Feldenkrais Lesson of the Month #40 (4/01)

By Rich Frye
For safety and best results, read instructions before doing lessons!

Big Eyes

Themes:
Virtually all movement is conected in some way to the eyes, head, and neck; this is about expanding the mental "map" of the eyes to relieve eye tension and related movement inhibitions, and to illustrate how awareness itself is a powerful force for change.

Works with:
Eyes, head, neck, chest, arms, shoulders, spine


   1. Lie on back, scan your body; notice all the feelings and sensations within your body and against the floor...bring your awareness to your face and head...where is your face?...where is your head?...does your head feel three dimensional?...just oberve, and remember how it feels now, so you can notice changes during the lesson.

2. Close your eyes (closed through most of the lesson unless otherwise directed) and place your hands on your belly, below your navel...rest until you feel your breath moving your belly softly up and down...then slowly roll your head from side to side a number of times...which side is easier?...what do your eyes do?...try it a few times so your eyes lead the movement...eyes right, head rolls right...eyes left, head rolls left...and then a few times with the eyes fixed on a point on the ceiling in front of you...start small, and go slowly...gradually the movement can get larger...pay attention so your breath stays relaxed throughout these movements...if the breath is interrupted, you are trying too hard...and let it go and rest.

3. Bend your knees so your feet stand (or leave them outstretched, if more comfortable)...place your palms over your eyes to block out all light...usually this means fingers on forehead, maybe one hand a little over the other, heels of hands on cheekbones, pinky edge against nose...make it dark, and stay like that for at least two minutes...think about things that are black...what is the blackest thing?...black fur, at night, deep in a cave?...just think blackest black, deepest black...relax your pupils, make them soft...imagine them getting open wider in the dark...then very gradually let light in by slowly moving your hands away, and rest...notice changes in your eyes, face, and body.

4. Bring hands to forehead...use fingers to explore very, very gently the area around where your eyebrows meet...the place where one "furrows" the brow...feel the skin and gently slide it in different directions...what is the easiest direction for each point?...what is the familiar pattern?...just explore it...and when you have a sense of the easiest pattern of contraction, use your fingers to gently move the skin into that pattern, and hold it there for a few seconds...and release...and repeat it a few times...and let your hands down and rest.

5. Bring your awareness to your right eye...in your mind, sense the inner corner of the right eye...and the outer corner...and in your imagination trace your finger between them across the upper eyelash...does your eye move?...(it's okay if it does)...note that the eye is curved, and sticks out a little at the middle...and rest a moment...
then continue, imagining tracing a line between the corners, now along the fold of the upper eyelid...back and forth, slowly, noticing where you can sense easily and where it is more difficult...and actually touch with your finger, very lightly, in the same way, clarifying your mental image...and let it go and rest.

6. Again bring awareness to right eye...imagine tracing a line around the socket of the eye...from the inner corner, up to the brow ridge, across ridge along the eyebrow and around socket to outside corner...then along bottom part of socket beneath lower lid, back to inside corner aong the bone...try to clarify where the sense is weaker...in those places, you can actually touch with your finger, then return to using senses only, using touch to clarify...go around mentally a number of times, filling in the sensory image...and rest.

7. Touch a fingertip very lightly to the right eyelid...use the finger to move the skin of the eyelid very slowly in a very tiny circle, just perceptible...begin at 9 o'clock, go around to 9 again, let go... move to another point, repeat...you notice that there is some resistance in some parts of the circle...navigate gently through these places...smaller and slower...maybe your eye or your head needs to move opposite or with the movement...let that happen...look for and follow the comfortable responses...do this is several places on the eyelid and then let it go and rest.

8. Again bring your awareness to your right eye...now use your imagination to trace on the face a bigger circle around the eye...imagine tracing a circle from the inner corner, up through the center of the brow to the center of the forehead ("third eye")...to the right across the center of the forehead and around the outside corner to the temple to the ear and jaw hinge...curving around under the cheekbone to the bridge of the nose, and back to the corner of the eye...a big circle around the eye...if you were wearing goggles, you would be tracing around the outside of the right goggle...fill in your image of these places with your imagination...feel your sensory map expand to include them...change directions of the circle...and let it go and rest...your right eye now feels very big, like a fly or a frog, taking up a whole quadrant of your face...

9. Lie with your eyes closed...very, very slowly open the right eye and close it...and the left...notice the differences between the two eyes (interesting, huh?)...roll your head from side to side...different from the beginning?...let it go and just rest. 10. Repeat #5 through #9 on the left side.

11. Bend your knees so your feet are standing...slowly take knees to right a little...and back to center...and repeat, gently making the movement larger each time...your pelvis rolls right, your left side feels longer...don't flop your knees, stay in control through entire range of the movement...after a number of times notice if you press the floor with your feet?...can you learn to take the knees to the side without pressing the feet particularly into the floor?...without particularly pressing anything into the floor?...eventually you feel your left shoulder wants to be involved...which way does your head want to move...same direction as knees or opposite?...try both ways, notice which feels more comfortable...what about your eyes?...with the head or opposite?...and rest.

12. Repeat #11 on the other side...knees and pelvis roll left...easier for head to go with, or opposite?...is this symmetrical with other side? (it might not be)...explore taking knees to left several times... then take them slowly from side to side...let head and eyes go with knees a few times...and then opposite...and then try head and knees together and eyes opposite...how is that?...and rest.

12. Feet standing...lay your right hand on your chest with the pinky edge resting on your sternum (breastbone)...make a soft fist, and loosely enclose the end joint of your thumb in the first two fingers of the fist...from this position, roll the right hand more to the left against your chest...roll it, don't slide it...use your left hand on your right to help twist the wrist...just what is easy, no effort...your right elbow lifts, and your right shoulder rotates inward and lifts...eventually your chest rolls slightly to the left...maybe your right hip lifts...repeat it many times, softly...keep breath soft and even...what do your head and eyes want to do?...roll right?...roll left?...then leave that and just slide the hand up and down over your heart,feeling how shoulder participates...eyes stay big...and rest.

13. Repeat #12 on the other side.

14. Hold right thumb in right fist as before...bring hand to face, and gently and slowly trace with the large knuckle of index finger a circle around right "Big Eye"...from third eye across forehead to right ear, under cheekbone to bridge of nose, up nose to third eye...do it several times...does your head roll under your hand?...don't inhibit movement of eye in socket...where does it want to look?...then change hands, and trace around the left eye with the left hand a number of times...pay attention to feeling the hand with the face at every oint in the circle...rest.

15. Repeat #14, but with opposite hands...so right knuckle traces big circle on face around left eye...head move?...eyes move?...and left knuckle around right eye...notice how head and eye want to move...and rest.

16. Place each hand on opposite side of face, with backs of hand against face...right hand is on left cheek, left is on right...forearms are crossed in front of throat...slowly roll head right and left...do it several times...eyes move?...then change it so as head rolls to either side, jaw opens a little, and closes going past the middle...gradually make it as large as is comfortable...where do you look on either side?...rest.

17. Left foot stands, arms bent overhead hands on floor near ears...roll pelvis to right several times, beginning small, gradually making movement larger...eventually left shoulder wants to lift as upper body rolls right to follow pelvis...the knee goes down away from you, over the foot before it goes to the right a bit...drop left hand to floor above head as left elbow lifts...arch body as if wanting to look up toward hand with face and eyes...go easy, just explore the possibility...do it a number of times...and rest

18. Lie on left side...knees bent a little, knees and feet together...rest head on left arm or thin pad (so neck is not above line of spine)...put right hand behind head...from this position roll head forward and back...maintain awareness of the Big Eyes, and easy breath...let body participate...your upper body rolls toward the back and returns...elbow goes in direction of floor ahead and behind...explore a trajectory in which the elbow lifts a little above the head in the middle, lengthening the left side...how do you intiate the movement?...try leading with the eyes a number of times, so you look toward the elbow rolling back, and then toward the floor going forward...what if you just take the eyes for a ride, and they just follow?...and make it softer, so you don't push your body into the floor...you keep the points of contact soft, and the movement comes from within...and rest.

19. Repeat #18, but this time with left hand on forehead...what is different?

20. Repeat #18, this time with left hand enclosing thumb in fist against chest, as in #12...do that several times...and then interlace the hands behind the head, and continue...and rest.

21. Repeat #18 to #20 on the other side...roll onto your back, rest

22. Repeat #7 and #8 on each side.

23. Repeat #9 on each side...and rest...feel the sensations around your eyes...slowly open and close them...notice what has changed...roll to your side, stand up, sense.