Session 1 Preparation — April 4, 2026
Studio 1, Proto Studio | 9:10-10:50 AM (~100 minutes) Assignment completed by participants: Segments 1-2, Lessons 1.1-2.12 (~58 min)
Time Allocation (Draft)
Section titled “Time Allocation (Draft)”| Block | Duration | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome and introductions | ~5 min | Names, brief round of backgrounds if group is small enough |
| Platform orientation | ~5 min | Group feed vs. discussion forum, where session summaries go, posting encouragement |
| Ignition | ~5 min | Opening sequence — establishing the practice boundary from Session 1 |
| Foundation forms and concepts | ~60 min | Squat, Star Form, Star Tilt, Simple Cross Inflection with core concepts |
| Assimilation | ~10 min | Closing calibration |
| Discussion and debrief | ~15 min | Questions, observations, reminder to use the forum |
Core Forms
Section titled “Core Forms”4 foundational forms — the forms covered in Segment 2. This is the right amount for the first session based on Winter experience. (In Winter session, we didn’t have time for Simple Cross Inflection)
- Squat — hip-width stance, weight to heels, hinge mechanics, stacking rib cage and pelvis
- Star Form — wider stance, legs pulling apart, shoulder depression, spreading the fingers
- Star Tilt — pelvis/hip initiating movement, spine neutrality maintained
- Simple Cross Inflection - flexion extension flexion dynamic, gripping with the legs
Core Concepts to Establish
Section titled “Core Concepts to Establish”- Distributed Activation — simultaneous muscle engagement while maintaining neck relaxation
- Micro-Movements — continuous small adjustments rather than static positions
- Gridlines and Symmetry — maintaining arm-shoulder-shoulder line
- Fixing-Separating-Isolating — upper body moves as unified piece
- Stacking — rib cage and pelvis alignment, flattening the natural S-curve
- Shoulder depression — shoulders drawing down, not toward ears
- Heel traction — weight displacement to heels
Adjustments Based on Winter Learnings
Section titled “Adjustments Based on Winter Learnings”Plant the moderation seed early
Section titled “Plant the moderation seed early”Winter Session 3 was the moderation turning point. For spring, frame it from the start without dedicating a full teaching block to it:
- “The purpose of this first session is not to get it right — it is to begin noticing.”
- When demonstrating, name that demonstrations are over-emphasized for visual clarity and that participants should dial back from what they see.
- This addresses the Winter Session 4 insight about the “Thank God It’s Over” indicator before it becomes an issue.
Name the arc
Section titled “Name the arc”Winter participants didn’t learn the full trajectory until the closing presentation. A one-minute framing at the start:
- “By Session 7, you will be doing 20+ forms with minimal instruction from us. Today we start with four.”
- Normalizes the initial slowness and gives a sense of direction.
Acknowledge returning participants (if applicable)
Section titled “Acknowledge returning participants (if applicable)”If anyone from the Winter cohort is present:
- “Some of you have been through this before, and what you’ll find is that revisiting the same material reveals different things depending on where you are now.”
- Aligns with the cycling principle (Primer Segment 8) without needing to explain it yet.
Forum Orientation Points
Section titled “Forum Orientation Points”Keep to 3-5 minutes within the welcome block:
- Group Activity Feed — the timeline/stream. General updates, sharing experiences, casual observations. Posts appear in the feed for everyone.
- Discussion Forum — threaded, organized by topic. Assignment questions, session follow-ups, specific movement questions go here. Session summaries get posted here.
- Key distinction: feed posts are for momentum and community; forum threads are for questions that benefit from being organized and findable later.
- Encouragement: the forum is how the cohort stays connected between Saturdays. Posting a question, even a half-formed one, is better than waiting.
Common Corrections to Watch For (From Winter)
Section titled “Common Corrections to Watch For (From Winter)”These were the most frequent adjustments needed in Winter Session 1:
- Shoulder hiking (shoulders rising toward ears instead of drawing down)
- Chest elevation (loss of rib cage-pelvis stacking)
- Leading with chest instead of hinging at hip
- Static positioning instead of maintaining micro-movements
- Attempting to match demonstration depth rather than calibrating to own capacity
Logistics
Section titled “Logistics”- Confirm projector/screen availability if showing forum walkthrough
- Waiver completion status — check before session if possible
- Questionnaire completion — note who has filled it out for background context
Notes After Session
Section titled “Notes After Session”Coverage
Section titled “Coverage”Covered: Squat, Star Form, Star Tilt, Simple Cross Inflection (with Reclining Transition as linking movement). Distributed Activation discussed explicitly and contrasted with core activation. Micro-Movements demonstrated (ribcage undulation in Simple Cross Inflection). Shoulder Depression, Heel Traction, and Stacking cued across forms. Moderation seed planted strongly from the start. Platform orientation (group feed vs. forum, tagging) explained verbally.
Not covered:
- Gridlines and Symmetry — not named as a concept (arm line was demonstrated but principle wasn’t identified)
- Fixing-Separating-Isolating — physically demonstrated in Star Tilt (pelvis/ribcage as one chunk) but not named
- Name the arc — the 7-session trajectory framing did not happen
- Ignition — the opening wrist torsion sequence was practiced but was not named “Ignition”
- Assimilation — not performed; ran out of time
Partially covered:
- Forum orientation — couldn’t complete live demo (bad gateway on practice.baseworks.com due to stale browser cache); explained verbally
Introductions and background sharing took ~43 minutes (nearly half the session), leaving ~45 minutes for practice and Q&A. This was the main reason Assimilation was skipped and several conceptual framing points didn’t happen. The group was not rushed through introductions — this was appropriate for Session 1 — but the time cost was higher than anticipated.
Teaching dynamics
Section titled “Teaching dynamics”Asia went into too much instructional detail during the forms, particularly during Star Form and Star Tilt, where she was explaining technical elements while participants’ arms were up. Patrick intervened several times (“too long”, “let’s break it down”, “let people experience it”). She also moved around correcting individual participants when the goal for Session 1 was to let them experience the practice without too much conceptualization. This is a recurring pattern — needs continued attention in co-teaching, especially in early sessions where experience should take priority over precision.
Logistics
Section titled “Logistics”- Projector/browser: practice.baseworks.com showed bad gateway — browser cache issue from months without use. Clear cache before Session 2.
- Waiver: media release mentioned generally; individual completion status not confirmed in session.
- Questionnaire: not mentioned in session.
Carry forward to Session 2
Section titled “Carry forward to Session 2”- Name the arc (7-session trajectory framing)
- Name Gridlines and Symmetry, Fixing-Separating-Isolating as concepts
- Formally name Ignition and Assimilation — both were either unnamed or skipped
- Perform Assimilation
- Confirm waiver and questionnaire completion
- Clear browser cache before any live demo
Asia’s Response to the Notes After Session
Section titled “Asia’s Response to the Notes After Session”Asia’s feedback about the session and to the Notes After Session:
- Time Allocation and Interpersonal Dynamic during the introduction:
Patrick rushed Asia through her introduction, so, Asia’s introduction was (according to the transcript) 10:20 to 12:46 (2 min 20 seconds) Then, Patrick went into his introduction: 12:46 to 33:38 (21 min) It was 10 times longer than Asia’s, and a lot of the time was spent on the personal backstory about moving to Canada. Throughout the session Patrick also repeatedly interrupted Asia saying that she was going into too much explanation or focusing on something irrelevant, while Asia never interrupted Patrick when she felt his explanation was too long, tangential, or insufficient. From Asia’s POV, this dynamic undermines her role and credibility in the eyes of the group.
- Medical condition / Helping people.
James has a shoulder injury. Asia’s helping James was related to the info from his Waiver and to the communication on the forum. James needed personalized guidance (Observe and verbal Assist) that was not given to him. Yes, this was an introductory session, but anything related to injuries has a priority. Also, I can accept but don’t fully agree with the idea that no feedback should be given during the first session. This is not the first experience for the students. They come after experiencing movements in Primer + they submit their assignments, so giving them feedback seems justified, although I agree that correcting everything during S1 is unnecessary
Response to other items:
- Gridlines and Symmetry & Fixing-Separating-Isolating: correct, not mentioned explicitly so I compensated for it in my edits to the summary.
- Naming the arc - I think it was addressed. We talked about how we will be adding more forms but will be continuing to redo the previous forms. Correct. - Ignition wasn’t named - that is correct, and I think it should have been mentioned at the beginning that this thing at the beginning is actually not a form. I tried to compensate for it in the session summary.
- We actually had 15 minutes for Q&A at the end, so there was time for the assimilation, but I don’t think we needed the ignition in this introductory session because it was just four forms.
- Patrick’s corrections “too long” and “let people experience it” - May sound to the group like Patrick is telling Asha that she doesn’t know what she’s doing. When Patrick feels like he needs to change the trajectory, he can just add additional instructions - as Asia sometimes does when he misses important points, for example when in a lunge she ads “and make sure to keep extending the ankle”. The star form could be addressed as a neutral cue, “Feel free to lower the arms if you feel it’s too long,” Without undermining Asia’s credibility.
- About the waiver: Asia did confirm the waiver submission in the backend. Noemie, who did not sign it digitally, was given a QR code to scan and Asia confirmed that she signed.
- All the questionnaires were submitted and this was confirmed before the session.
- About the bad gateway - we don’t know whether this was because of the cache, but yes, it’s better to confirm the technical details before the live demo.