will move towards leaning on the floor.
9. Prepare the twist proximally: length at thoracic lumbar juncture
10. Pull through arm on long side to elicit twist and sink tip of sternum.
11. Pull through leg on top side after removing all support. Try to elicit
extension with the back of the head dropping back.
Lesson Ending
1. Pull through the standing legs, both at the hip and at the knee, parallel
to table. If the extensors and flexors are in a balanced relationship, the
student will slide down.

Values
• Skeleton without dampening
• Breath
Strategies
• Stop at the dampening
• Effort substitution, support
• Proximal / distal reversal
• Differentiated / nondifferentiated movement
• Reciprocal inhibition

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ATM Analysis: "Coordinating Flexors and Extensors"

1. The head going into the base of the neck

How does this differentiation take place in this lesson?

Action Scheme: Twisting on back

2. Tilting arms with "triangular arms" constraint

3. Arms crossed with elbows aligned on sternum: "Self-hug" constraint

Action Scheme: Twisting on back

Action Scheme: Twisting on back

3. Relate C7 and shoulder to sternum and ribs

Action Scheme: Twisting on back

5. Compress through pelvis into the “C-curve”, turning it to relieve twist.

6. Differentiate the shoulder from the ribs

Action Scheme: Twisting on back

9. Prepare the twist proximally: length at thoracic lumbar juncture

Action Scheme: Twisting on back

Action Scheme: Twisting on back

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