MoveTolearn Class Recordings

About MoveTolearn Class Recordings

Here you'll find recordings of classes I'm teaching going back to September 2025. The majority are available free. There are also some written articles that you can view directly on my Substack page by following the link And you can find me online at MoveToLearn.com malcolmmanning.substack.com (https://malcolmmanning.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Malcolm Manning

Category

arts · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

16 Sept 2025

Latest episode

22 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

41 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   22 Jun 2026

   Rounding, arching and side-bending with the earth

   In this class, we revisit rounding, arching and side-bending in standing and go on to explore further on hands and knees. We play with initiating from different regions of ourselves, especially from our hidden contact to the earth from which we receive its support. We orient ourselves by attending to the relationship between our centre of mass – our belly centre – and the centre of the earth. On the floor, we invite in an image of our structure as one continuous mesh – within it there are regions of elasticity which pull us together and regions of stiffness that resist compression and create space – fractal in nature, the same pattern repeating from the whole body level all the way down to the cells and molecules. On hands and knees, we explore creating rounding and arching not from the head and spine, but from the interaction of our skin with the skin of the earth. … 00:00:00 – Arriving in walking Noticing how we feel – both the emotional tone and how we sense ourselves to be here – in this place, in this body, on this planet Remembering we are walking on the earth and through the air Reading our walking as a changing of shape of our whole inner volume … 00:03:50 – Standing Explorations and Walking Listening to ourselves standing – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure – inviting a sense of mystery about what that structure might be Sensing the region of our belly centre – extending our attention from its centre along the line of gravity that passes though us connecting to the centre of the earth and an imaginary star above – creating common ground Remembering the air pressing on us from all directions – about one kilogram per square centimetre – a gentle hug that gently holds us together … Turning around our centre axis – initiating from the eyes, from the feet, from the belly centre, and then everything together – dissolving the body into the space … Playing with the image of support like water, flowing up from the centre of the earth, through us and out through the top of our head – becoming a human fountain Exploring raising one hand/arm at a time, then both together – shaping the flow of support up and out through our fingertips – sensing the smallest reconfiguration of our hand/arm that produces a weight shift we can sense under our feet Taking the head away from the axis with our belly centre anchoring us by maintaining its connection to the centre of the earth and the star above … Exploring rounding and arching – initiating from our feet by pushing backwards along the skin of the earth through the heels to arch, forwards through the toes to round Initiating side-bending from the feet then circling the belly centre – letting the arms rise to counterbalance as the circles grow bigger Sensing how the relationship of the belly centre to the centre of the earth stays constant – as if turning a great granite ball beneath us … Stepping with one foot in front – initiating from the soles of the feet to shift ourselves forwards and backwards Playing with sending out curved lines from our fingertips as well as straight The belly centre as the centre of our kinesphere – letting our vision shape our attention by watching our hands and then pointing out beyond our kinesphere … 00:39:45 – Floor work Sensing our inner volume and how we balance on the earth behind us – allowing our asymmetries to be there Playing with the image of the breath like a wave through an internal sea … Inviting in an image of our structure as one continuous mesh – elastic tissue pulling us together, fields of activity resisting compression and creating space – fractal in nature – mesh nested in mesh all the way down to the molecular level – everything is one fabric – when we move, the cells change shape and the biochemistry changes … Floating our belly centre a little towards the sky and sinking it back towards the earth – sensing how our connection with the earth changes – noticing what moves passively and then beginning to activate it – distributing the work throughout ourselves Exploring creating the same movement from our interface with the earth – accessing the support that flows from the centre of the earth … Kneeling – rounding, arching and side-bending – initiating from the lower legs interacting with the skin of the earth – circling the belly centre … On hands and knees – moving the belly centre headwards, tail-wards, left and right – imagining the line from the top of the head going all the way around the earth and entering through the tail – the belly centre in orbit On elbows and knees– sliding the elbows and knees towards each other and away from each other along the skin of the earth – sensing if this rounds or arches us – then trying the opposite coordination – both are available to us Side-bending from the earth – the elbow and knee on one side coming together, the other side moving apart – initiating the movement from our connection to the earth Combining rounding and arching with side-bending to circle the belly centre – initiating from the head and spine, from the interaction with the earth, or everything together … Shapeshifting our way up to standing without pushing down – floating up and floating down … 01:12:50 – Returning to standing and walking Re-tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity A period of free exploration with music Sensing the connection with the earth that is invisible – having a sense of something flowing through – surfing the support as it flows up and out through us Co-creating our experience with where we are – listening is an act of moving our attention outwards – as we move we give information into the space around us This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit malcolmmanning.substack.com (https://malcolmmanning.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

2. 

   7 Jun 2026

   From worming on our backs to shapeshifting up to standing

   In this class we revisit in standing circling the belly centre from the feet, mediating between heaven and earth through the image. On the floor, we invite in an image of our structure as one continuous fabric – a mesh of elastic tissue that pulls us together and fields of activity that resist compression and create space. We explore how changing our internal architecture to increase and decrease the pressure between one region of ourselves and the earth causes changes in our whole pattern of connection with the earth. We add reaching into the air with the arms and legs, head and tail, to roll from side to side with everything organising around the belly centre as we find our way up through hands and knees to standing. … 00:00:00 – Arriving in walking Noticing how we feel – both the emotional tone and how we sense ourselves to be here – in this place and in this body Practising reading our walking as a changing of shape of our whole inner volume 00:02:00 – Standing Explorations and Walking Listening to our standing – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure Extending our attention from our belly centres along the line of gravity downward and inwards to the centre of the earth and upwards and outwards to an imaginary star above – creating common ground Remembering the air around us and how the air pressure gives us a gentle hug from all directions … Exploring raising one hand/arm at a time, then both – locating our belly centre as the centre of our kinesphere Playing with the image of support like water flowing up from the centre of the earth, through us and out through the top of the head and fingertips – becoming a human fountain – mediating between heaven and earth … Recapping turning around our axis, rounding and arching, and side-bending from our feet – combining them to create circles … In taking our head away from the axis, we stay oriented by attending to the connection of our belly centre to the centre of the earth and the star above With one foot in front, shifting our belly centre towards one foot then the other through initiating with the soles of our feet Folding and unfolding so the belly centre rises away from and falls towards the centre of the earth – shapeshifting rather than pushing down to lever parts of ourselves up Moving the belly centre side to side from our feet – sensing how the relationship of the belly centre to the centre of the earth stays constant creating the illusion that we turn the earth beneath us … 00:25:30 – Floor work Sensing our inner volume and how we balance on the earth behind us Inviting in an image of our structure as one continuous fabric – a fractal mesh – some regions of which are elastic and pull us together while others are stiffer, resist compression and create space – mesh nested in mesh nested in mesh all the way down to the molecular level – everything connected … Changing our internal architecture so that pressure increases and decreases behind one shoulder, then the other, then both – sensing how the movement flows through us to effect the pelvis, the heels, the head Making the shoulders lighter – sensing where the pressure goes as something lifts away from the floor … Changing the pressure behind the back of our heads – sensing what happens in the chest, the pelvis, the belly centre Playing with micro movements so small nobody could see them – and also with bigger movements where the head actually lifts … Changing the pressure behind one heel, then the other, then both – sensing how the movement ripples through us … Changing the pressure behind one side of the pelvis, then the other, then both – actively involving places that seem to move passively … Playing with multiple points – combining, for example, the back of the head with one heel, an elbow with the opposite side of the pelvis – channelling our inner worms Bringing the belly centre a little closer to the earth and a little further away – sensing how this is reflected in changes of pressure – movement – everywhere where we touch the earth … Arms out to the side – rolling them towards and away from the feet – then stretching the fingertips away from each other and curling them forward into the gesture of an embrace – sensing the support flowing through us and out through the fingertips Sliding the hands on the floor – above the head, down towards the pelvis – sensing how the functional centre of our hand/arms is our belly centre Adding the legs – hands and feet stroking the earth – rolling from side to side Letting the arms and legs float up, reaching out through fingers, toes, heels, head, tail – rolling from side to side and all the way over – everything organising around the belly centre in the pattern of navel radiation … Finding our way up to sitting without pushing down On hands and knees – pushing and pulling along the skin of the earth – moving the belly centre in all directions – side-bending from the earth Shapeshifting our way up to standing – noticing if the movements become lighter the more of ourselves becomes involved … 01:15:00 – Returning to standing and walking Re-tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity Letting the hands float up – sensing if something changed in the connection of the hands to the feet and deeper – to the centre of the earth … Harmonising with the earth and the air – listening into the movement that is there – surfing it Looking for stillness – in the act of looking, creating movement – putting information out as we receive it Fifteen minutes of free exploration with music … Returning to standing and walking – sensing any changes in how we feel present in the place, in our bodies and in the emotional tone of our experience This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit malcolmmanning.substack.com (https://malcolmmanning.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

3. 

   29 May 2026

   Playing with our inner volume through seesaw breathing

   In this class, we revisit initiating movements from our feet and belly centres while anchoring the belly centre to the earth’s centre. We experience our movements as a shapeshifting of the whole of our inner volume and our belly centres as the centre of our kinespheres – the spherical space around us that we could actually touch On the floor, we play with our inner volume through the image of alternately filling our chest and belly with air while lightly holding the breath. This is Feldenkrais what called seesaw breathing. We explore this on our backs, on our bellies, and lying on each side with the head lifted. Returning to lying on our backs, we stretch the arms into the gesture of an embrace, let the knees drift up, and play with rolling from side to side – everything organising around the belly centre as we come to stand. … 00:00:00 – Arriving in walking Noticing how we feel – both the emotional tone and how we sense ourselves to be here – in this place and in this body Remembering we are walking on the earth and through the air Reading our walking as a changing of shape of one whole continuous volume within our skins … 00:04:10 – Standing Explorations and Walking Listening to our standing – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure Finding our belly centres and extending our attention from their centre along the line of gravity connecting the centre of the earth with an imaginary star above … Turning around our centre axis – initiating from the belly centre, from the feet, from the eyes, then everything together Remembering that our body is not an object but a nesting of processes Arms above the head spiralling around the axis – taking this into walking as a double helix … Playing with the image of support like water flowing up from the centre of the earth, through us and out through the top of the head – becoming a human fountain Exploring raising one hand/arm at a time, then both together – shaping the flow of support out through the fingertips – sensing the smallest reconfiguration that produces a weight shift under the feet … Initiating rounding and arching from the feet – pushing backwards along the skin of the earth through the heels to arch, forwards through the toes to round – the belly centre always anchored to the centre of the earth Initiating side-bending from the feet – circling the belly centre – letting the arms rise to counterbalance as the head moves further from the axis … Stepping with one foot in front – initiating from the soles of the feet – the belly centre as the centre of our kinesphere Folding and unfolding to bring the belly centre closer and further from the earth’s surface – not pushing down and levering ourselves up but rather changing the configuration of our entire inner volume – what I call shapeshifting … 00:38:10 – Floor work Sensing our inner volume and how we balance on the earth behind us Playing with the image of the breath like a wave through an internal sea Sensing the skin stretching and relaxing with each breath throughout its surface – auxeticity – if one part of this fabric expands, the whole thing expands … Breathing into a balloon in the chest – expanding forwards and back, sideways, upwards beneath the dome of the shoulder girdle Breathing into a balloon in the belly – expanding forwards and back, sideways, down into the pelvic floor – taking care to expand both backwards and forwards … Seesaw breathing on our backs – taking a slightly deeper breath in, holding it lightly, and alternately filling the chest and the belly – one hand on the breastbone, one on the belly – as one rises the other sinks – sensing how our connection with the earth changes as the air moves up and down … Seesaw breathing on our bellies – sensing how the pattern of pressure changes through the knees, the elbows, the tops of the feet Playing with the diagonals – the left side of the chest with the right side of the belly, then the other diagonal … Seesaw breathing on one side – sensing how gravity flows through us differently in this orientation Making the head lighter on the arm – lifting it a little – sensing which parts of us reach down into the earth for more support Seesaw breathing with the head lifted Rolling onto the back to compare the two sides – then repeating on the other side … Stretching the arms into the gesture of an embrace – sensing the support flowing through us and out through the fingertips Letting the knees drift above the chest – unfolding the legs towards the sky – sending support out through the knees, the toes, the heels Letting the head and tail join in reaching skywards – everything organising around the belly centre Rolling from side to side – initiating from the skyward side or from the interaction with the earth – everything organising around the belly centre as we come to stand. … 01:21:15 – Returning to standing and walking Re-tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity Shifting the belly centre from the soles of the feet – circling Letting the arms float up – sensing how the seesaw breathing may have changed our sense of wholeness These classes as moments of tuning – tuning into the flow of weight and support – the support coming from the centre of the earth and going up and out like the branches of a tree This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit malcolmmanning.substack.com (https://malcolmmanning.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

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