2. Sit at the edge of the chair and feel what it feel like sitting there. What is the shape of your back and where are your feet placed? Slowly come to standing, observing what you can, and return to sitting. Do it several times slowly and gently, listen to yourself throughout.
3. Come in and out of the chair again, but this time look up the whole time. Repeat this several times and observe how you feel.
4. Keep doing it and keep your eyes looking down the whole time. What does it feel like? Can you name these differences?
5. Still sitting on the edge of the chair, move your feet an inch or two further underneath you. Feel what that feels like. Does it change anything in your sitting position, in the shape of your back? How are you balanced? With your feet in this new place, come up to standing a few times. Move slowly and pay attention to what you feel. Is it any different? How do you feel internally and how you imagine others to perceive you?
6. Keep your feet placed as they are, get in and out of the chair with your eyes looking up. Observe if this changes anything in your balance or the shape of your back.
7. Now do the movement with your eyes looking down. Notice any differences that this presents for you.
8. Pause and rest for a moment.
9. Move your feet another few inches further under you, and come to standing and back to sitting a few times. Has this changed anything in how you sense yourself? Do you get up more easily? Quicker? Are you more mobile and unstable? Could these both be the same thing?
10. With your feet in the same place further under you, get in and out of the chair looking up a few times and then looking down. Does it influence the way you get in and out of the chair?
11. Pause and rest for a moment
12. Come back to sitting on the edge of the chair. This time, place your feet a few more inches further away where you initially started. Come to standing and sitting a few times. What is this like? Is it preferable?
13. Do the same thing looking up and then looking down, sensing where you feel any differences.
14. Move your feet a couple of inches further out where you last placed them and continued to come to standing and sitting. What is it like? Can you still get out of the chair? Do you feel heavier doing it? Do different parts of you come into action?
15. Play with where your eyes look as you get in and out of the chair with your feet placed. Notice where you sense any differences.
16. Pause.
17. Return to where you initially placed your feet and come to standing and back to sitting a few times. Is it different? Does your attention move to other places in yourself? Do get in and out of the chair differently? Do you feel lighter, heavier, or something else? (2002: 56)
Observation and personal exploration
Sitting position in the chair: My legs were crossed under the chair, and my weight was evenly distributed on my sitz bones with my back upright and straight.
Sitting on the edge of the chair: My weight of my body was evenly distributed on the chair, and my feet were in alignment with my knees.
Repeat to standing from the chair and return to sitting: I placed the weight of my body through the heels and then in the knees. The weight of my body shifts slightly backwards to forward when I return to standing. When I return to sitting, my knees bend first, and my sitz bones reach to sit on the chair.
Repeating this action: There was still a shift in the weight of the body.
Sit and stand from the chair and looking up: My body tends to want to move forward when standing. Looking up prevents the shift of the weight from happening in the body.
Sit and stand from the chair and looking down: I could feel the weight of the head and torso leading as I stand up. There was a greater space for the spine to move from slightly forward to upright when I sit back on the chair.
Sit in the chair with the feet further away: I could feel the length of the thighs lengthening. Posture is still upright. I found it harder to get up to standing, and I needed to engage my thighs and core muscles. I felt centered, light, more grounded and relaxed.
Sit in the chair, feet further away with the head looking up: There was a shift of my weight forward into the heels before standing up. I found this easier that the previous time.
Sit in the chair, feet further with heading looking down: I found it easier to get up. While sitting, I had to shift weight backwards before my sitz bones reach the chair.
Sit in the chair, feet even further than before: I need to make a greater shift of weight to heels to stand, and sit back on the chair.
Sit in the chair, feet even further than before with the head looking up: I shifted my weight to the heels, making the movement easier and more controlled.
Sit in the chair, feet even further than before with the head looking down: There was a greater shift to the heels, and I found it difficult to sit on the chair.
Place feet even further out: I could not get out of the chair, and my muscles tensed up as I wanted to move forward and get up.
Return to where I was sitting initially, and stand up from sitting: I found it easier to get up than the first time. My body felt balanced, controlled and integrated. There was even weight distribution, and I felt more upright and vertical.
Application of dance technique
The Feldenkrais Method enables one to be aware of one’s alignment even in the daily routines like sitting in standing. I learn to release tension even when sitting on a chair and it gave me the opportunity to notice how I stand from sitting on a chair. It makes a dance more conscious of using parts of the body to assist in moving. For example, the use of my head and where I was looking impacted the ease of the movement from standing while sitting on the chair. It makes me realise the importance of the use of focus with the eyes and head does impact dance movement. The use of the mind with an awareness of one’s body help to educate one about his or her body, how it is moving and what you are using to execute the movement. The ATM chair exercise brings awareness to how one is using the body and it also educates the individual how to use better their body to execute the same movement with greater ease and control.
Reference:
Questel, A (2002) Body Basics: The Feldenkrais Method. Movement for Actors 51-64. Available at: http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=175b9c61-ed97-4eac-af88-e240ca02ef1b%40sessionmgr4002&vid=0&hid=4201 [Accessed 12 March 2015].