A Guide

to
Body
Sense
I. Movement Patterns

Robert Burgess
Acknowledgements
My three models need acknowledging. Rina and Andrew were very
generous with their time and they are still good friends of mine. They
spent many hours posing for these drawings and make up the bulk of the
drawings in this book.

My wife, Amelia, also contributed and I thank her for her love, support and
encouragement.

Thank you also to Dr Moshe Feldenkrais for creating such a wonderful

potent methodology of enhancing human movement, behavior and life.

A Guide to Body Sense

Volume I: Movement Patterns
Copyright 2008 by Robert Burgess. All rights reserved.
This book is protected by copyright. No part of this book
maybe reproduced in any form or by any means without
prior written permission from the copyright owner.

Except for some free clipart all diagrams were created,

designed, produced and are owned by Robert Burgess.

ISBN: 978-0-615-26522-3

S K E L E T A L LIFE PUBLISHERS

Wolfeboro NH USA
 Contents

Introduction .................................................................................. viii

How to use this book ..................................................................... xi

Chapter 1. Pelvic movements........................................................ 1

pelvic movements1 pelvic tilt......................................................................... 3

pelvic movements2 pelvic tilt mechanics......................................................... 5

pelvic movements3 pelvic clock variations ...................................................... 7

pelvic movements4 pouring tea .................................................................. 9

pelvic movements5 the pelvic clock full set ................................................ 11

pelvic movements6 pelvic translation & rotation............................................ 13

Chapter 2. Trunk movements ...................................................... 15

trunk rotation1 double arm raise.................................................................. 17

trunk rotation2 double leg raise ................................................................... 19

trunk rotation3 anatomy of double leg raise ................................................. 21

trunk rotation4 double leg and arm raise...................................................... 23

trunk rotation5 rotation and side bend ......................................................... 25

trunk rotation6 counter rotation- walking on your side ................................ 27

trunk rotation7 crossed legs and tilt classic trunk rotation......................... 29

trunk rotation8 - trunk and head rotation ........................................................ 31

trunk rotation9 counter rotation- walking on your back ............................... 33

 trunk rotation10 roll back to front ................................................................ 35

trunk rotation11 leg tilt prone1.................................................................... 37

trunk rotation12 leg tilt prone2.................................................................... 39

trunk rotation13 roll to sit ........................................................................... 41

trunk side bending on the side ....................................................................... 43

trunk side bending in supine1- Frog Side Bend ............................................... 45

trunk side bending in supine2 the Rib Cage as a Spring................................ 47

trunk side bending in supine3 ........................................................................ 49

trunk side bending in supine4 ........................................................................ 51

trunk rotation and side bend .......................................................................... 53

trunk flexion in supine ................................................................................... 55

trunk flexion and roll ..................................................................................... 57

trunk extension1 ........................................................................................... 59

trunk extension2 ........................................................................................... 61

Chapter 3. Arm trunk coordination ............................................. 63

arm-trunk coordination1 arm reach supine ................................................... 65

anatomy of arm reach in side lying ................................................................. 67

arm-trunk coordination2 arm & knee reach................................................... 69

arm-trunk coordination3 windmill................................................................. 71

arm-trunk coordination4 windmill reach........................................................ 73

arm-trunk coordination5 egyptian reach ...................................................... 75

arm-trunk coordination6 piston.................................................................... 77

arm-trunk coordination7 arm clock .............................................................. 79

arm-trunk coordination8 arm reach to ceiling................................................ 81

arm-trunk coordination9 side bend and rotation............................................ 83

 arm-trunk coordination10 on all fours .......................................................... 85

Chapter 4. Leg trunk coordination .............................................. 87

leg-trunk coordination1 leg raise in side lying ............................................... 89

leg-trunk coordination2 leg-trunk rotations ................................................... 91

leg-trunk coordination3 supine leg roll.......................................................... 93

leg-trunk coordination4 leg roll and push...................................................... 95

leg-trunk coordination5 double leg roll ......................................................... 97

leg-trunk coordination6 leg roll prone........................................................... 99

leg-trunk coordination7 supine trunk roll .................................................... 101

leg-trunk coordination8 raise head and hips................................................ 103

leg-trunk coordination9 raising head & leg.................................................. 105

leg-trunk coordination10 raise, arm-head-leg.............................................. 107

leg-trunk coordination 11 leg shortening & lengthening ............................... 109

leg-trunk coordination12 foot slide............................................................. 111

leg-trunk coordination13 leg bridge............................................................ 113

leg-trunk coordination14 legs crossed ....................................................... 115

leg reach on side1....................................................................................... 117

leg reach on the side2 ................................................................................. 119

Chapter 5. Feet and hands......................................................... 121

foot-leg rotation1 ........................................................................................ 123

foot-leg rotation2 ........................................................................................ 125

foot-leg rotation3 ........................................................................................ 127

bridging finding your feet1 ........................................................................ 129

bridging finding your feet2 ........................................................................ 131

 bridging finding your feet3 ........................................................................ 133

bridging finding your feet4 ........................................................................ 135

bridging finding your feet5 clawing toes................................................ 137

bell hand ................................................................................................. 139

ball bearing hand ..................................................................................... 141

Chapter 6. Movements & posture in sitting.............................. 143

sitting1 neck trunk coordination................................................................. 145

sitting2 squat to sit................................................................................... 147

sitting3 anatomy of good sitting ................................................................ 149

sitting4 pelvic movements in sitting ........................................................... 151

sitting5 side bend on a chair ..................................................................... 153

sitting6 hand to foot ................................................................................. 155

Chapter 7. Eyes, head & neck .................................................... 157

eyes movements1 look up, look down- eyes only....................................... 159

eyes movements2 look up, look down- eyes & head .................................. 161

eyes movements3 eyes left, eyes right ..................................................... 163

Chapter 8. Advanced and various.............................................. 165

rolling fists1................................................................................................ 167

rolling fists2................................................................................................ 169

rolling fists3................................................................................................ 171

hand to knee .............................................................................................. 173

hand to foot1.............................................................................................. 175

hand to foot2.............................................................................................. 177

 hand to foot3.............................................................................................. 179

side bend in sitting...................................................................................... 181

hip and trunk coordination ........................................................................... 183

walking on hands and knees ........................................................................ 185

weight bearing hand and foot ...................................................................... 187

dead bird ................................................................................................. 189

References................................................................................... 191
 Introduction

In my practice as a Physical Therapist and Feldenkrais Practitioner I give to every client some
home work in the form of body awareness exercises. Years ago, for each patient at each session,
I would draw a stick figure diagram of the movements to take home. This was tedious and ugly.
A Guide to Body Sense began ten years ago when I grew tired of these never ending hand drawn
stick figures for every client. I needed something professional and permanent of the
Feldenkrais Method movement lessons known as Awareness Through Movement lessons
(ATM). I experimented with digital drawings on my computer and made an initial four pages
of Feldenkrais Movement Lessons. After 2 years of the utilization of these few pages I was
thrilled at the result and decided on producing more. Once I began to make a set of my favorite
lessons, I then continued even further to develop every lesson I knew, used and was confident
with and provided a decent comprehensive beginning of Feldenkrais movement lessons. I had
developed a new way to make the drawings that sped things up, although, which ever way it is
tedious work requiring many hours to complete each page. Hence over the next few years I
began to collect and set up for another 80 pages for a comprehensive set.

By this time I had made up my mind to put all of the pages into a book. Inspired by the Kapandji
anatomy books I formatted my book in a similar way- one page of explanatory text and a facing
page of the diagrams of the same lesson.

The book is not intended to be an explanation of the Feldenkrais Method rather it is a book of
illustrations of human movement as explored in Feldenkrais Method movement lessons. It is a
series of illustrations of my favorite Feldenkrais movement lessons. The initial intention was to
present these pages as home exercise sheets, reminders for a home program. However, I soon
found that these diagrams did more than that, they also invoked an image of movement
especially where I added real and abstract images of the pelvis, spine and rib cage.

The original plan for this book did include an explanation of the Science of the Feldenkrais
Method and human movement. This was to include a description of what goes wrong with
human movement based on my experiences and also therefore how to re-organize movement.
However this first book became too large. Instead I have made the book into three volumes:

viii
A Guide to Body Sense:
Volume 1: Movement patterns
Volume 2: The Science of Human Movement
-the Evolution, Biomechanics and Neuroscience of Human Movement
Volume 3: Movement and Learning
-all Human Behavior is under Voluntary Control and available to Learning

All of these diagrams come from Feldenkrais books, my professional Feldenkrais Method
training in Australia from 1988 to 1993 and my creations and experiences since then. Some
lessons I have invented myself and all of them I have arranged as I utilize them. Some lessons
come with brief biomechanical explanations which will be greatly expanded upon in volumes
two and three of this series.

There are eight chapters, according to anatomical segments, movement relationships and
according to how I utilize them. This my interpretation and way of presenting this series of
movement lessons. Some lessons could be placed in several chapters. There are many ways to
present this work. In the beginning is the Pelvis which has five pages including 'Pelvic Tilt',
'Pelvic Clock' and 'Pouring Tea' movements and mechanics. The sixth page deals with pelvic
movements in standing and hence connecting the pelvis to T1 and the Head. The Trunk follows
the pelvis in this book as in life. There are thirteen pages dealing with trunk rotation and then six
pages illustrating trunk side bending. The last four pages concerns trunk flexion and extension.
Arm Trunk Coordination has eleven pages on the relationship between the motion of the arm
and the trunk as the base and power. The Arms and Legs are Powered by the Trunk. Sixteen
pages present Leg Trunk Coordination including one page with arm-leg-trunk coordination.
Feet and Hands contain ten pages of foot, ankle and leg motions along with 'Bell Hand' and
'Ball Bearing Hand'. Sitting has six pages on postures and movements in sitting. Briefly, Eyes,
neck and head follow with two movement lessons. Finally, there are twelve pages I have
arbitrarily titled advanced and various. 'Rolling Fists', 'Hand to Foot' and the 'Dead Bird'
movements lessons are included in these pages.

My patients, clients and students love the sheets. After ten years of use of many of these exercise
sheets, they have been reworked to make more useful and understandable. But still they can be
improved upon and there are many more patterns or lessons.

ix
For Health professionals
When my Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Massage Therapy colleagues use this
book they become excited about new dimensions for understanding human movement and
exercises for learning. Essentially, they make a shift from regional only muscular exercises for
strength and length to these more global awareness and motor control exercises. For health
professionals the Feldenkrais Method and A Guide to Body Sense greatly expand the
repertoire of what is available in the understanding human movement and human behavior and
how to assist their clients.

For Feldenkrais teachers and students

For the Student of a Feldenkrais Training program these pages provide excellent illustrations of
and insight to the mechanisms of a Feldenkrais Movement lesson. This is a valuable asset to
early learning of the method. For the Feldenkrais Practitioner/Teacher, this is a book clearly set
out, comprehensive and a powerful presentation of Feldenkrais Movement lessons. I have no
doubt that your clients and students will enjoy this book and find these pages very valuable. I
find myself handing out up to a dozen pages from the book to each client to assist them with the
home program of body sense.

For the public

As a lay person embarking on a journey toward greater body and self awareness this book is a
useful resource along with the accompanying recorded movement lessons available from my
web site- www.efeld.com. Twenty four of the illustrated movement lessons actually have an
accompanying CD-ROM verbal guidance through that entire movement lesson. It is very
powerful to have available images of movement when doing these movement lessons.

x
 How to use this book
I hoped this book would be an enjoyable book for the teacher/therapist, client and student. I
enjoyed making the book and I enjoy using it. So enjoy the book and the movement
explorations.

This is not a medical book. If you are in pain or seeking assistance for a medical condition then
first consult with your doctor or therapist before pursuing any of these movement lessons. I take
no responsibility for misuse of this work or this book.

All of the Feldenkrais movement lessons are gentle and are to be performed with ease and
grace. There is no place for effort, strain or pain. The intention is to create ease in moving. Move
with pain or strain or effort and that is what you get- pain, strain and effort. Seek ease and grace
and that is what you get- ease and grace. It is up to you to take care of yourself with these
exercises. If doing one of these exercises, you experience pain or strain, then Stop, Go Slower,
Don't Try so Hard, Go Smaller. If pain and strain persist then Stop. And remember, large fast
movements are simply scaled up small slow movements- learn small and slow first.
Feldenkrais movement lessons are a learning process. It is like any learning. Awareness, skill
and practice are key.
Remember, this book and the movements are the first stage of the process of the Feldenkrais
Method. It is what you learn from the movements that really matters, not just the movements
themselves. Learning about your body, becoming more aware of your body and studying your
movement and skeletal scaffolding leads to greater awareness and hence awareness of the self-
but that is the subject for another book.
So remember:
Go gently, go slowly.
Don't strain. Seek ease and grace.
Avoid pain.
Observe, sense, feel.
Rest. Learn. Enjoy.

xi
 PELVIC
MOVEMENTS

The PELVIS
is the
MOBILE POWER-BASE
of the
TRUNK
Rib Cage = Thorax

T1

Length of Spine

T12

L5

Pelvis
THE TRUNK

The PELVIS,
LENGTH OF SPINE
and
THORAX
as the
TRUNK
trunk rotation1- double arm raise

a. Lie on your right side. Place your arms out front at shoulder height, palm to palm (Figure a).

b. Raise both arms. Lift your two arms from the floor a short distance (Figure b). Raise a
comfortable distance. How do you do this? What happens at the shoulders and shoulder
blades? What do you feel in your back and rib cage? Repeat several times. This action is more
about the rotation of the body than action at the shoulders.

c. Raise both arms some more. Continue to raise both arms and go as far as you can
comfortably. You don't need to match the diagrams for range. Feel the motion of the rib cage-
the rib cage behaves like a flexible spring rather than a rigid cage. Continue raising the two
arms more and more. Feel the rotation in the trunk. What is the length of spine doing- i.e. the
long vertebral axis from tail to head? What is the rib cage doing? What is the pelvis doing?
These are the three structures of the trunk- the pelvis, length of spine and the thorax or rib cage.

d. Rotate all of the body segments. With the hands palm to palm there is a constraint placed on
the shoulder joints. The two arms and shoulders move as one unit. The arms are being moved in
space from the trunk and not the shoulder joints. Many people will begin this motion using the
shoulders and shoulder blades and no body movement- explore both ways of doing the
movement, i.e. all shoulders and no body and then no shoulders and all body.

The major intention of this movement is to make the trunk rotate to produce this motion.

The trunk
=
the
5th body segment:
the
pelvis,
length of spine
and
thorax.

e-f. Trunk = pelvis, length of spine and thorax- the fifth body segment. The trunk is defined by
the pelvis as the base, the length of spine (tail to head) and the thorax or rib cage. The trunk is
the fifth body segment and a major focus of attention. The five body segments- trunk, 2 legs and
2 arms make up the skeletal scaffolding of the human body- this is the True Core of human
anatomy and movement. Figures a-e illustrate trunk rotation using the double arm raise.

page 17
trunk rotation1- double arm raise

a.

b.

c.

d.

f. pelvis, length of spine

as the trunk
e. rotating the trunk

copyright 2008 Robert J Burgess. all rights reserved. www.efeld.com page 18

trunk side bending in supine2- the Rib Cage as a Spring

a.

copyright 2008 Robert J Burgess. all rights reserved. www.efeld.com page 48

trunk side bending in supine2- the Rib Cage as a Spring

a. Rib cage as a spring. On this page we examine the motion from the previous page. The
opening and closing concertina effect of the rib cage with side bending in supine is the
clearest example of the rib cage behaving as a spring like structure (Figure a).

the
Rib Cage
or
Thorax
behaves
like
a hooped
Spring

Obviously, rib cage anatomy is not exactly like a spring i.e. there are no spiraling rungs like a
true spring.

The rib cage anatomy is a series of hoops- each pair of ribs right and left can be considered as a
hoop with each hoop linked by musculature and the spine. Rib cage motion behavior of opening
and closing and lengthening and shortening of the sides of the rib cage during this motion is
very much like how a spring, hooped or otherwise would behave. It is a useful illustrative model
of rib cage motion for all planes of movement.

Unfortunately the title rib cage invokes the concept of a rigid non moving structure whereas
the spring freely invites movement in any planes.

There are at least three functions for the Thorax:

1. The Protective Function of the rib cage (protecting internal organs namely the heart and
lungs) especially has led to an image of rigidity for the thorax.

2. Thorax movement is a vital part of Respiration. It is not possible to breath with a

completely rigid thorax.

3. The thorax is a key part of trunk motion- a forgotten link in trunk motion as most of this
book clearly illustrates, as does the scientific and medical literature (Buchalter et al 1988,
Stokes et al 1989, Willems et al, 1996, Chan et al 2006, Burgess et al 2009- for a more complete
review see Burgess 2007). However, despite this, the rib cage is most frequently viewed as a
rigid structure in medicine, physical therapy and recreational training.

page 47
ARM & TRUNK

The COORDINATION
of the
ARM & TRUNK
in
HUMAN FUNCTION
arm-trunk coordination1 - arm reach in side lying

a. Lie on your right side. Place your two arms straight out in front at shoulder height with
palm to palm (Figure a).

b. Reach straight out front. Slide the left hand and arm forward beyond the right (Figure b).
The line of motion is in line with the line of the arms (Figure b). Notice what happens at the
shoulder joint, shoulder blade, rib cage and spine.

Allow your chest bone to roll towards the floor to bring your thorax into the motion. Allow
your pelvis and knees to move a little to encourage the pelvis and low back to contribute. In
the beginning many people use only the shoulder blade sliding on the thorax to reach with the
arm. Such an action has the thorax and pelvis inhibited and the shoulder joint and shoulder
blade are over worked.
Repeat several times. Rest on your back. Notice the contact of your back with the floor.

c. Reach upward. Place both arms pointing in a direction above the head a distance at a
comfortable angle (Figure c) (the dotted lines indicate the original position as in Figure a).
Slide the left hand forward beyond the right. Notice what happens at the shoulder joint,
shoulder blade, rib cage and the length of the spine. Repeat several times. Rest on your back.
Notice the contact of your back with the floor.

d. Reach downward. Place both arms at an angle pointing downward toward your knees
(Figure d). Slide your left hand forward beyond the right along this line. Notice what happens
at the shoulder joint, shoulder blade, rib cage and the length of the spine. How does the rib
cage move? Does your pelvis move?

Lie on your left side. Repeat all movement above.

Reaching
is a function
of the whole self:
arm,
shoulder,
trunk,
legs
and the self.

page 65
arm-trunk coordination1 - arm reach in side lying

a.

b.

c.

d.

copyright 2008 Robert J Burgess. all rights reserved. www.efeld.com page 66

LEG & TRUNK

The COORDINATION
of the
LEG & TRUNK
in
HUMAN FUNCTION
The HANDS
were
once
FEET
FEET & HANDS

The FEET
were
once
HANDS
 SITTING

MOVEMENTS
&
POSTURE
in
SITTING
 EYES,
HEAD & NECK
THE
EYES
LEAD
MOVEMENT
ADVANCED
&
VARIOUS
ARMS,
LEGS
&
TRUNK
dead bird

a.

b.

c.
d.

e.
f.

copyright 2008 Robert J Burgess. all rights reserved. www.efeld.com page 190
dead bird
a. Side sit with weight on left hand. Sit on the floor with your knees bent to the left and weight on
your left hand (Figure a). Bring your right hand to be in front of your face at 6-8 inches from
your nose (Figure a). Let your right hand hang so the wrist is relaxed and the arm then looks like
a dead bird or a broken wing and hence the name of this lesson.

b. Look and twist. Side sit as in Figure a. Keep the head, arm and hand as one unit so as you
twist and look around to the left. Your right wrist remains in front of your nose (Figure b).
Repeat several times. Rest on your back. Notice the contact of your back with the floor.

c-d. Look left and right. Sit again and place both hands on the floor near your left thigh (Figure
c). Look to the right turning your head and shoulders and back (Figure c) then to the left (Figure
d).

e-f. Look up, look down. Look up to the ceiling (Figure e) and look down to the floor (Figure f).
What do you notice in your back to look up and down in this position? What happens along the
front of your self? What happens along the back of your self? What does the pelvis do?

page 189
 References

Adams, M. A. and P. Dolan (1997). The combined function of spine, pelvis and legs when
lifting with a straight back. Movement, Stability and Low Back Pain. The essential role of the
pelvis. M. V. Vleeming A, Snijders CJ, Dorman TA and Stoeckart R. New York, Churchill
Livingstone: 195-206.

Bernstein, N. (1967). The Coordination and Regulation of Movement. London, Permagon

Press.

Berthoz, A. (2002). The Brain's Sense of Movement. Cambridge MA, Harvard University
Press.

Buchalter, D., M. Parnianpour, K. Viola, M. Nordin and N. Kahanovitz (1988). "Three-

dimensional spinal motion measurements. Part 1: A technique for examining posture and
functional spinal motion." J Spinal Disord 1(4): 279-83.

Burgess, R. (2007). The Thorax: the forgotten link in human motion. Newsletter-
www.efeld.com: 1-5.

Burgess, R., S. Hillier, D. Keogh, J. Kollmitzer and L. Oddsson (2009). "Multi-segment trunk
kinematics during a loaded lifting task for elderly and young subjects." Ergonomics- in press.

Chan, P. Y., H. K. Wong and J. C. Goh (2006). "The repeatablity of spinal motion of normal
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Feldenkrais, M. (1972). Awareness Through Movement: Health exercises for personal growth.
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Feldenkrais, M. (1981). The Elusive Obvious. Cupertine, California, Meta Publications.

Feldenkrais, M. (1984). The Master Moves. Cupertino, Meta Publications.

Feldenkrais, M. (1985). The Potent Self. San Francisco, Harper & Row.

Georgopoulos, A. P. and S. Grillner (1989). "Visuomotor coordination in reaching and

locomotion." Science 245: 1209-1210.

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Grillner, S., P. Wallen, L. Brodin, J. Christenson, R. Dubuc, R. Hill and Y. Ohta (1988).
"The neuronal bases of locomotion in lamprey--in vitro studies of the brainstem-spinal
cord." Acta Biol Hung 39(2-3): 145-9.

Inman, V. T., H. J. Ralston and F. Todd (1981). Human walking. Baltimore, Williams and
Wilkins.

Kapandji, I. A. (1970). The Physiology of the Joints (Volumes I, II, & III). New York,
Churchill Livingstone.

Krebs, D. E., D. Wong, D. Jevsevar, P. O. Riley and W. A. Hodge (1992). "Trunk

kinematics during locomotor activities." Phys Ther 72(7): 505-514.

Mulder, T. (1991). "A process-oriented model of human motor behaviour:toward a theory-

based rehabilitation approach." Phys Ther 71(2): 157-164.

Mussa-Ivaldi, F. A. and E. Bizzi (2000). "Motor learning through the combination of

primitives." Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 355(1404): 1755-69.

Nordin, M. and V. Frankel (2001). Basic Biomechanics of the Musculoskeletal System.

Philadelphia, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Pappas, A. M., R. M. Zawacki and T. J. Sullivan (1985). "Biomechanics of baseball

pitching: a preliminary report." The American Journal of Sports Medicine 13(4): 216-222.

Stokes, V. P., C. Andersson and H. Forssberg (1989). "Rotational and translational

movement features of the pelvis and thorax during adult human locomotion." J Biomech
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copyright 2008 Robert J Burgess. all rights reserved. www.efeld.com page 192