Session 7 Summary (5/16/26): Full Practice and What Comes Next
Group: Montreal Study Group: 2026 Spring Cohort Author: Patrick | Posted: 2026-05-19
Session Note Session 7 was the closing session of the program. There was no new assignment. The session ran as a full practice review, moving continuously through the complete range of forms covered across all seven sessions, with minimal stopping or verbal explanation.
Abbreviations IM = Intensity Modification | DA = Distributed Activation | FSA = Fixing-Separating-Isolating
Session Overview
Session 7 was the final in-person session of the Study Group program. It was structured as a flow-through of everything covered across the program. No new material, no additional technique breakdown. The goal was to move through the full range of forms with directional cues only, letting the body draw on what has accumulated over the seven sessions.
We covered Ignition, Squat, Star Form, Star Tilt, Front (High) Lunge Extension, Front (High) Lunge Torsion, Z Lunge, Z Expansion C-Tuck, Peak Hold, V-Sit, Supine Leg Raises, Plank, Press-Up, Horizontal Shoulder Flex, Simple Cross Inflection, Square Cross Inflection, Wide Inflection, Seated Inflection, and Assimilation. The session closed with a discussion about what comes next: the ongoing practice sessions and the Primer completion window.
@james.murray worked through the standing forms, then alternated between a chair and a solid stool block for the floor sections, a practical IM for his ankle condition. The chair allowed his feet to travel further than 90 degrees back and under the seat, setting up a position where the upper body could adjust over the top of the feet, closer in dynamics to certain lunging forms. The stool block provided a larger, more stable surface for working through the reclining motion transitions without going to the floor.
Key Concepts We Explored
Beginning the practice.
As we have discussed at the beginning of the program, the Baseworks Method is not about what you’re doing but about how you’re doing it. We work with movements common in fitness but we approach them in a very particular way. We have spent several in-person sessions and the first 5 segments of the Primer to learn the techniques of our approach. But ultimately, the practice is practice. And this session was an example of what the practice in the Baseworks Method might feel like. When we understand what all the cues mean, and we have to perform the movements respecting all the principles and applying all the patterns. This is where we finally begin the practice.
Seated forms as a reference point for FSA in standing forms.
During Square Cross Inflection I named the FSA principle explicitly: the pelvis cannot move in this position, which means the rib cage can float independently above it. The rib cage mobilizing over a fixed pelvis, circumlinear and fluid, is FSA in a form where the fixation is practically guaranteed by the geometry. I noted that this feeling transfers to the standing forms, where the same quality has to be actively maintained under less favorable gravitational conditions. Seated, the pelvis stays put; standing, it takes work to keep it there while the rib cage moves.
The Forms We Practiced
Ignition
Standard standing Ignition. Arms extended to shoulder height, wrists torsioned forward. The synchronized exit: knees extend as arms lower, neither happening before the other. A brief pause after the exit to register the quality of attention before the first form.
1. Squat
The emphasis in this session was on the entry sequence. Key points:
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Arms extend forward as the pelvis goes back, before the knees bend. The arm weight and the pelvis weight offset each other over the heels.
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Knees stay straight until that offset is established. Only then does the hinge happen, knees stacking over the ankles.
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Arms align with the spine (or slightly opened for shoulder mobility), shoulders drawing down, fingers spreading.
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Exit: straighten the knees with the pelvis still pushed back first. Then lower the arms. This is the reverse of the entry.
For full Squat mechanics, the Practice Lab is in Segment 2 of the Primer.
2. Star Form and Star Tilt
Star Form: Legs pulling away from each other is the foundation. From that foundation: shoulders draw down, fingers spread, back of the neck extends away from the shoulder depression.
Star Tilt:
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Feet pointing diagonally: hips facing in between. Arms open to the side in line with the pelvis, and we tilt from that position.
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Feet parallel (Split Form): pelvis pointing forward. Arms, rib cage, and pelvis stay as one connected unit, and we tilt from that position.
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In both cases, the movement occurs in the hip joints. The upper torso tilts as one unit with the pelvis.
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Legs continue pulling away from each other through the tilt and through the return.
3. Front (High) Lunge Extension and Front (High) Lunge Torsion
Asia led the lunge block. Both Extension and Torsion were practiced, including the transitional positions and the return sequence.
Extension: Arms diagonal forward to offset the weight. Pelvis goes back, knees hinge. Weight transfers to the front foot, back leg extends in line with the upper torso. Find the straight line (pelvis, rib cage, and head) before the rib cage begins its circumlinear lift: forward first, then up. The pelvis does not move while the rib cage lifts.
Torsion: From the same straight line. Torsion initiates from the center of the chest, arms maintaining their T-alignment. Legs continue pulling away during the twist. The head moves only with the upper torso.
James worked the upper body components (shoulder depression, rib cage orientation) from a standing position while the group moved through the lunge phases.
Practice Labs: Segment 2 (Lunge Extension) and Segment 3 (Lunge Torsion).
4. Z Lunge and Z Expansion C-Tuck
From standing, bend the knees and slowly descend into the Z lunge position: front knee above the toe (not the heel), back leg extended, pelvis square. Asia led this block.
Z lunge:
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Lean forward and pull the legs in to establish the foundation. Back foot presses into the floor. Almost no weight on the back knee.
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While keeping the front knee above the toe, lift the rib cage in a circumlinear motion, while undulating the rib cage.
Z Expansion C-Tuck:
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While the pelvis stays parallel to the floor, the foot shin position stays in the Z shape, and the front leg is lowered onto the floor in a position that matches each individual’s hip mobility.
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Forearms down on the floor and press diagonally forward. The pressing is what lifts the rib cage, not an active lift from the lower back. Shoulders draw down, back leg presses, neck relaxed.
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The pelvis stays parallel to the floor throughout.
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Upper back becomes stable and fixed when the pattern is established: “like a turtle shell.” Someone sitting on your back at that point would be supported.
5. Peak Hold and V-Sit
Practiced as a connected block.
Peak Hold: From kneeling on hands and knees, lift the pelvis up and back toward the ceiling. Tiptoes. Fingers spread, hands pressing forward. Shoulders draw down to lock the position. Thighs move toward the rib cage as the hips press up and back. A stable Peak: if someone pressed on the upper back, the position should hold.
V-Sit: From sitting on the floor with knees bent, hold the knees and lean back. From that lean, extend the arms toward the knees. Arm movements initiate from the shoulder. Knees can stay bent. Extending the legs fully is not the goal. The goal is to control the position of the knee, initiate the shoulder movement from the shoulder, and do intensity modification.
Both forms share the same dynamic: thighs toward the rib cage, chest meeting them, across opposite gravitational axes.
6. Supine Leg Raises
From the floor, supine. Arms in a V-position, pressing lightly down.
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Bend the knees first and bring them toward the chest. Wiggle the hips to flatten the lower back.
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Shoulders draw down and press lightly into the floor throughout. Shoulders do not lift.
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Legs extend above the pelvis. Lower by drawing a half-circle with the feet, down to just above the floor (wherever control is maintained) and scoop back up. Breathing stays relaxed throughout.
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Final sequence: lift the head forward, palms facing forward (pressing direction from the shoulder), round the upper spine, lower the legs toward the floor as a slow fold. The tipping point (where the weight of the legs would bring the upper body up) is the objective.
7. Plank and Press-Up
Plank: Fingers spread, palms press down and forward. Shoulders draw back toward the hips, opposing the direction of the hands. This opposition locks the position. Toes grip forward in the same direction as the hands.
Press-Up: The movement is a tilt, not a straight drop. As the ankles extend (tilting the body forward), the shoulders draw back and the elbows squeeze into the sides. Lower to whatever depth allows full activation to be maintained. Even a micro-bend of the elbows with everything still active counts. Return by pressing forward and extending back up.
James worked the same pressing direction from the shoulder while seated for this block.
8. Horizontal Shoulder Flex
From Heel-Sit, leaning back. The lean-back position maintained throughout all arm work.
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Arms come forward. Move each arm to the limit of its natural range, without momentum, before the cross or interlock.
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Hands connect: crossing, interlocking whatever is available. From there, pull the arms apart while drawing the shoulders down. The two directions equalize. Elbows move forward without the shoulders lifting. Rib cage mobilizes over the pelvis.
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Practiced with both crossing directions.
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Exit: lean back first. Then move the arms in the opposite direction before releasing. As if moving through water. The exit quality should match the entry.
If the ankle load in Heel-Sit becomes uncomfortable, sit cross-legged. The goal is to use the opposing forces to better feel and control the rib cage/pelvis stack and shoulder symmetry (while working shoulder mobility and ankle mobility).
Lesson 5.7 covers the full mechanics of the Equate forms.
9. Simple Cross Inflection and Square Cross Inflection
Ankles crossed at ankle level, remaining straight (Simple Cross) or at the shins, crossed at 90 degrees (Square Cross). From the Reclining Transition, feet lower to the floor.
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Feet press forward and down throughout. This pressing opposes the flexion, not as resistance, but as a non-invasive counter-force.
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Upper spine flexes as the shoulders draw down. Head stays neutral and relaxed.
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From flexion, the upper spine extends. Shoulders continue down, back of the neck extending. Rib cage mobilizes at the top of the extension.
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The cycle: flex, extend, flex again, with spinal micro-movements throughout.
Seated inflection forms feed into being able to perform Fixing-Separating-Isolating in standing forms. When seated, the pelvis is fixed, so we can learn to engage other muscles in movements like flexion-extension-flexion, that we then will be able to reproduce when standing, where the pelvis can (but shouldn’t) move.
Assimilation
Closed the session in supine, then prone.
Supine: Mobilize gently: arms, hips, upper spine. Flex the upper spine to progressively flatten the lower back. Once the back of the head reaches the floor, use one hand gently behind the neck to draw the chin toward the chest, creating length in the back of the neck. Release the hand. Then stay.
Attention task: feel the weight at each contact point in sequence. Heels, calves, back of the pelvis, shoulders and middle back, back of the hands or forearms, back of the head. Notice the weight at each. If the sense of weight begins to shift toward something lighter or weightless, follow that direction. Stay in active attention regardless. Weight or weightlessness, the attention task continues. If you drift toward sleep or passive relaxation, redirect.
Prone: Turn over to face down, forehead or cheek to the floor. Same task in the other direction. What does the weight feel like now: head, chest, arms, pelvis, tops of the thighs, tops of the feet? Notice what is different and what is the same. Note whatever comes up, physical or otherwise. These observations are worth journaling about afterward.
Assimilation is covered in Segment 7 of the Primer, which falls outside the five segments covered in the study group assignments.
Common Adjustments and Corrections
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Star Tilt: hips following the direction of the foot. When the foot points forward, the hips want to follow. Connect the arms, rib cage, and pelvis into one unit before stepping. That unit stays in its plane regardless of foot direction.
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Front (High) Lunge Extension: rib cage lifting before the straight line is established. Find the straight line from heel to head first. The circumlinear lift happens from that line, not before.
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Z Expansion C-Tuck: pelvis tilting on one side. Outside edge of the front shin and top of the back foot both press into the floor evenly. This means that the leg position guides the pelvis. In Baseworks, the pelvis should guide the leg position.
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Seated Inflections Exit: rushing the balance in Reclining Transition. Finding the teeter-totter point takes time. Extend the legs incrementally, using the arms forward for counterweight. Never rushed.
Closing Discussion
Working in sets
During the Q&A that followed Assimilation, Caitlin asked whether the practice required doing all the forms in the same sequence each time.
A note on terminology: in Baseworks, we refer to groupings of forms as sets. A set is a grouping of forms organized around a shared principle: a focus, a body position, a preparation quality. The order within a set can shift; what holds the forms together is what they are working toward, not their arrangement. (“Sequence” implies a fixed linear order where the arrangement itself carries meaning, which doesn’t describe how Baseworks organizes practice material.)
On the question itself: yes, you can repeat the full set of forms practiced in the study group. It is the most straightforward approach to building a home practice, and everything covered across the five Primer segments is good material to keep returning to. The forms can also be approached from different directions and in different ways within a single session. There is a great deal to work with in those twenty-one forms alone.
Asia added that as you continue through the Primer, sessions become progressively longer and more practice-focused. From Segment 6 onward, the focus shifts away from technique breakdown and toward sustained practice with a specific intention. The later Primer sessions are organized around a principle, not a fixed chain.
Beyond the study group
The Baseworks Practice Platform currently available to students worldwide spans the entire Baseworks syllabus. What the study group and the Primer cover is the foundation; what exists beyond that runs to hundreds of hours of practice content. We have only touched the edge of it here.
The subscription model for the platform is being restructured. The goal is to make sustained online practice available to students who come to us through study groups, practice labs, and other events, as well as to returning students who have practiced with us over the years. When that is ready, we will send the details.
On online practice and what we are working toward: it was genuinely good that so many people started practicing online during the pandemic. What followed, for many people, was burnout, and that is part of the picture. Our interest is not in having students practice online only because geography or external constraint leave no other option. We are also not interested in setting up another fixed-location studio with instructors running practice sessions all day, every day, as we did in Tokyo for many years. Both of those models have their logic. Neither is what we are building toward.
What we are building is a hybrid: strong practice material available online at a time and place of your choosing, combined with in-person programming (study groups, practice labs, study labs, collaborative events) that extends directly from that online work. The two are designed to support each other.
We use technology because it is genuinely good, and as it develops it allows us to build more comprehensive and interactive features around the practice content, the community, and the forum. In some respects this model can go further than what the Tokyo studio offered. The Tokyo experience was more personally situated, with instructors and students together in a physical community on a regular basis, but the in-person practice sessions there were not structured for extended discussion. Extended discussion required separate workshops and specialized programs on top of the regular sessions. The current structure can hold more within a single format.
This current programming focuses on practical access, rather than professional training. It is intended to be accessible to anyone from any background who is interested in exploring the work we do with movement and perception. Instructor training and professional programs may be part of what we develop in the future. For now, that is not what this is.
For a fuller picture of our current programming structure: baseworks.com/programs
The practice compounds
Toward the end of the session, I noted: the education we’re offering is cumulative. You won’t notice a significant difference after practicing a few times. The effect builds gradually over time.
This distinguishes it from much of what is taught in wellness and fitness contexts, where a specific outcome is advertised upfront. We are not working toward a promised result. We are working in detail, and detail takes time.
Sensory education
Natalie observed that what she saw during the session, particularly the work with James using the chair and stool block, looked as though it could contribute to dance therapy or re-education for specific movement disorders.
Asia’s response: our primary interest is in sensory education. Therapeutic benefit may follow for some people, and we do not dismiss that. But it is not what the practice is organized around or built toward. Therapy is structured around addressing a deficit. This practice is structured around developing perceptual capacity.
What the practice offers
Natalie, who works as a coach, asked how the sharpened awareness she was developing through the practice relates to what coaching aims for.
In coaching, the arc typically runs from building awareness of one’s current situation to using that awareness as a platform for reaching a goal or succeeding at a specific task. A good coach helps someone see clearly where they are now, so that clarity can serve what they are working toward. Awareness in that context is instrumental: it is the means, not the end.
What we are working toward is different. In this practice, developing awareness of what is happening in your body and attention, physically and perceptually at any given moment, is not a step toward something else. It is the thing itself.
What that offers is a particular kind of foundation. When someone develops an acute sensitivity to their current situation, they are in a better position to make decisions from that place. We are not interested in directing those decisions or pointing people toward the right answers. We are more interested in helping people develop a deeper autonomy: the capacity to look inward for information rather than always seeking outward for what the answers should be.
Increased awareness and what it surfaces
Natalie reflected on something she had been noticing: since starting the practice, she found herself wondering whether she was feeling worse in certain environments because her awareness had sharpened, noticing things she would previously have moved past without registering.
My response: when you shine light onto something, you see everything. That is not a problem. It is information. Operating without that awareness is like moving through a space without a light source. Increased perceptual sensitivity, even when what it surfaces is uncomfortable, makes it possible to reorient rather than avoid.
Continuing from Here
Practice Sessions
For those interested in continuing in-person practice, we still have a few sessions left in the spring season of practice sessions. They run every Saturday until the end of June. Sessions are approximately 70 minutes: more practice-focused, less breakdown-oriented. We introduce forms beyond those covered in the study group and include different approaches to Ignition and Assimilation.
Booking works in two steps. Purchasing credit and booking a specific session are separate actions. You will need to be logged in to your account; the pricing table only appears when you are signed in.
1. Purchase session credit on the practice sessions page. Choose how many sessions to purchase. Buying multiple sessions at once reduces the per-session cost; a cost breakdown is shown before checkout. Sessions purchased in advance do not roll over if missed.
2. Book the specific sessions you plan to attend from your dashboard. Go to Available Programs / Booking and select the dates you want to attend. Purchasing credit does not reserve you a spot; you need to book each session individually.
You should receive an email confirming that your study group access has been updated. Once that arrives, the booking interface will be visible in your dashboard.
Booking deadline: You must book at least 24 hours before the session start time. If you haven’t booked by that cutoff, you won’t be able to attend that day. You can cancel up to 24 hours before the session without losing your credit. Sessions run with a limited number of spots, and if there are no bookings by the cutoff, the session is cancelled. Please book ahead.
Primer Continuation
The study group assignments covered Segments 1 through 5. Segments 6 through 10 remain, and the Primer’s practice labs get progressively longer as you move forward. The Primer slowly builds up to 60-minute sessions. Smart Revisit keeps earlier work active as you continue, so you don’t need to restart earlier segments, just continue from where you are.
The access window: complete all 10 Primer segments within 3 months of your enrollment date, and your access extends to the total of 12 months. Your current 3-month window deadline is visible on your dashboard.
Asia noted that from Segment 6 onward, the Primer moves away from technique breakdown and into longer practice sessions with a specific focus. The sessions in the second half are where the first five segments become a foundation for sustained practice.
Ongoing Platform Access
The Baseworks Practice Platform beyond the Primer (ongoing subscription access to the full library of practice material) is being restructured. When that information is ready, we will send it to you. For now, the practice sessions and the remaining Primer segments are the recommended path forward.
The Forum
The study group forum and the Primer community forum remain open. As you continue through the remaining segments and encounter questions, the forum is the better place than the group activity feed: threads are searchable and persistent, and future participants can find them too. We respond to both. When you post, please add relevant tags to your topic; it makes threads easier to find for anyone working through similar questions later.