Reset Your Body Beat - 8 - Wavy Baby Side Flows
Reset Your Body Beat - 8 - Wavy Baby Side Flows
Building neck, chest and back strength with side-lying body waves
Based on “Restorative Rhythms: Feldenkrais Lessons for Health and Pain Relief - 7 - Primary Undulations” as taught by David Zemach-Berson, GCFT®
At about the fifth month, babies begin to learn to roll to sidelying and lift their heads from there, developing neck, spine and chest muscle strength. This movement develops into crawling, and strengthens the brains’ neural cross connections. It’s foundational for future skills requiring balance and equilibrium, eye-hand coordination and muscular symmetry, and leading, eventually, to skills like walking and writing.
No jiggling. This time the movement is more of an undulation, or shimmy. This isn’t new to experienced students, though more experience also makes us better beginners! You might remember some of these shimmy lessons;
Side lying, with head resting on the bottom arm (and the top arm in a push up position), build the undulation from the palm to shoulder to ribs to hips. And then back up. Create a downward energy as the head and hip roll away from each other, and an upward flow as the hip and head come together. It leads to all kinds of movement, including the adult application: the shimmy!
Science Nerd Candy Bowl:
#31L Gentle Myofascial Release: Left-Sided Torticollis Treatment in Babies - Pediatric Physical Therapy Exercises (2:41) - Amy Sturkey explains why we might want to extend the neck in a side bend at the end of this lesson, with help from Bode
Sadie Marquandt Drum Solo - not science nerdy at all, but beautiful shimmies
Shakira Performs at 2025 Grammys - also not at all science, unless you consider the wonder of human movement, which begins as babies learning to move their spines…
Set up for a side lying and supine rolling lesson
Lying on a mat with enough room on both sides to roll
Support for knees and back of the head, if desired
Seated in a chair that allows movement on both sides, knees and hips level
How you might feel after this lesson: Breathing coordinated with walking; Hips open and comfortably aligned; Legs aligned in hip sockets, with ground forces flowing easily from foot to hip to head; Shoulders surprisingly released; Upper back and chest looser and more flexible; Possible trance state via horizon gazing; Deep into baby mind; Delighted by the joy of wavey side rolling; Curious about what’s next!
Wednesday 9:30 am or 6:30 pm class registration, keep using it. $40/month; $15/single lesson. PayPal or Venmo to jackisue@aol.com. Or check to Jacki Katzman, PO Box 116, Bethlehem, NH 03574
To registration, Click Here
