The Feldenkrais Method® Awareness Through Movement® Lessons Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais at Alexander Yanai Volume Five, Part A Lessons #201 - 225 Translated by Anat Baniel Edited by Ellen Soloway © Copyright December 1997 AH rights reserved by and to the International Feldenkrais® Federation, Paris, France in cooperation with The Feldenkrais Institute, Tel Aviv, Israel. © Copyright Decembre 1997 Tous droits d'adaptation, de traduction et de reproduction reserves par et pour 1'Internationa l Feldenkrais Federation, 30 rue Monsieur le Prince, 75006 Paris, France This project is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais •1904 -1984* j_ he International Feldenkrais Federation wishes to acknowledge Michel Silice-Feldenkrais, on behalf of The Feldenkrais Institute for his help and consideration. ]_ he members of the International Feldenkrais community extend a special thanks to Franqois Combeau, former President; Cliff Smyth, President; and the Board of Directors of the International Feldenkrais Federation for making this project possible. Introduction From the early 1950's to late 1970's, Moshe Feldenkrais taught eight (8) weekly public Awareness Through Movement classes in Tel Aviv. The street where these classes took place was named after Alexander Yanai, and this collection of lessons have taken on the same name. Moshe taught in Hebrew and he recorded his lessons. Once Moshe created a new lesson, he taught it to one of the Alexander Yanai groups and recorded it. Then he used the recorded lesson to teach the following group. If he thought any changes were necessary, he re-recorded the lesson over the previous one and then used it to teach the next group. He continued this process until he felt he had the lesson exactly as he wanted it. Over a period of 25 years, Moshe recorded close to 600 ATM lessons in this manner and covered an astounding range of possible human functions. He considered every lesson a masterpiece that stands in its own right. Making these lessons available to the community of Feldenkrais practitioners/teachers is a monumental event. For years, the tapes of these lessons lay in the archives of the Feldenkrais Institute in Tel Aviv. The lessons have, to some extent, found their way into Feldenkrais Trainings, from the notes of those students - later to become trainers - who were students of Moshe during those years. Although the rights to publication of the Alexander Yanai lessons have been much sought after for years, Mchel Silice-Feldenkrais, Moshe's nephew and Director of the Feldenkrais Institute, Tel Aviv, has only recently given his approval to their publication. He has chosen the International Feldenkrais Federation (IFF) for this task to insure that these unique documents will be available worldwide to all practitioners at a reasonable cost. With Anat Baniel as translator for this series, the IFF has found an experienced trainer and close associate of Moshe, to guarantee not only accurate translation but the benefits of Anat's own lively sense of language as well. The printed format of the lessons is designed to enable the reader to distinguish easily between basic movements, their variation and elaboration, and comments. This gives the practitioner an opportunity to scan the lessons quickly and obtain an overview of their content. The timing of these lessons is important. All of the ATM's were taught within a one-hour framework, and are therefore ideal for presentation in public classes and workshops. Though some of these lessons may seem difficult, the purpose of doing them is for information and learning, not achieving and accomplishing specific movements. This project is managed by the IFF through the generosity of Michel Silice-Feldenkrais and The Feldenkrais Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel. Our appreciation is given to all those who have helped bring these lessons into the hands of Feldenkrais practitioners and teachers around the world. •I* •»• •> <£• February 1, 1995 Translator's Note to the Reader Regarding Use of Materials: After the first volumes of lessons were published, we received comments from a number of teachers. Everyone was delighted with the materials. Nonetheless, some expressed occasional difficulty with the use of the materials in archival form, while others felt unsure as to what Moshe meant in his instructions. Long ago, I discovered when a lesson and the learning it brings about are sufficiently novel and unfamiliar, it may seem as if "something is wrong here" or "this doesn't make sense." For many, a way to resolve this kind of confusion is to do the lesson themselves and to do it more than once, if necessary. I have not yet found a mistake in either the concept or the dynamic of Moshe's lessons. However, these are "live" lessons, and there are occasional mistakes in the instructions, especially between right and left, which Moshe corrects later in the lesson. Often, there are run-on or incomplete sentences, occasional demonstrations for the class, and direct feedback to a specific student. This can make it difficult to follow a lesson in its transcribed form. Nancy Schumacher (who is overseeing the translation project), Ellen Soloway (who is the transcriber/editor), Marcy Lindheimer (who shared feedback from many teachers), and I conferred to discuss the issue. Everyone involved reaffirmed their commitment to create an archival translation that will be a lasting record of Moshe's original teaching. Therefore, the text is presented in its original form as specified by the Feldenkrais Institute. At the same time, we wanted to facilitate the use of the materials by all present and future Feldenkrais teachers, who will have the immeasurable benefit of knowing these lessons and teaching them to their students. The solution we chose was to introduce the "translator's notes." I provide an explanatory comment when a sentence is incomplete, when Moshe says "right" and later corrects it to "left," when an instruction is partially given, etc. Simple corrections or clarifications in wording, which do not step out of the narrative, are in brackets. More extensive comments that act as footnotes to the narrative, are in brackets and notated by "TN," which means "translator's notes." This allows you, the reader, the freedom to use these comments or to ignore them. Sincerely, Anat Baniel Awareness Through Movement® Lessons from Alexander Yanai Table of Contents for Volume Five, Part A ATM #201. Gluing in the lungs, part 1 P. 1369 ATM #202. Gluing in the lungs, part 2 P. 1377 ATM #203. Gluing in the lungs, part 3 P. 1387 ATM #204. Gluing and bending the back [Gluing in the lungs, part 4] P. 1395 ATM #205. Sitting and getting up with soft and bending legs P. 1403 ATM #206. On the side, getting the spine flexible P. 1411 ATM #207. On the side, fast lifting of the head P. 1417 [The original reel-to-reel tape began with a lesson fragments from an unrelated lesson. The beginning and ending of the actual lesson is missing.] ATM #208. Lifting straight legs and circling the arms P. 1423 ATM #209. On the side, stepping (with the) left thigh P. 1429 ATM #210. On the right side [while lying on the left side] , P. 1435 ATM #211. The splits P. 1441 ATM #212. Basic spreading of the legs P. 1447 ATM #213. On the back, pushing the feet down P. 1455 ATM #214. On the side, lifting a straight leg sideways P. 1463 ATM #215. Supine, on all fours [walking] P. 1469 ATM #216. Lifting the hands at the head in a "V" P. 1475 ATM #217. On the side, the sternum becoming flexible P. 1481 ATM #218. On the side, bending and twisting the chest and spine P. 1489 ATM #219. Opposing movements in the head and shoulders, part 1 P. 1497 ATM #220. Hands behind P. 1505 ATM #221. Opposing movements in the head and shoulders, [part 2] while standing on the knees P. 1513 ATM #222. On the abdomen, a hand lifting the head P. 1521 ATM #223. Rolling from the back to side-sitting P. 1527 ATM #224. Legs pushing the pelvis and rocking the back P. 1533 ATM #225. Standing on the knees P. 1541 © Copyright December 1997. All rights reserved by and to the International Feldenkrais® Federation, Paris, France in cooperation with The Feldenkrais Institute, Tel Aviv, Israel. 1369 Awareness Through Movement® Lessons from Alexander Yanai #201; Gluing in the lungs, part 1 ATM Lesson #201: Gluing in the lungs, part 1 Source: Reel 14, Track 1, Lesson 1 [Lecture] We will do breathing, but in a special way. We will try to define, through awareness, additional portions of breathing that we have not done to date, that we have not covered in the lectures. It is possible to do this in a large group. As I told you, I, myself, since I tried all these exercises and worked with them during the past few months . . . [incomplete sentence]. If you remember, we spoke [about the fact] that during breathing the amount of air that normally comes in and goes out is approximately one-half liter, out of the [amount] globally possible. [The amount possible] to take out and take in during breathing, if it is to go to the limit, is approximately four-and-a-half liters. That means to breathe as deeply as possible and then to let all the air out. Approximately a half-liter always remains about seven hundred square centimeters, which are impossible to take out [to expel or exhale]. But, between a half-liter and four-and-a- half liters is a great distance. And now, how is this related to obesity and thinness — more than to anything else — more than to any diet, more than working? One thing that is difficult to understand is why people don't pay attention to this while they try to lose weight. They do all kinds of peculiar things. They go to work hard, to exercise, to run, or to swim. It is clear that all these things are lovely, pleasurable in themselves, but think for a moment. That if a person in order to lose approximately one kilogram of fat [2.2 pounds] . .. has in it a fat of one kilogram of sugar . . . [incomplete sentence]. It means it [one kilogram of fat] has in it approximately twenty thousand large calories to sixteen thousand calories. The mechanical equivalent of a calorie is four hundred and twenty-six net kilograms. That means that a body of one hundred kilograms should lift [itself] four meters [about twelve feet] in order to lose one small calorie; and, one large calorie has one thousand small calories. Now, for yourself, imagine that in order to lose one kilogram of fat, to expand one kilogram of fat if it burns well, if the body works well and the efficiency is high . . . [incomplete sentence]. The highest possible efficiency to attain in a body is twenty-five percent and [the human body] is one of the more efficient machines. All machines — steam, electricity — have a general efficiency of five percent. It turns out that the amount of work necessary to lose one kilogram [1 kg.] of fat is such that no heart can withstand . . . [incomplete sentence]. For example, a regular heart cannot withstand the work [necessary] to lose one kilogram of fat]. Under conditions where there only is simple mechanical work, with no other conditions except simple mechanical work, one needs to exercise for years until the body can arrive at the state where the heart could withstand the work to lose one kilogram of fat. When running a marathon, which means running approximately forty kilometers in two hours, five kilograms are lost, out of which two kilograms are water. Imagine the amount of work that is necessary to do to lose something from the fat. During the whole day, if you think of [everything] that happens in the body at each moment, what happens with [each] breath is as follows. Carbon dioxide goes out. Carbon dioxide comes out of the lungs all the time. In order for the carbon dioxide to come out, oxygen has to come in. Oxygen is burned during work. It connects with materials — the fats and sugars that we eat — in order to produce the matter used in muscular work, in order to produce the heat. Every two atoms of oxygen attach to one atom of carbon and leave the body through the lungs after it has been burned in the body. That we do with the movement of a half-liter of air. [That amount of air] moving back and forth is sufficient. You see, in order to work hard, it is necessary to breathe hard. It is necessary to take in more oxygen, to burn more carbon, and then lose it. In this way, it [a kilogram of weight] is lost during the great work of a marathon. 1 The phrase, "large calorie" refers to a kilo-calorie. One small calorie is one/thousands of a large calorie. © Copyright December 1997. All rights reserved by and to the International Feldenkrais® Federation, Paris, France in cooperation with The Feldenkrais Institute, Tel Aviv, Israel. 1370 Awareness Through Movement® Lessons from Alexander Yanai #201: Gluing in the lungs, part 1 In other words, in the final analysis, burning carbon together with oxygen does it. And, if the breathing improves, instead of taking in one-half liter, one takes in approximately three-quarters of a liter [of air]. [This is] a small improvement and very easy to attain, and then, the burning in the body becomes much better, deeper, and much more direct. In order [to attain] this, it also is necessary to breathe a bit slower so the air warms up a bit as it enters. As we already mentioned, out of the amount of oxygen that comes into the lungs, we expel back approximately half without using it. When increasing the movement from one- half liter to three-quarters of a liter there also has to be a slowing down [of the breath]. Then, there is more efficient burning and all that. You don't know how, but fat is burned. You can eat and the body balances itself, by itself. Its demand is different. The burning is much better. The breathing is much better. The feeling is much better. Those weight losses achieved by diets — the moment you stop, you gain weight back. This is a torture for the whole life. It is torture and a weakening of the body because with most diets, people exaggerate — not eating and then eating twice. It just vacillates the body, for better and then for worse. It weakens the health and that is all. [End of lecture] ATM Lesson #201: Gluing in the lungs, part 1 begins: 1. Please lie on the back. Lie on the back. Put the feet standing. Put the feet standing and close the eyes. Remember a bit of the pictures that we saw in relation to the structure of the lungs and the diaphragm. Try to do the following — breathe slowly, slowly. What is "slowly"? That means not making large movements in the chest and the abdomen, but on the contrary, a quick short movement of breathing so [you] can follow what I say. You let air come into the lungs and immediately take it out. That means not to do deep breathing. Do not try to increase the movement of the chest and the abdomen; but rather, do as follows. [Air] comes in. Leave it2 [so air] goes out. Then, it comes in, and leave it again so it could go out. [Do it] at this speed. In other words, do something that is reasonable without excessive effort. 2. Now I am going to talk about the different parts of the process of breathing. You are going to try and follow it. With each inhalation and with each exhalation, follow this 2a. For example, if I speak now about allowing or listening to how the chest pulls the upper part — the right shoulder, between the sternum and the shoulder blade, in the muscles of the chest, below the armpit and behind the shoulder blade . . . [incomplete sentence]. That means that corner. While air comes into this corner, you forget to think about the nose, the mouth, and the diaphragm. Listen only to this during each inhalation. With each inhalation listen to how air arrives at the middle of the body, approximately half-way between the sternum and the floor, at the place where there are the bronchi. [Previously] you saw that there are three [lobes] to the right lung and two [lobes] to the left [lung]. In this place, listen. From there, listen to how air comes in. That means the chest pulls and sucks the lung to the right shoulder, between the clavicle and shoulder blade in the direction 2 «-Leave it" is a literal translation of a Hebrew phrase Dr. Feldenkrais often uses in the context of telling students to stop a particular action. © Copyright December 1997. All rights reserved by and to the International Feldenkrais® Federation, Paris, France in cooperation with The Feldenkrais Institute, Tel Aviv, Israel. 1371 Awareness Through Movement® Lessons from Alexander Yanai #201; Gluing in the lungs, part 1 of the ear . . . toward under the armpit, toward the shoulder blade on the floor . . . toward the chest, in front. [Listen] to how the sucking of the lung to this area is done. Listen to it. Listen only to this. Listen only to this with each inhalation. That means to make sufficiently fast inhalations [and] short exhalations. Do not involve [yourself] with anything except listening to what we have mentioned. Here, now, listen only to how it fills those spaces, to how [you] feel a movement there, a movement of filling up. Of course, we said that [we] do not feel the movement of filling the lungs. [We] feel the pulling movement of the external parts. Do this [movement] two, three, four, five times. Pay attention. 3. And now, air comes in through the nostrils. How does it arrive at these bronchi? Try to follow it with each inhalation. With each inhalation ... do not busy yourself with exhalations ... only the inhalations ... a light inhalation. How does it go behind the palate into the trachea? You will see [that it is] peculiar [how] certain [parts] are felt clearly and others are not. We want to make the whole process more conscious, with more awareness. Pay attention. Maybe [you] feel [this path] in the trachea and not in the bronchi, or in the bronchi and not in the trachea. [Maybe you] feel the trachea and not the palate, behind. With each inhalation, follow the air. [Follow] the feeling in the nostrils, in the palate, in the trachea. You will see that ninety percent of the people shut the trachea down while breathing and interfere with the breath. With the great majority, each one hears a big noise as he breathes, especially when he wants to breathe intentionally. [You] hear, "phhuh." [They] always stop, contradict, and interfere with the breath because they have the feeling that they are doing something, an effort. So, follow the movement of air through the nostrils, behind the palate, in the trachea, in the bronchi, and in the upper right bronchia. That is what we do. 3a. Now do this whole process. Listen to the nostrils. If it is clear, listen to both the nostrils and the palate. If that becomes clear, [listen to] the nostrils, the palate, the trachea, all along its whole length to the middle. From there, [listen] from inside to the volume as it molds or presses the chest upward, downward toward the floor, toward the shoulder, and toward the armpit. . . only this [right] corner and the upper part of the lung. The upper right bronchia fill it. Do this a few times. 4. Now, only follow air from the nostrils, in the palate, in the trachea, to the bronchia [in the] third lobe [bottom, on the right side]. That means it is the one that is pushing. Air comes into the bottom of the right lung ... in front to the liver, to the side of the liver, behind the liver, in the ribs all around. Listen to this. Listen only to this. Leave the upper part alone. With each inhalation, pay attention to how it forms there [bottom lobe on the right side]. Now once again, and once again — while thinking about this, pay attention to whether [you] also think of it behind, behind in contact with the floor, and also to the sides of the ribs. In other words, [think of] the volume from inside as if [the air or the right lung] is molding or pressing the area of the lower back on the right side in all directions — forward, downward, sideways, to the floor, to the ceiling, and in the direction of the legs. Copyright December 1997. All rights reserved by and to the International Feldenkrais® Federation, Paris, France in cooperation with The Feldenkrais Institute, Tel Aviv, Israel.