About Walking - 8 - Ahead, Behind and On Center
Emerald City - Keep moving on down the road. Look ahead and sense behind.
About Walking - 8 - Ahead, Behind and On Center
Eyes, Space and Balance for Walking
Based on “Walking Oscillations 2” as taught by Anita Bueno, LASN, GCFP
We continue with last week’s deceptively simple lesson: shifting weight from front heel to back, left heel to right, coordinating breath and centering the gaze.
This week adds the element of space and flexibility in the ribs. You can approach this lesson as an opportunity to:
Go deeper into shifting weight from heel to heel coordinated with the breath
Using the wall to sense the space behind you and how the back engages in walking
Finding flow in the ribs for elegant walking
Centering the head in walking for better focus
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 body’s weight in stepping forward
Feeling the lines of ground force up and down in walking
Using the shoulder blades, arms and ribs to flow forward
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 flexible ribs, centering the head for focus, and using the wall to sense of ‘what’s behind.’
Or skip all that detail and just enjoy a simple pelvis rocking and arm swinging 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 just in front of a wall
Stable, flat-bottom chair that you can use for standing support and sitting rest
Mat on the floor if you feel like resting supine
Another chance to feel the force flow through your feet, from heel to toe.
Science Nerd Candy Bowl:
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
Thoracic Vertebrae and Mobility in the Thoracic Region. 3D Anatomy Lyon (1:37) - Brief animation of the ribs and spine in breathing and moving
Spine Lateral Flexor Muscles (Trunk Side bending) 3D Motion - Side bending broken down
Twist Yoga Poses: Active Twist vs. Passive Twist | 3D Yoga - Muscle and Motion (2:18) Core movements for this lesson. Twisting with and without keeping head centered - eyes focused ahead
Gravitational lines of force to align when walking. Source: Mabel Todd, The Thinking Body
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; Fluid in the ribs; Spidey sense of what’s behind; Head held center for determined focus; Spine soft and supple; Impressed at all you have absorbed so far when it comes to the simplicity and complexity of walking.
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Dorothy Gale keeps her eyes ahead, her ribs soft enough for the high notes. Toto too.