When storm fronts collide
“That mindfulness doesn’t work for me, my mind is too full already. I need mind-less-ness.”
Yes, sometimes life is just so overwhelming you want a way out. You want to stop the whole world and get off. It’s just too much. David Whyte, describes it as:
“the meeting of two immense storm fronts, the squally vulnerable edge between what overwhelms human beings from the inside and what overpowers them from the outside.”
You feel like you are having to run to keep up with your thoughts. They are insisting on a conversation that goes round and round and round whilst you compete in an extreme sports competition. You try to keep up because you don’t feel you have a choice, but you know your legs are going to give out any moment, and you will collapse.
Sometimes it’s not quite so extreme. You always ran on fumes, talked fast, been on the alert, perhaps you physically shake in most of what you do. You’ve maybe had two jobs so you can make finances spread further. You fill your evenings and weekends with things to do. A game of squash usually helps to bring calm, or a long walk in the woods. Then something, almost imperceptible comes along, and that way of being just doesn’t work. Something gives, perhaps you find work becomes stressful or you develop a physical illness, start with persistent pain or simply you feel like your usual high energy approach just isn’t helpful any more. You crash and burn.
I understand that intensity of thought. That overwhelming state of fearful, high alert. I become disconnected from my body. I get lost in my thoughts. Worrying about what has happened, that I can’t change, or trying to control what happens, which I can’t actually predict. I just want to press the stop button.
I was forced to take stock when, in a short period of time, I got divorced, changed profession after a 3 year intensive course full of exams and practical tests, changed cities twice, my father died, followed by my dog, then my brother, then another relationship break down and several further moves. It was all too much. I woke up each morning, and for an instant everything was ok, till I remembered it wasn’t ok. Things would never be the same.
What to do?
Massively stressful situations might be doable in the short term, but when they go on and on it often means you have to take a good look at how you do things, assess your priorities, take stock. Decide what’s important and find some control in the chaos. I found myself in that place.
The Alexander Technique is something that can support you in such times. In an ideal world learn it, and put it into practice, before the storm fronts collide. However, when they do collide, because that seems to be a given in life, this technique can save your life. It has done with mine on several occasions.
Some form of support is often essential at these times from a variety of places: friends, family, professionals. Alexander Technique teachers can be part of that process. They can help you notice what happens to your body in times of stress. In times when you are sucked into an intensity of thought where you become disconnected from your body. They can help you notice your thought habits and find a way back to a calmer, more in control you. You can learn about non doing and begin to breath and smell the roses from the middle of the storm. You will learn a technique for life. It takes practice. It is highly likely you will come out a different person. I did, and continue to shed multiple layers like a butterfly that keeps turning into a pupae and back to a butterfly.
Try an introductory lesson? You may be surprised at the ease you discover with such simple processes.
Jane Clappison
01759 307282
I didn’t expect it would work, but it did.
This is the third interview, in a series of interviews with students of the Alexander Technique (AT) about their experiences of learning the technique.
Students of the technique often come with a specific problem they want to address but then find that they gain a lot of other benefits they had not envisaged.
The following are some of the highlights of Judy’s experiences of applying the principles of AT in her daily life. Judy says it helps to:
- make her walking easier,
- help her manage stairs and slopes easier,
- release into her meditation practice,
- make sitting easy,
- feel she can work out how to do challenging tasks with more ease,
- help her to be calm and feel peace.
Judy is in her 30’s, lives alone and has a number of physical issues which involve both traumatic injuries that became longstanding problems and hyper mobility.
When Judy started learning AT she hoped the technique would have an influence on her posture and help with the pain that occurred with everyday activity. She admits, she didn’t expect it to work, but found out that it did.
Judy decided to learn AT after exploring a number of routes including internet searches, book reading and her physiotherapist’s suggestion to have lessons.
Judy used a number of ways to learn AT including workshops, individual lessons with me and reading more about AT.
Through AT, Judy has learned how powerful her thoughts are in influencing her daily life and she now has a more expansive way of moving in various tasks. Judy says AT is an easy process, not one that requires her mind to churn over.
Judy has found that AT acts as a trigger to release old habits like bracing before an activity (common to many of us).
Learning AT means the technique can be applied to all life activities. It gives a way of thinking about the process of doing activities so that you easily arrive at the most appropriate way to do it and find ease and efficiency. Here’s a few ways in which Judy has applied AT in her life:
Sitting:
Judy said she now knows sitting is easy but before AT she used to kill herself trying to sit upright. She said she was trying to hold a good posture and tried to be good whilst she sat but now she knows about softening and letting go in sitting and as a bonus it improves her posture.
Meditation:
Judy says AT helps with both her meditation practice and general awareness. Judy says she can now sink into meditation. Judy did point out that she also sees AT as a form of meditation.
Awareness:
Judy described a pattern of behaviour that she has become more aware of since learning AT. It happens when she becomes less mindful, less aware. She finds she enters a cycle/circle where she drops things, knocks into things, loses her balance and falls because she has lost her body awareness. She arrives in a room and forgets why she’s there. She rushes, becomes anxious, makes mistakes, and her muscles become tight. Judy told me when she is like this her thoughts are more intrusive and repetitive and she becomes exhausted and experiences fear, pain and tiredness. In the past she couldn’t see a way out of the cycle.
When Judy is like this her only option is to stop. She finds the pain can build even more at that point and describes it like entering a field of hell.
Nowadays she can swing back into this cycle of bad habits but they come less often, and last for a much shorter period. It is in this state she has found she can use the AT and meditation tools. She notices her cyclical thoughts. She notices her fear and she uses AT to come back into awareness of her body.
Stairs:
Judy told me about how she applied AT to a task that she finds challenging: going down stairs. She noticed her usual habit was to brace/hold herself together and take the activity extremely carefully. However, Judy realised AT was a counterbalance to this. She now asks herself what would be the most efficient, least gripped, least stressful way of doing it instead of gripping.
Psychological trauma:
Judy talked about how her 1:1 AT sessions helped connect to the trauma of her original injuries which are still in the background. She feels AT helped her accept and acknowledge that trauma, though she is not sure the psychological effect of the trauma will go completely but each time it comes up, it gets less.
Judy says she is now aware of her body through AT. She felt she was out of her body before (avoiding and ignoring it to try to distance herself from the physical sensations) and AT put her mind back into her body. She also feels AT allowed her to feel safe in her body instead of fearful of it.
Judy now feels that if everyone gets the opportunity to have AT lessons at the time of an accident, any injuries need not become chronic problems.
“It’s a tool that helps me reconnect to my body. Now I see things clearer, everything is ok, I am the person I want to be.” – Judy
If Judy’s story has got you interested, and you would like to learn the Alexander Technique, telephone me on:
01759 307282 or use the contact page on my website www.janeclappison.co.uk
Jangling Nerves, cafe culture and the Alexander Technique
I shared a bedroom with my sister until I was about 10. There were lots of pluses to our cohabitation. Excitedly standing at our bedroom window together, on Christmas Eve, trying to spot Santa on his sleigh, was one of them.
On the minus side, I was absolutely challenged by stuff all over the bedroom floor. I still remember the visceral reaction to the chaos. To my sister, the floor was her playground and storage space. It was bliss when I got my own room, though it was extremely tiny. My Dad built cupboards in the room for me. Essentially it became a cupboard from floor to ceiling, with a window and a bed in a recess. It wasn’t hard to keep it tidy.
Somehow, I coped with my sister’s chaos, and over the years I became tolerant to “excessive-to-me” sights, sounds, sensations, emotions, touch, movement: all stimuli. However, if you saw my desk right now you would not think I liked things to be ordered and calm, nor that I still panic when things get too messy. My husband describes my desk filing as a “sedimentary” system and when it gets to full height he describes it as shale. There is a logic in the chaos as the heap consists of things I am challenged to categorise and thus store, jobs pending, and things at the ready. I can tolerate the mess up to a point. When I have completed a job, or when I work out where they belong, they are filed away, A-Z style.
Lately, my tolerance to life seems to have shifted. Visiting cafes (a beloved pastime of mine) is a challenge. It has been gradually changing, but became really obvious last week, when I visited a local cafe that has just been re-furbished. It has huge windows, and the bustling street beyond is in the experience. They have opted for a wooden floor and wooden tables which all scrape and bang, and culminate in unique background percussion. They have lovely twinkly, bright lights, and the sun streams into the windows: it’s a bright environment. They also fitted an extractor fan in the open kitchen and its noises, plus the focused, pressured, yet light-hearted kitchen atmosphere, pervades the whole space. Add to that, the background music, which isn’t really background, customers who turn up their volume to be heard, hissing espresso machines, serving staff darting around. I had ordered, paid, and was sat there realising that it was just-too-much-for-me. I felt every cell in my body was vibrating and I wished for more calm than that cafe could offer.
I gained a better understanding of why things have changed for me when I read an article by Kate Wagner, in The Atlantic (an American magazine):
It’s an interesting read. Essentially the sparse modern decor increases noise, whereas the older style cafes had more noise absorbing furnishings. Therefore cafes are generally louder.
So, what did I do when I received my parsnip soup, focaccia, and berry tea? I decided to just be with the whole nerve jangling experience. I used the Alexander Technique to stay present, grounded, and get to know what this experience was really like for me, rather than brace against it and escape from it. I could then nurture myself with the food, luxuriate in the warmth of the radiator next to me, and even enjoy the cacophony. I also pondered on the merits of noise-cancelling headphones.
Do you notice if you brace against excess stimuli or too much chaos? Do you notice the effect it has on your body? Would you like to explore a way to be more aware of your reaction to these things and choose what to do about it? Get in touch! Have a few Alexander Technique lessons. We could even explore the process in a cafe together!
Jane Clappison MSTAT
01759 307282
Vogue your way into clothes
Putting a sports bra on at any time can be a challenge! Here are some thoughts about that, and some Alexander Technique (AT) ideas that might help. For those of you that don’t wear them, you might find an AT nugget in here somewhere.
To get to the sports bra we need a few detours. The first is about bath bombs and Epson salts.
I am a Lush bath bomb gal. I love watching the effervescing ball dance around the thundering bath water as it releases colour and scent, and luxuriating in all of that. So the suggestion from a friend, of soaking in a bath of Epson salts, wasn’t that appealing. I was assured it would be good for my health. Plus, a huge tub of Epson salts arrived, as a present, and thus, I gave it a go.
Warning – do not try this bit at home! I have no idea if Alexander Technique in the bath will work for you! I could end up with my readers drowning in the attempt. Please don’t.
Having an Eco friendly bath is no way to undertake this soak, but it was the only one available to me. The overflow is strategically placed so that I can only be covered by 2/3rd’s of water even when it is full. The bath is short, narrow and I can lay on my back with my knees bent without drowning. Happily, I was able to practice Alexander Technique active rest, releasing into width as much as the bath allowed whilst laying in the Epson salt infusion. I also enjoyed listening to the ocean liner-like central heating noises from underneath the water. A couple of flannels, for warmth, topped off the event: sorry if that’s too much detail!
Bath over, having already been applying the Alexander Technique to laying in an extremely narrow bath, I was pondering on applying it to the unique issue of putting my clothes on. It’s the same problem as dressing after going swimming. How to do this with ease? Hot atmospheres, damp, warm skin and clothing just don’t work well together. There’s that Velcro effect where clothes weld to the skin wherever they touch.
We need another detour here, onto how Flamenco dancing, Madonna and lack of confidence play a part.
Picture a flamenco dancer with their hands spiralling round their body, then take yourself back to 1990, and Madonna’s song, Vogue, and striking a pose. I recommend you follow the link and watch the video first. It’s a great song and you might enjoy striking a pose? Have fun. I just did! I feel so energised now.
Anyhow, where does lack of confidence fit in? Back in my N.H.S. days I had to go to the occasional meeting. Usually in a stuffy room, sat around a table with other health professionals, at the end of a long week. Picture yourself there as the most senior consultant makes a point. From his position of power he luxuriously floats his hands up and over his head in an arc, palms coming to rest behind his head, elbows wide. He draws a breath, and with confidence, slowly begins to make his point. A while later, a junior doctor speaks out but he just can’t pull off the whole hands behind the head thing. A tiny shadow movement, half going there, and then giving up, happens instead. The effect on the group, and his lack of seniority means his message doesn’t land in the same way at all. To get the full effect try both arm movements yourself, then try going from one to the other. It’s a bit like voguing but less fun.
Back to the sports bra: my usual method looks more like one my Dad used in his motor cycle repair days when all else failed: rive it! After my Epson salts bath, and my Eco friendly chilling out with the Alexander Technique, I was up for exploring what happens if I don’t rive my sports bra on? What happens if I use the Alexander Technique?
Back to Flamenco, voguing and lack of confidence. Well, putting a sports bra on and applying the Alexander Technique looks like a cross between all of those! The up side, is I was laughing my head off by the time I finished and I wasn’t at all flustered like I normally am. The down side was, I took ages to get dressed and I would have been mortified if anyone had walked in on me.
I started by releasing my usual rive-it approach tension. I stopped several times during the process and thought about having a free neck. In those moments of stillness you might have thought I was dancing, but more likely, if pressed, you would have described me as a trussed up turkey. Sports bras have a unique property of rolling themselves up and becoming extremely rigid and rope like, despite their elastic content. I needed to take a Sun Tzu, Art of War, indirect approach.
What I did learn was a sports bra goes on (and off) much more smoothly when applying the Alexander Technique. However, another tip, if this is available to you: partners come in very handy. Get someone else to help!
Alexander Technique can be applied in all sorts of ways, including dressing! If you fancy finding out how, get in touch and book a lesson!
Jane Clappison MSTAT
01759 307282
Sick bed musings
I used to believe that if I was ill, and in hospital, I would sit by the side of my bed, dressed: until I got real.
Being ill sometimes means my nightwear gets changed because it’s been worn 24/7, and it’s beginning to smell.
Being ill means my sick-bed multi-tasks as a library, of books I want to read, but don’t have the concentration for. A roving dog bed, as snoring Kyra and I dance round the space. An observatory, as I delight at the wind blowing through the neighbour’s pine tree, it’s jostling branches playing a frantic game of tag. It also becomes a rubbish bin for tissues and other detritus.
Being ill is a challenging process on all levels, it’s different every time and we all navigate that as best as we can.
I am not in hospital, but I am ill.
I thought I would share some ideas, including Alexander Technique ones, that are helping me. They are not earth shattering. They come into my full focus and then wane. I do what I can. It takes perseverance. They are not a panacea but they bring me joy. They help me remember there’s more to life than feeling ill. They may give you some ideas to try out when you are ill? Even one will change the experience.
The root of my problem (literally) has been a tooth infection that spread and is ongoing. Sometimes all I can manage is to let my body get on with it. Other times:
- I notice myself in my environment, what is around me, sensing what is behind me (without looking) and that helps me be in the present moment. It calms me and placates my need to be well.
- I observe my body, where it is attempting to brace and hold against the unknown invader . My teeth, jaw, face and neck regularly take on a defensive role. Softening my eyes reduces strain and pain. Releasing the inside of my mouth into length and width ripples through my body, my shoulders drop and I breathe more deeply.
- Noticing pain free areas rather than painful areas also helps break a cycle that feeds the pain.
- I am remembering to balance rest with activity. I regularly take a walk round the house and garden. I have been exploring a few things as I do that such as:
Noticing my breathing as I move.
What happens if I breathe out when I stand up?
What happens if I take a breath in?
What happens when I don’t change my breathing and think crown away from feet as I stand?
What differences can I feel under my feet as I move from one surface to another, from carpet to wooden floor to stone to lawn?
I observe my reluctance to lay down in the day time. I remind myself of my niece as a baby, when she had not yet learned how to sooth herself to sleep, and she struggled with that transition from wakefulness to rest. However, through resisting rest, on laying down, I discover I have created pain. I rest, letting go of the effort of being upright, and as I release into semi supine it brings ease and relief from pain. My body thanks me. There’s a work in progress for me here as I challenge beliefs around this resistance and honour the need to sleep.
- When the energy rises I tackle the accumulating pile of dirty items that won’t go in the dishwasher. I enjoy the contact of my feet on the floor, the view of the changing colours in the garden, the sounds the water makes in the sink as I work. I also notice my gradually wrinkling hands and a growing tiredness as I sense the whole of me in this space.
- I am thankful for my husband’s suggestion to sit outside. Somehow I forget that simple things can be a blessing. I can enjoy how the delightful autumn sun gives life to the Acer’s vibrant feathery red leaves against the electric green garden. I have a special fondness for the shadows on the patio, especially the dancing butterflies. I even saw a Red Admiral yesterday, in October!
- I can laugh at myself. This morning before my husband went to work he came to see me in bed, to say goodbye. Wryly he said “New brooch?” gesturing to my top and grinning. I looked at it with puzzlement and there was a purple, lint covered, firmly glued, partly used, throat lozenge! Well, it had obviously done its job of calming my coughing and helping me get off to sleep! Being ill can be very messy, and amusing.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” Helen Keller
Perhaps these ideas might help you towards overcoming suffering? I wouldn’t recommend the brooch.
When you and I are well, perhaps we could work together to explore these ideas? Contact me or phone me to book a lesson or workshop.
Jane Clappison
01759 307282
Embrace the mystery of the Alexander Technique: bring balance to life on all levels.
This is the second in a series of Alexander Technique (AT) student interviews I carried out. You will discover, as I share these interviews with you in my blogs, how unique each person’s experience of having Alexander Technique lessons is. Yet there are common threads you may also begin to discover.
These are highlights of Cathy’s experiences during and after Alexander lessons. They:
- helped bring mental, physical & spiritual calm,
- confidence, and pain relief,
- comfort and alignment and understanding of her body,
- balance on all levels,
- appreciation of the present moment.
I have changed some personal details of Cathy’s story for confidentiality reasons.
Like many others, Cathy turned to AT, many years after originally learning about it. She was in her 40’s and had experienced a number of bereavements, plus pain and anxiety. She felt she was living in her head and running away from her body. Cathy felt sure AT would help with these issues as it addresses the whole person.
When we started working together Cathy was keen to read up on AT and other related areas. Despite taking a scholarly approach, Cathy said she had to embrace the mystery of AT: until she experienced AT, she didn’t really know it.
Initially she noticed a comfortableness in her own body which she could not recall ever experiencing. Cathy felt recalibrated after lessons, that her posture improved and everything felt in alignment. Cathy wondered if this was like her body was as a young child.
Cathy noticed that some lessons brought up emotional issues and she felt she had to be a bit brave and see where the lesson took her. Despite this, Cathy said that lessons were mentally, physically and spiritually calming.
Cathy previously used a variety of techniques to help with pain, but now includes AT, and often notices that the pain isn’t actually there.
Cathy describes AT as a fast track to sensing her body. It helps her to own her body and see it as a good thing, when she used to be fearful of it. She said AT helped her inhabit her body and all its senses and be open to its messages.
Through lessons Cathy feels connected to herself (no longer alone) and that AT helps her balance and orientate herself to the world around her. It has improved her confidence and belief in herself. Cathy feels with AT she can be bold.
Cathy can now really appreciate the present moment, and a weed growing through tarmac can fill her with awe just as much as a beautiful sunset can.
Cathy taught active rest (an AT procedure) to her young child: combined with breathing, it helped them to ease tummy ache/indigestion.
AT helps Cathy on a daily basis to not act in a reflex way as she did before. She has learned how to stand back, wait and be still. With that, she feels she can make better choices and has balance in her life on all levels.
Fancy finding out about what you will gain after Alexander Technique lessons? Calm? Confidence? Balance? Pain relief? Appreciation of the present moment? Give me a ring or contact me.
Further individual interviews to follow in future blogs.
Jane Clappison
Alexander Technique Teacher
Tel:01759 307282
www.janeclappison.co.uk
Toothache, chicken little, anxiety and the Alexander Technique
I don’t know when I decided not take any notice of TV news. Nor do I remember when I consciously avoided reading the daily papers, but it was before the days of the internet. I imagine I was in my late teens. I just didn’t want to know how bad things were.
As I therefore knew less about the world at large, I marvelled at how my maternal Grandmother kept up with current affairs. One phone call got me up to speed. I am sure it kept her keenly aware into her 90’s and also extremely grumpy.
Despite an aversion to bad news, I did develop a liking for the Scottish Post as they seemed to be more about good-news stories. Their cartoons like the mischievous Oor Wullie and the family life of The Broons made for a hilarious treat. I now love a very un-PC paper for its brain teasers and TV guide, but my love of newspapers and bad news in general (isn’t it almost always bad now) and current affairs, ends there.
Maybe you feel this sense that most news reports are bad news?
Nowadays I can’t avoid death, destruction, vandalism, global warming, not global warming, air quality, plastic floating islands, mass extinctions, deforestation, wars, starvation, discrimination and on and on. As a result, I find myself being pulled into a state of irritation and anxiety. Like a nagging tooth pain, for which there is no cure. The internet, and particularly social media, seem to have got to me in ways my paper/TV news avoidance could not. Perhaps a remote cave might help, but I enjoy being in and of the world. So, I can’t avoid knowing some of the heartbreaking news we are bombarded with from all sides, today.
At times I feel like Chicken Little, crying out that the sky is falling in. Except he discovered it wasn’t falling in, and that all was well. My conclusion is that we are finely balanced at a point where we don’t know whether the sky will fall in or not.
My news avoidance does not mean I don’t care. My nuclear family do try to save the planet in their small way. I am also grateful for the ordinary things in life and to the extraordinary people whose work brings light to my darkness and positive things into my awareness. The Alexander Technique, is as always a bedrock in my life, as it does help with this tooth pain and minimise my inner Chicken Little.
Here’s something Alexander-ish that’s helping me to calm my thoughts and accept all the messiness and uncertainty.
You might read and say the words and phrases, below, to yourself or
you can listen to me saying them via the MP3, available on You Tube.
These thoughts change how I feel. Each idea would describe learning the Alexander Technique or how it feels to be truly immersed in its effects. It helps settle my anxieties. Invite the words to work with you. It may help you too?
Find yourself a comfy spot. You may be laying down with your knees bent, head on books, or resting gently back on a chair.
In your comfy spot, do nothing, absolutely nothing. Give yourself permission to do nothing.
Sit dear heart and rest.
You may notice thoughts and feelings tossing you in all directions but observe them and let them be. Choose not to follow their path.
Let go of all the doing, trying and striving. Oh! The endless trying. Feels great to let it go, doesn’t it?
Be.
Be, here, doing nothing.
Begin to notice your breathing but don’t try to do anything with it. Open up the possibility of giving up control.
Be willing to not know where this is going.
No need to anticipate what will happen next. Just for a while be rudderless, no landmarks, nothing to guide the way. Nothing to achieve.
Stop.
Where you are going is unrecognisable. Yet part of you already knows you are not going anywhere. It will be such a non-event from here to there.
Trust.
Be still and wait. Feel how liberating the release of seeking is.
Let information come to you. Sounds, sights, sensations, vibrant life goes on.
Rest.
Release the habit of wanting to control, to know what will emerge. Decide not to do a single thing. Decide to be perfect just as you are.
Wait.
Wait without waiting for anything.
Nothing matters here in this void as nothing is matter. Permeate into this nothingness that is everything.
Nothing to seek as everything is already enough. Everything is here in the stillness.
No desire, just pure expanding awareness, deep in the ocean, where all is still.
Time ceases to be past, future or linear. This is outside time, yet time passes unpredictably. Rest in this limitless, timeless presence.
Rest.
As you move on with your day, presence is always there for you in the stillness. If you find yourself feeling anxious and agitated, remember:
The stillness is always present.
Sit dear heart and rest.
If you fancy finding out how learning the Alexander Technique is like this, book a session!
Jane Clappison
Tel:- 01759 307282
www.janeclappison.co.uk
Goodie bags, fortune cookies and the Alexander Technique
I had expected similar experiences, from person to person, when I began interviewing Alexander Technique (AT) students. What I didn’t expect to find, however, was how wonderfully unique those experiences were, and how the technique influenced all elements of their lives.
What follows are highlights of the first interview.
I have changed some personal details for confidentiality reasons.
Sam is in her 50’s, lives with her husband and children and works in a listening profession. She enjoys being creative, and physical activity such as swimming, running and walking in the countryside.
Sam has had experience of the technique both in individual lessons and group sessions. She told me she sees the Alexander Technique as being about body mindfulness.
Having had her first AT lesson as a teenager she came back to it during a pregnancy. Wishing to improve her wellbeing, and apply AT to this specific event, she discovered it had a huge impact. She found it nourishing, allowing her to use her body in a different way. Also, during the birth she was able to move freely, see vividly, and be comfortable in her own body.
Sam continues to have the occasional individual lesson. She says the whole experience of a lesson is gorgeous, rather like going on a retreat. She leaves a lesson feeling freer, lighter and more present. But the benefit doesn’t end there. It’s like she takes a party bag away with her, which has little things inside, like, for example, scented hand lotion and little fortune cookies.
Between lessons, she can get a treat by taking things out of the party bag. She tunes into her body, opens up a fortune cookie, and reads the saying in it. Even one ‘saying’ helps. Sam feels tuning in and using these sayings are influential and pivotal moments, short cuts to enhance the impact of the lesson. One of her fortune cookie sayings is: let the neck be free.
Sam talked about her party bag analogy further and how she used the scented hand lotion on those occasions when she has stopped taking care of herself. Sam chooses one of the hand creams (from the lesson) which might be relaxing or stimulating and then massages it in to get the effect that is wanted. This supports her self-care between lessons.
From her experience, Sam sees that AT has multiple uses from specific events (like childbirth), or trauma (like a back injury or operation), to being in the moment. She told me she has learned helpful do-it-yourself, AT strategies, to use in all of these situations.
Sam says the overall, long term benefit of Alexander Technique lessons, is difficult to define, but she leads a richer life for it.
Fancy finding out about what might be in your goodie bag after an Alexander Technique lesson? Give me a ring or contact me!
Further individual interviews to follow in future blogs.
Jane Clappison
Alexander Technique Teacher
Tel:01759 307282
www.janeclappison.co.uk