Would you like to approach your
Yoga practice from an entirely different angle?
Inspired by the practice of Yoga, I have offered a couple of series of gentle guided Awareness Through Movement® lessons that explore the movement patterns of asana through Feldenkrais® learning methods. These slow, unfamiliar explorations of asana bring curiosity, fluidity and depth to your Yoga practice.
It is with excitement and delight that I prepared the lessons
for this series of classes. Each week, the challenge was to match the
movement gestalt of the Yoga asana, with a Feldenkrais lesson with a similar
gestalt, and enhance the felt sense of the asana at the end of the
lesson.
We have explored lessons relating to Cobra, Triconasana
(Triangle Pose), Ardha Matsyendrasana (half spinal twist), Bidalasana (Cat Pose) -this picture shows an asymmetrical extension of the spine-
and Baby Pose (Hooking the toe and lengthening the legs away), amongst others.
- For those of you reading this with a Feldenkrais background, I
paired these with Feldenkrais lessons Cobra and Eyes (Sphinx lesson AY96 with
eyes AY 525), Tilting the knees inwards, Lesson 10 from the ATM book "the
Movement of the Eyes Organises the Movement of the Body" fondly known as the
dead Bird Lesson, Larry Goldfarb's Cat Lesson, and Stephanie Spinks'
Hooking the Big Toe lesson -
These classes have been evolving with the group, and we now take 1hr
30 to 1hr 45 for our sessions. We take time at the beginning of each class to
explore the asana which is the focus for the day, and then talk together about
changes in awareness, physical and emotional responses, and thoughts that arise
as a result of the lesson explorations.
There is a delicious sense of luxury in taking this time to explore
asanas already so familiar and comfortable, and to look at the asana and
ourselves in a new and different way.The next series of classes will begin in Term, 1 2014.
Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement® (ATM) classes offer a creative approach to movement, that encourages integration in the body and mind, and enhances vitality, deepens relaxation, and improves flexibility.
