What a strange and challenging couple of years we have all had. I think that all of us have had a tough time and have handled the situation in different ways. I have certainly found myself on heightened alert.
As we are starting to emerge from the worst of the pandemic I thought it would be a good idea to remind people of the relevance of the Alexander Technique to how we handle everyday situations.
Our reactions to what life throws at us can have an impact in all sorts of ways. It can leave us fearful and stressed, with a resultant additional layer of tension in our body that we are not even aware of. If we carry on in this way we may find that our old areas of pain resurface to some degree or we remain on heightened alert and become stressed, often over reacting to situations. However if we start to reapply some of the principles of the AT we have a chance of restoring some our natural balance.
Let's just try this little exercise so we can move from" being in our head" to "being in our bodies" and experience ourself as a whole.
Find a nice supportive chair where there is peace and quiet
Firstly let us just stop & press the pause button, you don't have to do ANYTHING just sit quietly...........................
What do you notice? Do you notice your breath? - I often find when I come to quiet that I involuntarily take a deep breath..............................
Now let's think about the support of the chair, our sit bones & the support of our feet on the ground. Feel connected to the supporting surface
So we are not only connected to the ground but get a sense of the space all around us, above our head, behind us & in front. Think of our 3 dimensional whole and allow yourself to take up that space and if you are a fan of the Great British Bake off imagine you are the dough rising in the bowl as it proves
Now again be present listen to the sounds around you.....................
We can now think some Alexander thoughts. Think of our sitting bones on the chair and our spine & torso are supported like building blocks and finally our head sits gently on top of our spine. We can think of releasing any tension in the shoulders and neck as we think of lengthening & widening in the whole of the upper body as we continue to grow into the space all around us
Notice if there is any tension in the jaw, think of the jaw hanging from the little hollows behind the ear lobes
Sit quietly and observe how you feel overall
I hope you have found this useful and I that you could maybe try this daily for the next 7 days and let me know how you get on. You don't have to be sitting you could try it while you are waiting for the kettle to boil.
How did you get on with the 7 day challenge? Let me know - I welcome feedback
