In this first session we explored the possibilities of different sections of the spine and how we can mobilize it to become more flexible. We also worked on the connection between the head, the spine and the pelvis, and we played with different variations that allowed us to experience differentiation and how we can direct our attention to several things at the same time (head, eyes, shoulders, pelvis).

This is the full recording of the session:

 

And with this short video class you can practice the movements that we did on the floor.

The feet are the base of our posture and our connection to the world. In the second session of our series we explore the experience of being grounded and the connection of the feet to the pelvis and beyond.

For this class you will need a pencil, the longer the better. We will work both lying on the back and sitting with the feet standing in front of you. Remember to always stay within the range of what is comfortable, these classes are also about practicing being comfortable  🙂

Here is the audio of the session:

 

 

This time, instead of making a short video class, I made a short audio class. The movements are so small that it really made no sense to shoot a video. But I really recommend you to try the short audio class and see the difference that 13 minutes of directed attention can make.

 

 

I also want to share with you a short video from the end of the class. Usually I don’t share the after-class comments, but in this case there was a question that I think will be interesting for other people too, so if you were not in the live session, press play:

Finally, I realized that the articles that I have about the history of the method are actually in Spanish… but I talked to Lea Kaufman, the creator of Intelligent Movement, and asked her if I could interview her in English, so share with you some ideas direct from the source. She accepted, so next Thursday I will share with the video of this conversation,

As I mentioned when we began this series, there is a thread connecting the classes of this program. We started by expanding awareness of the spine, then we explored the connections of the pelvis with the feet and the spine, and today we are bringing all the pieces together to discover how we can mobilize the ribs and what is the role of the pelvis, the shoulders and the spine in the freedom of our thoracic cage – or thoracic basket, if we think of its flexible hardness.

Also, in this class we go back to something we practiced in the second session: very small movements, invisible actions, and we dive deeper in how with Intelligent Movement we can effect big changes with very small movements.

Here is the audio of the session:

 

 

And this is the short video class that corresponds to this session:

 

I also want to share with you a clip from the beginning of the class. For those of you who arrived later, or who were not present in the live session, this is the short talk that I gave as an introduction, connecting today’s lesson with the idea of being comfortable with uncertainty, which is an important ability, especially in these days when we are facing the unknown and we are surrounded by so much dubious information:

Conspiracy theories, the unknown, and Intelligent Movement from Ernesto Cortés on Vimeo.

In this session we explored the possibilities of movement of the pelvis when it articulates smoothly with the legs and the spine. In a previous class we practiced moving the pelvis from the feet, and in another we played with the connection between ribs, spine and pelvis. In this class we bring all of this together to understand how we can have a more efficient pelvis with the participation of all of our self.

Here is the audio of the class :

 

 

And this is the video class that corresponds to this session:

I also want to share with you another short clip from a previous class, with an interesting question about how we approach a specific pain or challenge from the perspective of Intelligent Movement. One way to treat pain (physical or psychological) is by working directly on it. You can dig into the root of the pain, and try to figure out why something hurts. However, there is another way, and this is what we do in Intelligent Movement:

In this class we integrated many of the actions we have been practicing in this series, and we practiced doing different things as a single movement, with the idea that being integrated doesn’t mean moving as a block.

This is the audio of this class:

 

 

And this is the video class that you can do on a chair:

Integration with Intelligent Movement from Ernesto Cortés on Vimeo.

Here is a short interview I had with Lea Kaufman, the creator of Intelligent Movement, about the method and its approach to the human body and psyche. Lea is a systems engineer and performing artist from Uruguay. She graduated as a Feldenkrais teacher in 2007 and 5 years later became the youngest assistant trainer of this method. She organized the first Feldenkrais training in Colombia, she was the first teacher to offer online courses of this method and wrote a book that established the basis of what would become Intelligent Movement. Enjoy!

In this session we integrated all the elements of the series into a coordinated action. We also explored how is our relationship with the floor, and how we can use it to make our movements easier, and we discovered how an action that at the beginning was the sum of many different movements can become the unified result of a combination of conscious movements.

This is the audio of this session:

 

 

And with this video class you can practice on a chair what we did on the class: opening up the chest, mobilizing the shoulder blades, and at the same time moving the pelvis in a different direction, to make the spine more flexible and move available.

Finally, I want to share with you the video from the beginning of this last class, where I answer the questions about Intelligent Movement, spirituality and science. These were very interesting questions that really got me thinking and made me reflect on the depth of this work. I hope that this is also interesting for you.

Intelligent Movement, Spirituality, and Science from Ernesto Cortés on Vimeo.