David W McDonald on sat 9 oct 99
i'm responding to a recent letter from nina jones, who was wondering
about a long-term, back-safe way to throw sitting. although it's my
partner who reads clayart, he's left a copy of nina's letter on the desk
since he knew i'd have an opinion. i'm excited about this subject of
being comfortable doing what we love to do.
as a feldenkrais practitioner--i graduated a year ago from a 4 year
training--i've explored quite a bit of body movement and movement
dynamics. there are several principles that may be helpful to those of
you who struggle with back tiredness from sitting at the wheel. here are
just a few:
1) the position that you hold your pelvis in while sitting will have a
huge effect on how hard you have to work to keep yourself erect in that
perhaps round and sometimes sideways position it takes for throwing. if
you are sitting back on your tailbone, you aren't letting your pelvis be
the root of support for your spine. if you want to play with this try
rolling forward and back on your sit bones as you sit down to dinner or
here at the computer, and then later as you sit at the wheel.
2) when you roll forward and back, be conscious of whether you are
hinging at the hips. you can become more aware of closing and opening the
groin area where your leg meets your torso. concurrent with that action,
you will find the belly falling forward. this is an important way to
empower the pelvis and align the lower back for supporting your arms and
shoulders.
3) consider your whole front--it takes a front that's inefficiently
contracted to create a back that's sore. rather than locking your chest
to stabilize your arms, allow yourself to remain mindful of leaving lots
of space for your breath to keep flowing. when your stability emanates
from your pelvis--rather than your chest or neck or by controlling your
breathing--you will find yourself much less tired.
4) be aware of all the surfaces that you are resting against--in
throwing, that will be your feet and buttocks. you can actually root
yourself, create a more stable base of support, by developing your
awareness of what your feet and pelvis are doing. there's a basic law of
physics that says that when anything goes up (your arms and shoulders)
something else will be going down. ground forces are key to finding
efficient stability. use your weight to your advantage. used well,
gravity can work for you instead of against you.
5) any well-organized movement involves lengthening in some way or other.
when you sit at the wheel, consider whether you feel crunched up. again,
allow your throwing to move out from your pelvis rather than your
shoulders (by hinging at the hips, allowing your pelvis to roll freely
forward and back depending on the stage of your throwing, using your
pelvis as a sturdy anchor to allow your movement further up to be more
refined, more secure, less tiring). the effect of this is that your front
can be more available to the sensation of being long, open, mobile. this
allows your vertebrae to do more of the work of holding you upright, and
your muscles will tend to strain less.
6) move differently according to the actual movements that you're making.
consider whether you have created rules for yourself about how you have
to be positioned throughout the task of throwing one piece. it may be
that the pelvis could roll more forward in centering, but less so later
on. play around with which foot and which sit bone stabilizes you best
for which stage of throwing.
7) i know this already sounds unbelievably complicated, but even the way
you use your eyesight will have a tremendous effect on the quality of
tension you hold while throwing. notice whether you are narrowing your
vision more than necessary. take a moment now and then to notice the
periphery of your view. that will likely make your breath more available,
and so your chest softer and shoulders freer, which may make your arms
lighter and etc., etc.
our movement exists as a remarkable process of three dimensional
connections--from head to toe. so when you throw, your entire self is
dedicated toward helping you to be comfortable--if that's what you are
feeling--or uncomfortable, if you aren't so fortunate.
this is a lot of concepts, and not necessarily simple to translate to
your throwing by reading a few lines. but still, i encourage you to play
around with how you use your WHOLE self while throwing.
....a while ago, david printed up several entries from people who'd
gotten help from other modalities--if i remember, it was alexander
technique and rolfing. feldenkrais is in the same family. we work
specifically with function in movement from the premise that our bones
were designed for the task of holding us up in gravity (kind of like the
arch of your kiln), and the muscles are there for propelling us through
space (maybe like the fuel that you fire the kiln with). you can pour all
the fuel you want into a leaky kiln, but unless it's designed with
structural integrity it won't get up to temperature.
as human beings, we are designed with awesome structural potential, but
over time we corrode and slump, just like your beloved kiln. sitting at
the computer or throwing at the wheel are both opportunities to consider
how fully you rely on your structure for support....when we live in our
muscles, we experience our efforting, when we live from our boney
structures we experience ease....a big concept, particularly for this day
and age. however, it's possible to understand this by experience, and IT
FEELS REALLY GOOD.
www.feldenkrais.com
if you want to know more about this approach to comfort, you could look
up the guild website. it will tell you who may be teaching this work near
you. you'll also find several written instructions--"awareness through
movement" lessons--for working experientially with the concepts i've been
talking about. any of the sitting lessons will enhance your awareness of
what you're doing and how you might do it differently.
the developer of this work--moshe feldenkrais (1904-1984)--used to say
"if you don't know what you're doing, you can't do what you want". if you
like meditation or taking awareness breaks to appreciate beauty of sight
or sound or sensation, i'm guessing that you may enjoy giving this
approach a try. if you're feeling limited by pain and would rather learn
your way through it than have someone work a cure over you, then you may
find this interesting as well.
i used to be david's loyal assistant in clay. then i blew out my back one
day while lifting. i found i had used up all my home-free points for the
"ignore it and it'll go away" approach. so i've come to appreciate this
work not for what it does for others, but for what it's done for me....i
guess i'm writing you my opinion because it's long been a fantasy to find
a way to teach some of these concepts in workshops for potters. it's
painful to hear of friends and loved ones who speak of feeling limited by
pain while they're doing what they love to do. i've learned that it
doesn't have to be that way.
if any of you wants to talk about this with me personally, please contact
me at
colettejoy@juno.com
i have nothing to sell, but i have quite a bit of encouragement to give
away.
thanks, colette claude
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millie carpenter on mon 11 oct 99
collette,
perhaps you could do a break out session at NCECA?
David W McDonald wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> i'm responding to a recent letter from nina jones, who was wondering
> about a long-term, back-safe way to throw sitting. although it's my
> partner who reads clayart, he's left a copy of nina's letter on the desk
> since he knew i'd have an opinion. i'm excited about this subject of
> being comfortable doing what we love to do.
>
> as a feldenkrais practitioner--i graduated a year ago from a 4 year
> training--i've explored quite a bit of body movement and movement
> dynamics. there are several principles that may be helpful to those of
> you who struggle with back tiredness from sitting at the wheel. here are
> just a few:
>
> 1) the position that you hold your pelvis in while sitting will have a
> huge effect on how hard you have to work to keep yourself erect in that
> perhaps round and sometimes sideways position it takes for throwing. if
> you are sitting back on your tailbone, you aren't letting your pelvis be
> the root of support for your spine. if you want to play with this try
> rolling forward and back on your sit bones as you sit down to dinner or
> here at the computer, and then later as you sit at the wheel.
>
> 2) when you roll forward and back, be conscious of whether you are
> hinging at the hips. you can become more aware of closing and opening the
> groin area where your leg meets your torso. concurrent with that action,
> you will find the belly falling forward. this is an important way to
> empower the pelvis and align the lower back for supporting your arms and
> shoulders.
>
> 3) consider your whole front--it takes a front that's inefficiently
> contracted to create a back that's sore. rather than locking your chest
> to stabilize your arms, allow yourself to remain mindful of leaving lots
> of space for your breath to keep flowing. when your stability emanates
> from your pelvis--rather than your chest or neck or by controlling your
> breathing--you will find yourself much less tired.
>
> 4) be aware of all the surfaces that you are resting against--in
> throwing, that will be your feet and buttocks. you can actually root
> yourself, create a more stable base of support, by developing your
> awareness of what your feet and pelvis are doing. there's a basic law of
> physics that says that when anything goes up (your arms and shoulders)
> something else will be going down. ground forces are key to finding
> efficient stability. use your weight to your advantage. used well,
> gravity can work for you instead of against you.
>
> 5) any well-organized movement involves lengthening in some way or other.
> when you sit at the wheel, consider whether you feel crunched up. again,
> allow your throwing to move out from your pelvis rather than your
> shoulders (by hinging at the hips, allowing your pelvis to roll freely
> forward and back depending on the stage of your throwing, using your
> pelvis as a sturdy anchor to allow your movement further up to be more
> refined, more secure, less tiring). the effect of this is that your front
> can be more available to the sensation of being long, open, mobile. this
> allows your vertebrae to do more of the work of holding you upright, and
> your muscles will tend to strain less.
>
> 6) move differently according to the actual movements that you're making.
> consider whether you have created rules for yourself about how you have
> to be positioned throughout the task of throwing one piece. it may be
> that the pelvis could roll more forward in centering, but less so later
> on. play around with which foot and which sit bone stabilizes you best
> for which stage of throwing.
>
> 7) i know this already sounds unbelievably complicated, but even the way
> you use your eyesight will have a tremendous effect on the quality of
> tension you hold while throwing. notice whether you are narrowing your
> vision more than necessary. take a moment now and then to notice the
> periphery of your view. that will likely make your breath more available,
> and so your chest softer and shoulders freer, which may make your arms
> lighter and etc., etc.
>
> our movement exists as a remarkable process of three dimensional
> connections--from head to toe. so when you throw, your entire self is
> dedicated toward helping you to be comfortable--if that's what you are
> feeling--or uncomfortable, if you aren't so fortunate.
>
> this is a lot of concepts, and not necessarily simple to translate to
> your throwing by reading a few lines. but still, i encourage you to play
> around with how you use your WHOLE self while throwing.
>
> ....a while ago, david printed up several entries from people who'd
> gotten help from other modalities--if i remember, it was alexander
> technique and rolfing. feldenkrais is in the same family. we work
> specifically with function in movement from the premise that our bones
> were designed for the task of holding us up in gravity (kind of like the
> arch of your kiln), and the muscles are there for propelling us through
> space (maybe like the fuel that you fire the kiln with). you can pour all
> the fuel you want into a leaky kiln, but unless it's designed with
> structural integrity it won't get up to temperature.
>
> as human beings, we are designed with awesome structural potential, but
> over time we corrode and slump, just like your beloved kiln. sitting at
> the computer or throwing at the wheel are both opportunities to consider
> how fully you rely on your structure for support....when we live in our
> muscles, we experience our efforting, when we live from our boney
> structures we experience ease....a big concept, particularly for this day
> and age. however, it's possible to understand this by experience, and IT
> FEELS REALLY GOOD.
>
> www.feldenkrais.com
> if you want to know more about this approach to comfort, you could look
> up the guild website. it will tell you who may be teaching this work near
> you. you'll also find several written instructions--"awareness through
> movement" lessons--for working experientially with the concepts i've been
> talking about. any of the sitting lessons will enhance your awareness of
> what you're doing and how you might do it differently.
>
> the developer of this work--moshe feldenkrais (1904-1984)--used to say
> "if you don't know what you're doing, you can't do what you want". if you
> like meditation or taking awareness breaks to appreciate beauty of sight
> or sound or sensation, i'm guessing that you may enjoy giving this
> approach a try. if you're feeling limited by pain and would rather learn
> your way through it than have someone work a cure over you, then you may
> find this interesting as well.
>
> i used to be david's loyal assistant in clay. then i blew out my back one
> day while lifting. i found i had used up all my home-free points for the
> "ignore it and it'll go away" approach. so i've come to appreciate this
> work not for what it does for others, but for what it's done for me....i
> guess i'm writing you my opinion because it's long been a fantasy to find
> a way to teach some of these concepts in workshops for potters. it's
> painful to hear of friends and loved ones who speak of feeling limited by
> pain while they're doing what they love to do. i've learned that it
> doesn't have to be that way.
>
> if any of you wants to talk about this with me personally, please contact
> me at
> colettejoy@juno.com
> i have nothing to sell, but i have quite a bit of encouragement to give
> away.
> thanks, colette claude
>
> ___________________________________________________________________
> Get the Internet just the way you want it.
> Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month!
> Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.
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