Move more easily through your world! Access your natural coordination, build confidence, and connect the dots between thought and action using the ideas of Integrative Alexander Technique.
Hey Vertebrate!
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Hi Reader! Do you know the phrase, “People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones?” As a child, this was very serious instruction. My family lived in a house with large windows. On some level I knew the phrase included a teaching metaphor, but also, with a child's understanding, I thought the lesson was meant especially for us. We had to be very polite or our windows would break. It can be easy to take metaphors literally, because that's how metaphors work. This = that. Sometimes, when metaphors are used to describe anatomy or behavior, they become instructions to ourselves, like “If my head is a balloon, I better do everything I need to do to float, even if it means walking on tiptoe." We will do—precisely, earnestly—what we tell ourselves to do, even if it’s impossible. Carrying a child’s understanding into our adult lives can be riddled with impractical, impossible, or unnecessary plans, like these clients discovered: 💬 The academic who puts on a thinking cap, which it turns out is quite heavy, effectively adding muscular effort to thinking. Impractical because the effort is a distraction to the mind, defeating the whole idea. 💬 The dancer who moves through life as if dangling from an imaginary plumb line, working all the time to straighten herself to line up. Impossible, because our spines are curved. 💬 The energetic daughter who was told to “keep it together" and experienced chronic tension after decades of pulling all parts of herself toward the center. Unnecessary, because the body stays together without help. This is not an "oh you silly child" kind of idea. The earnestness of trying to do the right thing is quite lovely, really, and maybe these ideas worked for a long time. Not every idea works for every phase of life. The exploratory nature of Integrative Alexander Technique means you get to gently fact-check your understanding of how things work for you, now. It's a way to get to know yourself. Suspect you've been trying to do something impossible? Book a call with me to share what’s going on for you and see how group classes or private coaching in Integrative Alexander Technique can help. Hit reply and say hi! It's always great to hear from you. Here for you, Crispin To sum it up, with links:
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Hey Vertebrate!
Move more easily through your world! Access your natural coordination, build confidence, and connect the dots between thought and action using the ideas of Integrative Alexander Technique.
Hi Reader! How are you doing? An answer I've been hearing recently is "scattered." Back in my office admin days, every so often the computer would get slow, and in the 90’s, that was reeeeally sloooooow. The IT guy would come to my desk, open up a secret window and type in "defrag C:"– system defragmentation – to gather all the little bits of information that were cluttering the system. My very non-technical interpretation of what was happening is that the defrag tidied little remnants of...
Hi Reader! Do you remember playing Simon Says? That game where "Simon" gives you permission to move but also tells you to move without permission and if you move without Simon saying so, you both lose and are humiliated at the same time? Was that game fun? You tell me. Maybe it taught self-control? Compliance? In my memory, it also added nervous system confusion. It’s no surprise, the things we experience as children become part of our very structure, and affect how we operate throughout our...
Hi Reader! Remember this old joke? Patient: "Doctor, it hurts when I do THIS.” [Insert imaginary obviously-going-to-be-painful image of your choice.] Doctor: "Well, don't do that." It’s a silly reminder to treat ourselves better. Don’t do the thing that’s hurting you. Sound easier said than done? Sometimes we can't see other options. A client recently described what it was like to manage the everyday stresses of living in New York City. She said, "When I feel good, I'm up and energetic,...