Inspired by yesterday’s shoulder workshop, I was feeling the support of my sternum in ballet class today. Rather than the weight of the arms going down my back, I connected to the feeling of the forces being transfered into a supportive and springy sternum. From the sternum, the forces can be gracefully transferred into the ribs, to through the spine, and into the legs and feet. This creates an entirely different feeling in my whole upper body and connection to the floor.
In piroettes, I really felt the support and ease that this image created… and I also noticed my tendency for my weight to fall behind me, making me feel unstable, and like I need to ‘hold on’, and therefor produce excess tension. Feeling support creates freedom for movement. Connecting back to the support systems that are present in the body, and allowing them to take the weight, allows my movements to be far more elevated and free.
Yesterday’s 12:00 Franklin Method class at DNA with Laura blew my mind. Having had a basic introduction to the complex bony structures of the pelvis, yesterday we took it one step further. Each of our two pelvic halves looks a bit like a mobile, a spiral with many planes. Up until yesterday, I really had no idea how much motion each of the pelvic halves is capable of. For example, as we plie (bend our knees), the sits bones spread apart, and the ASIS (knobbly points of our hips) narrow. As we straighten, the ASIS spread apart and the sits bones narrow. What’s really amazing is that you can feel the movement of the bones when you put your hands on them. Approaching plie in this way allowed not only my plie to be deeper, but also kept my quads from tightening up, grabbing in the upper leg as they normally would. I’ve been trying to do a structurally sound plie for years- ribs in, tailbone dropped, back straight, knees over toes, desperately trying to look relaxed…how impossible! What a relief that all I need to think about are my sits bones spreading! 
