About Walking - 7 - A Little Swish From Side To Side
Dolores and Mirabel model the lesson as they swish their skirts in this cel from “Encanto.” Image courtesy of Disney Studios. Simple lesson or deep integration: your choice.
About Walking - 7 - A Little Swish From Side To Side
An Easy Introductory Lesson or Chance to Integrate Deeper Learning
Based on “Walking Oscillations 1” as taught by Anita Bueno, LASN, GCFP
Almost through this Walking series, take a pause from the details and theory and come back to basic weight shifting. For students who have been with the program, integrate previous lessons and tune into new areas of curiosity. For newcomers and folks who have been away, it’s an accessible lesson that sticks to simplicity.
We will be standing and slowly shifting weight from one heel to the other. That’s pretty much it. Shift weight, breathe, return to shifting weight. Shift weight, breathe, add a little lift, return to shifting weight. Rest in walking, sitting on a chair, or lying on the floor (like the REAL Feldenkrais Method.)
This simple structure is a framework for reviewing what we’ve done so far:
Sending the force from foot to fingertip
Using the big heel bones to support the step
Using the shoulder blades and arms to get your groove on
Aligning the shoulders, sit bones and feet for balance and power
Finding flex in the ankles for stability
Using the breath and pelvic floor to organize graceful motion
To this we add, if you are open to it, a bit more on the lines of force and working with gravity in walking.
Or skip all that detail and just enjoy a simple swaying motion that builds into conscious walking.
We’ll begin with a short review of lessons to date in sitting, and then get up off the floor. The rest of the lesson will be in standing, with rests in walking, sitting or lying down.
Set Up:
Standing on a firm surface
Stable, flat-bottom chair that you can use for standing support and sitting rest
Mat on the floor if you feel like resting supine
Our theme: the walk cycle. If it confuses you, never mind. If you find the imagery helpful, great.
Science Nerd Candy Bowl for Walkers (same as last week, in case you missed it):
Anatomy Walk Cycle- smitty head (1:48) transformations from skeleton to muscles to viscera etc. Watch how shoulders move with walking. Note: YouTube considers this video potentially pornographic
Walking and pronation: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (1:06) Clear description of healthy and impaired walking patterns
Gravitational lines of force to align when walking. Source: Mabel Todd, The Thinking Body
The efficient and inefficient lines of force in the standing human
How you might feel after this lesson: Pelvis and shoulders connected; Clearer sensation of how the breath connects the step and weight shift; Curiouser about weight shifting in standing and walking; Impressed at all you have absorbed so far when it comes to the simplicity and complexity of walking.
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