Improving Turning

1.         Stand with your feet spread hip width apart with your arms relaxed at your sides. Lift your right arm to shoulder height in front of you. Turn to the right, following your arm with your head and your eyes and feel how far you can turn easily, without straining or discomfort. Bring your arm back to the front and then let it down to your side. Bring your left arm up to shoulder height and turn to the left. To which side can you turn more easily?

2.         Lie down on your back with your legs stretched out and your arms alongside your body with your palms facing the floor. Scan the way you are lying against the floor. Pay particular attention to the pelvis, the lower back, the ribs, the arms, and the shoulders. Roll your head gently from side to side a few times and notice which side it turns to more easily.

3.         Roll to lie on your left side. Have your knees bent with your right leg on top of the left. Extend your arms out in front of you at shoulder height with your right palm resting on top of the left and the left arm lying on the floor. If your neck is uncomfortable in this position, place a support under your head. It is useful for the movements in this lesson to imagine that your elbow joint has disappeared and you have one long bone from your shoulder to the wrist.

Start extending your right hand a little away from you, sliding your right palm across the left and onto the floor a bit. Return to the starting position and repeat this movement a number of times, gradually increasing the range of the movement. Try imagining that someone is sitting in front of you holding your right hand and is gently pulling it towards them. Keep your pelvis and legs more or less still, so that the movement is in the upper part of your body. Allow your right shoulder blade to slide over the ribs as the arm goes forward and back. Does your head roll a little toward the floor  as you slide the right hand forward?

4.         Rest briefly on your side. Then start doing the opposite movement, sliding your right hand towards yourself. Keep the right elbow straight and feel the way the right palm slides onto your left wrist and forearm. Return to the starting position and repeat many times. You can imagine that there is someone sitting behind you who is gently pulling on your right shoulder. Look for the simplest, most comfortable way to do the movement. How much of this movement are you doing with your right shoulder and how much of the rest of your body is participating in the movement?

5.         Rest for a moment. Then combine the previous two movements, so that first the right hand slides across the left onto the floor and then it slides back across the left palm onto the left wrist and forearm. As you are repeating this movement, notice if your head is rolling a little towards the floor and then towards looking up at the ceiling. Make sure that your neck is soft and relaxed. Continue to move in such a way that the pelvis and legs are still. After a few repetitions, invite the pelvis and legs to participate. Keep the feet together and allow the right knee to slide a little forward as the right arm moves forward and a little backward as the arm moves backward. The right side of the pelvis will also move a little forward and backward.

6.         Roll over onto your back and rest. Compare the sensations in your right shoulder and the right side of your back to the corresponding areas on your left side.

7.         Return to your left side in the same configuration, with the right knee on top of the left and the arms extended at shoulder height, with your right palm on the left. This time, keep your right arm passive and move the arm by rolling your torso forward and backward. Feel the way the contact that your left side makes with the floor changes as you do this. Also try the opposite where the torso and pelvis are still and the right hand slides forward and back by moving the shoulder forward and back.

8.         After resting on your side, Bring the arms out at shoulder height again and start sliding the right knee forward and backward without moving the arm or shoulder. This will be a small movement do it slowly and gently, focusing on making it lighter and easier with each repetition. How far up your spine do you feel this movement?

9.         After another rest, start moving the right arm and the right knee in opposite directions so that the right knee slides backward as the right hand slides forward and the right knee slides forward as the right hand slides backward. If this is difficult for you, try moving the arm first and then the knee until it becomes clearer. Notice where in the spine the two movements intersect.

10.         Roll over onto your back again and rest. Notice how your right shoulder and the right side of your back feel now compared to the left. Roll your head gently left and right and feel if it turns more easily to one side.

11.       Roll back onto your left side in the same position, with the right knee on top of the left and the arms extended at shoulder height, with your right palm on the left. Starting with a very small movement, lift the right hand off the left and bring it back down. Gradually increase the range of the movement so that your right arm moves towards pointing up at the ceiling. Allow your head and your eyes to follow the movement of your right arm and keep your right knee on top of the left. You may find that your arm can move comfortably past vertical so that it is pointing somewhere behind you. If so, continue gradually extending the range of the arc that the right arm describes until you reach the limit of ease and comfort. Try inhaling as you lift the arm and exhaling as you lower it. Keep the right elbow more or less straight.

12.       Roll to lie on your back and rest. Again compare the right and left sides of your body. Which side feels softer against the floor?

13.       Roll to lie on your left side in the same position as before. This time leave your head and your eyes facing straight ahead and just lift and lower your right arm. How does keeping your head and eyes fixed affect the range and comfort of the movement? Repeat this a number of times. Then rest on your side.

14.       With your head still facing straight ahead, start following the movement of your right arm with your eyes. Keep your eyes soft and relaxed and make sure that you are not holding your breath. After a few repetitions of this, try doing the opposite - that is leaving the eyes looking straight ahead and letting your head roll towards facing the ceiling as you move your right arm in an arc towards the ceiling and beyond.

15.       Rest on your side. Then continue the original movement of lifting the arm in an arc and letting your head and eyes follow the arm. Notice if doing some variations has affected the range and comfort of the motion. After a few repetitions, notice if you get to a certain point where, to move the right arm any further, you would have to lift your right knee off the left. Notice where that point is, and when you get there, allow the knee to lift. Try this a few times and then finish with some more movements where the knees stay together.

16.       Roll to lie on your back and scan the way you are lying now. Roll your head gently from side to side. Which side does it roll to more easily? Then roll to your side and sit up and then get to your feet. Compare the way your shoulders feel. Try bringing your right arm up to shoulder height and turning to the right. Can you go further now than at the beginning of this lesson?

17.            Repeat steps 1 through 15 with the left arm while lying on your right side. Try doing some of the movements in your imagination before you actually start doing them.