About Walking - 9 - Stillness at the Center - Infinity Hips
I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way - Jessica Rabbit, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” Touchstone Pictures
About Walking - 9 - Stillness at the Center - Infinity Hips
At The Core, It’s All About The Pelvis
Based on “Dual Clocks” as taught by Alan Questel, GCFT®
When you get down to it, it’s all about the pelvis. The heaviest bone with the heaviest muscles attached. Like a bridge for the torso, supported by the pillars of the legs, the pelvis holds the root of the spine and thus holds the entire torso.
We’ve explored some of these “macro” relationships:
How the big heel bone transmits the ground forces from foot to pelvis to propel the pelvis forward
How the standing leg femur’s movement in the hip socket allows the pelvis to swing forward
How the lift of the chest and press of the shoulder blade helps the other side of the pelvis swing back
How the press of the ‘back’ shoulder blade and breath help swing the ‘stepping’ leg forward for the next step
Now, in session 9, we go deep into the movement of the pelvis itself. We begin with the forward-backward and side-to-side rocking over the sit bones - in coordination with the inhale-shift-weight, exhale-sink-into-ground breath.
Then begins the “Jessica Rabbit” fun - thinking of the hips as a whole swinging left and right side half circles . If that’s enough for you, all good.
Or take it further by connecting the half circles through the center point of stillness. Feel how that center point supports the spine and torso, and allows the head to stay centered.
This lesson may reveal unexpected side-to-side differences, blocks to whole body movement and areas of easy, graceful movement. Most important, it guides you through the sensation of holding center in walking.
Set Up:
Seated on a stable, flat-bottom chair
Or sitting on the floor, with hands behind to support the upper body. Note: this can be a vulnerable position for people with certain types of trauma. Check it out in advance if necessary.
Science Nerd Candy Bowl:
Position of the pelvis. Lombosacral junction. 3D Anatomy Lyon (3:49) Breakdown of the various muscles attachments to the pelvis
The adductors and the gracilis medial compartment of the thigh. 3D Anatomy Lyon. (3:14) Attachments between femur and pelvis
Recentering for Sports and Sanity - a previous version of this lesson, where we focus on horizontal and vertical centering, different science nerd options
The femur. 3D Anatomy Lyon - how the femur rotates in the hip socket
How you might feel after this lesson: Swishy hips; Supported through the center; Still in the center in walking.
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Hold center while the body explores the intensity of tango.