Movement Responses & Feedback from Ute

-ALM, current Unergi student

June 3, 2010

Unergi Core Support Movement: Pelvic Dial

Once I had my feet planted on the floor, I felt like I didn’t want to move at all. It was especially unusual because this movement is really IN my body now. My body remembers how to do it and likes it. Today was different at first. So I just stayed on the floor at listened and imagined for a while. I thought that my body had softened into the floor, but about 10 minutes into listening, I became aware that my entire body was actually in a slight contraction and that was why my body didn’t want to move. It would have been forcing it. After I was able to let go, I visualized for a little longer and then my body joined in with my imagination and it all made sense.

Ute - I imagine that a part of you wanted to make sure that she had a voice, and was "firing her authority figures" that you have internalized over a lifetime. Since you didn't force her to "get with the program", but instead listened patiently and went WITH her resistance in to imagination (something we are really good at as children), she consented to come along and helped you with her fabulous, and most often forgotten, ability to SENSE! "...it all made sense".

June 5, 2010

Unergi Core Support Movement: Shoulder & Hip Circles

I love that my shoulders understand this sequence. The glitches fall away within seconds and the movement becomes fluid. My hips are stubborn. When I turned to the other side, my other hip “got it” after a few minutes. I know I have a lot going on with my hips emotionally and that is likely playing a big role in my ability to move. I think it might also be time to pull out my anatomy coloring book so I have the most accurate understanding of what everything looks like in there. Maybe my visualization is throwing me off, too. I think it may have been the first Unergi weekend I came to that you said that if your body map is off, it reinforces habitual beliefs and responses. (Something along those lines.)

Ute - Yes, it is a very good idea to work with an accurate anatomical map in your thinking-brain. It will also help the (limbic) feeling-brain to feel more secure, and trust in your willingness to make an honest effort for contact.

June 12, 2010
Unergi Core Support Movement: Windshield Wiper

I feel sort of uneasy and disoriented. I seem to get really out of sorts when I do sequences lying on my side. I know I’ve written that before and I still don’t have a complete sense about why. I think part of it has to do with balance and also having my head in line with my spine. I haven’t figured out how to do that comfortably so throughout the sequence I’m rearranging my arm to make sure my neck isn’t contorted in some strange position – and I know I’m contracting my neck anyway. I just learned something! I know I’m starting to soften my shoulders and neck with more ease while lying on the floor on my BACK…lying on my side is a totally different story!

The other thing I wanted to mention relates to the head movement where I’m lying on my back and then move my head so my chin moves from my chest toward the ceiling and back. On the tape you say to notice how the movement ripples through the neck, spine and pelvis. The thing that is so interesting is that I totally felt the change in my body when my chin was moving toward my chest vs. when it was moving toward the ceiling… and it isn’t something I can verbalize yet. I KNOW, my BODY knows…and somehow I think that if I THINK about it too much in this moment, it will become pointlessly convoluted. Perhaps as I continue to experiment with that movement it will become easier to talk about. Right now I am comfortable sitting in the experience of FEELING it, and I guess that’s okay.

Ute - (Put a folded towel under your head that is high enough so that your spine is lying in a long line parallel to the floor.) Often, talking ABOUT something stays in the ABOUT and moves us away from the inside/insight of the experience, and away from Trust in the whole body function versus separating it into parts.

June 18, 2010

Unergi Core Support Movement: Pelvic Dial

I did this after I got out of the pool. After Monday’s swim that caused Tuesday’s pain like I haven’t felt in a while, I was nervous to swim at all. Marjory suggested that I might swim with Alexander awareness. It made total sense to me and that is what I did. I felt a difference in my body as I moved through the water. I didn’t swim long, but I spent a lot of time in the water, just walking around, floating around, being. Even still, I got out of the water and within 30 minutes my body started responding like it did on Tuesday. So down to the floor I went! The most interesting thing that I noticed is that it felt like my sacrum and lowest part of my back was shifting around and my back was cracking. My shoulders were completely relaxed – which is also very interesting. Usually I have to remind myself to let my shoulders fall into the floor.

My frustration with my body for the past 2 years…though mostly in the past 3 months because I really feel like I am gaining strength in the rest of my life…is that it seems so unpredictable. I practice all this body-awareness and then all of a sudden I wake up Tuesday morning feeling like I was run over by a truck. It really threw me off. My five minute a day focus that I chose at the Monergy Workshop is “I have my health”. On Tuesday night I lay in bed and I hadn’t done that yet, and so I started focusing on it…and I just started crying. I’m still waiting to see what I’m supposed to learn… it will come when it will come.

Ute - Here is what I imagine: You are moving into a whole new level of movable awareness, which is exciting AND scary. The younger parts that have had good reasons to be protective, and therefore withdrawn and contracted, are asked to leave the former protection behind and trust the expansion. As you observe, experience and affirm that you are able to make different, self-supportive choices in your present life, the earlier habitual protective mechanism is no longer needed. This can bring up a ton of different feelings, like, "Am I useless now? Does she reject all my efforts of trying so hard to stay safe (by making myself invisible, not speaking up, etc)? Is it safe to come out? Who can I really trust?..." The swimming and allowing the buoyancy of the water CARRY YOU and explore even more fluidity and expansion than ever before, may have thrown a younger part of you into panic. So, go back to patient listening, as you know how to do so beautifully, and wait for her to show you her timing, her pacing...

June 25, 2010

Feldenkrais: Freeing the Mouth & Jaw

I did this just before going to sleep last night. The left side of my neck was very tight and it felt like my entire head was full of tension. I was sort of surprised because I have been very aware of my jaw and keeping it soft. I wonder if I compensated by holding my head in a strange way. It is quite possible. It has only been in the past couple days that I have consciously kept my head free and remembered the head/neck/atlas relationship. Anyway – when I first started and rolled my head, it rolled very easily to the right but didn’t want to go very far to the left at all. I spent a lot of time on this sequence…longer than usual. I could feel how opening my mouth affected my neck and because my neck was tense, my mouth did not want to open too much at first. By the end, my neck had released a little bit and my head was able to roll a little easier.

Ute - We hold a lot of tension in the jaw, head/neck area. I imagine this is because of our fear to speak up, to be heard, to take up space with our ideas in other people's lives. Notice how this Jaw sequence engages your whole body, not just the jaw area, and is therefore a "way in" to taking up our rightful place in the world.

More Feldenkrais & Unergi Core Support Movements

I thought I would post my May Movement Responses on the blog - I think a couple people from the MONERGY workshop were interested. My March Responses are further down if anyone is reading! (This is going to be long...)

May 1, 2010
Unergi Core Support Movement: Elbow Meets Knee

Today I did this sequence outside lying on a towel in the grass. The coolest thing happened. The slight breeze and the sun shining on the top of my elbows helped me and reminded me to sense the kinesphere consistently throughout the sequence. My head felt so light. I added the slight lift of the opposite bent leg and it may have looked to an outsider like I was doing some sort of abdominal exercise because my knee and elbows (and head) lifted off of the ground and almost came together. I wasn’t even trying. I thought I was about to move very slowly as I had been the entire time. Instead, when I initiated the movement, my body just went! It surprised me.

May 3, 2010
Feldenkrais: Lengthening the Arms

This is amazing for my upper back and shoulder blades. I started the sequence with a lot of stress and tension in my whole body and I tend to carry a lot of that in my shoulders and upper back. My biggest thing today -- the first 10 minutes of this recording is a talk-through of sensing where your body is before starting. Today it helped me realize how challenging it is for me to soften into the floor right away, almost like I am afraid of falling even though I know the floor, and the earth, is there to support me. I am afraid of the pain of softening. I think I may have made reference to the physical pain of releasing muscle tension in the past – I’m sure there must be a direct parallel to my emotions and I’m not going to analyze it right now. It will be what it will be. The interesting thing about my experience with this sequence today was that once I regained my breath, I was able to slowly come back into my body and before I even realized it, I was softening…all before the sequence even started.

May 6, 2010
Unergi Core Support Movement: Pelvic Dial

I discovered that I need to completely be in my body before beginning any kind of movement sequence. I cannot just lie down on the floor with whatever is going on in my brain and jump right into it. I need to take however much time I need to let myself feel the support of the floor and the earth and come back to true self. Today I realized that have am really proud of myself for how I have handled myself over the past 2 months. I have been stressed AND I have been okay. Today when I put myself on the floor, I started the sequence right away. I was thinking about my exam tomorrow and I wasn’t with myself in the moment. After a few minutes I realized what I was doing because I was contracting unnecessary muscles all over the place and I didn’t feel comfortable at all. I stopped. I even stopped the CD. I lay on the floor for 15 minutes… breathing… letting go of everything. When I started the CD again, I visualized for the first half and then started moving later on once I felt like I was ready.

May 8, 2010
Feldenkrais: Freeing the Mouth & Jaw

My jaw clenching is a very unconscious habit. I am getting better at becoming aware of it AND it is also very challenging to be aware of all the time. I check in with myself throughout the day and make a choice to open my mouth and loosen my jaw and move it back and forth. It seems like those releases of pressure are only in those moments. I followed this sequence with the CD today and my body was resisting it a little bit. Maybe it isn’t actually a matter of my body resisting it, perhaps it has more to do with what I think I SHOULD be able to do. My jaw wants to click and does not want to allow my mouth to open as much as it could open, but that would require more than ease. I had an internal conflict about DOING vs. NON-DOING during this sequence. If I just DID more, maybe I would benefit more…No, Amy, if you DO then you’re working against the whole process. It is a fine line for me. The NON-DOING side took over and I was easeful. This is an important sequence for me. I think I will be ‘non-doing’ it a lot.

May 12, 2010
Feldenkrais: Easier Reaching

This is the last sequence in the series of Feldenkrais lessons I bought, so now I have been through all of them. Now I can say that each time a new lesson integrated the connection between pushing the foot into the ground to lift the pelvis, which ripples all the way up the spine, making the relationship to the neck and shoulders easier…I fell in love with my muscles all over again! It is just amazing. I’ve noticed that my body is very sensitive to changes. During rest before starting movement on the second side, I am extremely aware of the differences. For this particular sequence, my left arm and leg felt so much longer than my right leg and arm. My lower back felt relaxed on one side and tense on the other. When first started moving on the other side, which involved pushing my left foot into the floor to lift the left side of my pelvis it was like I hadn’t moved that way in years! Maybe that happened to show me that I really need to make sure I don’t let 3 days pass without doing a sequence.

May 15, 2010
Unergi Core Support Movement: Pelvic Dial

I have been doing movement sequences regularly since the beginning of February and I am still amazed at how my body can respond so differently each time. I wasn’t sure what I expect when I started because I did a lot today, physically. My body was tired. When I lay down on the floor I was surprised that my lower back was pretty close to the floor. I had just taken a shower and that probably relaxed my muscles. As I moved through the sequence I sensed less directional confusion than I usually do and I only noticed unnecessary contraction once. I was making fists. It brings to mind that making fists is my other habit. I tend to clench my jaw and squeeze my hands. As I continued, I noticed that I wanted to make the movement more quickly. It seems like repetition and changing direction is what causes me to become confused…and my way of regaining some sort of ‘control’ of my body is to speed up because then is feels like I know what direction I’m moving. I realized that wasn’t helping anything so I stopped and visualized the movement. Then I started sensing very small movements without actually moving. When I eventually started moving, what helped me was visualizing that I was drawing a very small circle on the floor.

May 17, 2010
Unergi Core Support Movement: Elbow Meets Knee

I feel especially calm after this sequence today. My head felt lighter and lighter as the sequence continued and that felt great. Visualizing the muscles in my neck and back lengthening as I lift my head makes an amazing difference. By chance I ended up doing a little experiment. I didn’t visualize my muscles lengthening one time when I lifted my head and pointed my elbows toward my right knee & lifted my right knee. I definitely felt a difference. I felt contraction. I did the movement again and imagined that my muscles lengthened easily into an open U shape, like they were shaped around the bottom of a wooden bowl, and it felt completely different. The movement came easily and comfortably. At the beginning of the sequence when I rolled my head from side to side, my head stuck in several places and was really jerky. By the end, I rolled my head and there was no restriction at all. Zero! I’m not sure that’s ever happened and it was fantastic!

May 19, 2010
Feldenkrais: Lengthening the Arms

This movement sequence starts on the left side and the amount of time spent on that side feels so long. Every time I do this sequence I find myself getting really antsy to just start moving my right side already! My left side felt long, expansive and soft; meanwhile my right side felt twisted, contorted and painful. I sensed myself getting emotional because I had to be with it when I just wanted to move and get rid of the uncomfortable feeling. I think it might be interesting to stop the CD if this happens next time and do a little dialoging between the sides of my body to see what comes out.

May 21, 2010
Unergi Core Support Movement: Pelvic Dial

I realized that I’ve gone into this sequence with expectations on several occasions and this time I recognized it as soon as I put myself on the floor. I took a few minutes to sense my body on the floor and was really excited to notice that my shoulders eased right into the carpet. When I started moving, I moved even slower than usual so I could make sure that I wasn’t trying to get somewhere. I made a much smaller circle with my hips than I usually do and it felt really good. I didn’t experience as much resistance.

May 22, 2010
Feldenkrais: Eye Movement (Unergi Weekend – Saturday)

When I had an external focal point, even though my eyes were closed, I was able to move my eyes with ease. I could sense my hand and each finger and was able to move my eyes back and forth toward each location. It was more challenging for me when the direction was to move my eyes ‘toward the floor on the left’ or if the direction related to my face. I can sense my face, but it is so close to my eyes that I felt myself straining my eyes because I didn’t feel like I was moving my eyes at all. I gave myself a headache. Throughout the sequence I recognized that I was straining my eyes and I ‘tried not to try’ and found it difficult to visualize a sequence relating to the eyes. I didn’t consider just listening. I am happy that I opened my mouth and moved my jaw from side to side several times throughout the sequence because that was really helpful.

May 23, 2010
Feldenkrais: Arm Lifting (Unergi Weekend – Sunday)

Loved this! I need some Cliff Smyth Feldenkrais in my life. Anja, my cello, won’t feel so neglected if, or maybe I could say, when I do this sequence regularly. When I lifted my arms one at a time at the beginning of the sequence, I could sense that if I continued that movement, I would be in pain after a few minutes. One interesting observation, though, is pointing my awareness toward my thumb as the initiating place of movement was the easiest and most comfortable way to lift my arm at that time in the sequence. It reminded me of the time I brought my cello with me to a Unergi session and you talked about that type of awareness as you worked with me. Very interesting. Anyway, at the end of the lesson when I lifted my arms one at a time, I felt like I was going to throw my arm into the mirror behind me because my arm was so light it just flew right up into the air. My shoulder blades and upper back were completely free AND my arms were light. Holy crap! That is prime cello-playing stance! Fear, perfectionism & self-judgment, GET OUT OF MY WAY!

May 26, 2010
Feldenkrais: A More Comfortable Neck

It is interesting to compare how I feel doing this sequence with how I felt doing the sequence above. This sequence involves lifting my arms and putting my palms together to form a triangle with my chest throughout the sequence. I found that my arms got tired really easily and that I really had to focus on softening my shoulders. The thing that confused me is when I was able to relax my shoulders, it seemed to make my shoulders lie closer to my ears and somehow that doesn’t make sense to me. I visualized about half of this sequence. Once I was able to use my foot to push into the floor to help me, it made lifting the shoulder blade a lot easier. It even made holding my arms up in the air seem easier. I wonder how much of my arm fatigue relates to anxiety about holding my arms in that position since I am aware that one of my current limitations is related to pain in my arms / shoulders. I noticed that when I started feeling pain and fatigue, I would put my arms down and take a deep breath, which makes me think I had lost track of my breath.

May 28, 2010
Feldenkrais: Freeing the Mouth & Jaw

Aaaaaah. Or maybe I should say, uuuuuh. My head really wanted this tonight. Doing these kinds of movements with my mouth and jaw while lying on the floor feel very different than doing similar movements here and there throughout my day when I realize I’ve been clenching. My whole head and neck has released tension and my tongue isn’t glued to the roof of my mouth anymore. I had the beginning stages of a migraine for the majority of the day and that is completely gone. I would say more, but I think I’d rather go put myself back on the floor and that is what I’m going to do.

May 30, 2010
Unergi Core Support Movement: Shoulder & Hip Circles

My body is telling me to just stop trying so hard! Well, my hips are telling me to stop trying so much. My shoulders are starting to understand how to do this with ease most of the time. I’m still trying to find my hips each time I do this sequence…and then when I find them we have an interesting little conversation regarding circular movement. I think we’re at the beginning of some sensory understanding. Toward the end of the sequence I found myself make the smallest, smallest circle with my right hip and my left hip (that was on the floor) wasn’t tensed. It was amazing! It was the first time that has ever happened! Usually the hip on the floor is trying to do a lot of work and I end up making larger movements because I’m unable to sense small movements in my hips…because I couldn’t find my hips. I think I need to find my hips daily. I feel like I’m starting from the beginning each time. Hmmm.

May 31, 2010
Unergi Core Support Movement: Pelvic Dial

I put myself on the floor with the intention of doing Shoulder & Hip Circles like I did last night. I planned on doing it at my own pace with one of my ‘healing music’ CDs playing. I lay on the ground sensing my body for a few minutes first. As I started to organize myself to roll to my side, I brought my knees up so my feet were standing on the ground momentarily and I stopped. Instead of continuing to roll to my side, my body decided it would rather let my lower back ease into the floor…and the decision to do the Pelvic Dial was simple. I was already there. I noticed that I am DOING less and less during this sequence. Woohoo! My body really understands this sequence. There isn’t so much brain-thinking involved in making the movement anymore. Tonight I was having trouble getting the brain-thinking to stop, period. My brain was going and going and going about all sorts of other things the whole time. I recognized it. That is good. There were a couple times that my breathing was off and I had to stop everything and check in with myself about breathing. When I focus on breathing my brain can’t think about other stuff. Okay Amy, focus on breathing.

It always comes back to that, doesn’t it? One of the ways I find myself while standing at the table is through my breath. Lying ON the table I come back to myself through my breath. Lying on the FLOOR I find myself through my breath. Hmmm.

Writing these movement responses is so intriguing… I love it!

Feldenkrais & Unergi Core Support Movements

Hello Unergi Friends!

This is going to be a long one... When I do Feldenkrais lessons or Unergi Core Support sequences I write about them as part of my learning and training. As much as I'm still a newbie to this, maybe some of you will find this helpful (or at least interesting) if you are also new to this kind of glorious work!

March 3, 2010
Unergi Core Support Movement: Elbow Meets Knee
As soon as I lay down on the floor, I started visualizing the muscles in my back lengthening and the curving movement of my neck and head forward as lily petals blooming. I sensed the space beyond my head and elbows and I didn’t experience pain in my arms even once during the sequence. It was a completely easeful experience. One thing I’ve continually noticed is that when I lie down my shoulders tend to place closer to my ears than I would like. I know that is a sign of tension, yet at the same time, it takes effort to get my shoulders to go anywhere else and that isn’t the kind of work this is. Perhaps this also has something to do with the fact that my shoulders have been on high alert for so long – maybe it will just take a longer time until they remember where they belong.

March 6, 2010
Unergi Core Support Movement: Elbow Meets Knee
It has been an excessively emotional and physically stressful few days and I could tell that it has affected me. I decided to do a little experiment and do the same Core Support sequence that I did with such ease just a couple days ago. I started visualizing the same way I did the other day. My mind wanted to wander instead of staying focused on what I was encouraging it to do. My body wasn’t as responsive as it was the other day. I felt heavier. My legs were tensed for no reason and my shoulder blades told me they weren’t ready to release. I realized that today wasn’t a day to practice movement. Today was a day to lie down and listen and visualize when my mind let me visualize. I wasn’t going to beat myself up for my mind wandering.

March 9, 2010
Unergi Core Support Movement: Pelvic Dial
My body chose this movement today. It wasn’t a process of deciding which I wanted to do; my body definitively told me that this is what I needed to do. My movements were very fluid from the beginning and that is something very different. I noticed that my breath was easy and full. I stopped occasionally to roll my head side to side. Maybe that reminded my shoulders that they didn’t need to prepare for anything. When my shoulders are soft, movements throughout the rest of my body are easier.

March 12, 2010
Feldenkrais: Rolling Like a Baby
I’ve fallen in love! I just finished this sequence and it is 10pm. I could either fall asleep or start my day right now because my body feels great, my mind is clear, and I just had so much fun! My shoulders love me and I love them. I know I’ve said something like this before - I have some lingering pain in my shoulder blades but it is the kind of pain that happens because I just had a huge release of tension. I am okay with that! I was very aware of my body throughout this sequence and was able to soften and ease muscles that didn’t need to be used. Toward the end my body started to get confused when it was time to roll from one side to the other without pauses in between. I attempted to do it right away and that caused me to tense. Instead I stopped, listened, and watched myself do it, even so much as to visualize the muscles in my body that I would need to use. Then I was able to do it very slowly. When I stood up at the end I felt ten times lighter and my back and shoulders were so relaxed that I almost wanted to cry. I haven’t felt this calm in years. In my opinion, everyone should roll like a baby.

March 13, 2010
Feldenkrais: Easier Sitting
I felt a major difference between the beginning and end of this sequence. At the beginning I could only feel the movement of my pelvis in my lower back and by the end I felt it all the way up through my neck. Interestingly, I started feeling it more when I was told to fix my eyes on an object in the room instead of allowing my head to move freely. I noticed that I tend to contract the muscles in my abdomen and stop breathing when I tilt my pelvis backward (?) to round my back. By the end of the sequence I was beginning to release that habit. At one point the instructions were to round the back but look up with the head (described as a non-habitual way to sit) and I thought to myself, wow, this is how I sit a lot of the time. It almost reminded me of the “Red Light Reflex” or Withdrawal Response in “Somatics”. Anyway…There were times that I wasn’t sure if I was doing the movement correctly – and even with that in mind, the changes are still fantastic. I stood up to walk after and, as always, I feel like I’m walking more like a woman! I must have some serious habitual hip/pelvis muscle issues. Whenever I do sequences involving work with my pelvis I walk around at the end and my legs and hips feel so free.

March 16, 2010
Unergi Core Support Movement: Shoulder & Hip Circles
This was particularly challenging for me today. Even with the smallest movements I still felt jerkiness in my body. Visualizing that I was painting a circle with my shoulder blade allowed more freedom in my upper back, though I could tell I was still holding on to something and my body told me it wasn’t okay to let go of it right now. When it came to my hips I became frustrated and realized that I would need to listen instead of do. I just couldn’t find my hips today.

March 20, 2010
Unergi Core Support Movement: Pelvic Dial
I am in the hotel room in Michigan. There was a visitation at the church where I had my first encounters with lots and lots of family. I was finally able to let go of some anxiety once I got there. This evening was the first time I could eat in a few days without having major stomach problems. I came back to the hotel and decided that continuing with the positivity of the evening by putting myself on the floor and doing some core support movements would be the best way to take care of me. I didn’t have a lot of space or privacy so I had to modify what I usually do. I put my Music for Healing music on my iPod and lay still on the floor for several minutes visualizing the sequence first. As I did this I could feel a shift in the quality of my presence in my body. I cannot think of any other way to say that. At one point I even moved a little bit on the ground to change how I felt contact with the floor. Eventually I physically did the movement, although I didn’t do the movement as many times as the CD usually leads me through.

March 25, 2010
Feldenkrais: Flexible Bending
Lots of body confusion during this sequence. I understood everything being said but my coordination wasn’t all there. My body wasn’t listening to me today. My shoulders wanted to hold on to tension for dear life and my jaw was clenched the majority of the time. I visualized the movements when I was unable to release my shoulders and it impeded my ability to move without pain. All that said, it amazes me to say that I still noticed a significant change from the beginning to the end of the lesson in my comfortable range in bending from side to side. I am starting to realize that the pelvis really is the foundation for most movements in the body. Perhaps that’s why everything comes with so much more ease when the instructions “press your left (or right) foot into the floor and make the same movement” are added. It’s glorious!

March 27, 2010
Unergi Weekend Feldenkrais Sequence (Saturday)
I am writing this on Monday. I’ve already written my response for March 28th and the only thing I can think to write for this response is that I can’t remember most of it because I was so disturbed about falling asleep before we started. I remember making a rectangle with my arms and moving my arms from side to side. I recall that being a very pleasurable feeling in my shoulder blades, almost as if I was lubricating my shoulder blades.

March 28, 2010
Unergi Weekend Feldenkrais Sequence (Sunday)
One thing that really confused my body was pressing my hip into the floor. I wasn’t able to relay that message through my body. Going down the diagonal, I was able to press my shoulder, mid-back, and foot with no problem – the hip just wasn’t happening for me on its own. If anything, it caused me to tense my entire leg and butt. I really enjoyed the rolling movement that comes from pressing my foot into the floor to lift my hip and allowing my whole spine and neck to follow accordingly. I think that is starting to be one of my favorite things about Feldenkrais and Unergi Core Support Movements. Very freeing. When turning my palms and letting my neck turn, that became very fluid. The sensation when making a fist was different; there was a hint of tension and rigidity to the movement and I switched back to open palms.

March 29, 2010
Unergi Core Support Movement: Pelvic Dial
Today I had another experience of what I would call my body choosing the sequence. My body asked to do the Pelvic Dial. I took extra time to repeat the movements at 12 & 6 and 3 & 9. As much as I’ve practiced this sequence, my body is still confused about 3 & 9 much of the time. My hips (or something) often crack the first few times I move in those directions. I realized about halfway through this time that I may have had some sort of unrealized expectation about how large of a circle I should create with my hips. I purposely made much smaller movements to see how it felt. I noticed my breathing become automatically easier and muscles that I never noticed that I was holding release. Becoming truly aware is quite a process.