| |
The following is a Feldenkrais Movement
Awareness Exercise®, developed in collaboration with Dr.
Mark Reese, from the Reese
Movement Institute. It is designed to help you re-experience
the sensations of the palmer and planter reflexes seen in early
infancy.
To begin, make sure you are in an environment where you can
feel safe. You may want to use some low lighting or soft music.
As you do the exercises, feel free to explore. You can follow
the instructions, but also follow your whims. Awareness is the
main emphasis with these exercises. Pay close attention to all
of your movements, feelings, and sensations. Make small, slow
movements, use minimal effort, and notice how even simple movements
are connected with all of the parts of your body.
Hands & Feet:
Palmer/Planter Reflex
Position: Lie on your back with your legs long. Bend your
elbows so that your forearms are perpendicular to the
floor, and your hands are directed toward the ceiling.
The instructions are designed for right handed people.
If you are left handed, do all the movements on your left
side.
1. Slowly begin to close and open your right hand. Make
very small movements so that you avoid fully opening or
fully closing your hand. Keep reducing your effort in
order to make the lightest possible movement. Repeat this
movement many times, resting before you get tired. It
may take as long as 5 or 10 minutes to produce significant
changes in the muscular tonus of your hand and arm. Rest
with your arm down at your side.
2. What would be an analogous movement for you to do with
your foot? Begin to flex your right foot slowly and gently,
curling your toes toward the sole of your foot, and then
slowly allow your toes to extend. Repeat this movement
many times, and reduce your effort with each repetition.
Rest.
3. Put your right arm in the position of #1, and do the
movements of your hand and foot at exactly the same time,
so that you curl and uncurl both your fingers and toes.
Repeat this many times in a very relaxed way. You may
begin to feel subtle changes in the muscles all along
your right side. Rest.
4. Alternate curling and uncurling your right hand and
foot, so that now one is opening at the same time that
the other is closing. Vary the rhythm. Which pattern feels
more "natural"? Do you prefer closing and opening
the hand and foot at the same time or do you prefer moving
them in alternation? Rest. Experiment with these two variations
in different rhythms. As you move, and during your rests,
notice if you feel subtle reactions throughout the right
side of your body while you do the hand and foot movements.
Rest and feel the differences in sensation between your
right and left sides. |
Comment: Primitive movements of the hands and feet like the
ones in this lesson are known to begin during fetal development.
Such movements occur spontaneously throughout infancy. In fact,
such primitive movements of the hands and feet occur throughout
our lifetimes, although we might not recognize them as having
an infantile origin. Consider how we make the movement of grasping.
Sometimes we overuse the grasping muscles, for example, when
gripping a steering wheel, or when holding a pen. Also as a
result of stress, there may be an increase in the muscular tension
in our hands. Notice whether your hands feel more relaxed and
open after doing this lesson. When we perform these primitive
hand and feet movements with relaxation and attention, they
can be a powerful technique for reducing muscular tension and
stress. |
