How to Use an Anatomical Drawing
(to develop the sense of feeling)
Who, what, where, when, why, and how.
For people with pain, anxiety, or general discomfort, we find ourselves skipping these questions. We might say something like, “My neck is stiff. How can I fix it?”. It’s a well intentioned statement and it in fact does have the who (my), what and where (stiff neck), and presumably the when (RIGHT F*CKING NOW GODDAMIT). But unfortunately it has skipped the why and has jumped into the HOW.
The why matters. Skipping why has taken away some of the critical information that would help us refine our first question (how can I fix a stiff neck?) to a better question (how can I allow a greater sense of overall ease in my life?1). We want to always be in an inquisitive attitude so that we can learn and grow.
I’ve been sending you lots of anatomical drawings this year. I’ve explained that it’s just some work that needs to be done for this whole blog to make sense, but I’ve rushed and not given you the an important description. The drawings give you a general sense of what you are, but I haven’t really described how you should use them at a general level.
Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane
In the late 50’s, Miles Davis fired John Coltrane from his band because of a drug addiction problem. After getting clean, Coltrane began studying with Monk as a means of rebuilding his self musically and creatively. This period of Coltrane’s life is rather beautifully documented in Robin D. G. Kelley’s biography, Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original.
In the biography, Kelley describes how Monk taught Trane the music. The description is only about a page or two long, but it reveals how a true master of craft taught another true master of craft. We can use this as inspiration for how we learn about our kinesthetic sense and develop our balance and coordination.
Coltrane would go to Monk’s apartment near Lincoln Center almost daily for lessons. Monk had a body of compositions and he wanted Trane to memorize the songs. To do this, Monk would play the song on the piano and Trane would listen. This was done without sheet music (visual aid).
After a period of a few plays, Trane would join in and play the song. If there was a mistake in a phrase, Monk would repeat the phrase a few times. Sometimes this repetition would work and Trane would learn everything by only using his auditory sense.
When this failed, Monk would get his notebook out and sit down with Trane at the piano. They would go over the sheet music (visual aid) and look at the voicings on the piano (pianos are both visual and auditory as you can see the black and white key combos that create sound). Monk’s music is notoriously complex and specific so this process of learning was slow and methodical.
You can listen to the album on YouTube, but I recommend that you buy it if you love it so that the musicians and publishers know this music is relevant.
Every musician is taught that this is THE way to learn music. You first attempt to learn with the auditory sense. When that fails, you can use the visual aid to help build the auditory sense. You then go back to only using the auditory sense and see if the lesson has been absorbed.
Dumb Drawings and YOU
Just like Coltrane, you are going to use my dumb drawings as visual aids in your learning process. They cannot merely be pretty pictures that inspire you to think about flesh and bone nor are they there to pound your memory with names and locations (trapezius, pectoralis minor, omohyoid, etc.). These ultra high and low levels of thinking do not serve the development of the kinesthetic; you will not learn how to feel anew.
Instead, these drawings should serve you in the moments when you are confused about what you feel. To illustrate how you can use this process, I will give you an example. You can use this as a framework for learning about your whole physical self (and maybe along the way you’ll discover a new general attitude with your mental self2).
Example
Let’s assume that you have been lying down and feel tension in the front of your thigh. This is an extremely common area for people to feel tight and we can experience a lot of hip pain as a result of this. Let’s further assume that you have been lying down and have allowed that electric buzz of getting sh*t done to quiet down.
If you skip this step or any of the general beginning steps that I have outlined in previous articles you will not be cultivating the general sense of feeling and ease that’s required for this exercise. Remember to think [“Calm“, “Mushy“, “Middle“] or. [“Stop“, “Dissolve“, “Allow Expansion“]. Overtime, you’ll find a general vibe that helps.
Sometimes I will just think [“Empty“].
So there you are lying quietly and sensing tension in the quadriceps. You may notice some tension at the top of the hip and not know how this area can ever quiet down. You’ve given things some time, but this assh*le is obstinate and won’t budge.
At this point, it may be helpful for you to look at the dumb drawing above and see that you have these bands of purply muscles that extend from the top front of the hip and go all the way down to the middle of the knee. With a better drawing, you’d be able to see precisely where each muscle begins and ends. Almost surely, if you wonder3 about the full length and depth of these muscles and take the time to sense you’ll feel something different happening within yourself.
When this process happens correctly, you will have forged a new connection between your mind and your body. If you can repeat this entire process from the beginning you will find that a similar type of result can happen again. You will not be able to speed this process up because the sense of feeling has its own pace that it works at.
No one can hear or smell fast but people can hear and smell with greater confidence and suppleness. Do not put pressure on yourself to get good at unlocking muscles real quick. It’s simply not possible4.
One of the things Beret Arcaya used to say during lessons was, “You’ll never be good at this work. Be a rotten student.”. This is not meant to discourage you from getting better. It is meant to discourage you from forcing the issue and ditching the process of exploration and learning.
Does This Resonate With You?
These blogs are hopefully a way of helping you better understand yourself, how you function, and why things sometimes feel off in a general way. If these posts are helpful, I encourage you to subscribe, leave a comment, ask a question, or check out the archives for my previous articles. I like hearing from everyone and I’ll do my best to respond as I can.
Get In Touch
If you’re in NYC, you may learn more about my private teaching practice at johndalto.com.
If you’d like to book any lesson time with me, you can find my booking link here.
This is just A question that is subjectively better than the first. We all have to start with the question that we start with. We just want to evolve our question and answer process over time.
Hint: It’s all one interconnected thing!
This wonder occurs without physical force.
You can get better at the general process. By staying out of the way and allowing the learning/sensing process to do its own thing, you will find that things get easier and easier.