Find this lesson here: On the belly, twisting movements to free the head and neck | Heather (Danso) Emanuel GCFP on Patreon

A lesson of movements lying on the abdomen (mostly) letting legs fall right and left, while softly letting go of usual co-contraction along the spine, in the ribs, and in the whole self. When you practice using movement to help lower your habitual level of tension, you find an alternative way of holding yourself, better breathing, easier carriage of the head over your shoulders, and also greater freedom in your shoulder blades. What this means is you'll have more room to feel more like yourself. ​

Publicly available: Opening the arm - Neck & Spine freedom | Heather Danso Emanuel GCFP on Patreon
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A lesson drawn from multiple sources. Take it easy, and remember, in the rolling part, to keep your arms long, so that the legthening of the leg passively brings you up as you round and soften your chest. Don't worry if you aren't sure about something! See if you can use your confusion to find a way.

This class will be available on my Patreon Page patreon.com/heatherdanso

A very quiet and slow class today. Please do less than you think you should, and remain committed to including your core, center, ribs, and whole self in the movements, even when the instructions do not say this!

Lessons that focus on the pelvis are always beneficial for everything below and above. When the hips move well, the knees are able to stick to their job: hinge. When hips don't move well, then we often find knee pain, some times ankle disorganization, and often issues with the jaw, and spine. The pelvis is at the root of much. My trainer, Richard, used to say "you are where your pelvis is" -- try moving around and see. If you put your head in a room, for example, are you really there? What about if you step in? 

Available on Patreon: ​patreon.com/heatherdanso

For this lesson, you'll need wingspan (room to reach your arms. 

Only the audio lesson will be available on the blog. I'll upload some photos/videos of the movements so that you can see an idea of what you'll be doing. However, if you don't have the video, then you'll have the opportunity to become confused, which is not a bad thing! "If you are not confused, you are not learning". 

Find some length in your neck, and where did that come from? Must be something about the ribs, as the movements we did today seemingly target the shoulders, but truthfully, the constraint is something more: What needs to move to make this easy? Where can I soften? How do I use my whole self?

Today's lesson is a balancing of the muscles that fold us, and the muscles that hold us up -  in other words, we are organizing, discerning, and coordinating the muscles along the spine. That being said, many things happen: the diaphragm is addressed in relation to folding and twisting. In twisting, there are elements of side bending, of curling, and of backbending, so it is a lovely way to actually lower the unnecessary work along the spine. 

Did you feel taller? Did your head feel on differently? Did you find more freedom in your thoracic spine and did that impact your ability to twist and to roll your head?

This lesson is now on Patreon