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The Power of Body Awareness in Transforming Daily Life

9/2/2024

The Alexander Technique teaches us that the awareness of our own body can be a profound tool for change. This growing awareness is, in fact, one of the most valuable outcomes of the practice.

At first glance, it might seem simple—just noticing how we stand, sit, or move throughout the day. But the deeper we go, the more we realize how connected every part of our body is to our overall well-being. For me, the journey into this self-awareness has been deeply transformative and it continues to be so, offering solutions and insights that I never knew were needed.

This kind of awareness doesn’t develop overnight. It’s a practice, an ongoing relationship with your own body. Each day brings new opportunities to tune in, ask questions, and explore how we’re really moving through the world. How am I standing right now? Are my shoulders tense? Is there unnecessary tension in my jaw or face? If my right hip is aching, what might be contributing to that discomfort? These aren’t just idle questions—they are the beginning of an inquiry that can lead to profound shifts in how I feel and function throughout my day.

It’s like running continuous diagnostics on your body. Imagine constantly checking in, not in a way that’s obsessive or anxious, but in a gentle, curious manner. These small moments of awareness give us the choice to readjust and find comfort and balance, time and time again. The truth is that life will always throw things at us. We will react, sometimes gracefully, sometimes not so much. We’re all on autopilot at times, trying to get through the day. But there is a huge difference when we bring self-awareness into the equation.

Instead of being swept away by unconscious habits and tension, we have the ability to step back, reassess, and make conscious choices. This is part of the essence of the Alexander Technique—using awareness to bring us out of old patterns and into a place of greater ease and control. By noticing our body’s signals, we can start to unravel the tension and discomfort that accumulate throughout the day. Whether it’s adjusting our posture at the desk or releasing tension in our shoulders after a stressful conversation, this awareness allows us to reset and realign ourselves with intention.

One of the most powerful aspects of this practice is that it shifts our relationship with ourselves. Instead of feeling like our bodies are something to battle against—something that betrays us with pain or discomfort--we start to see our bodies as allies. This shift in perception is liberating. It transforms how we move through our day, both physically and emotionally. Suddenly, we’re not just reacting to life’s challenges; we’re responding with awareness and choice.

Ultimately, the Alexander Technique offers a way to navigate life with more ease, grace, and awareness. It reminds us that we don’t have to live on autopilot, constantly reacting to the world around us. By cultivating a deep awareness of our bodies, we gain the power to make small adjustments that lead to big changes. Over time, these practices create a ripple effect, transforming physical experience, emotional state, and mental well-being.

In a world that often pushes us to move faster, do more, and ignore our own needs, the Alexander Technique offers a refreshing alternative. It invites us to slow down, tune in, and become more mindful of how we’re living in our bodies. And in doing so, it gives us the tools to create a life that feels balanced, comfortable, and aligned with who we truly are.

The Alexander Technique teaches us that the awareness of our own body can be a profound tool for change. This growing awareness is, in fact, one of the most valuable outcomes of the practice.

At first glance, it might seem simple—just noticing how we stand, sit, or move throughout the day. But the deeper we go, the more we realize how connected every part of our body is to our overall well-being. For me, the journey into this self-awareness has been deeply transformative and it continues to be so, offering solutions and insights that I never knew were needed.

This kind of awareness doesn’t develop overnight. It’s a practice, an ongoing relationship with your own body. Each day brings new opportunities to tune in, ask questions, and explore how we’re really moving through the world. How am I standing right now? Are my shoulders tense? Is there unnecessary tension in my jaw or face? If my right hip is aching, what might be contributing to that discomfort? These aren’t just idle questions—they are the beginning of an inquiry that can lead to profound shifts in how I feel and function throughout my day.

It’s like running continuous diagnostics on your body. Imagine constantly checking in, not in a way that’s obsessive or anxious, but in a gentle, curious manner. These small moments of awareness give us the choice to readjust and find comfort and balance, time and time again. The truth is that life will always throw things at us. We will react, sometimes gracefully, sometimes not so much. We’re all on autopilot at times, trying to get through the day. But there is a huge difference when we bring self-awareness into the equation.

Instead of being swept away by unconscious habits and tension, we have the ability to step back, reassess, and make conscious choices. This is part of the essence of the Alexander Technique—using awareness to bring us out of old patterns and into a place of greater ease and control. By noticing our body’s signals, we can start to unravel the tension and discomfort that accumulate throughout the day. Whether it’s adjusting our posture at the desk or releasing tension in our shoulders after a stressful conversation, this awareness allows us to reset and realign ourselves with intention.

One of the most powerful aspects of this practice is that it shifts our relationship with ourselves. Instead of feeling like our bodies are something to battle against—something that betrays us with pain or discomfort--we start to see our bodies as allies. This shift in perception is liberating. It transforms how we move through our day, both physically and emotionally. Suddenly, we’re not just reacting to life’s challenges; we’re responding with awareness and choice.

Ultimately, the Alexander Technique offers a way to navigate life with more ease, grace, and awareness. It reminds us that we don’t have to live on autopilot, constantly reacting to the world around us. By cultivating a deep awareness of our bodies, we gain the power to make small adjustments that lead to big changes. Over time, these practices create a ripple effect, transforming physical experience, emotional state, and mental well-being.

In a world that often pushes us to move faster, do more, and ignore our own needs, the Alexander Technique offers a refreshing alternative. It invites us to slow down, tune in, and become more mindful of how we’re living in our bodies. And in doing so, it gives us the tools to create a life that feels balanced, comfortable, and aligned with who we truly are.

Letting Go Of The Fear of Letting Go

8/17/2024

One of the most common misconceptions about muscle tension is the belief that if you let go, you will fall apart. This fear is rooted in the idea that your body is rigid and fragile.

The reality is that your body is designed to move in powerful ways, dynamically, and in fluid patterns, spirally.

You are made for adaptability and movement, not stiffness. Taking this fact to heart will help you discover your innate ability for balance and support as you move through life.

But if there is a lack of self-trust, you may become fearful that your body will unravel into chaos if you let go of your familiar muscular tension. Holding tight might seem like a good idea, and while this fear is understandable, it isn’t how your body works.

Your body works with dynamic ease and unity if it is allowed to find natural balance with the ground beneath your feet. This balance will enable you to gradually let go of all your unnecessary muscular tension. Your body will automatically know how to do this because it will feel safe. There is nothing you need to be 'doing', but once it's happening your body will find a pleasant, more expansive state, and start to connect with a broader sense of physical ease and belonging.

It is the most practical and liberating learning experience you can have with your body, and one I have been teaching for over 20 years.

Contact me if you like to learn more. I offer free transformative posture consultations.

BLUE LIGHT AND DIGITAL EYE STRAIN

1/30/2020

Do you have unexplained dry, irritated eyes? Blurred vision? Neck and back pain, headaches?

If so, your digital gadgets may be (at least partly) to blame. The results of a new survey released at the Consumer Electronics Show by the Vision Council, a trade group representing the nation's eye care products, shows that most Americans are overexposing their eyes to technology.

Nearly 90 percent said they spend two or more hours on a digital device each day, and many spend significantly more time on them. One in 10 reported spending at least 75 percent of their waking hours looking at a screen. “Our eyes are not built to stare at digital screens all day,” said Justin Bazan, medical adviser to the Vision Council. Adults younger than 30 may be most vulnerable, with 73 percent saying they are experiencing digital eye strain symptoms as compared to 65 percent for all Americans. Women also seem particularly at risk, with 70 percent experiencing problems as compared to only 60 percent of men.

Dora Adamopoulos, a medical adviser to the Vision Council and an optometrist at Eye2Eye Optometry Corner in Alexandria, Va., said in an interview that more and more young people have been coming in to her practice in recent years complaining that their eyes are tired, red, burning or feel as though they have sand in them. "I’m getting the millennials coming in feeling symptoms you used to feel in your early 40s," she said.

Often, all they need is to reduce their use of the devices, take frequent breaks and maybe get filtering lenses. Read more

SLOUCHING AS AN ART FORM OF RESISTANCE

10/5/2018

A recent article in the Huffington Post made me realize how society never talks about slouching posture as a cultural act of defiance beyond the teenage years. But grown-up artist Sarah Lucas does just that, and I like the artistic expression of it. If we don't talk about the devastating health effects of habitual slouching but look at it as an artistic standpoint, we get an interesting new perspective:

".....Defiant slumping dates back at least to 1913 with the “debutante slouch,” a self-conscious craze (documented around the time by the Library of Congress and The New York Times) used to describe women of all classes who walked with their “shoulders sloping, chest dropped, hips slung forward and the knees... slightly bent.” For many, the posture went hand in hand with women drinking, smoking and casting corsets aside; it was something to be medically advised against. For others, it was a signifier of imperfect change, of (mostly white) women finally harnessing defiance, vying for jobs in male-dominated fields and protesting for the right to vote, slouch-shaming be damned.

In recent years, celebrities like Kristen Stewart, Emma Watson and Keira Knightley have inspired tsk-tsking tabloid headlines for their refusal to assume classic starlet stances on carpets. And in case you needed any additional evidence that slouching is a good thing, Jordan Peterson advises against it.

As someone who has the posture of Eeyore holding a smartphone, Lucas’ devotion to slouch life hits me where it aches (in my lower spine). I have only felt shame in relation to my posture, perceiving it as a sign of my indefatigable fatigue and inability to function in even the most basic of ways. I’d never considered that a slouch could be something to be proud of, a way of wordlessly communicating some form of BDE...."

If the above mentioned actresses assumed the slouch habitually OR made a conscious choice to make a cultural statement is still unclear.

It might sound like fun to rebel for one night making a slouchy statement, but assuming such posture habitually can have have huge negative health consequences for you. I would advise against it. :)

Learning To Be My True Self: Review: One Year Of Alexander Lessons With Flora

8/31/2016

by Daniel Norton Luna
"The first time I entered the Walk-In-Balance Center for the Alexander Technique, I came to an "Effortless Posture 101" workshop - to learn some basics to help with my poor posture. I walked away from this introduction to the Alexander Technique inspired to bring reason to my use of the body, to make sense of all my unconscious habits. I signed up for lessons and the process of personal enlightening through my body has since continued.

Reflecting on the lessons from this past year, countless micro-experiences, realizations, and life decisions come to my mind to describe the deep development brought to my life. Yet, detailing those events, ideas, and changes would make little sense without first recognizing how I learned to practice the Technique.

Even so, it would be impossible to describe my growth as an Alexander Student without first and foremost recognizing my Alexander Teacher, Flora D.H. Ojanen, whose skillful openness and compassion shaped the honesty and effectiveness of our work together. Learning to practice the Alexander Technique with Flora has taught me the skills to pause, release and body reasoning, and with the appropriate use of these skills, I find I am on the path to being true to myself and my nature.

....Pause. The pause is a fundamental skill an Alexander student must nurture. It is a relatively simple concept: just stop, pause! Yet, in this skill lies the key to interfering with habit cycles. At the beginning of lessons, Flora would usually ask how I have been. Many times she would come over to me, in the middle of my response, and acknowledge an area of my body that is doing something unnecessary. My neck might be jutting forward, making me push my head back to stay level, and this stress may start in the positioning of my hips, which I am unconsciously pushing forward, or perhaps even my feet, where I am distributing the weight of my body onto my heels - either way! I need to pause. Flora allows me to take a moment to witness the imbalance within myself, to stop what I am doing (responding to her question) to see what I am actually doing (losing my balance).

While the pause brings awareness to habits and tension in one's body, the next invaluable skill, release, eases one into letting go of them. After Flora has me notice the tension I am putting my body through, we work together in letting go of this tension. Especially when first starting to practice the Alexander Technique, easing the muscles I thought were essential to holding me together was a scary and disorienting experience.

It was a venturing into the unknown. Flora's calm voice would reassure me, "You're not going to fall if you let go of your hips; I am standing right here, I'll catch you." Learning to release is an exercise in trust. Through this trust and Flora's honest hands, I was able to experience the ease of balance and uprightness as I had never known it before, In this space, there is stillness, grace and peace.

Who knew there could be so much joy in standing?

After experiencing the spaciousness of one's body can indeed provide, the question arises: how can I maintain this? The final skill, body reasoning, seeks to answer that question, as it encourages the Alexander student to consider their use of the body as they work through every situation Life throws at them. In my early lessons with Flora, I fell in love with the feeling of balance and finding the natural space in my body. Since then, she has shared with me the skill of learning to move in ways that prioritize balance. The exercises were always quite fun and entertaining - I am particularly fond of the time I had to balance a peacock feather on the tip of my finger. At first, I was trying to make the feather stay up through sheer reaction to its movements, which send it even more out of control. From her sage wisdom of feather-balancing, Flora told me: "Let the feather be your leader, follow the feather."
On my next try, I heeded to her advice. I allowed myself to stay open with balance and follow the feather's movement through space: I experienced following balance itself.

With time and practice, I have been able to bring these skills to other areas of my life with the simple, but most rewarding effect: being true to myself and my nature. Throughout our work, Flora would identify (and make me aware of) this process as it was unfolding because I am, before all other labels, simply embedded within this body. The feelings I experience in this body are my own and through keen introspection, I can become aware of the root of these sensations. Furthermore, this awareness creates the opportunity to let go of whatever I am gripping in the moment, to rediscover space where I have kept it hidden.

Finally, this work and these lessons have given me tools and opened me to the process of reincorporating this natural spaciousness of being into my life, in every moment I can bear to face in humble honesty."

Effects Of Printing, Cursive Writing and Typing on the Child's Learning Abilities.

6/16/2016

Early Development of Language by Hand: Composing, Reading, Listening, and Speaking Connections in Children.

A 2006 study from the Department of Educational Psychology, University of Washington (Seattle) showed that Printing, Cursive Writing, and Typing on a keyboard are all associated with distinct and separate brain patterns - and each results in a distinct end result. When children composed text by hand, they not only consistently produced more words more quickly than they did on a keyboard, but expressed more ideas.... See the full study here .

Virginia Woolf and the Standing Desk

6/2/2016

3 Comments

It is said that Virginia Woolf wrote while standing at a desk 3'6" tall because she wanted to be like a painter who could instantly step away from her canvas to get a better view...

She was onto something. Coming up and out of the mental thicket for air, with wide eyes and ears to inhale space and sound, refreshing the senses to allow the emergence of the grander picture...
Beautiful and relatable. Protagonist for the standing desk.

3 Comments

Integrity.

5/16/2016

"Integrity takes long thoughtful walks. When she comes home, her pockets are full of stones and shells and feathers. She is the daughter of a weaver, and she has inherited her mother's sense of texture and color, though she prefers the potter's wheel to the loom. She makes ritual vessels for the local temple. It was through working with clay that Integrity grew to understand that the body is also a vessel, beautiful, sturdy, empty, and sacred.

Integrity loves the intersection where sculpture becomes dance. She has a supple spine and loves muscles. She knows sign language and has often worked as an interpreter. When she speaks with her hands, it is not in grand, dramatic gestures but in soft, subtle movements. Watching her hands dance, we hear stories that we have no words for."
J.Ruth Gendler

Dr. Tinbergen, Nobel Prize Laureate, On The Alexander Technique's Influence On Health

5/9/2016

Check out this video description of the benefits of the Alexander Technique given by Dr. Tinbergen, Nobel Laureate. He devoted a significant portion of his Nobel lecture to talking about F. M. Alexander, the Alexander Technique, and the importance of Alexander's discoveries and the benefits he and his wife experienced from lessons.

Wisdom

3/2/2016

Inquire. What is happening? The path to wisdom is to not look for done answers but for possibilities.

Wisdom wears an indigo jacket. She takes long walks in the purple hills at twilight, pausing to meditate at an old temple near the crossroads. She was sick as a young child so she learned to be alone with herself at an early age.

Wisdom has a quiet mind. She likes to think about the edges where things spill into each other and become their opposites. She knows how to look at things inside and out. Sometimes her eyes go out to the things she is looking at, and sometimes the thing she is looking at enters through her eyes. Questions of time, depth, and balance interest her. She is not looking for answers.

(J. Ruth Gendler)

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Forward>>

The Power of Body Awareness in Transforming Daily Life

Letting Go Of The Fear of Letting Go

BLUE LIGHT AND DIGITAL EYE STRAIN

SLOUCHING AS AN ART FORM OF RESISTANCE

Learning To Be My True Self: Review: One Year Of Alexander Lessons With Flora

Effects Of Printing, Cursive Writing and Typing on the Child's Learning Abilities.

Virginia Woolf and the Standing Desk

Integrity.

Dr. Tinbergen, Nobel Prize Laureate, On The Alexander Technique's Influence On Health

Wisdom

Inquire. What is happening? The path to wisdom is to not look for done answers but for possibilities.

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Inquire. What is happening? The path to wisdom is to not look for done answers but for possibilities.

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