Errata

One of the participants wrote me a private Zoom message during a recent meeting of my current BREATHING BETTER postgraduate program for Feldenkrais teachers. I had said, in passing, that because the bottom-most ribs, known as floating ribs because they do not attach to the breastbone, the vertebrae attached to them were the most mobile part of the thoracic spine. In her note, my colleague asked if I was sure this statement was correct.

I wasn’t.

Ironically, the ATM I taught that day, one of many versions of Moshe’s COORDINATING FLEXORS AND EXTENSORS classes, provided a clear-cut counterexample of what I had just said. The lesson elicits twisting in the spine of the midchest to reveal, experientially, the significance of the motion of the ribs in respiration.

As soon as class was over, I set off to find The Physiology of the Joints. A collection of three incredibly detailed and informative books written, illustrated, and revised by Adalbert Kapandji, a French orthopedic surgeon and hand surgeon, these tomes are a trusted reference on the biomechanics of human movement. I pulled the third volume, which is about the trunk and vertebral column, off my shelf. Opening to the section entitled “Range of rotation of the thoracolumbar vertebral column,” I found what I needed to know. The spine of the midchest, located in the area at the bottom of the shoulder blades, which is also the region of the seventh and eighth rib, has the largest built-in capacity for twisting. 

My offhand comment was wrong. 

Even though I knew better — the statement certainly didn’t fit with what I have learned about how the spine can move — somehow, these words have hung on, becoming incorporated in my habits, and unconsciously popping up every so often. 

Try as I might, I can’t even remember where I got the idea. It wouldn’t be the first time something I learned in a class was wrong. Or did I jump to the wrong conclusion and absent-mindedly repeat the idea?

My face and throat got hot. I felt embarrassed and wanted to immediately contact everyone I had unwittingly misled or confused to apologize profusely.