SERIES: FELDENKRAIS THEORY AND RESEARCH

The physics of Feldenkrais

Part 5: Unstable equilibrium
and its application
to movement therapy
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

John C. Hannon
This article, fifth in a series, explores the concept of unstable equilibrium as a
form of dynamic repose. This presumes that movement best complies with the
Principle of Least Effort when the initial posture incorporates maximal potential
energy with minimal inertia. Such action, properly controlled, incorporates
strength, dexterity and a quickened reaction time. Also introduced is the idea of
reversibility; an attribute, described by Feldenkrais, indicating excellence in motor
control. Different forms of gait provide a vehicle for discussion. Exercises and a
sitting treatment featuring unstable equilibrium are presented. # 2001 Harcourt
Publishers Ltd

Introduction

Expect no more or word or sign from

me;
Free and upright and sound is thy freewill,
And error were it not to do its bidding;
Thee oer thyself I therefore crown and
mitre!
Virgils last words to Dante,
Purgatorio Canto XXVII

John C. Hannon DC
Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner
1141 Pacific St. Suite B
San Luis Obispo, CA
E-mail: [email protected]
Received April 2001
Accepted May 2001
...........................................
Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (2001)
5(3), 207^221
# 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd
doi: 10.1054./jbmt.2001.0230. available online at
http://www.idealibrary.com on

Gravity1 teaches us, early in life,

two important things. First of all,
the most important leg of a threelegged stool is the one that is
1

Gravity, an unseen force of constant direction and

intensity, is an invariant that informs us about much

missing. And secondly, you cant fall

off the floor.
Despite the perceived safety of the
floor, the developing infant
relentlessly pursues vertical. First
the head rises. (Feldenkrais likened
it to a periscope because of the
footnote continued
of our world. Occasionally, it is partially cancelled
out; for example, during elevator rides and while
floating in water. Gravity was the subject of an April
Fools Day hoax (Moore 1976). Word went out on
Radio BBC2 that, at precisely 9:47 AM, the planet
Pluto would pass behind Jupiter and counteract the
Earths own gravity field. People would momentarily
weigh less. Listeners were encouraged to jump in the
air at 9:47 and feel the strange floating sensation.
Hundreds of callers let BBC2 know that they had
experienced that exact feeling.

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Box 1 Milton Erickson recalls learning to walk the second time around

Dr Erickson began a teaching seminar by asking the participants to describe walking. He then stated I had to learn to stand up
twice once as an infant and once as an 18-year-old boy. I was totally paralyzed at 17. I had a baby sister. I watched her
creeping around and I watched her to see how she stood up. And I learned from my baby sister, 17 years younger than me, how
to stand up.
First you reach up and pull yourself up. Then accidentally, sooner or later (you all make the same accident). You discover that
you put some weight on your foot. And then, and never get them crossed, because if you get your feet crossed you cant stand up.
You have to learn to keep your feet as far apart as you can. Then you keep your knees straight and your body betrays you again
you bend at the hips.
After a while, after many efforts, you manage to keep your knees straight and you hang on the side of the playpen. You have
four bases two of your feet and two of your hands.
And then what happens when you lift this arm? You sit down. It is quite a job to learn to lift this hand and a bigger job to put
your hand out because your body goes over that way, and that way. And you have to learn to keep your balance no matter how
you move this you discover that your knee bends and you sit down. Then you haul yourself up and you try the other foot and the
knee bends again.
It takes a long time to learn to put your weight on your feet and to keep your knees straight. You have to learn to keep your feet
far apart. And then you have to learn how to move this hand. And you then you have to learn to coordinate it with the movement
of your head, your shoulders and your body. And finally you can stand up with both hands free.
Now how do you shift from two feet to one foot? It is an awfully big job because the first time you try to do it, you forget to hold
your knees straight and your hips straight, and you sit down. After a while you learn to put all your weight on one foot and then
you move one foot forward and that alters your center of gravity, so you fall down.
It takes a long time to learn how to put one foot forward. So, you finally take your first step and it seems to be pretty good. Then
you take the second one with the same foot and that doesnt seem so good. You take a third one and sit down. It takes a long
time to go right, left, right, left, right, left. You all can walk, yet you really dont know the movements or the processes. (Zeig,
1979).

cluster of sense organs2.) The head

reaches its highest extent, while
prone, through action of the spinal
extensors. Therefore, the maturing
of spinal extension becomes an
immediate task. But, the baby is
not satisfied with the altitude gain.
There are wonders beyond compare
tantalizingly out of reach.
Crawling requires a complex
orchestration of the body parts. This
requires further maturing of
2

Orientation to events in the external world chiefly

occurs because of these important paired sensors,
(olfactory, equilibrium, auditory and visual).
These allow a person to distinguish slight
differences in stimulation in each sense organ and
thus triangulate the event spatially. Feldenkrais
(1977), continuing the simile, compared the pelvis to
a submarine. The pelvis is the primary engine for
optimal positioning of the periscope. For an
excellent interweaving of physics and Feldenkrais,
see Rywerant 2000.

neuromuscular control. Some limbs

need anchorage, others must reach
out. Limb progression requires a
weight shift and this timing is
critical. Crawling both raises the
head and allows for faster
locomotion. This is good but soon
even more magnificent vistas
beckon. A command goes out for
the development of the skills of
standing and then walking. At every
step there are greater rewards and
greater risks.
Milton Erickson, as a teenager
stricken with polio, watched his
youngest sister learn to walk.
Following her lead, he re-learned to
walk. In a teaching seminar, (see
Box 1), he remembered the process
as he introduced the seminar by
asking the participants Do you
know how to walk?

We revere upright. The aplomb of

ballerinas thrills us as does an
Olympian divers piercing entry into
placid waters. There is great survival
value to being upright. The matador
easily swivels, and avoids goring, by
rotating about a vertical axis3. When
upright, and poised, we also may
react instantly in many more
directions than, say, when crouched
3

In Part 4 of this series, Axes, levers, struts and

strain, discussion was made about transmission of
forces and the role of an axis in movement. We
recognize that a weather vane swings with the most
ease if it is upright. Recalling that work is defined as
force multiplied by distance; a tilted weather vane
will require more work to turn than a normal one.
The more tilt, the more requisite work because, with
an increase in tilt, the amount of work grows very
fast since the additional work is not added but
multiplied. See Box 2 for an exercise which explores
how a standing turn can approximate that same
sense of ease.

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Box 2

Feldenkrais (1997) describes a standing exercise, turning to the left, involving choice of dierent vertical axes (See Figure 9)

Feldenkrais described a standing turn in several ways. He noted that, in many people, their muscular state of tension would make
rotation very inefficient. For example, if the head and lumbar vertebrae were held immobile, turning to the side would be an
awkward, laborious and slow operation-necessitating at least three steps (1977). By contrast, in the study of Judo, he pointed
out that the human body is best fitted for rotation around its vertical axis, and when this is performed on one toe, with all its
members held near the body, it is swift and practically effortless (1962). This finding is echoed in Yang Cheng-Fus Twelve
Important Points of Tai Chi Chuan which state that the substantial and insubstantial must be differentiated .. keep your weight
on one foot at a time (Cheng & Smith 1987).
In this selection Feldenkrais instructs a class in turning to the left while standing up.
The left side, the middle of the chest must come over the left heel. That means the body is not strained in the back, but on the
contrary, it strains in the abdominal muscles. There is a movement toward the left side so the shoulder and the hip [shift] onto the
same axis, parallel to the middle of the spine.
Pay attention not to turn the shoulders [relative to one another], but only the right shoulder around the left. [Continue] until it
will be possible to go over to the [left] leg [using] one movement, without hesitation. The transition to the leg will be similar to
what you are now hearing in my speech. [You] do not hear a halt in my breathing while I do it or not do it. Shift the weight like
this many times.
Slowly notice that the left side serves as an axis. The left hip joint and the left shoulder are on one line, without force, and do not
move. Feldenkrais then shows the difference between turning as described above, (on an axis of the left shoulder and hip), with
the turning most people use without thinking. . . . Turning around the spine. If I stand and turn around myself, the spine . . . is the
axis. I am turning half here and half there. That means when I am turning from left to right, the left shoulder moves around the
spine and the right shoulder also.
What we are trying to do is a faster turning movement. It enables turning with better balance. This time the axis . . . is around the
joint on which I am turning. . . . These movements enable very fast movements with agile balance. [Balance] where it is possible to
make a turn at great speed because it is one movement instead of two. (Feldenkrais 1997)

in sprinters blocks ready to explode

forward upon a cinder track.

Skeletal antinomies
The skeleton demonstrates a triplet
of intertwined antinomies. For
example, the spine is nimble enough
to be fastened precisely into any one
of a multitude of shapes. It can
faithfully maintain that
configuration to serve a single task.
At the same time, there is low
survival value if so constrained.
A stooped posture may best serve
gardening but it hardly allows for a
quick getaway. For this reason, the
alert martial artist always reserves
several movement options for
instant reaction.
Secondly, the spine must
thoroughly and massively armor the
delicate nervous system yet provide
wide gaps so as to not limit

movement. Even those gaps require

cunning in construction since the
exiting nerves must have freedom
from tethering and pinching.
Last of all, maximal mechanical
potency arises from the upright
skeletal position, which, due to the
large masses of the head and trunk
being balanced over the much
smaller feet, is the most unstable.
Maintaining a balance between
these antinomies is of primal
importance in any human activity.

Muscles, anxiety and

perceived safety
Buddhism reminds us that life is
suffering and, throughout life, we
often receive personal tutoring in
this principle. But, notice, in Box 1,
that Erickson says sit down not
fall down. Sit is a gentler verb;
there is a connotation of fear in

falling. Some people develop a fear

of falling, perhaps even to the point
of over-development, just as some
develop a fear of failing.
Feldenkrais first book, (1949, reissued 1977), observed that muscular
tension and anxiety are closely
interwoven. Consider that a state of
muscular apprehension exists in
many of those we treat. This
excessive and durable motor tone4 is
maintained with vigilance and,
often, without any conscious
awareness whatsoever.
4

Chaitow and DeLany (2000), in their recent

magnificent text, quote Ledermans (1998)
differentiation of motor tone from muscle tone in
resting muscle. Motor tone refers to muscle
activated by the nervous system while muscle tone
describes the turgidity created by connective tissue
tension and intramuscular fluid pressure. It seems
reasonable to treat these two forms of tone
differently, Feldenkrais props are often used to
provide compelling surfaces upon which to relax
(Hannon 1999).

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Box 3

Conceptual denitions useful in the exploration of unstable equilibrium

Acture: Dr Feldenkrais described acture as a better word than posture; he noted that posture relates to action not to the
maintenance of any given position. He stated (1985), that the ability to stop an action, a process, restart it, reverse it, or drop it
altogether is one of the finer criteria of proper acture. Another quotation which applies to acture is: Good upright posture
allows a minimal muscular effort to move the body with equal ease in any direction (Feldenkrais 1972).
Dexterity: Professor Nicholai Bernstein (1996) updated the definition of dexterity to something more than harmony in
movement. He felt that dexterity was finding a motor solution for any situation and in any condition. He noted that the demand
for dexterity is not in the movements themselves but in reacting appropriately to the surrounding conditions. Feldenkrais (1977)
described it as the all-around matured individual. He stated that such an individual is recognizable by his outstanding capacity
for recovery from unexpected shocks or disturbances, mental, emotional or mechanical. Faulty recovery is never found in one of
these planes of activity alone.
Sensorium: the sum total of an individuals sensory cues which allow a coherent relationship to their environment. Examples
abound everywhere. Extending above and beyond the head are sensory signals such as the aural Doppler shift that allows us to
duck the swinging tree limb. The cloud of signals ranges throughout the body all the way down to the contact of our soles which
grounds us; in other words, the innumerable trains of visual, tactile, haptic and enteroceptive signals which provide us with a
feeling of continuity and connection to our world. Chaitow (1999) reminds us that the musculoskeletal system is both the
greatest energy consumer of the body and its largest organ of sensory input.
Sensory motor atrophy: a metaphor describing the blunting or impoverishment of the sensorium. Imagine shod feet walking on a
tropical beach. Soles so constrained they cannot feel the bite of a sand flea nor a jellyfishs sting. Those feet do not notice the
suns warmth, the tides surge, the sinking into loamy wet sand nor the slippery-slick squelch of trodden seawrack.
Sensory motor amnesia (Hanna 1989): Thomas Hanna coined this term to describe a somatic state which may form after injury or
long term stress. This functional amnesia is not due to organic disease of the nervous system or locomotor system; instead, it
represents a dysfunction of the information processing inherent in motor control. The self-image of the person becomes changed.
The persons distorted self-image prompts an apprehensive guarding of their muscles, which limits movements with or without
pain. In addition, the person is unaware of the distortion or restriction in their activities. Nor can they notice that this
apprehension sacrifices coordination and dexterity while loading unneeded muscular effort upon their movement patterns.

When examining these muscles at

rest, a pre-emptive stiffness is found
rather than a pliable stillness.
Possibly complicating this situation
are the states of sensorimotor
amnesia and atrophy (see Box 3),
described by Hanna (1979, 1989).
Even if, on the part of the client,
there is no conscious awareness of
this resistance, an appreciation of
some thawing of the obstinate
muscles often is kindled by slow and
gentle manual therapy. Of particular
value is the treatment model
developed by Latey (1996, 1997a,
1997b, 1997c, 1997d) presented in
earlier editions of this Journal.
People desire more than freedom
from pain and a return to normal
range of motion. They want freedom
from muscular apprehension; they
wish for the peace that comes from

feeling confident and competent

in movement. They require relief
from the uneasiness of the mind for
want of some absent good (Locke
1690).
Most people rest while sleeping
and obtaining repose in a recumbent
posture occurs often in massage and
other relaxing therapies, but what of
more dynamic forms of repose? An
earlier article (Hannon 1999) used
the term repose to embody the
state of quiet readiness; this
represents more than peace of mind
or muscular relaxation, although
both may be featured prominently.
Repose indicates as much stillness
and restfulness as is consistent with
instant action in any direction. In
this way, we may consider repose as
the ideal hotbed of tranquility from
which to launch an action while

obeying the Principle of Least

Effort.

Potential energy
The human body makes available
several types of potential energy.
There is the stored chemical energy
in the muscles which allows for
instant action. Then there is the
stored mechanical energy available
in being in an upright stance.
Figures 1 and 2 show a model of
different energy states. When the
ball has sunk into the depression, it
has no more potential energy, that
energy has been transformed into
the kinetic energy of rolling. This is
a state of stable equilibrium.
On the other hand, the ball poised
on top of the hill has potential
energy. Although the ball is just as

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Fig. 1 Potential energy. Consider potential

energy to be a line of credit extended to you
by the Bank, represented by gravity, an
unseen force of constant direction and
intensity. The ball, poised atop a hill, rolls
downwards at the slightest touch. The process
of rolling is similar to the process of paying
for a vacation. The ball converts the potential
energy into kinetic energy ending in a
depression. The depressing thing is, once
over, if you want another trip, you have to
pay back the bank.

still, it can roll at any time in any

direction. The ball is in a state of
unstable equilibrium. An upright
knee is somewhat similar, it can fold
at any time since it possesses the
potential energy inherent in being
upright. Ligament and bony
constraints, however, limit its
potential movement into one plane.
The upright body may be
considered to be in a maximal state
of potential energy if it is free to
move without preliminary
adjustment. This contemplates that
there is maximal elevation, or long
axis extension, of the spine with no
resistances to movement other than
those afforded by ligament and
skeletal anatomy. Figure 3
illustrates this state of mechanical
potency.

Palindromic movement
Palindromes such as the word
rotator read forward or backward.
It may be useful to consider
movements in the same way. A
hallmark of movement excellence is
that the motion lacks superfluous
effort. Inefficient locomotion
displays either stifled movement or
ungainly carriage.
Awkwardness such as this is so
widespread it is difficult to observe
at first. Imagine how shocked you

Fig. 2 Human examples of potential energy.

(A) The head perched atop a pillow has the
potential energy to fall to either side. If the
pillow is very soft, the head will settle enough
that muscle action is required to overcome the
resistance of the pillow. (B) A standing knee,
locked into extension, has potential energy to
fold into a squat.

would feel looking at peoples heads

if, thrust into a crowded city street,
you had never experienced such a
spectacle.
Discerning movement excellence,
an essential task, is not simply the
opposite of finding fault. In the same
way, moving toward comfort is not

the same as moving away from pain.

It makes sense, then, to consider
gold standards useful in the assay of
movement quality.
Reversibility is one such hallmark
described by Feldenkrais (1985)
The main feature of acture or
posture in all . . . voluntary action is
reversibility. At every instant or
stage of a correct act, it can be
stopped, . . . or reversed without any
preliminary change of attitude and
without effort.
A useful exercise is to view
videotape in reverse. Often, slight
movement superfluities become
glaringly apparent when played
backward. Videotapes of expert Tai
Chi Chuan provide the opposite
experience. The postural maxims in
this form of martial art,5 sponsor
movement that is slow and steady,
as if reeling a silk strand off a
cocoon; steady enough to continue
the action but gentle enough not to
break the thread.
The movement is reversible at any
point. It is difficult to tell which
direction a Tai Chi Chuan
practitioner is headed. On the other
hand, a sport like running has a
definite postural bias. Reversed, a
videotape of runners appears
unnatural because of the runners
forward lean posture.
Many people walk with a slight
forward lean; the preponderance of
this posture may be one example of
why it is so difficult to discern the

Wen-Shan, (1973) states that in posture, the trunk

is upright, erect, comfortable. Body and mind,
relaxed and calm. Cheng notes that the millstone
turns but the axle does not turn (1985). Liao (1990),
in the Tai Chi Classics, provides several pertinent
quotations. When transferring the chi from your
feet to your waist, your body must operate as if all
the parts were one. you should stand with your
posture balanced like a scale. When you move, your
movements should revolve as effortlessly as the
turning of a wheel. be centered, like the placid catpeaceful but able to respond instantly to the
scurrying mouse bear in mind that once you move,
everything should be in motion; when you are still,
everything should be in stillness.

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Fig. 3 The upright human at either end of the spectrum. (A) The standing human, echoing
Dantes quotation, is upright and free when unrestricted by durable motor tone. Virtually no
muscle effort is needed to stand if the centre of gravity is sustained over the feet with the weightbearing joints are centrated. (B) Typical zones of tension, described in the Part 3: (Volume 4 No.
4, pages 261272). Stability installment of this series, create postural faults, adverse tension and
require excessive effort to maintain postural stability.

subtle differences seen in upright

posture. Consider the Principle of
Least Effort when viewing videotape
in reverse, any counter-intuitive
postural bias or superfluous
movement should be scrutinized to
determine if it represents excess
effort.

Anticipatory postural
adjustments
Recent research has started to
unravel how the body pre-plans
movement to minimize effort and
maximize stability and speed.
Anticipatory postural adjustments
(APA) are used to maintain
equilibrium and perform the
movement. Aruin and Almeida
(1997) found that Downs Syndrome
people had a different postural

strategy than controls in fast

shoulder movements. Whereas the
controls moved their pelvises
forward the Downs people moved
their pelvises backwards.
Interestingly, the Downs people
used co-contraction in their strategy.
This not only slowed down their
responses, it was metabolically more
costly than that used by the
controls.
Training demonstrated that this
strategy could be replaced with a
more efficient one. It also
demonstrated that the Downs
syndrome people, when asked to do
the task, were more concerned with
doing it safely than efficiently. This
may be similar to novice automobile
drivers who have one foot on the
accelerator pedal and one foot on
the brake pedal.

Assaiante et al. (2000) studied

postural adjustment during gait
initiation across a spectrum of ages.
They showed a clear developmental
sequence from an en bloc operation
of APAs in infants with several
months of walking experience to
adults who were able to activate
APAs with less effort and more
mechanical delicacy.
Their research suggests that
people mature their movement
strategy, and activate less muscle
mass, by making better choice of
which joints to stabilize. Malouin
and Richards (2000) also studied
gait initiation in children and adults.
They found that anticipatory
behaviour develops first in the
frontal plane. In addition, they also
showed that adults were better able
to use force sparingly to accomplish
the preparatory adjustments during
gait initiation than children.
Forrest (1997) studying adults
before and after a 16 week course in
Tai Chi Chuan, discovered
postural improvement. He
interpreted the results to mean that
practicing Tai Chi leads to a greater
use of the elasticity of the peripheral
structures involving muscles,
ligaments and tendons in regaining
postural equilibrium.

Dynamic repose
The skeleton allows for folding and
turning in many ways. In fact,
turning, or rotation, is implied in the
word vertebra which derives from
the same root serving vertigo.
Despite many ligamentous, fascial
and skeletal restrictions, a person in
good health may move in any
direction. Limiting this freedom are
the many forms of restriction
encountered daily in our offices.
Consider that the striving for
perfection found in dance, martial
arts, yoga, mime, etc may mature
the nervous systems level of motor
control. By stripping away excess
effort and developing skill at

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harnessing the benefits of gravity,

friction, momentum and inertia, the
student of these disciplines develops
poise. Rather than being mired in
muscular co-contraction patterns
producing adverse tension, the
student becomes independent of
their heritage.6
Just as we began by considering
the child gaining more altitude with
each developmental milestone, so
also does the maturing adult reach
higher potential energy states by
continuing to learn better motor
strategies. Gravity becomes the
prime mover in many movements.
A high level of motor control allows
for turning from the waist with the
hip socket acting as the vertical axis7.
(See Box 2 for a turning exercise).
The felt-sense is that of feeling
embraced by safety and comfort; for
this reason, apprehensive patterns of
tension fall away. The person feels
free to respond buoyantly and
spontaneously to events. They
recover quicker to unexpected
situations. Fortunately, the process
of seeking such dexterity is reward
enough in itself since, typically,
many years are invested before
dividends are earned.
Unstable equilibrium is an
extremely useful state. This state of
dynamic repose provides maximal
potential energy for instant
application. It also allows for
maximal options for directions to
move toward. To achieve unstable
6

This concept of becoming independent of heritage

is explored in more detail in Feldenkrais (1962).
Also found there are compelling reasons why the
study of Judo may be considered required training
for those who wish to move well.
7
Rolf, in her studies of the integration of myofascia,
function and gravity, came to much the same
conclusion as Feldenkrais. She said: When the pelvis
is not balanced, we do not have the upward thrust
that creates zero balance, the sense of weightlessness
that can be created in the body. When the pelvis is
aberrated, it does not allow this equipoise, this
tranquility in experience that a balanced pelvis
shows. The combined forces acting on a balanced
pelvis are in a moment of inertia near zero. It is
always in dynamic action, but the forces balance out
to near zero (Feitis 1978).

equilibrium at rest,8 the upright

skeleton has to be arranged so that
the weight is carried through the
bones. The centre of gravity must be
over the feet. This allows friction,
gravity and inertia all to work
together.

Gait
Hamwee (1999, p. 50) describes how
two donkeys walk together up a
narrow mountain path. He notes
that the donkeys lean into each
other as they walk; he reasons that
the donkey on the outside of the
path feels safer by leaning away
from the edge. If the outside donkey
slipped or a bit of the path crumbled
away, the donkey would fall inwards
against the other donkey. The idea is
a compelling one; we all want
support. But, just as a crutch is
needed during convalescence, the
best moment of healing is when the
person develops the strength to lift
away from the crutch. Finding our
own anchors of stability is a
challenge we all face.
Consider the six-legged insect in
Figure 4. Notice how the stability of
a three-legged stool can provide a
stable base for the insect. By lifting
three legs out of the way and falling
forward on the three standing legs,
the insect can propel themselves
forward. All that remains is to land
on the new set of three legs and then
hoist up the body for another step.
The centre of gravity always remains
within the triangle outlined by the
standing three legs.
The four legged animal, being
much higher in the air than the
insect, has the advantage of
being able to take longer steps.
Counterbalancing this advantage is
8
In motion, the job becomes more elaborate by
other influences such as momentum and elastic
recoil. Perhaps these complications are mitigated by
a visceral yearning toward a felt-sense goal. That of
learning better ways to move toward comfort,
thereby fulfilling the want of some absent good.

the increased instability. Figure 4

likens the animal to a table with a
weight resting on top. If the weight
lies over a triangle made of three
legs, lifting the other leg will not
topple the beast.
Place the centre of gravity over
supporting legs and stability reigns.
But what of a fulcrum? The teetertotter was used as an example in the
last installment of this series9; here
the supporting leg is a knife edge,
making support precarious so that
even slight forces can tip the balance.
This use of a fulcrum demonstrates
unstable equilibrium; two children
poised motionless on either end of a
teeter-totter are in dynamic repose.
A ball and socket joint, the hip for
example, can be likened to another
piece of playground equipment: the
merry-go-round. It is as if you have
shrunk the width of a teeter-totters
fulcrum until it was just a point.
Now, the children can both tip and
spin. To keep the children free from
accident, the merry-go-round
severely limits the amount of tipping
while allowing free spinning.
The hip, in order to maximise the
range of motion, neither limits
tipping or spinning. Figure 5
illustrates the wide cone of
circumduction for the upright hip.
Stabilising the hip, with this vast
movement area, becomes a motor
control task. Part of this task
requires sensing where in space both
the weight-bearing joints are and the
centre of gravity.
Most people cannot accurately
gauge where their hips are.10 Torso
movement becomes ungainly as they
9
The Physics of Feldenkrais1: axes. levers, struts
and strain. (Vol. 5 No. 2, pages 132145).
10
Try this exercise: visualize the inner borders of
your hip joints and the width separating them.
Decide if the span requires two hands to
demonstrate or can one outstretched hand bridge
the gap? The answer: one hand can easily cover the
extent (which is the same as the distance between
your ears). This means that, when standing in a
balanced neutral posture, it takes a sway, measuring
one half of the head-width, to bring the centre of
gravity of the head over the hip and ankle.

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Fig. 4 Examples of gait. (A) The insect lifts three legs and advances itself to rest upon the three other legs. (B) The four-legged animal, if its centre of
gravity remains within the confines of three support legs, remains stable. Move the centre of gravity over that border, the animal will topple. (C) The
footprints of an unsteady person show how small the support area compared to the bodys mass. (D) The additional support of a cane widens the
triangle of support significantly.

Fig. 5 Hip zone of circumduction perimeter of the upright adult. Notice the wide, and varying
range, of hip ranges of motion. (Illustration adapted from Kapandji, 1987).

attempt to bend or twist according

to a distorted self-image. Turning
about the hip may also be
problematic, as the exercise in Box 2
proves. These perceptual errors lead
to inefficient gait. Gait is already
precarious enough; having been
described as a series of potentially
catastrophic falls, narrowly averted.
Gait represents an unstable
equilibrium with the centre of
gravity balanced high and uncertain
over the feet. Weight shifting must
occur accurately to allow gait to
proceed with the least effort
possible.
Interestingly, swinging the leg in
gait is designed to be weightless.
How can this be? Kahn points out
(1943), that there is a negative
pressure maintained in the hip
capsule. Atmospheric pressure
compresses the joint capsule

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The Physics of Feldenkrais1

Box 4

Feldenkrais on gait (1977). He described his gold standards for determining the quality of motion

Having established the principle of maximum potential energy in the mechanical frame of the body, we must note that any
deviations from that principle must be considered inadequate; in other words, to maintain the body in a way such that the centre
of gravity is lower than it could be annuls the advantages recognised in the principle. Thus in proper walking, the centre of
gravity of the human body should go up and down so slightly that it is practically maintained at the level at which it is when
standing on the forward foot, with the one behind still touching the ground with the two bigger toes. Ideally, no work at all
should be done in the field of gravity. The only resistance to overcome should be that of the joints which arrange themselves so as
to shift the centre of gravity horizontally forward.
In the average mans gait, these conditions are far from being realised, and more work is involved than necessary; as in all
physical bodies the loss of energy involved is accountable in the deformation of the supports and joints. There are people with
excellent body mechanisms who walk in a manner fulfilling the theoretical conditions: it is difficult to describe the proper act
concisely and with sufficient precision and clarity. Only example or film projection can adequately convey the idea and procedure.
It may be said, however, that the gait satisfying the established principle is as follows: propulsion forward is obtained by the
upper parts of the body moving forward first, the advancing leg propping up and stopping them from falling further down. The
ankle of the advancing leg should not therefore be advanced further than the vertical through the centre of gravity of the trunk at
the moment the trunk comes to rest over the ankle. The other leg lengthens by extending the ankle joint; it does not push to
propel the body forward, but serves to direct and stabilise only. The horizontal component forward, obtained by letting the trunk
fall, is used for propulsion. The work for moving forward is provided by the potential energy stored in the body. The potential
energy is restored by straightening the forward leg at the moment of underpropping the body. People with proper body
mechanisms walk in this fashion. It is easy and graceful because it involves the least effort and labour. The grace of such walking
is obtained from the unity of action. When an act is efficient no energy is wasted. This means also that no movement unnecessary
for the act is done. The body moves, therefore, smoothly and describes clear curves or lines. The aesthetic search for design and
purity is thus also satisfied.
Perfect maturity of the antigravity function is recognisable by the narrowness of gait. The traces left by the feet when advancing
fit between two parallel lines, about two-thirds of the width of both feet apart. The two heels never touch the ground
simultaneously. Prints of the bare feet on the ground would be so spaced that the following points would be on one straight line
the middle of each heel and the edge of the second toe facing the big toe. The legs move simply, i.e., they do not do anything
else but the movement strictly necessary for the purpose. So does the whole body.

counteracting the pull of the

dependent mass of the limb. This
lightness contrasts the weightbearing phase of gait where the
joint compressive forces can rise
to many times body weight
depending, primarily, on muscle
effort.
See Box 4 for a description
Feldenkrais used when considering
ideal gait (1977). He points out that
taking a step is as simple as falling
down. If you can control that fall,
you can precisely meter the falling
distance to minimize the required
effort to lift up the trunk for the next
step. In this way, no joints are held
stiffly and all share in the task.
The constellation of the skeletons
joint surfaces, being free to move,
adapt to each moment allowing for
rapid change. This is the prerequisite

for reversibility in gait. Inertia is

kept at a minimum.
Feldenkrais predicted that if faced
with such a gait we would see a
narrow path less than two footwidths wide. The two heels would
never touch the ground
simultaneously and they would be
connected by a line bisecting the heel
and crossing through the first toe
web next to the great toe (Fig. 6).
It may be a useful exercise to
consider what are the requirements
for body awareness, stability and
motor control to allow such a gait.
For example, a standing waist turn,
isolated from shoulders and knees, is
difficult for many people.
This may be more than an
awareness deficit; there may be both
weakness and incoordination of the
many strips of muscle which

constitute the abdominal wall.

Similarly, the shoulder girdle
muscles may be in a facilitated state
such that they are recruited simultaneously with the trunk muscles.
The back muscles and hip flexors
may be both tight and facilitated;
this may add adverse compressive
strain as well as promoting excessive
shear and torque. All together, these
factors may make the Feldenkrais
ideal of gait impossible. It may be
useful to consider how forward head
and shoulder posture might affect
gait; breathing resistance too. See
Box 5 for other gait explorations.

Exercise example using

unstable equilibrium
A sitting exercise involving rocking
on the ischia was introduced in the

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Fig. 6 Feldenkrais on walking. (A) Notice

that walking is controlled falling. Potential
energy creates the movement forward
requiring only a lift up to ready for the next
step. Therefore the centre of gravity should
drop just the sufficient amount for each step.
(B) The gait path should be narrow; less than
two foot-widths, with a line connecting the
middle of the heels with the toe web closest to
the great toe.

first installment of this series

(Vol. 1 No. 1, pages 2730) (Fig. 7).
The knee is cradled with the fingers
interlaced around the upper shin.
The other leg is arranged for
comfortable stability. The ischial
tuberosities are similarly arranged
for comfort and stability.
It may be useful to revisit this
movement physically and gauge
what amount of muscular tension
abides. Prime areas to consider are
the suboccipital muscles, the
diaphragm, the pectoral girdle of the
chest, hip flexors, hamstrings and
quadriceps.
A person using the Least Effort
Principle will be able to compose
their skeleton for support without
muscular effort. The support leg
would be placed so that the sub-

talar joint, ankle, knee and hip

centrate mechanically rather than
muscularly. This joint centration
provides an unstable equilibrium
similar to a stack of slippery
ice-cubes. The cubes are motionless
but in precarious position.
In the exercise example, the
support leg is arranged such that a
line could be drawn bisecting the
heel, knee and the acetabulum
extending out to bisect the great toe
web. The other lower limb would
demonstrate no muscular activity.
Since the knee is cradled, the hip
flexion and knee extensor function
are superfluous.
This can be tested by rocking the
trunk back and forth; if there is
wobble of the support knee, that
limb is probably not centrated or
excessive muscle effort is being
expended. A subtle sign, indicating
sufficient relaxation of the cradled
leg, is a small rocking of the hanging
foot as if it was a pendulum. As the
trunk falls forward, during the
rocking movement, the foot should
swing away and return as the trunk
rocks backwards.
Jostling of the support leg thigh
flesh and calf muscles, by an
assistant, should reveal slackness
reminiscent of gentle shaking of the
limb muscles of a cat luxuriating in
repose. It often takes months to
release the excess motor tone in the
back and neck, jaws, throat, eyes
and jaws.
The second part of the exercise is
to become aware of any
apprehensiveness during the rocking
movement. If a good seat has been
fashioned, for both the ischia and
the support foot, it is generally
possible to rock forward until the
clasped leg fully touches its foot
down. It is also possible to rock
backwards quite a bit.
Most people, even with
intellectual understanding of the
rotational mechanics of this rocking
movement; and professing a
complete sense of personal safety,

curtail their rocking range. This selfdampening of the excursion is often

carried out with a great deal of
superfluous effort. At the same time,
rarely is there any self-awareness of
either the limitation or of the excess
effort.
Due to the many joints, each with
an extremely low coefficient of
friction, this extravagance of effort
leads to compensatory effort at
many points in the skeleton to
maintain postural stability. These
patterns become habitual. Once
habitual, the patterns become part
of the ambient input to the
sensorium. Thus, the sensations that
accompany the muscular effort are
extremely difficult to discern.
Untangling the web of intertwined
sensations and noting an excess of
ambient motor tone is just one
challenge. Often restricting the
range is a scarcely noted
apprehensiveness. Assuming that
this unease is a felt-sense of postural
instability, it becomes important to
update this felt-sense to reflect
reality. With a solid perch, this
movement is extraordinarily safe.
It may be speculated that often it
is only with recognition of safety
that deep co-contraction of the
lower back and neck intrinsic
muscles may be annulled. Once
these deep muscles release the
rocking becomes that much easier.
The effort of the psoas and lumbar
multifidi, for example, may be
likened to an evenly matched
tug-of-war. Both sides may be
pulling on their side without any net
movement of the intervening rope.
Maximal effort in such a
tug-of-war becomes incapacitating
spasm; more commonly, low grade
effort merely provides internal
resistance and subdues any sense of
muscular ease. In contrast,
performance of the ischial rock,
once relaxation obtains at the level
of the deep spinal intrinsics, may be
a delicate affair produced entirely by
the mere tilting of the head.

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The Physics of Feldenkrais1

Fig. 7 The ischial rock: an exploration of ease, unstable equilibrium and skeletal poise. Two symbols are borrowed from electronics for this
illustration. The sign for ground will designate a solid anchoring of the skeleton at that location. The sign for resistance will denote motor tone
sufficient to restrict the desired joint movement. (A) The exercise is seen in the starting position and in (B) the range of forward and backward
excursion is seen for the trunk. (C) This view shows the alignment of joint centration from the hip to the toe on the support leg. (D) Here is seen the
small but important pendulum motion of the clasped, yet dangling, leg. Notice that the rounded ischial tuberosity is ideal for rocking. With suitable
relaxation of the spinal extensors and anterior spinal muscles, (iliopsoas, scalenes, deep neck flexors), the entire rocking unstable equilibrium is
controlled and powered by head nodding.

Treatment example using

unstable equilibrium
Treatment may be optimized,
using the Principle of Least
Effort, by harnessing gravity as
an engine providing most of the
power for treatment. Additional
savings may be obtained by

configuring the client such that their

breathing is the other prime engine
of change.
Figure 8 explains such a
treatment.11 The therapist sat on a

stool,12 feet flat upon the floor with

the trunk hinged forward upon the
sacrum. The ischia were perched
solid, but freely rockable, upon the
stool with the elbow wedged into the
therapists distal medial thigh flesh.

11

Another article, (Hannon 2000d), explains the

anatomical rationale and the presenting features of
the case.

12
The stool was patella height, as measured from the
floor while standing.

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Box 5

Gait exercises

Gluck (1996) describes two gait exercises to develop dexterity. To review more about Bernsteins definition of dexterity, see Part 3
of this series: Stability (Hannon 2000c).
Lightness of foot: prepare some paper in the following way, roll out 30 feet of paper toweling upon a slippery smooth floor and
wet it thoroughly. Practice walking barefoot atop the paper until your gait neither tears or bunches the strip. Is it possible to run
the strip without disturbing the paper? A re-phrasing of Tragers famous comment comes to mind: Why ask how fast you can
run, ask how lightly you can land (Liskin 1996). Crab side scurry: stand with your back to a wall and crouch your knees so they
point to the sides in an exaggerated bow stance. Both your lead foot and head face the direction of travel. Lower your ipsilateral
shoulder and maintain your rear foot at least 135 degrees away from the direction of travel.
Bring your rear foot forward of the lead foot without losing the rear foots angle. Shift weight and bring the other foot forward to
its original position. Quietly, quickly, easily step at least a yard at a time with a double quick-time march. Practice until you are
able to move this way in low shadows only 4 feet high.

This allowed the bones of thighs,

elbows and spine to be stiffened into
two triangles radiating out from the
spine. Gravity became the prime
motive force for the treatment in this
position; the author simply rocked
forward upon his ischial contacts,
and fell ever so slightly onto the
client.
Rhythmic pressures were applied
by a combination of trunk leaning
and minimal thigh abduction/
adduction. These movements drove
the forearms forward into the
contact with the client. The hands
molded the contact upon the
clients thigh, remaining soft and
malleable. As the therapist rocked
backward upon the stool, a tensile
strain was applied to the clients
thigh.
A twisting traction was created
deep in the clients thigh by
selectively rocking and rotating
upon one seated ischium and
applying a compressive strain with
one hand and a tensile strain with
the other. The side-lying position
of the client also contributed to
the technique. First, the lower back
was flexed until all trace of the
lumbar lordosis was obliterated. A
small pillow was placed under the
waist hollow to lift the lowest ribs
and maintain the lower spine
horizontal.

Then the knees and hips were

flexed sufficiently to encourage
relaxation of the lumbar deep spinal
intrinsics, quadratus lumborum,
iliopsoas and diaphragm. Soft
pillows were arranged between the
knees and ankles to make the top
lower extremity horizontal as well.
The twin purpose of these
preliminary adjustments were to
encourage repose and to establish an
unstable equilibrium affecting the
sacroiliac joints, lumbosacral and
thoracolumbar junctions. The trunk
and limbs were positioned such that
their masses were counterpoised to
each other.
The trunk rolled backward while
the shoulders slumped forward; the
pivot of these movements being
adjustable up and down the spine
with different amounts of trunk
flexion. Once optimal flexion was
achieved, additional pillows were
placed under the elbow and in the
axilla. Once again, gravity was
manipulated toward relaxing the
client using this unstable positioning
of the clients frame. The pillow
placement allowed the limbs to
droop toward the floor but
damped the excursion and slowed
the speed.
In other words, the body was
nested by pillows. These props
provided safe support yet

constrained available passive

movement into specific degrees of
freedom with quite small
movements. Once nested, the client
relaxed the above muscles
sufficiently to allow deeper
breathing. The lower abdomen
swelled slightly; her lower ribs
expanded laterally and the
sternum was seen to lift with
inspiration.
The iliopsoas and diaphragm
intimately share vertebral
attachments, perhaps this is why a
marked easing of the breath
occurred about 20 seconds after this
maneouver was begun. Different
vectors and pressures were applied
with the hands remaining in this
position until relaxation spread
through the abdominal wall muscles
and perhaps the pelvic floor muscles.
Treatment alternated between
sustained traction and twist, lasting
about 40 seconds, and an oscillation
of long-axis compression/
distraction. At one point in the
30 min treatment, 10 min of which
were applied to positioning,
progress was stalemated until the
lower thoracics were mobilized.
This mobilization was performed
using the same side-lying posture,
with anterior gliding pressures of the
thumb and index finger. During the
treatment she noted increased

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The Physics of Feldenkrais1

Fig. 8 (A) A schematic of the knees and elbows position. (B) Notice the stable tetrahedron formed by the therapists back, arms, knees and the
clients back. This stability reduces random touch and allows for stillness to precede the therapeutic application of precisely metered force. (C) Just as
in walking, there is a weight shift onto either ischium possible in this position. By selectively pushing with the heels, an unstable equilibrium is created
with the tetrahedron leaning onto the client. (D) By balancing on either ischium it is easy to spin, tilt, or lean the tetrahedron, allowing the therapists
hands to remain soft, and harness gravity to deliver the treatment. (E) The client can be positioned in an unstable equilibrium of their own; the sidelying trunk is rolled one way while the pelvis sprawls in another direction. The resulting torsion fixes the spine and changes the clients breathing
pattern. This allows the therapist to manually apply a steady, subtle, traction and twist force. In this way, the two peoples combined unstable
equilibria may act as a spatial therapeutic lense. This lense, suitably positioned, may focus the rhythmic power of the clients own breath, in harmony
with the arrested falling of the tetrahedron, to provide the therapeutic force.

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At the same time, spontaneity,

buoyancy and delicacy are enhanced
by dynamic repose since it is free of
parasitic motor tone and
apprehensive patterns of cocontraction. Skill in observing
quality of movement accrues by
watching videotape played
backwards and noting superfluous
effort and postural bias.
Feldenkrais claimed that
reversibility is a hallmark of
movement excellence and that the
skillful use of unstable equilibrium
represented what was best about
human action. He described erect
human carriage as a continuous
adjustment to the ideal
configuration of unstable balance.
Acknowledgements
Fig. 9 Two ways of turning the trunk while
standing. (A) The most common, even though
inefficient, way to turn is to move around a
vertical axis which bisects the sacrum and the
vertex of the head. Both hip joints share in the
task but many compensatory efforts are
needed to maintain equilibrium. (B) The
fastest way to turn is to spin on one hip.
Using this joint as the vertical axis, there is no
movement of this hip. Instead, the other sides
hip and shoulder have to travel a greater arc.
Box 2 gives an exercise to discover more
about this movement.

breathing ease and a deepening

sense of relaxation; upon arising she
found her back pain gone and a
feeling of improved quality of stance
and gait.

Conclusion
Unstable equilibrium is a form of
dynamic repose. Repose is a state of
quiet readiness which contains as
much stillness as is consistent with
the potential for instant action in
any direction. By accessing the
potential energies, mechanical,
emotional and metabolic, inherent
in an upright posture embodying
dynamic repose, powerful and swift
action may be launched.

The author thanks Sifu Liu Yu, Tai Chi

Chuan and Wushu teacher, whose
generous sense of humour, gentle
instruction, unwavering belief and
flawless visceral sense of equilibrium
encouraged the long cultivation needed
for these principles to take root.

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E R R AT U M

Self-treatment of mid-thoracic
dysfunction: a key link in the body
axis
C. Liebenson
Journal of Bodywork and Movement
Therapies 2001; 5: 9098
The publishers would like to
apologise for the omission of an
author, J. W. Delany, in the

captions to Figures 7, 9, 11, 12 and

14 in the above paper. The captions
should have appeared as:
Reprinted from Clinical Application
of Neuromuscular Techniques,
Volume 1, L. Chaitow and J. W.
Delany, by permission of the
publisher Churchill Livingstone.

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