Sunday, 31 August 2014
Hello! Welcome to the blog. How are you?
I mean it, and the answer should be important to you. Take a few seconds of outer and inner stillness to check how you are right now
(physically, mentally, emotionally) and to decide if you’re well disposed to
reading this blog.
This
is a blog about the Alexander Technique in its relation to changing
habitual reactions (physical, mental, emotional).
The purpose
of this blog is for you to experiment with different ideas about how to do
things differently, o how not to do them entirely.
My name is Victoria Stanham, and I’m a teacher of the Alexander Technique. I
spend most of my days investigating and experimenting with the ideas I share in
this blog.
My
objective for today is for you to have a new
experience with attention management. I’d also like to offer you at
least one new idea of how to organize your thoughts
that is directly applicable to changing habits with the hopes that it
may answer a question you have on the subject.
If you’re
interested, take a minute to clarify your question. Make it concise and clear.
As
you continue reading, check regularly what effect it is having on your degree
of physical, mental or emotional tension. Try to note if what you’re reading makes you nervous, angry,
calm, confused, or whatever.
Take
also note if you’re attention wanders off topic, and you start reading in automatic mode, without
processing the new information. If this happens to you, stop, breathe and bring
your attention back to the present action. If your attention insists on
wandering to another topic, re-evaluate if it’s worthwhile to keep reading or
if perhaps you should be taking care of that nagging business on your mind.
The ability to monitor
our attention and our bodily reactions to stimuli in our surroundings is at the
foundation for our success (or lack thereof) in any attempt to change a habit.
A
habitual reaction follows this sequence:
1.
I perceive a stimulus (conscious or subconsciously).
2.
I respond with an automatic action that requires no conscious thought.
Sometimes
this is good and useful. Thank goodness we don’t have to reason our way through
every single action we undertake daily. That would be exhausting and very
inefficient!
But
sometimes, we realize that our way of reacting is causing us trouble, and we
may want to change it. This, we soon realize, is not easy because habits are
strong and “comfortable” (however detrimental they may be to our wellbeing).
So, in order
to be successful in our enterprise, we need to learn
to stop before we react, and thus give ourselves time to decide what
response we truly want to give.
The problem is
that we are not always aware of the stimuli that trigger our automatic reactions,
and we only realize we’re reacting in our undesired way when we’re already more
than half-way down the road.
The solution
to this problem is to learn to perceive the signals
that indicate we’re already preparing a response.
Our
responses to stimuli start way before we become consciously aware of them. Our
brains are constantly anticipating, building our responses based on previous
experiences of similar stimuli.
Anticipation
manifests itself as a state that is simultaneously physical, mental and
emotional. It is perhaps easier for us to note this preparatory response in our
bodies (changes in heart-rate, breathing rate, muscle tension, skin or gut
sensations, etc.).
As
we learn to become aware of these anticipatory reactions, we start to have the
possibility of changing them.
And in order
to become aware of these anticipatory responses, we
need to become more aware of our bodies.
How does one go about doing that?
This is where the help of a guide becomes invaluable. If you’ll accompany me, I’ll be
happy to show you the roads I’ve already walked.
So,
in brief, the new reaction that we want to establish would follow this
sequence:
1.
I perceive the stimulus (consciously or subconsciously).
2.
I perceive my anticipatory reaction… and let it go.
3. I remember my purpose.
4.
I re-evaluate my response options.
5.
I decide on one response.
6.
I execute my choice, all the time keeping my greater purpose present and
monitoring my response.
You’ve
reached the end of today’s blog. It’s now your time to evaluate.
Has
your quesiton been answered?
See you next time.
Victoria
Wednesday, 20 August 2014
You’ve
arrived at the blog. Welcome.
Before we begin, let us
take a minute to come to internal and external stillness.
Sit down as
comfortably upright as you’re able. Relax your eyes and your jaw.
Become aware
of your breathing. Allow the air to go in and out without trying to directly
control it, allowing your breathing to be just the way it is right now.
Little by
little we’re going to let go of what we were doing before arriving here: the
previous webpage, what we were reading, what we were thinking.
Every action has a
certain degree of inertia.
We are like
a bucket full of water. We thrust our bodies and minds to and fro, and all our
internal environment (physical, mental and emotional) becomes agitated, like
waves in a storm.
Now we want
to start something new, we’re going to read a new blog, it’s a new action,
distinct from the one that preceded it.
Stopping before
starting something new allows us to give the new action its due space
(physical, mental and emotional)… or to simply realize that we don’t want to or
don’t need to undertake it at all.
Do you
really want to read this blog? You won’t know until you stop, allow the storm
of residual activity inside of you to quiet down, and take a moment to listen
to yourself.
That is why
we bring out bodies to stillness for a moment, and we bring our senses to our
inner environment for a check in. Even though we have brought the bucket to a
standstill, the water inside it takes a tad longer to quiet down and pool.
Bring your
attention to the sounds around you, those at no more than arms length, and then
those a bit further. Take your attention to furthest sound you can perceive.
Let go of that sound and bring your attention back to the space around you. Now
take it into your inner space. Listen for the sounds of your heart, your
breathing, your guts.
Without losing that connection to your inner sounds,
expand your attention up to where you find it adequate and comfortable in order
to read the rest of this blog.
With this act of
stopping and coming back to your senses, you are preparing yourself for
receiving, opening up for perceiving, for taking note of how you are right now
and how you feel about what you’re reading.
You are
already reacting to the stimulus of these words.
If the water
in your bucket is still, you’ll be able to notice what that reaction is.
What wave is
stirring your water? Is it the response you want to give? Is your response appropriate for your desired objective, for achieving that which you came here to achieve?
No response is correct
of incorrect. All are possible and valid. The question is not one of right or
wrong, but one of useful or not for achieving your goal. Does your response
help you or hinder you?
Perhaps your
response is taking energy away from your objective, funneling it instead
towards other needs. Perhaps those needs are valid and deserve to be listened
to and heeded. Or maybe they are just part of an old habit, an automatic
response whose expiration date has long passed.
If you are able to ‘see’
your response to the stimulus, you’re ready to let it go and give way to the
next logical, organic action that is in line with your objective.
Working with the
Alexander Technique is based on this premise. We cannot change what we cannot ‘see’.
We cannot change what we don’t understand. And the first step to changing
something isn’t doing something new. The first step is recognizing what we’re
doing and choosing to not do it any longer, and thus give way for the next
action.
Some day
perhaps, we’ll be able to match the inside with the outside. Bucket and water
will move in such harmony that there will be no separation, no storm. We won’t
need to stop our bodies first in order to stop the water. Stillness will be
part of our movement, and harmonious movement will be present in our stillness.
But we’re
not there yet. Today we’re at step one. Today we quiet the external, to give a
chance to the internal to come to stillness too. And that’s
alright. That’s the first step. All journeys start here.
So go back to your
breathing for a moment. Allow the air to come freely in and freely out.
You’re ready for your
next action. You’ve prepared the ground, you’ve quieted the internal and
external waters. You’ve given yourself time. You have given yourself time and space to decide.
What
do you want to do? What do you need to
stop doing to allow yourself to go in that direction?
See you next time.
Victoria
--
Victoria Stanham, Alexander Technique teacher and Pilates instructor.
I study developmental movement, taking great inspiration from the organic and free movement of the animal kingdom.
My goal is to achieve comfort, efficiency, elegance and balance, both in movement and in stillness, according to our physical, mental and emotional design.Friday, 15 August 2014
You are choosing to read this blog.
Perhaps the
topic interests you; or a friend you trust shared it; or you know me and like
what I write; or you just want to read something to pass the time and the title
caught your attention.
Regardless
of why your’re here, the choice to be here
and read this is yours.
Are you
clear about your purpose? What do you expect to get from this investment of
your time and energy? Are you reading by habit or by conscious choice?
Take a few seconds get
clear about this. It’s important. You’ll soon see why…
I’ve taken
countless lessons and workshops in my life. I didn’t take advantage of some of the
good ones all I’d like to have done; nor did I drop the bad ones as soon as I should
have done. And all because I wasn’t clear what for
and why I was there in the first place.
Why do we go to lessons
and workshops (or read blogs for that matter)?
Because some
limitation is hindering us from enjoying that which
we enjoy doing (dancing, singing, riding horses, taking care of the
grand kids), and we want to help the situation.
Why do we choose a
particular lesson or workshop?
Because it’s
related to our objective (we may be aware of
this or not) and it fits our available resources
(motivation, time, money, energy, knowledge).
How do we know if we’ve
chosen the right lesson or workshop for us?
We can’t
know until we’ve tried it. But if we are clear
about our objective we can evaluate if the lesson or workshop is helping
us go in the direction that we want to go.
Why is it so important
to be clear about our objective?
Being clear
about your goals makes you an active participant
in your learning process. If your ultimate goal isn’t the guide of your
actions, you run the risk of losing focus and
falling into old habits. So ask yourself, is what I’m doing here getting
me closer or pulling me away from my goal?
What if I don’t realize
if I’m moving nearer of further away from my goal?
Take a few
seconds to analyze if your uncertainty is a product of the content of the
lesson, the form and context of the lesson, or both.
1. If the problem is the content of the lesson (it’s not the “take” on the subject
that you were looking for, or the workshop is not about what you were
expecting, or you’re just not understanding what’s going on) but the form
and context is fine, check with yourself to see if you are able to open up
to learning something new.
It may even
be that you’re actually getting the answer you need, but it’s not coming in the
concrete form you were imagining it would come (hence the confusion). If you
have an inkling that this might be the case, suspend judgment until later. You’re
already there, and as long as you’re comfortable with the proceedings and
having a good time, there’s nothing to lose by exploring a new take on your
problem. At the end of the process check with yourself once again to find out
if you actually gained your original goal, or perhaps some other unexpected
goal!
2. If the problema is the form or context in which the lesson
is given (you
disklike the place, atmosphere or teacher, it’s cold, or whatever) but the content
is good, check with yourself to gauge how much you’re able to “stand”
the unfortunate circumstances in order to gain your goal. If the situation is
not all that bad (or it is easily fixable) ignore the slight discomfort and
hold on to what’s good and important for you.
But if you’re
uncomfortable to the point that you’re getting angry or scared for your
physical, emotional or mental integrity, perhaps it’s high time you get out of
there… fast. I’m sure there are other far less traumatic ways of gaining your
end than your current choice of lesson.
3. If the problem is the form or context in which the lesson
is given and, to top it off, the content is not what you hoped it would be, there’s nothing to think about
really, get out of there, go home. Surely there’s far better ways you could be
using your time and energy rather than making yourself stick to something you’re
neither interested in nor liking how it’s taught.
You’ve reached the end
of the blog. This
means that the form, context and/or content of it, wasn’t all that bad. J
Now it’s the
time to analyze, evaluate and decide if it’s worth your while waiting for our
next meeting on the next blog, writing to me with your questions, or sharing
this blog with a friend.
See you next time.
Victoria
--
Victoria Stanham, Alexander
Technique teacher and Pilates instructor.
I study developmental movement,
taking great inspiration from the organic and free movement of the animal
kingdom.
My goal is to achieve comfort,
efficiency, elegance and balance, both in movement and in stillness, according
to our physical, mental and emotional design.
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