Aren’t all of those muscles that flow down our legs beautiful? Still, it can sometimes seem like all they want to do is be tight and pull up into our lower back. Sometimes it can seem like stretching or trying to relax the legs is the solution, but I’ve discovered over a long period of time that my legs actually need to be activated in a very special way for my lower back and hips to be truly free and easy.

Those outer muscles and lower back are tight because the inner thighs aren’t working enough. But you can’t solve the problem with more “doing” because then you will be tightening everywhere! How can we bring about the kind of muscular engagement that is just right, just what is needed for whatever movement we need to do now?

The “problem area” for many is the illiotibial band. The belly of the illiotibial band crosses over the greater trochanter of your femur, or thigh bone, and can get really tight. Runners and dancers especially suffer from this and do all kinds of stretches and rolling on rollers to work this tension out. Here is the spot, the upper red circle:

It is only through activating the inner thigh that we can encourage the outer thigh to release into its full length. This activation of the inner thigh will create a better balance of muscle tone in the legs such that you won’t have to poke and prod into the tissue of the illiotibial band for relief, since over the long run that can cause tissue damage.

This toning of the inner thigh should be in the service of releasing the pelvic floor, lifting the head up over the feet and legs, instead of tightening the neck and pulling the weight of the head down and towards the ground. Connecting the activation of the inner thigh with “releasing up” is the secret. I use the femoral Mobilignment™ points  to activate my inner thighs with ease and fluidity.

First, let me show you the relevant “points” on your femur that you can use to clarify how you use your legs. First, the upper femur points which are at the very tippy top of the femur, in the middle of the femoral head:

Instead of over-efforting, just give a thought of these two points softening towards each other. Softening them towards each other wouldn’t freeze your tailbone. It is just a “spatial thought”. It won’t feel like muscle are working – not in any way that you are familiar with.

Next, take a look at the lower femoral points, which are on the inside knob of the lower femoral points at the inside of the thigh:

And think of these points as well softening towards each other. The activity will be a kind of lively and fluid toning of your inner thighs that actually releases the neck, shoulders, lower back, tailbone, and pelvic floor. Delightful! This kind of fluid and easy tone will also help your balance since toning of the inner thighs brings us more clearly over our feet without bracing.

Just to be clear – you can send these directions in yourself in any position. Your legs could be rotate inwards or outwards in the hip socket. You could be sitting cross legged on the floor, or in a chair. You could be in a yoga asana. It’s not about shape, position, or about “pulling your thighs together,” but the activation of these directions can certainly precede bringing your thighs closer together. The points can soften towards one another, or away from one another.

Here is an image of the muscles that are activating:

I will write more in the next newsletter about the implications of this for a deeper mobility of the sitting bones, the lower round rockers of the pelvis (you can see in the illustration that they are below the hip joint) which provide attachments for all of the muscles of the inner thigh. If those two rockers are held stiff or square in relationship to your legs, you will have balance problems and not be able to fully access this magical inner thigh tone. If, however, the sitting bones are free to move even slightly, you will find that all of these femoral points are fluid and gliding in relationship to each other, facilitating easy balance and mobility.

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Who doesn’t need a little help getting unstuck from 2020? So many of my friends are telling me that their bodies are just really tight and uncomfortable from being inside more than usual, from not having enough spontaneous, unpredictable, fun movement in their life.

Even though they go outside every day. Even though they do stretches and exercises, their bodies are getting tighter and painful in surprising ways from being in semi-lockdown.

All of our activities have become so deliberate and predictable. Everything we do – seeing a friend, going to the grocery store, setting aside some time for our body, has to be planned and conscious. Pre-planning and conscious choice are great, but our body also needs spontaneity and surprise. If we don’t encounter unpredictable situations we start to feel stuck in rut, a routine. We really need to play! So…

Every year I offer a special sale during the long, cold winter. I do this to encourage you to take the plunge and commit to a short course of lessons.

Have you reached the end of the rope, the end of the line, the end of 2020? Need a guide in how to create fun, unpredictable, yet healing physical practice for yourself that will affect work, play, and life in 2021 for the better?

This offer is for you – and if you sign up for it before the end of the year, you will get in under the wire because my rates are going up January 1.

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Have you ever had the experience of hearing a kind word or honest affirmation from a friend and feeling your whole body melt with relief? When I’m teaching, I’m forever amazed at the relationship between kindness, curiosity, and time.

Time seems to fall right into place when we are curious. It’s not too slow, not too fast, but just right. When we rush, it’s a usually either boredom and disconnection, or fear.

Recently I had a student who is in a marching band ask for help in how to play the snare drum. All they needed was a little more time to explore how to hold the sticks more loosely, so they could play a rapid beat with less effort. We enjoyed the exploration, but it brought up alot of feelings for my student. She had literally felt hopeless about herself, frankly, because the band leader didn’t actually know how to teach her, or just wasn’t curious enough about the problem. She felt so encouraged just to find out that she was capable of learning!

Even though I have been teaching for 20 years, I am not above needing affirmation from others either. If I get even a little bit of encouragement I can last a whole year! But…why try to last a whole year? Why not put yourself in the position of getting that kind of support every month? Or even every week? Most real leaders I know get lots of help and support, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to take the risks they do.

A little kindness goes a long way – so why not have alot of it? I’ve discovered that I need about 150% more help than I thought I did! That’s why I started the Experimenters Union for Alexander Technique and other Somatics teachers.

Honest kindness and encouragement are especially important when it comes to learning and change. The honesty part is the hardest, because we have to admit we don’t know, and we have to share challenging observations with each other. We have to be honest about what we perceive about each other. Recognizing and changing harmful habits of thinking and moving is my business, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a student or colleague feel shame while learning something new. I can totally relate. I remember so well when I was the same way. Sometimes I’d cry while working with my teacher because I felt I should already have known what they were teaching me. To be revealed in not knowing something is particularly vulnerable! Yet how can we grow, adapt, and innovate without being vulnerable? Especially now, during this dreadful COVID time, when everything is changing faster than we can handle.

That’s why anyone in a leadership position – which every teacher is in – needs to have a support system that includes kindness and honest feedback. Feedback gives us the reality check that we long for – was that as weird as I thought it was? Am I doing something funny with my arm when I make that movement?

Learning something new is one of the greatest and most healing pleasures on earth. Don’t let feelings of vulnerability rob you of it! Learning something new about your own body especially is the best! If you need support for healing your relationship to your body and learning, I hope you’ll try a Mobilignment class (no two classes are alike, so no one will be any better at it than you are) or free consultation.

If you are an embodiment innovator trying to take your business online and want a rigorous yet kind facilitated mastermind experience, I hope you will book an interview to either join the January group (almost full!!) or be placed on the waiting list for the next one.

CURRENT OFFERINGS:

1) Weekly Mobilignment™ classes:
Dancers at heart of all ages and abilities – come exercise your neuro-plasticity to it’s utmost with mindful movement! Book a spot in the Monday & Wednesday Mobilignment™ class here.

2) Facilitated Mastermind for online embodiment innovators:

Do you want to jump-start your online business and learn Mobilignment™ practices in the process? My DOUBLE VALUE 6 MONTH FACILITATED MASTERMIND focusing on fluid & playful embodiment online, business clarity, and financial abundance for online educators is filling up fast. I am committed to a diversity of modalities (Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais, Yoga, or any Somatic practice) because I think different takes on the body-mind connection help us discover larger truths and expand our creativity in our chosen modality as well.

You can sign up for a free interview here. The November cohort is full, but there are still 3 spots open in the January one. This could be the honest yet kind and supportive encouragement that you have been longing for! We will challenge you with kindness.

3) Need to re-juvinate your bodymindsoul?
Book a private session ONLINE or IN PERSON.

4) Need to re-juvinate your body but still struggling financially during this dreadful pandema-recession? Check out my YOUTUBE CHANNEL.