AT Strategy:   Active Rest

  • Rest lying on your back on a firm surface - a carpeted floor, or with a blanket or mat under you

  • Rest your head on some small books. Just enough height to support your head so it’s not over-curved or over-straightened.

  • Bring your knees up and rest your feet on the floor. Your knees point toward the ceiling, your feet, including your heels, rest on the floor. Your feet are hip-width or slightly farther apart, and your heels are as close to the pelvis as is comfortable without your legs flopping out or in.

If you have difficulty keeping both legs balanced with your knees up and your feet on the floor, here are some alternatives:

  • One at at time, extend and lengthen your legs for a few minutes with your heel leading the leg to spiral out from your hip socket - knee rotating a little in, heel a little out. Rest your leg on the floor, then swing your knee up again and see if you can balance better now.

  • Place pillows or bolsters under one or both knees.

  • Widen the distance between your feet.

 

B: Instructions for thinking while you are in Semi-supine

·      Keep your eyes open and look out at your environment. Use a soft focus, don’t fixate or stare, and find out how much you can see in the periphery.

·      Sense the contact places of the back of your head, your shoulder blades, sacrum, bottoms of feet, and near your elbows. Ask the muscles between these contact places to rest and undo.

·      Use this time to quiet your thoughts. You don’t have to do anything right now. The benefits are in the rest.

 

C: Instructions for returning to sitting

·      Place a chair near you.

·      Roll over to your side, bringing the free arm across your body. Place your hand on the floor near the other shoulder. This will become your “leverage” hand.

·      Bend your knees and push the leverage hand into the floor while your head leads your torso into sitting.

·      Move into a kneeling position, facing the seat of the chair.

·      Place your hands on the chair and rise up enough to turn and sit on the chair.

·      Rest in the chair until you are ready to stand.

 

Rest in Semi-Supine at least once a day for at least 10 minutes. You cannot do it too often.

For more detailed instructions and discussion of benefits, go to: www.thepoiseproject.org________