Putting Alexander Technique Freedom Directions into Practice in the Now

I love my work.
I love when I practice what I teach, and to share my experience.

Here's an example of how I am using my Freedom Directions (see last post), right now, in real-time.

I notice that I'm feeling sad, and I don't like it.
Well.....

Now, I remember that I'm free to feel sad.
And I'm free to let sadness move within me and through me.
It moves me, emotionally, mentally, and physically..... I move.

I am free to move.
I am free to be moved by something I do not understand.
I am free not to understand, and free to simply experience what is happening right now.
I am watching the experience of this body-mind-person.
I am free to let the body take on whatever shape it moves into.
I am free to wonder about it...I am free to think whatever I think about it, and feel whatever I feel about it.  I am free to continue wondering and watching.
I notice that I am breathing freely.
I am free to breathe.
I am smiling....free to smile.
I want to aim up.
I am free to aim up and out and long and wide.
I remember that my body is free because I am free, and that includes my neck.
My neck - this neck that I am aware of - is free.
My head is free to aim forward and up, free from the spine, free to be poised above.
My torso is free to move, to breathe, and to free up.
I am freeing up.
I am feeling happy.
How nice.........

Directing into Freedom with the Alexander Technique

Hi!  I'd like to share with you the new sequel to my first podcast adventure (I wrote about the recording experience in a recent blogpost). These two talks, which are for anyone (but will make the most sense to people who have already experienced Alexander Technique work), are about a new way to use Alexander Technique thoughts to direct our body-mind-person into improved use.  I'm calling these directions "Freedom Directions", as per the great suggestion of my friend and colleague, Robert Rickover, who is conducting these interviews. Here are links to both podcasts:


Part I ~ http://bodylearning.buzzsprout.com/382/112493-an-interesting-new-development-in-alexander-technique-directing

Part II ~ http://bodylearning.buzzsprout.com/382/123626-an-interesting-new-development-in-alexander-technique-directing-part-2


I've written a few posts about freedom before, but these two podcasts bring my ideas together in a more comprehensive way.  I'd love to hear what you think about them, especially your experiences in trying them out.  So far, I've been getting lots of great feedback, and I'm so excited to share these discoveries with others and find that they are helpful!

Another wonderful AT teacher, Imogen Ragone, has also talked about the Freedom Directions in a recent podcast.  Here's a link to hers: http://bodylearning.buzzsprout.com/382/119822-the-power-of-alexander-technique-freedom-directions


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See a real-time example of one way that I put Freedom Directions into practice for myself in my next blogpost:
http://balanceandharmonyat.blogspot.com/2013/10/putting-alexander-technique-freedom.html

Great Thoughts and the Alexander Technique ~ A Daily Practice

I started a new personal daily practice about a month ago.  Every morning, I open up my mind to finding/creating a "Great Thought", which then becomes my personal theme for the day. I've decided to post my GTs here, in case they might inspire you to start your own GT practice. You can use mine, of course (GTs are pretty universal, so they don't "belong" to anyone in particular), but I think finding/creating GTs yourself is potentially a more powerful practice, since it is something that comes from deep inside of you.  That said, using a GT from someone else can work just as well if you let it resonate with the core of you which does in fact "own" the same GT.

Why are GTs important?  Because they give structure and meaning to your day, and bring you closer to what you really want.  I think it's very important to formulate a GT in the present tense, and it's important to formulate it so that you can really believe it (which is why it might be easier to create/find them yourself).

In case you're wondering what a GT has to do with Alexander Technique, I see it this way: AT is about improving our use of the body-mind.  The mind and body are inseparable.  Good thoughts are not just mental - they go hand-in-hand with the well-being of the body, so if you are choosing to think good thoughts, you are using your whole self well; you are going in the right direction.

Where does inhibition fit in?  Inhibition happens when you choose to stop thinking in the usual way for a moment and open up your mind to the possibility of letting a new thought arise.  Conscious, constructive direction means knowing that you want the new thought to be one that will take you into a better use of yourself.

Today's GT:

10/15  I am in the process of strengthening (through the practice of open awareness and repetition) the good thoughts that make me feel happiness. I am free to feel happy!

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts about this post, and - especially - about your own great thoughts!  Share them here, and you are likely to inspire me and others, too!

Becoming Strong with the Alexander Technique

Learning how to be strong....from the inside out.

I used to think I didn't "have" muscles.  I thought I was weak.  Do you know what those thoughts can do to a person?  What you think is what you get.  I wasn't weak, and I definitely had muscles, but I did not experience strength because I told myself those things, and I believed those thoughts.

Do you believe that you are weak?  Do you want to feel strong?

First, you must realize the thoughts you are feeding to yourself, and you need to realize that your body is innocent - it wants you to be right, so it gives you the experience of what you believe, to make it true.  If the body were to talk to you, it might say, "Oh! You believe that you are weak? That you don't have muscles?  Well, I love you so much that I want you to have the pleasure of being right!  I'm going to prove to you that you are weak, and make it true.  I will use my muscles less so that you get a sense of lack of movement and start forgetting the natural range of motion available to the joints...maybe the muscles will even atrophy someday so that you can feel really justified in your beliefs."  And the body will do this, because you are not sending messages to it to counter this process.

You are feeding the body false thoughts, and the body is giving you an experience to "prove" to you that you're right in believing those thoughts.  And then, you FEEL lack of movement and lack of energy and lack of power....so your beliefs are reinforced, and you continue to think the same thoughts - which are becoming true, little by little.

Is that what you want?  What DO you want?  To be and feel strong?

If that's what you want, don't believe your limiting thoughts!  Stop taking for granted that your thoughts about yourself are true.  Question them.  And stop thinking the ones that you don't want to be true. Don't trust how you feel in your body and rely on that.  Rely on your THINKING, and CHOOSE what you want to think!

What you think IS what you get!

1. Become aware of what you are thinking  ("I am weak, I don't have muscles")
2. Decide what you don't want, and what you want (I don't want to be weak, and I want to feel that I have muscles that work and have full range of motion, and strength; I want to be and feel strong)
3. Remember that you are FREE TO CHOOSE what to think and what to stop thinking (you are free to continue thinking those thoughts, or to stop thinking "I am weak, I don't have muscles"; and also free to think "I have muscles; I am strong!")
4. Don't pay attention to feelings in your body that are trying to convince you otherwise
5. Stick to your intention; stop what is unhelpful, and direct your thinking towards what you want, with meaning
6. TRUST your mind-body connection, and have the PATIENCE to keep this up.  In good time, you will start to feel strong, but mostly because strength begins in the MIND, and you are making your mind very strong by practicing this conscious, constructive, self-control.

If you actually do this, you are likely to be amazed by the results.  More and more, you will have opportunities to see that, indeed, you ARE much stronger than you ever thought.  Enjoy!

Image courtesy of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Finding My Voice with the Alexander Technique & Podcast

One of the many things that the Alexander Technique is extremely helpful for is meeting and overcoming challenges, so that at times it seems we are achieving "the impossible".  I wrote a blogpost recently about some of the personal milestones I've achieved in my life with the Technique, and I'd like to write about another milestone I achieved just a couple days ago, which means a great deal to me.

I was extremely shy as a child, always preferring to stay on the outside of a group, observing for quite a long time before daring to join in.  I didn't feel understood by other children, and I didn't feel that they really listened when I spoke to them, so after awhile I didn't bother to speak much anymore.  I knew that I could express myself fully through playing the violin, so I spoke through that instrument instead of through my voice.  Which was great for my music-making, but not so good for developing my speaking skills!  

Realizing that deficit, I took a speech class in college, hoping to overcome what had turned into an unpleasant fear of speaking in public - but I quickly dropped the class when I drew a complete blank on a poem I was supposed to recite from memory.  When I won an award for my violin playing a couple years later from TIME magazine, I needed to give an acceptance speech in NYC; I don't think I spoke more than three sentences, deferring instead to the expression of my recorded music playing in the background.

So....a very surprising and completely unintended benefit from learning the Alexander Technique has been that I can now feel quite comfortable speaking in front of an audience.  I now enjoy teaching group classes (oh, how nervous I was the first time!), and I even speak with ease to audiences about my baroque violin during concerts.  

The latest milestone in this regard has been a podcast interview that I recorded a couple days ago for Body Learning, a comprehensive online resources for the Alexander Technique.  These recordings are listened to by teachers and students of the Technique alike.  Yes, I still experienced some performance anxiety before the recording began, but I thoroughly enjoyed taping the conversation.  

Sometimes I wonder....who is this new person emerging with a confidence and abilities I never knew I had before?  Yes...little by little....I am at last finding a way to express mySelf through my vocal mechanism in addition to the violin.  What a wondrous gift this Technique is!!

Here's a link to the podcast interview, if you're interested.  It's about making good use of our innate free will, but it will probably only make sense to you if you are already a teacher or student of the Technique.  Enjoy!

http://bodylearning.buzzsprout.com/382/112493-an-interesting-new-development-in-alexander-technique-directing

*Image courtesy of Vlado / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

My Personal Successes with the Alexander Technique

To me, the Alexander Technique is a huge help in overcoming life's constant challenges.  So many times in life, I have been presented with an opportunity to do something that I thought was impossible.  But, by staying open to the possibility that it might be do-able, and by applying the principles of the Alexander Technique to that end, I have witnessed seemingly miraculous transformations in my life.  Some of them may seem relatively small to the outsider, but to the person who thinks something is impossible, manifesting that thing into reality really is a miracle.

Today, I feel the need to celebrate some of my life's successes.  Why?  Because life isn't just about aiming relentlessly forward and up into the future, it's also about appreciating and feeling gratitude for what is behind us and for what we have overcome.  Our back is a very important support for our body - just as our past is a support for our present.  Another reason I'm going to look at some of my own successes today (and this really isn't about boasting or pretending I'm better than I am, trust me), is because when we're feeling down and suffering from a bout of low self-esteem (like I am today), it can be helpful to remember that we are in fact capable of fantastic things.  And, who knows, maybe the successes I've had in my life could serve to inspire you to do something that you think is impossible, too.

Some of the successes in my life that stand out for me as pretty miraculous:

Teaching in my studio

1. I remember getting off of the table during one of my first Alexander Technique lessons, awestruck, thinking, "Wow, this is one of the most beautiful professions I can imagine!  My teacher is SO lucky to be able to do this for a living.  I could NEVER do this!!"  Here I am, years later, doing exactly what he was doing that day.

Japanese temari ball

2. During my AT training to become a teacher, I walked by a display-case in the public library, and stopped in my tracks as the display captured my attention.  Inside were dozens of exquisite Japanese temari balls, which are embroidered with elaborate and colorful geometric patterns.  I was enthralled and captivated, and I remember thinking, "Oh my goodness - how amazingly beautiful these things are!  I could NEVER make those!"  But, because of my AT training, my very next thought was, "Hmmm....why not?"  So, I tracked down the person who had made them (who turned out to be the city mayor), and she offered to teach me how to make them for free.  I took a lesson from her, learned how to do it, and made several Japanese temari balls, all of which I gave away.  Here's a picture of one of them.

3. Two weeks before I was scheduled to graduate from my AT training course, I walked out of the class, ready to quit (for personal reasons).  Making the decision to leave and acting on that was as much a landmark success for me as going back the week after and finishing the course to receive my teaching certificate.  That certificate was earned "with sweat and blood", and I am SO glad that I was able to finish!

During our research study with surgeons

4. Less than two years after finishing my training, I was presented with the opportunity to design and implement a pilot study on the Alexander Technique for surgeons at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.  My habitual self wanted to scream, "What?! Are you crazy?! ME?!!  I'm just a little violinist who faints at the doctor's office and never liked science, and you want me to do what?!?!"  But I said "yes", and I did it.  The study was extremely successful, the paper from the study was presented at two national medical conferences, won a prize at the American Academy of Pediatrics conference, and was published in the top medical journal for urology in the world. Now, I am a published medical researcher, being referenced by other authors.  If that isn't miraculous....?

Carnegie Hall, NYC

5. When I was a teenage violinist, I won a competition in Scotland and part of the prize was to give a debut recital at a major concert hall in London.  I never did that recital (because I took my life in a different direction, giving up my soloist ambitions and getting married instead).  But, most musicians who aspire to be soloists dream of performing in recital at Carnegie Hall in NYC at some point.  Two years ago, I performed a piece of music composed by my husband at Carnegie Hall. One of my dreams as an AT teacher was to have another teacher backstage with me before the performance.  My friend and teacher Pedro de Alcantara graciously agreed to my whim, and we had a great time warming up before the concert, getting myself in shape for a concert of a lifetime (although I'm scheduled to do a repeat this November!).  Inhibition and Direction were invaluable aids to the success of that performance, and to preventing and overcoming performance anxiety.

6.  I've always hated running.  I could never understand why anyone would want to run - after all, most of the people I see running around the neighborhoods look like they're about to die!  But something in me was curious enough about why so many people love running to actually try it out for myself.  I wasn't looking for a book at the library, but I found a great one on running for beginners, by accident.  I took it home and decided to follow the 13-week program.  I could barely run for 30 seconds at the outset, but at the end of the program (just a few weeks ago), I could run for an hour without stopping.  To me, this has been a major achievement, and the biggest reward has been that my faith in my own capacity for self-discipline has skyrocketed.  It really seems like I've achieved the impossible with this one!

I love running!

7.  And last (but not least) for this list today...  When my first son was about 1 year old, I accidentally found a book at the library (yes, another library-related success!) called, "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day".  I thought the title was so preposterous that I checked out the book and read it.  I decided to try out the system, and it worked....miraculously.  My first son was trained in (just over) a day, and the second one was trained in three hours.  This success doesn't have anything directly to do with AT, because I hadn't even started taking lessons yet.  But, it's a testimony to finding a system, trusting it, being open to the possibility that it could work, putting aside doubts, and following the steps, one at a time.  No end-gaining, just following the means-whereby.  The Alexander Technique just adds words and awareness to something we can all do: inhibit and direct, allowing things to happen as intended.  And it also adds in the kinesthetic experience of the teacher's hands to give us even more support and clarity of direction. It's extremely difficult to aim forward and up on our own, without the supportive and encouraging guidance of a teacher or a good system.

So, please forgive me if you find this post arrogant or boastful.  There's a wonderful quote I found today, "What others think of you is none of your business," so you are certainly free to think of me whatever you like, because that's none of my business!  The benefit to me is that I feel much better now, after remembering all of these successes and writing them down, than I did earlier this morning.  Even my headache is gone!  (Of course, that may be because of the ibuprofen... ;)

Thanks for reading!  NOW, I would LOVE to hear about YOUR successes, too!  Do you have a success you'd like to share, in which you achieved the "impossible"?  Related to the Alexander Technique or not?  Whether you choose to write about it here or not, I know you have just as many or more than I do in your own life.  It's worth thinking about and looking for them.  Even the tiniest things can be HUGE.  (There's one more success that I didn't mention, but I think might be worth mentioning, because it was a tiny-HUGE thing:  when getting ready for the surgeon study, I had to watch a video of minimally invasive surgery, and I did NOT faint!!  I had to keep telling myself, "Don't faint, Jennifer!  You need to watch this, or the study will fall apart and it will never happen and this is really important... don't faint! don't faint!  inhibit!  aim!  forward and up!!!"  Yes, you can laugh - I'm laughing, myself!  But, the important thing is:  I didn't faint.  :)

...oh, yes...and one of the best ones I really want to mention...just remembered:
I'm finally able to listen to my own music and think, "Yes, it's good enough...for me." That one is really big.  Here, have a listen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prrGTRIkVKE

p.s. Read about my latest milestone related to finding my voice with AT, Sept. 6th  http://balanceandharmonyat.blogspot.com/2013/09/finding-my-voice-with-alexander.html

* Dog on Toilet image courtesy of Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tips for Runners, Based on the Alexander Technique

I've just returned from a wonderful week at the Annual Conference and General Meeting of AmSAT (American Society for the Alexander Technique) in Chicago.  It was intense and exhilarating, and also beautiful, so close to the shore of Lake Michigan.  I learned a great deal, came home with many new insights, and lovely new connections.  Very glad I went (as always)!

I thought I'd jot down and share with you some of the main points I received from Malcolm Balk during a private lesson focused on running.  Malcolm is an AT teacher who specializes in running and exercise.  I'm pretty new to running, myself (I'm just about to begin Week 10 of a 13-week beginner's program - hurray!), so the pointers were very timely and welcome.  Here they are:

Malcolm Balk, center

• Cadence, cadence, cadence! Run a bit faster, to a count of 3, with the beat falling on the up-kick of the heel, not when the foot lands down on the ground.
• There is a bouncing up off of the ground as the reflex brings the foot up, not a pushing off of the ground.  Thinking differently about this can make a huge difference, and everything lightens up.
• Think of lifting the feet up off of the ground quickly, as if you were running on very hot sand.
• Make "circles" with your feet.  (This makes me think of PigPen from Charlie Brown...)
• Of course, the legs don't ever straighten as they do in walking; they always remain with the knees and ankles and hip joints free.
• Knees aim forward, leading.
• The foot touches the ground pretty much flat - neither heel nor ball of the foot lands first.
• Blink and look out in front of you as you run.  See where you're going!
• Arms are not held tightly (no fists), at a slight angle to the body, with the elbows bent slightly out away from the body; hands slightly in towards the midline.  More ease in the arms and upper chest.  Less work!
• Coordinate the breathing with your steps, to a count of IN-2-3; OUT-2; IN-2-3; OUT-2.

Of course, these tips will be most helpful when combined with the general, basic foundation provided by the  Alexander Technique, which helps to coordinate the whole body-mind into a forward and up direction, for fluid, easy movement.

Malcolm has a great book in print, called Master the Art of Running, which teaches running from an Alexander Technique perspective. 

If you're a runner, I'd love to hear whether you find these tips helpful.  Happy running!