The Fabric we are Made Of and the Garment we Become

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.

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.

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. 

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”.

The more we choose the same paths over and over, the more they become a part of who we believe we are, who we “feel” 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.

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.

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.

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Change is Bred in a Context

A blog about the importance of giving yourself space 

Hello. Nice to see you here!

Today I’m starting a new series of blogs in which I mean to elaborate on the 6 principles that I work from.

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.

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.

We’ll therefore talk about the Principle of Context and Content.

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.

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.

Ready? Great. First the theory.

Principle of Context and Content:

Context determines your experience of the content.

This means that how you do something has a direct influence on how you live it. In other words, the conditions in which you perform the action are fundamental to your opinion of said action.

In terms of your body-mind, context is determined by space.

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.

It’s quite different to make a decision when you give yourself space for thought, than when you’re hurried.

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.

Minding the context does not mean ignoring the content; rather it means giving the content the best conditions for its manifestation.

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.

Coordinating your context is the first step in every action.

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.

Enough theory, let’s get practical.

But first, let’s move a bit, shall we?

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.

Great. Let’s move on.

Today’s practical bit has 2 components:

1. Creating a Safe Space.

2. Stopping and Remembering Myself.

1. Creating a Safe Space.

a) Physical Space:

The place where we perform our activities is importante for our sense of confort, security and freedom. All our senses are involved in this.

- Look around and check if what is in your visual field is pleasing to your eyes. What about the sounds? And the physical sensations? Smells? Company? Adjust whatever you need to feel safe and at ease.

b) Body and Mental Space:

Your skin, your muscles, your bones, your organs, 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:

- 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.

- 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.

- Alternatively, try out some of the self-observation exercises I give in this blog, or this one.

Your thoughts also have a quality and consitency, get to know them and note their effects in your body.

- An excelente practice to discover the workings of your mind is to try a simple mindfulness meditation, following your breath.

c) Personal Space:

The space that surrounds you is also part of your personal space. It pays to recognize it and inhabit it.

- Notice how it expands and contracts depending on the circumstances. What determines its expansion or contracting? Can you do so voluntarily?

- If you are sitting, note how you can integrate the chair to your sensory system and “feel” where its legs touch the ground.

- 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. How far can you “feel”?

d) Shared Space:

We share our spaces with living and non-living things.

- Note how you react when something or someone comes into your personal space.

- Note how others react when you invade their personal space.

- Note if it makes a difference when permission to share space is requested and granted, both in yourself and in others.

- 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?

- 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.

2. Stopping and Remembering Myself.

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.

Returning to yourself is returning to your inner and outer spaces, it’s creating space for yourself and being aware of it.

Returning to yourself is how you take care of your context, so that your experience of life’s contents is as enjoyable as possible.

Well, that’s all for today.

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.

That’s better. As usual, any doubts, questions or comments you are welcome to leave them in the space for comments below.

Let’s breathe together one last time. In… Out… Ah!

Thanks for stopping by.

See you next time.

Victoria

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Is Knowledge of Anatomy Necessary for Postural Work?

A blog about why some anatomy basics are useful in coordination work.

Welcome to the blog. We’re starting right away, so get comfy to read.

Let’s breathe fully and deeply once together, just so we’re both on the same page.

Ok. Let’s start.

Today’s blog will try to explain why I believe it’s important to know some basic anatomy in any attempt at trying to correct postural issues. I’ll be happy if by the time you’ve finished reading you are able to recognize anatomical knowledge as something alive, in constant development, something that grows from evolving ideas and sensory information.

What attracts you to the study of anatomy?

To beging with, let’s recap the paradigm from which we’ll look at the issue.

Unity: we learn with our mind and with our bodies, and we consider the body as an integrated whole.

Use-Function-Structure: we look at anatomy (structure) in relation to what function it performs, remembering that our use affects both.

The Coherence in our Design: everything in our anatomical design has a reason for being there.

Interferences to Accurate Perception: 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.

How above What: 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.

The force of Habit: Old ideas die hard, like weeds… they come back again and again every time we let our guard down.

Let’s now consider why it’s a good idea to study some basic anatomy.

But before moving on, yawn and stretch. 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.

Great. Let’s continue.

Does knowing anatomy guarantee I’ll have good posture?

No. 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.

What’s the use of studying anatomy then?

1. Good posture is a matter of coordination. 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, you need to be able to feel where your different body parts are and what they’re doing in relation to each other. And for this you’ll need to know your most important bits and how they feel.

2. 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.

Even if you rank among the naturally well-coordinated, it’s not a bad idea to know how you’re doing it, for the following 4 reasons:

a) In case you lose it and want to get it back.

b) In case you get stuck in your progress in any physical discipline you practice.

c) In case you want to explain or teach someone else how you do what you do.

d) To open yourself up to other possibilities and choices you may not imagine you have.

Our bodies are fascinating universes waiting to be explored.

This is all for now.

See you next time.

Victoria

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Why you're finding it difficult to correct your posture, and 2 keys to ensure your success

“I’ve got a slumping habit.”

That sentence is missing some information.

A habit is a pre-set response to a specific stimulus. Slumping your spine is a response you’re giving to what stimulus?

What is this stimulus? Why did you slump the first time? Was it a physical (pain) or emotional-mental (fear) stimulus?

Perhaps the original stimulus is no longer there at all.

But, from that first time you used curving your spine as a response, to the present day, you’ve repeated the gesture so many times, that is has re-calibrated your inner compass, and your “feeling” of being “straight”, your inner map of having the bones of your skeleton aligned, has nothing to do with what true alignment really looks like.

Whenever, and for whichever reason (esthetic, pain, functional), you decide to return yourself to a truer sense of alignment, your first big challenge is going to be re-calibrating this “body compass”.

Why is this a challenge? Well, because the new alignment will “feel wrong”. Even though it will be more comfortable, lighter on your joints, and coupled with a wonderful sense of occupying all your available space, it will just not feel like the “real-you” at first.

¿How can you re-calibrate this inner sense of alignment?

You’ll need 2 things.

1. Someone or something outside of you that can give you necessary feedback for the re-calibration of your compass.

2. Application and experimentation in your daily life of your discoveries.

External feedback: If your feelings are off-target, then you cannot trust 100% in what they are telling you… That is, you cannot trust your interpretation of the info they are giving you. You need to learn how to more accurately interpret the sensory feedback you are getting.

If you have ample time, patience, and the soul of a detective-scientist, a mirror may be all you ever need. Mr. F.M. Alexander went that way, and that is how we have the Alexander Technique nowadays.

But if you are lacking that Victorian discipline, then the quickest and more practical alternative is to get yourself a teacher. The best part about getting some outside help from a teacher is that you have more avenues of feedback than the purely visual feedback a mirror offers.

A teacher can also give you:

a) bodily information through touch and movement;

b) aural information through the use of sounds and voice;

c) conceptual information through anatomy, philosophy, physics or any other body of knowledge, that can help you organize your ideas about your body, your balance and your movement.

Experimentation: Habits are strong and it is difficult to realize that we’re using them constantly. If you are decided to work on your posture and alignment, and you already have new feedbakc to work with, you need to start using it in self-observation.

Your answers will come in 3 stages.

First: You won’t even realize that you are slumping until something external to your bodily calibration tells you (a mirror, a crick in your neck, a reminder on your phone to check your posture). The impulse that leads you to slumping is still happening outside your conscious awareness.

Do not despair. The good thing is that you are becoming aware on a daily basis of how much you slump, and now you have the tools to do something about it. Give yourself your directions, re-align your structure, give yourself some space. Repeat this as many times as you are able to remember throughout the day.

Second: You new challenge is now to catch yourself earlier in the slumping process. Perhaps you need to set yourself more memory-aids (mirrors, alarms, post-it notes), anything that will remind you to scan you body for slumping tendencies.

The more you get into the habit of scanning yourself regularly, the earlier you’ll start catching yourself when slumping is starting to occur. This can give you the chance to practice stopping before being completely collapsed.

As an added bonus, all this periodic and regular releasing of unnecessary tension is in itself re-calibrating your sensory compass. You’re getting better at telling when tension is accumulating in places where it shouldn’t be.

Third: Your challenge is now to recognize what stimulus is tipping you into slumping-mode before the slumping appears.

This requires more self-knowledge, but since you’ve been practicing self-observation in the second stage, you’re well prepared to tackle this new stage.

This is the truly interesting phase of the process. It is this stage that really tells us a lot about ourselves. When you become an avid detective intent on catching the information your body sends as it is sending it, you start discovering fascinating stuff about yourself.

With time you’ll start to note all type of bodily sensations (tickling, tingling, expansions, contractions, changes in breathing, etc.) that give you a heads-up as to what your forthcoming reaction will be to the person, situation, thought or even weather-conditions you are facing. And all of this before you’re reaction has become a full-blown affair.

So now you have the option to stop before the habit-tsunami takes control of your reaction, and adjust your response to what is most effective for you and your goals.

This week’s challenge: Catch the Feeling!

If you already have the basic guidelines on how to align yourself without tension, then this week I invite you to observe the process of giving in to your impulse to collapse.

 (If you have no clue about what guidelines to follow to re-calibrate your inner-compass I reccommend you try my 4 introductory lessons or contact an Alexander Technique teacher in your area).

Simply give yourself your directions and get on with your day. Check to see if you can catch yourself earlier and earlier in the process of slumping, noting what thoughts, feelings or situations are those that tip you over.

If a “beter posture” is your end, then all your answers are in the means-whereby you reach it.

See you next week.

Victoria

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The reason why articles on “how-to” perform exercises are useless to you right now… and how to make them useful again.

The internet is full of articles on how to do and how to improve your execution of almost any exercise.

Want to improve your posture? Search for “posture exercises” on Google. Want to tighten up your core muscles? Search on YouTube “core exercises”. Want to learn how to do barefoot running? You search for “how to start barefoot running”. Etc.

Image from Yoga Journal

Even I had thought of writing today a guide on how to do isometric abdominal exercises (planks) without tension (they’re in vogue apparently… all my students ask me to teach them those… they even came out in the last edition of Yoga Journal).

But if identifying what you want to change (e.g. posture), and googling what exercises remedy the condition were enough, we’d all be set for life (and a whole lot of teachers and coaches would be out of business). However, not one of those articles or videos will help you see why it is that the exercises should work but actually don’t do so fully.

Therefore, before starting to fill the cybersphere with even more how to articles, I want to clarify what you need to know before you read another how to article on specific exercises. Only then will you be able to take advantage of the invaluable information floating around the web.

It all starts with your BodyMap...

Body-mapping is your ability to know how and where your different body parts are, and what they’re doing at any point in time. Your ability at body-mapping is at the base of your ability at controlling your body movements with any degree of precision.

For example, if the instructions for doing a correct ab-crunch call for, “keep your neck long and relaxed”, it isn’t taking into account the fact that you and I have different definitions of “neck”. Therefore, when we “relax our necks” we’ll relax slightly different parts in slightly different ways… and when it comes to your body, accuracy in your body-map makes all the difference in the precision of your movement.

Much of what you believe about how your body is designed, and where you feel the different body parts articulate with each other, could be sabotaging your success and creating unnecessary tension, wear and tear.

Learning to tune up your sensory appreciation, that is your mental body map, will give you the strategies to develop a precise control of your body. That fine control will make you more efficient in your energy usage. And that efficiency will give your more strength, power, and stamina to use in what each exercise or movement really requires of you (and not misuse your energy in tensing muscles that little have to do with the action at hand).

In order to start tuning-up your body map, you need to know which key parts are missing from it today.

The way to improve your body-map is first to discover which bits and pieces of the map went MIA.

Self-knowledge is at the base of sensory appreciation.

Become and impartial witness of your own Self.

You need to become the subject of study in your own investigation. Any teacher can give you a bunch of tips and experiments on how to explore how your body feels. These exercises will be based (at least we hope so) on their own experience in the area, on things that have worked for them and they share with the intention of helping you on your journey. However, the only data that will be really useful to you is that which you collect yourself from your own investigations. Use the examples from your teachers as a basis for your own investigations, but you need to discover what works and is true for you.

So, it’s all very well with words but, for this information to be really useful to you…

DO SOMETHING CONCRETE WITH IT: Choose your first area of investigation in your BodyMap

Choose a space in your body to observe and study this week. Keep it in mind during your workout routine, or while you walk, or during specific times you assign during the day. Put a reminder on your cell phone, or a post-it note on your laptop, to remind yourself to periodically stop and observe.

I’ll give you some suggestions and areas I work with my individual students:

• The space occupied by your bones: There are some key bony structures that are worthwhile to know where and how they are.

If you choose this challenge, I suggest you observe your sitting bones. The sitting bones are those two protuberances you feel under your bum when you sit. Try feeling them when you’re sitting and check to see if you favor one or the other, if you tend to sit with them rocking back (almost as if you’re sitting on your coxis bone… ouch!) or rocking forward (almost on your pubic bone… ouch too!). Rock on them (their shape is rather like a rocking chair) and notice what effect that has on your column. At what point in the rocking motion does your column seem to be the straightest? What happens to the contact of your sitting bones on the chair when you cross one leg over the other? Do you sit with both sitting bones on the same line or is one further forward or back? Try walking with your sitting bones and feel what that motion does to your whole torso.

• The space in your joints: A joint is the place in your body where two bones meet and the forces travelling through them can change directions (e.g. the knee, the hip, the shoulder, the elbow). For bones to move and change their orientation in space there has to be space in the joint.

If you choose this challenge, I invite you to observe your shoulder joint. The place where your humerus (the upper-arm bone) and your shoulder blade meet is actually your armpit. Learning to release the muscles that make up that space is key to creating space for the movement of that joint, and to reduce tension in your neck, shoulders and upper back. I suggest you try the box exercise I explain in this article. Do you notice any change in the tension in your neck, shoulders and upper-back? Do you notice any difference between the placement of one shoulder with respect to the other after releasing one of you armpits?

• Spatial relationships between body parts: You can think all sort of lines that relate one part of the body to another, and take note of how those spaces adjust during movements.

One possible space relationship to observe is that between your sitting bones, o between one armpit and the other (the line across your upper chest). With my students I use a whole series of lines that connect the body and allow for it to expand, release and integrate, without traces of undue muscular tension.

Take your time

Any personal change requires 2 types of time.

One of them does not depend on you. It is the chronological time in which change occurs … change is after all a movement in space-time. There exist no instantaneous changes. Therefore: give Time time for change to occur.

The second type depends solely on you. For change to occur at all you have to do something to catalyze it. The simple act of consciously observing your inner spaces will start this chain reaction that will result in a change. Therefore: take time to observe yourself to help change to occur.

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See you next week.

Victoria

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The #1 Key to Falling Back In Love with Physical Exercise & 5 Ways to Keep the Romance Going

Image by WikiImages

Change your perspective and your expectations.

Take a minute to consider what your relationship to exercise is founded on.

Why are you in this relationship to begin with? Your weight? Long-term health benefits? Beacause you have to exercise (everyone else is doing it)? Does the doctor (or your mother) say you should? Scrap that.

As with all relationships, the clue to real love (getting to the point where you “miss” it when you are not together), is enjoying spending time together. You need to learn to enjoy movement for movement’s sake, for the pure joy of feeling your body moving.

Stop thinking about what it could do for you long term: What does it do for you now?

Do you feel happy after moving your body? Limber & looser? Freer? More powerful? Does it clear your mind and your worries for a while? Is the world a better place after spending some time with your moving body?

If all you focus on is the long-term benefits, and you can’t see what it is already doing for you today, you will take all the joy out of your relationship. Start living your relationship in the present. Go back to why you like to move, not what it can give you long term.

Stop thinking so much about what It should be giving You: What can You give It?

As with all relationships the best you can give your partner is your full attention. Learn to read your moving-body’s nuances of tone, its changes in inflexion. Delight in the sheer pleasure of your body pounding, shaking, jumping the stress and tension out of your mind, body and soul. You can both then bask in the post-workout glow.

5 ways to apply this advice right away

1. List the reasons why you DO love to move. Refer to it often.

It’s good to remind yourself what it’s REALLY all about, for those times when going gets rough.

2. List the forms of movement that you DO love to engage in.

When going gets rough, there has to be a foundation of love to fall back on. Do not expect to love your workout routine tomorrow if you never loved it to begin with (or worse, if you hate it). Find yourself an activity you really enjoy doing and stick to that for now.

3. Start learning some basic body mapping. Apply it during your workouts.

You can try being aware of your feet, or your armpits, or your neck, during movement. The point is to start really connecting to your moving body, to learn to be present in the moment and in the movement. All true joy springs from this fountain.

4. Start researching possible places where you can go on workout dates.

Decide if you want to have some alone time on your date (perhaps a leisurely walk or run along the beach or a country trail… you can take the dog too), or you’d rather party with friends (a dance class, a pilates class, a yoga class, a functional fitness class, a tennis match… so many options, you can pick your party-style).

5. If your relationship is in real tatters, get some professional help.

A good teacher or coach can make all the difference if you find yourself hating your time together with your body during your workouts. What you need is to learn each other’s language. Only then will you each be able to communicate more clearly your needs and delights. An Alexander Technique teacher can help you get back in touch with what your body is feeling, with how to communicate clear directions to it, and how to grow together towards your true potential.

Let me know how it goes in the comments.

See you next week.

Victoria

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If you’d like to know more about how to get your relationship with your moving body back in shape, check out what my work is about or contact me.

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