Alexander Technique - an easy way to de-stress!
Lisa Harris • 1 July 2019
I attended Salisbury Coaching Circle on Thursday, which is a group to support those in coaching work. Which I am! I introduced myself and I noticed people were not sure what Alexander Technique is – and that’s often the case!
It’s a way to de-stress by bringing your attention back to yourself. As you sit or stand there, notice your bottom on the chair or feet on the ground. Your head is above your sitting bones or feet, and there is space above it that you are allowed to be in. There is space behind you and to your sides that you can be in too. (We often forget about that because we can’t see it as easily as what’s in front of us!) Really feel your feet or sitting bones (but don’t try to push them down; just notice the contact with the surface). You are allowed to gently expand into the space around you! Just acknowledge there is that possibility; that, before you noticed, you might have been ‘holding yourself together’. Let your head balance on top of your spine.
Check you are not holding your breath as you think about these other things. Also, notice what’s in the periphery of your vision – don’t get sucked in to the laptop / iPad / phone. That might allow your head to float back a little bit instead of being drawn forward to the device, which in turn might allow your shoulders to be less hunched. And know that you are balanced on either your sitting bones or feet, not locked. Balance always involves small movements – think of a highwire artist, where those movements are augmented! And now, let your eyes focus away from whatever it is you’re reading this on, to something in the distance. Notice it’s shape, colour, texture, movements and so on. It’s really good for the eyes to look in the distance, and we tend not to do enough of it!
You can do all this any time, any where to bring your attention back to you for a moment before carrying on with your day. And that is de-stressing!
Watch Laura's first AT lesson and her response
Exchanging and sharing
Exciting new research
Well, this cheetah is certainly movement-based and embodied! I saw the words 'movement-based embodied contemplative practices' in a journal I was reading recently. The authors included Alexander Technique, Tai Chi, Qigong, Yoga and Aikido among others in their description. I liked the phrase, because it is a good explanation of the Alexander Technique, which can evade description at times. (He who tastes, knows!). The Alexander Technique is not about being overly relaxed or too tense. It is about being calm and alert and ready in the moment to respond as appropriate. Think of a cat sitting with its ears pricked up as it watches someone rolling a ball of wool (or, to get a bit more up-to-date, the red beam of a laser pointer!) at its feet. It has a stillness, and yet you know it could pounce in an instant. It is a skill that takes time to develop, but helps you maintain an unflustered presence in life, whatever is thrown at you. The authors of the paper, from 2014, are Smalzl, Crane-Godreau and Payne .
After that lovely snowy weather, I slipped on ice on Monday and now have a fractured wrist bone all splinted up. As I felt shaken up and my whole hand was painful, I was reminded of the self-compassion break I discovered researching for my MSc in Positive Psychology. That is, at a time of pain, discomfort, negative self-judgement or other form of suffering, to stop and say to yourself: This is a moment of suffering; All humans suffer; May I be kind to myself. With the ongoing demands of lockdown, homeworking, children at home and so on, I think we could probably all do with some self-compassion right now. This is a practice taken from Buddhism, I believe, and more information on self-compassion and some free downlands can be found at www.self-compassion.org. Warm wishes, Lisa
I recently heard this quote from James Joyce's The Dubliners: "Mr Duffy lived a short distance from his body." I think many of us quite often live a short distance from our bodies! We get bound up in what we are doing, and can forget we've even got a body at all. I find that when I'm studying this can happen. Yet coming back to the body is like coming home. I do believe that when we are in our bodies, our innate wisdom can come to the fore and this will help us in life. At the moment, when we are spending so much time online, I think it's even more important. There are many ways to come into your body - tai chi, yoga, meditation ... or you could try the Alexander Technique!
Well, as we can't go on holiday at the moment, I was reminiscing by looking through some photos from a holiday at the end of last year in Gran Canaria. I came across one I had taken of a quote by Antonio Padron, a Canarian painter, in a museum dedicated to his work. The reason I took it was that it made me think of the Alexander Technique! He wrote that, once he'd finished a painting, he considered it "conquered territory". Presumably, he then started another one! I'm not sure that with the Alexander Technique we ever conquer ourselves! But FM Alexander did say "The experience you want is the process of getting it. If you have something, give it up. Getting it, not having it, is what you want." I find that really inspiring!
Well, my use of screens, both the laptop and my mobile phone, has shot up during these days of Corona lockdown! And if we're not careful, that can lead to an aching neck. I wrote in my last post about computer use, and today I'm thinking about mobile phone use. Firstly, we need to be sat or standing in balance. So, double check your weight - is it spread evenly over both feet? Let them be fully supported by the floor. And if you're sitting, how are you sitting? Uncrossing legs is useful, both feet flat on the floor. What tends to happen with a mobile phone, is that we hold it somewhere around our midriff, and then allow our heads (and neck column) to sink towards it. What we want, however, is to keep our heads above our feet (or pelvis if sitting), and raise our arms to bring the phone closer to our eyes that way! Think of your arms coming out of and being supported by your lower back. The shoulders don't need to raise to do this. Think of your neck releasing and your head balancing. Notice what's in your periphery vision. And remember to breathe! I've noticed the same head-sinking behaviour happening when people drink a cuppa ... so maybe pay attention to how you do that too. Bring the cup up to your lips, and not your lips down to your cup. Best wishes, and keep safe :-)
Alexander Technique and laptop use
