Long Neck, Heavy Head - 12- Stack the Spine, Circle C7 continued
Long Neck, Heavy Head - 21 - Stack the Spine, Circle C7 continued
Connecting the head to the whole body
Based on “Skewering the Spine” from “And the Head is Free” as taught by Arlyn Zones, GCFT® and “Oscillations Around C7” by Moshe Feldenkrais (Amherst)
In the last review and grow session, we stacked our way up the spine and just about made it to C7, the bump out at the base of the cervical spine where neck meets the top thoracic vertebra (T1) and top rib. C7, that transition point between the supporting chest and heavy head, is a nexus for the whole body. Reorganizing the relationships from C7 to the rest of the body can be transformational.
The ‘jelly pudding’ lessons (that’s jello to North Americans) use the technique that Moshe-the-sonar-engineer labeled “oscillation.” To make it work, lift the pelvis, press from the feet to stack the spine, and use the feet to push and pull the spine in its stacked form. When the spine is comfortably stacked, and oscillations are working, it’s easy to breathe and those of us with bellies get to feel them jiggle. The lifted spine has to ground somewhere. The lesson is about loosening the spine so that the grounding point finally lands at C7.
This lesson starts with the lifted spine grounding into C7, and proceeds to explore the connections to the arms, ribs, pelvis. On the same side and diagonals. With circles, lines and combinations of both.
Science Nerd Candy Bowl:
Spinal Motion Segment: C7-T1 (Cervicothoracic Junction Animation: Veritas Medical (2:111) - animation of how C7 and T1 vertebrae move with and opposite each other
Human Anatomy Explained: The Ultimate Guide of Cervical Spine Movements -@Anatomy.app (1:53) - animation of the front, back, side to side and twisting motion of the cervical spine
Cervical Spine Anatomy Animation: Veritas Health (2:45) Useful descriptions of the unique characteristics of each cervical vertebra
Set Up for a Supine Lesson:
On a mat with padding for head and knees as works for you, so neck and long back have room to open up and flatten. It’s perfectly fine to have support under your sit bones for the lifted pelvis parts; it’s about the alignment of the spine, not how high you can lift and hold it.
OR sitting in a level, stable, armless chair, with knees and hips level
How you might feel after this lesson: Looser all over; Longer; Open; Breathing deeply; Relaxed jaw, shoulders and neck; Upper back massaged; Ribs released; Possible realignment of legs in hip sockets, arms in shoulder sockets; Able to let head be heavy and neck long; Able to support the head from deep in the spine; Spaced out - another trance-inducing lesson.
Wednesday 9:30 am or 6:30 pm class registration, keep using it. If you were registered for the 12:00 pm Wednesday session, you’ll need to register. Registered, paid students receive the lesson recording link on Thursday. $40/month; $15/single lesson. PayPal or Venmo to jackisue@aol.com. Or check to Jacki Katzman, PO Box 116, Bethlehem, NH 03574
For new student registration, Click Here
“We do the movements just to test ourselves if we are sleeping or are awake. That means [to distinguish] if we are able to pay attention, to do what we want, or if something inside of us, by itself, does what it wants. In other words, we are trying to stop being machines, but rather to become something closer to being a human that has awareness, knows what he is doing, and does what he wants... ”