Moving when "tired"

This happens, doesn't it:
end of the day comes, and we just want to "flake out."

For me, it's lie on my back and read a novel.

For others TV, a DVD, a beer.

And there's always getting on the phone and jawing away.

So, what could mindfulness show us about this "tiredness" thing.

Well, for a start, we could feel and sense where specifically in our bodies
this
"tiredness' seems to be the strongest.

Right now for me, it's around my eyes and in the back of my neck.

And in the lungs, my lungs, having a bit of a trouble breathing.

So here we have three areas for me to move, and as I do,
let's see if we together can create an opening back to the joys
of
"just being alive," that is always the fruit and
the sign of being mindful.

Okay: tiredness always seems to come to the back of the neck.
And we are in the Feldy and Anat Baniel fields of learning and exploration,
which gives us the delightful option:
how to move easily and slowly and in a way that connects down deeper
into
ourself.

How about this?
Place your right hand over your head to loosely hold your left ear,
or something close to that.
And here, begin to rock side to side, so your elbow shifts where it is pointing upward
right and left.

Feel your neck move
and
your back
and
your ribs

and do please
allow one side of your pelvis to raise up
each time you bend to the side,
the hip raising Up
toward the shoulder that is moving DOWN

Just do this say seven times
count them
and feel sense notice search
enjoy a little bit different about each one.

Take an eyes closed rest.
Feel if anything has shift.

Now put the other hand, left,
over your head to the right ear, or thereabout.

Slowly shift back and forth right and left as before,
but just a few times.

Then, when you get to the right tip (right hip up, elbow as far to the right
as you and it can easily go), stay there, and rock forward and back a bit
on the left side of your pelvis, your left sit bone.

It is as if you are coming more forward with your elbow
as your belly comes in
and you shift farther back on the left sit bone
(Ishium)

Go slow. Go slowly.

As you do this, close your eyes, and feel your
ribs
and spine
and neck
and breathing.

Then side bend your elbow to your left
raising your left hip and
sitting on your right sit bone/ ishium.

From there fold and arch, feel your spine coming forward at the top and bottom with the elbow
forward part of this,
and feel your spine top and bottom coming toward each
other in the back
as you push out your belly and arch.

Do this with your eyes closed.

Rest.

See if you can put both hands slightly over your head toward the other ear and do
something like a hoola hoop
with your pelvis,
letting the elbows makes their own form of circle.

Go slow.
Go slowly.

Moving Into Life on a Monday

The Wake Up Game

Part One:
We wake up in bed.
Gads, and we "don't wan to get up"
or "don't want to move"
or "want to go back to sleep"
blah, blah, blah

The robot is pretty strong when the lazy sweet half dead
comfort
of the bed beacons us to stay on, and on

And how to wake up
inside the covers
and outside of sleep?

Try this:

1. Slowly move your head to the right and the left
Yes, yes, at first you can move like a robot
and then
wake up:
notice your neck
notice your breathing
notice the rest of your spine (yes, indeed, the "neck" is a word, the spine is 24 vertebrae)
notice the change in sensation where the back of your head presses into pillow or bed
notice what you are doing with your eyes

Rest.

2. Do that again and play with at least these variations;
   a. Eyes closed
   b. One eye open, and then the other
   c. Both eyes open
   d. One and both eyes moving the same way as you move your head
   e. One and both eyes (different times, right) moving the opposite way as your head

Rest

3. Move your feet right and left like a windshield wiper
rotate at the hip joint
feel your heels move in where they touch the feet
feel the sensation of feet against sheet as the move
feel your hip joints
feel your knees
feel your pelvis
feel your spine

Rest

4. Imagine combining the head and the feet,
sometimes imagine head and feet going the same way
sometimes imagine them going opposite

Now, "do" this in the real bed
and notice what you forget

Imagine it again

"Do it" again:
notice how your spine,
in between your head and feet
starts to wake up in this

Rest

5. Imagine 3 or 4 ways to roll out of bed

Try one

Roll back in, sensing yourself in the "reverse" move

Now roll out of bed another way

6. Sit at the edge of the bed

Sense your right leg, fully,
from five toes to foot to anke
to calf
to knee
to thigh
to head of top of thigh
to hip bone

Sense your right arm fully
fingertips
to shoulder blade

Sense the right side of you,
with emphasis on right arm and right leg

Sense your left arm from shoulder blade
down
to fingertips

Sense the first three all at once:
right leg, right arm, left arm

Add on the left leg
Sense all  four: two arms and two legs

Add on the spine, your spine

Sense all five at once:
your right leg,
your right arm,
your spine
your left arm
your left leg

Sense the all of you
add on all other bones, breathing, organs,
anything "real" you can sense in the moment

enjoy

Then add on hearing what you are hearing

Then add on opening your eyes and seeing what you see

Then rise to your day
and enjoy, today and all week,
starting the day with the five line excercise
and staying in sense, look and listen
in the now
mode
all day

hey,
what have you got to lose?

Moving Brain: Sitting and Moving, in a Chair, Rotation and Option

Sit comfortably in a chair, near the front of the chair,
feet on the floor, and
feel your 5 line:
two arms,
two legs,
one spine.

Feel how you sit and hold up your head in this wonderful and
relentless world of gravity.

1. Turn your head easily right and left.
Go far less than your "limit."
Keep it easy and pleasurable.
If there is pain in any movement, do less, or do
none
and visualize the movement.

Feel the differences between right and left.

Rest.

2. Now pick which ever way is easiest to turn,
and turn just that way a number of times. Turn that way,
easily,
gently,
less than your "limit,"
with awareness and comfort,
and then
turn back to the middle.

Do at least a few of the movements with your eyes open,
so you can see what the starting range is for you
when you turn easily and without efforting.

Feel this as a movement that you can learn
from.
Study and be aware and enjoy this.

After a number of times, rest.

3. Which ever way you have decided to turn,
put that hand on the chair behind and beside you as support.

Then take your other hand, and put the back of that hand,
on the check opposite,
which is to say on the check in the direction you are turning.
(Throughout this movement lesson, you will keep turning whatever was your "easiest" way.)

These directions may seem "hard."

Oh, well. Go slowly in figuring them out.
Any movement you make is going to improve awareness.

So, one hand on the chair, the other hand with its back on the opposite side of the face.

Begin to turn in your chosen direction and back to the middle
a number of times.

Feel your elbow and ribs as involved in the turning now.

Does that make a difference?

Can you enjoy and learn from that difference?

Do this a number of times, and then
rest.

In the REST don't space out, but sit in a way to really feel what is going on in your body
and mind
from these movements.
This is important integration time for your whole being.

4. Sit again at the front of your chair if you rested in another position.
Put the same hand on the chair beside you, and the other hand a
about eight inches in front of your nose
with the wrist in a floppily relaxed position, thumb nearest to your face.

In this position, turn in your chosen direction and back to the middle a number of times,
having the floppy wrist hand make that same amount of rotation.

As you rotate, allow yourself to come over onto the side of the pelvis
that is the same
as the direction you are turning.

Feel this movement from feet through pelvis thru ribs
up thru neck and even nose and eyes.

Enjoy this.

Rest.

5. Now do the same thing as the last movement a few times.

Then, do this: stop about halfway to wherever you are
turning,
and go both ways with hand and nose,
but these will be opposite.

Which means your hand will come back to the middle,
as your nose turns further in the direction you have been
turning,
and then they reverse,
so that the nose ends up looking forward
and the hand comes across to the side you
have been turning.

Let this movement have something like a neutral space
where both hand and head are turned halfway,
and the pelvis is flat on the chair then.

And each movement after that,
either hand to the side or
nose to the side,
let the pelvis shift that way.

Do this slowly,
don't make a big movement out of it,
keep enjoyment and learning and awareness as constants
more important than how far or how 'well' you move.

Rest and breathe and sense your five lines and integrate.

6. Sit at the front edge of the chair,
and put the same turning side hand on the chair.
Put the other hand on the opposite shoulder,
which is going to be the side to which you are turning.

In this configuration,
turn about half way to your chosen direction
and stop.
Now play the eye and head game.
Slowly.
Slowly and small.
Slowly and small and low effort.

Turn your eyes left as your nose turns to the right,
and then come back,
turning your eyes to the right, as your nose turns to the left.

Go slow.
Go small.
Follow your breathing.

Enjoy.

Rest in a neutral position.
Feel if you feel different from the beginning.

7. Now simple sit at the front edge of your chair and
turn your head right and left,
and see what changes have occurred.

Review in your mind the way the ribs and the shoulder and the eyes
and your pelvis can be involved in turning your head.

Now turn your head right and left again,
and feel yourself as a magnificence of possibilities.

Thinking: Thinking as Noticing Differences

Moshe Feldenkrais was fond of saying that "thinking" that didn't result in

real change

(improvement)

wasn't thinking at all. That it was just "mental masturbation."

We'll leave for later the obvious parallels to most of what passes for conversation

in our society, and just offer the missing 6 steps of yesterday's lesson

as a chance to "think without words."

In today's game/ exercise/ offering/ activity,

you get to think,

ie discover a new pattern of differences.

You have a problem to solve, the problem of moving your eyes one way,

while your head moves another. This is how learning takes place.

The numbers refer to yesterday's steps, and I would suggest starting the whole

movement lesson of yesterday from the start, and then adding this in.

The idea is to increase the complexity of rounding and arching by creating a

non-habitual movement of eyes and head relative to each other.

Or the idea is to notice differences we didn't know we could notice.

Or to revisit a difference, and feel it newly and freshly.

Or, to ...... be quiet and present while in "motion."

Or, to.......

In all the movement and thinking lessons 

please

go slowly,

go gently,

look for pleasure,

look for ease,

search for learning.

Be present.

Here are the missing and additional steps, with at least a little backing up to add in from yesterday:

10. Come to the front of your chair. Put your hands on your face and head as in #8.  (Hands at the side of your face, fingers and thumbs pointing backward, thumbs below your years, fingers above in the hair area).

Now combine #6 and #8. 

Roll forward into a curled in ball,

so that

belly comes in

sternum comes back and down,

pelvis shifts to pressure on chair is more to the rear,

nose points down,

spine rolls toward itself top and bottom in the front

and then arch up into a looking up person

so that

belly come forward,

sternum comes up and forward,

head and nose tilt toward the skies

pelvis weight and pressure come more forward,

your back arches towards itself top and bottom in the rear of you.

 Do not, do not, do not bring your neck back "too far."

Which is to say, don't "shorten" your neck.

 Just have your nose tilting up easily in a way the it feels as if your neck's curve is a continuation of your spine's curve.

    a. Go back and forth from belly in and rolling back on your pelvis, to belly out and rocking forward on your pelvis.

    b. Feel each vertebrae.

    c. Feel all the ribs.

    d. Feel the sternum moving up and forward and then down and in.

    e. Begin to sense your neck as part of your spine, not separate from it.

Brief tidbit for clarity in all of your life: THE FUNDAMENTAL UNIT OF INTELLIGENCE IS THE PERCEPTION OF DIFFERENCES.

Good.

11. Do the #10 again, rounding and arching and as you make and aware this movement notice differences between the folding part and the unfolding part:

    a. in the ribs

    b. the spine

    c. the sternum

    d. the pelvis

    e. the head

    f. your breathing

    g. your eyes

12. Rest.

13. Now do folding and arching, almost like #10 and #11, but don't put your hands on your face and head. Notice the difference in how your head relates to your back without your hands on your head.

    a. then go back and forth, hands on face to round and arch, and hands off

    b. pay amused and delighted attention how one way connects up the movement of your head with the arching and rounding in your back.

14. Rest.

15. Now, do the movement of #10 with this added complexity:

    a. Notice what your eyes are doing as you arch and lifted your head and round and tuck your head in

    b. Deliberately move your eyes (open or closed, try both for more differences to experience) down as your head goes down and up as your head goes up

    c. Now, try this, and go very slowly, and do just a little bit: but as your head goes down with rounding, have your eyes move to look up, as if at your forehead, and as your head (connected by hands to your back), lifts in the arching toward up, move your eyes slowly, slowly and gently down.

    d. Do this many times. Take rests. Make the up and down of your head very small if you get wozzy or confused. Just notice the new difference: head up and eyes down, head down and eyes up.

    e. See if you can become calm enough in this to begin to sense your spine and ribs and sternum and breathing and pelvis again, while still moving your head and eyes in opposition.

16. Rest.

17. Imagine doing #10 with the eyes in the same direction at your head. Don't DO anything. Just imagine.

    a. Then do the movement once, and notice what wasn't available in imagination

    b. Imagine it again, more fully.

    c. Do it in reality.

    d. Back and forth like this as long as you are curious and learning and in ease.

18. Rest in sitting in the 5 line meditation, and then rock forward onto your feet and feel the length of yourself in standing. Walk around and stay in the awareness mode for as long as you can. Notice the arms hanging from the spine and the legs holding up the pelvis and the pelvis holding up the head.

19. Enjoy being you today.

Moving Brain: Sitting and Moving, in a Chair

1. Find a firm chair or bench or log or rock where you can sit with both feet on the ground and your hips are slightly higher than your knees.

2. Come to the front of the chair, so your spine holds up your head and you aren't leaning back on anything.

3. Feel what this is like if you sit more or less upright.

    a. Feel how your pelvis sits on the chair.

    b. Feel how your spine rises up out of your pelvis

    c. Feel how your head is held up by your spine.

    d. Notice your shoulder blades, and how they rest on the ribs of your back.

    e. Feel both arms and both legs and your spine all at once.

4. Sit for a few minutes as if this is your meditation: noticing and sensing your arms and legs and spine. Find a certain peace and clarity in this.

5. Rest by leaning back, or walking, or just wiggling very slightly.

6. Sit forward again, and begin to round yourself into a ball as you sit in the chair.

    a. Let your head roll down and toward your chest.

    b. Let your sternum sink in and go down and backwards.

    c. Bring your belly in and backwards.

    d. Let your eyes come come toward looking at your belly button.

    e. Rock back on your pelvis, so that you are tucking your tail bone in a little and as if bring your sex toward your face.

     f. Undo all this and come to "upright," but no more.

     g. Then round down again, feeling each time a little more ease and awareness of all the parts of this.

     h. Begin to be aware and in enjoyment on the unfurl back to upright part, too.

     i. Do this many times, each time finding something new, and something more releasing or interesting or both.

7. Rest again. Sit in the meditation of 2 arms and 2 legs and 1 spine and just BE for a while.

8. Come to the front of the chair, and put your hands on the sides on your face, with your fingers pointing backwards, thumbs below the ears, fingers above. In this position, very slowly and easily begin to opposite of the movement in #6.

     a. Push your belly forward.

     b. Arch your back.

     c. Look up with your nose and eyes and the arms connected to your head.

     d. Roll forward to the front of your pelvis, as if you want to show off your rear end to someone behind you.

     e. Don't go too far, or "to your limit." Make it easy and enjoyable and about learning. Feel as many ribs and vertebrae as you can.

     f. In this movement, the sternum lifts and comes a bit forward. (The shoulders are soft ant easy. No "throwing the shoulders back" nonsense. This is about waking up to our spines, a central line to our lives).

      g. Come back to "upright" from this, but go no farther.

       h. Do this many times, each time concentrating and learning about a different part.

9. Rest in walking or sitting. Sense both legs, both arms and your spine. Feel if you are taller and more at ease.

10. Come to the front of your chair. Put your hands on your face and head as in #8. Now combine #6 and #8. Roll forward into a curled in ball, and arch up into a looking up person. Do not, do not, do not bring your neck back "too far." Just have your nose tilting up easily in a way the it feels as if your neck's curve is a continuation of your spine's curve.

    a. Go back and forth from belly in and rolling back on your pelvis, to belly out and rocking forward on your pelvis.

    b. Feel each vertebrae.

    c. Feel all the ribs.

    d. Feel the sternum moving up and forward and then down and in.

    e. Begin to sense your neck as part of your spine, not separate from it.

Brief tidbit for clarity in all of your life: THE FUNDAMENTAL UNIT OF INTELLIGENCE IS THE PERCEPTION OF DIFFERENCES.

Good.

11. Do the #10 again, rounding and arching and as you make and aware this movement notice differences between the folding part and the unfolding part:

    a. in the ribs

    b. the spine

    c. the sternum

    d. the pelvis

    e. the head

    f. your breathing

    g. your eyes

12. Rest.

(These steps, 13-17, got stepped ahead to the next day.

Enough is enough, and learning about learning

as the Noticing of Differences that make a difference

is huge,

and enough for today)

18. Rest in sitting in the 5 line meditation, and then rock forward onto your feet and feel the length of yourself in standing. Walk around and stay in the awareness mode for as long as you can. Notice the arms hanging from the spine and the legs holding up the pelvis and the pelvis holding up the head.

19. Enjoy being you today.