Learning always goes on - how wonderful!

I am aware today of how my London feet are not sore anymore, how my ankles are flexible and not stiff. And I am grateful. How did this happen? How did the Alexander Technique help this to happen? 

Thirty three years ago I began my Alexander journey - the journey of taking on board a technique, a technique to give a strong grounding in the Art of Being a Human Being. Singers learn a singing technique, as do golfers, tennis players, actors, learn their technique - they all learn the thing that gives them a strong foundation in the skill in which they wish to enjoy mastery. Yes, we can all 'play a bit' if we want and wish we were as good as the masters, and we can 'just be alive' wishing we had better co-ordination and less pain, but without a technique to support us it will be pot-luck. For me the Alexander Technique is the technique for enjoying being human, for becoming highly accomplished in the gift of life. And I say 'enjoying', for that is what it is - the Alexander Technique isn't a stick to beat yourself with...unless you choose to make it so, of course! 

What did I learn? Firstly I learned through my teachers' hands to become aware of my body in a completely new way to the one I had then which was only from pain messages. His/her hands brought my attention to different areas as they moved around my body. Their voices conveyed knowledge to me about many things; what I was doing and where, what attached to what and why, how the body was designed so beautifully, things to think that assisted me to let go of holding patterns, words that helped me to see that what I thought was what I got, words that opened my senses to what was really going on as opposed to what I thought was going on. And on from that, what I thought was meant to be going on - which was frequently well off the mark!

As time went on I understood my body better - not how it 'should' work, but how it was (or wasn't! working. Then a completely different sort of 'should' came into play; the one that was appropriate for this moment right now. And then the next now, and then the next, because I was able to stay present to what was happening as I carried out my daily activities. And from that presence, I was able to see when things were slipping back into, or I was making new, habits that weren't helpful. I wasn't 'wrong' according to any perceived rules of the Alexander Technique, I was just able to now use choice. I was able to "Get what I liked instead of having to like what I got" in my comfort levels in my body. (Later this spilled over in my whole psycho-physical-emotional-spiritual being, but that's for another time.)

This is what has been with me these 33 years, and not just because I am a teacher, but because I remain a happy student; ever learning empirically as I use the Alexander Technique in my life. This is what I have with me at all times, as do all students of the work, if I wish to use it, of course! And I do; it is right there 24/7, just 'there', not invasively, not judging me (unless, again, I make it so), a kind and observant friend, there to support me whenever I ask. What had happened in London recently was that I had been busy with things I chose to allow to stress me slightly, (broken down car, extremely cold weather, and many hard London pavements!) and I took my friend the Alexander Technique for granted. It was always right there though, and as soon as I woke up and brought my presence back to the moment, there it was with the answer. As ever, allow the body to function as it was so beautifully designed to do, and all will be well. I allowed my feet to bend again, to flow, to roll over the ground just as the bottom of a wheel does, and I allowed my knees to soften forward a little more, and hey presto my ankles simply regained their full movement. Nothing needed a label, nothing was 'wrong' with me, nothing bad had happened, I had just dozed off inside and ignored my friend. 

If this story helps just one person to see that the Alexander Technique is a 'friend in your pocket', one that has many, many answers for you many times in your life, as it has for all of us that use it, then it's been good to post it. Because from learning this work, you have been led to your own personal 'rightness', the one I wrote about yesterday; your own presence in each and every Now. Right there - here - is where things change. We just have to agree to pause, to suspend our habit for a moment. And although there are many way of welcoming us to the enjoyment of the Now, this work has treasures galore for you to employ whilst you're there, ones that allow the body to let go, to lengthen, to soften, to melt, to de-frost into being more open, more vibrant, more resilient, more confident, and more and more Who You Truly Are.

It may seem an odd way of putting it, but aside from the ease, I really do feel far more 'Me' with soft feet and ankles than I did when I came home from London! So, even though I have taught for 30 years, of course my learning goes on; mastery of anything has a wonderful ever-increasing boundary. No master of anything ever gives up returning again and again to their technique. But it's a journey I am honoured to be taking, and an honour to be able to share with you.