Feldenkrais wrote in one of his book that the maturity of a person is easilly seen by the narrowness of their gait. A fully mature person (for him) should have their heels and the point in betwwen the first two toes in line in both e feets, which would result in a stride of more a less 2/3 of the sum of width of both feet summed up. What do you think?
When walking, should our shoulders be static in a forward position and can we allow the arms to sway back and fourth while them being pulled in a downwards direction? I just found out one of the reasons why i look a bit intimidating in this ideal posture is because i tend to lift/swing my shoulders up and down with each stride. But I guess we best not do that?
You want to keep the arms and shoulders out, down, and forward while walking. That can look a little intimidating compared to what you’re used to because it will cause you to have very broad shoulders.
In this video, we look at how to organize the foot for walking. There is also a procedure for beginning to swing the legs while they're fully extended. I offer lessons in the Initial Alexander Technique, which are conducted one-on-one with a teacher over Zoom. They are designed to help you gain conscious control over how you move your body. Most people have no idea what they’re doing with their body, and as they misuse their body, they end up with discomfort, pain, and other issues that they may not even realize are caused by what they’re doing to themselves. But how do you figure out what you’re doing wrong? And how do you change what you're doing and overcome lifelong habits? In an Initial Alexander Technique lesson, you will record yourself through Zoom, so you will be able to see and understand what you are doing when you stand, sit, walk, and perform other simple gestures. With the assistance of your teacher, you will come to understand how you are misusing the mechanisms of your body, and you will gain the ability to choose to use yourself in a more sensible way. You can learn how to use your body without pain. You can break free from long held habits. All you need is a system that works. For more information or to book a lesson, please visit my website: mechanicsofpoise.com/ You can contact me at: DelsarteAlexanderMasoeroYou@protonmail.com "The properly co-ordinated person employs a due amount of tension in such a way that the tendency of the spine and legs is to lengthen..." F.M. Alexander
Could you give thoughts or do a video on fm Alexandra semi supine and when he describes knees forward and away which in the semi supine position is towards the ceiling he says when you stand up you maintain the same position however imaging the feet as the back. What I want to know is when standing what direction for the knees is forward and away what is the lower knee condyles doing compared to the upper femural condyles
I cover this in the series about the legs, more so in the latter half of the series if I recall correctly. You can find a playlist on my channel for that series. But generally you want the lower, external part of the knee to stay forward and you want the upper leg to come back. The weight of the body should be mostly through the back inner portion of the leg as that is where the bones are reenforced. Most people tend to pull the head of the fibula back and out as part of the overall, habitual rotation of the legs. We want to undo that rotation while making sure to abduct the legs and not let them narrow.
This is all insightful but what are the actual takeaways from all of it? It just describes the anatomy and "what we want to happen" but no actual ways of makinig those things happen. Our postures are decided by our brains and by our nervous systems, and it's highly subconcious. Also, things like fascia adhesions and habits come in the way, so changing our postures is incredibly diffucult unless we start changing our daily habits permanently. No thinking in the world can make you change posture in a useful way. Of course you can remember to try and stand up straighter which might help you in the long run, but... What's the actual intention of this video?
While thinking alone cannot change your posture, you can, using your mind in concert with your body, change your posture quite easily. Massive changes will take more time, but there’s no question that you can change. In this video I talk about screwing the ankle. Is that not a movement that you make? Is that not something you can conceive of and implement? Most people do subconsciously control their posture, largely because they’ve never attempted to consciously control it and no one has shown them how. I recommend filming yourself in my videos and the lessons I give are filmed precisely so that you can actually see the changes that you are implementing. Those changes are visible, and over time habits do get erased, and new ways of using oneself become possible. You say “of course you can remember to try to stand up straighter,” and that’s true, but it’s also necessary to understand what standing up straighter really means. Should every part of the torso be straightened? What will lead to maximal lengthening of the body? If your mental model is wrong, you won't get anywhere worth going. We absolutely do have to overcome our habits. The only way that’s possible is with conscious control and guidance: using verbal directions to turn a mental model into reality.
