I recall many music lessons and rehearsals in which we were constantly told to have our feet flat on the floor. I also remember wondering: but why? Now, as a teacher and a Feldenkrais Practitioner® I see that there was some wisdom in these admonishments but also that admonishments rarely work.
The first question we need to ask is: what roles do feet and legs play while sitting?
If you’ve ever tried to sit and keep your feet off the floor, you’ll have some idea. Of course that’s a very difficult position to be in! Imagine what it would be like to balance on your pelvis, without your legs. This might give you a better clue. When we sit, we sit on two bones often called the “sitz bones.” If you lift up one side of your pelvis and slide your hand underneath from the side, then gently lower your weight back onto your hand; you will probably feel the tip of one these bones. They are shaped like small rockers and allow your pelvis to roll forward and back. Balancing on these without your legs would be a very difficult task indeed.
How much support do you really need from your legs?
Between the most stable position, which is having your feet completely on the floor, and the least stable of having just one toe on the floor, there is a wide range of possibilities. You can begin to experiment for yourself and find out what works best. Some students like to have their ankles crossed and underneath the chair while others like to wrap their feet around the legs of the chair and these different positions can affect the way they breathe and quality of their sound. Try out these different possibilities for yourself and see if you can feel/hear the differences. Are there differences in the belly and back muscles for example?
The question of choice is also very important in this discussion. We want to have different possibilities when sitting and the freedom to freely choose from those possibilities. Sometimes it might be useful to have our feet in different positions and we need to consider that we were not designed to sit still for long periods of time so shifting our position is a natural thing to do. One simple way to go about finding the best position for the moment is to ask: Am I comfortable and does my sitting position support/suit what I’m doing now? If yes, good continue on and ask the question later. If no, good, shift your feet to a different position and ask the question again.
In this way you increase your awareness and begin to understand more about your own sitting strategies. Asking students similar questions will in turn help them to develop their own awareness and find the most suitable positions for themselves.
Be sure to check out the DMS podcasts, Feldenkrais mini lessons for musicians and speakers.
If you have any specific questions or comments on breathing and posture, send me an e-mail and I’ll try to respond in a future blog. Until then, breathe and sit well!
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