"run like a monkey!"

Body Mapping

I think that the biggest gains that I have received from this Alexander class has been Body Mapping and how thought affects one's body. These can be the same thing I guess. I think of Body Mapping more as how I think and see in my minds eye, what my body is and how it works. How thinking affects thought is more about how focused, grounded, scattered, or happy I am and how that changes how my body feels.

I got so much out of this class that it is hard to name everything. Up to this post is all that has struck me as significant or important on my Alexander Technique journey. Now this blog morphs into a more general yet personal version of People's Health. Check out the About pages on each to get the lowdown.

Thankful For Alexander

I am thankful for Alexander Technique. I come from a point of view that holds the body/mind connection very highly. Alexander has given me new ways to think about, do, undo, and ultimately not do that connection. It is a journey that I hope to continue. I have been on the journey before Alexander, and I intend to be on the journey after Alexander.

I have learned the very basics and I have seen its influence throughout my life, affecting all areas and levels of my life. It confirms long held beliefs and ways, and it encourages me to delve deeper into what I intuitively know. Now I simply must step out of my own way and be on my merry way!

An evening with Chris McDougall

An evening with Chris McDougall from Terra Plana on Vimeo.

Getting out of my own way

I find myself wanting to revisit an older post, "Who are we really and what are we doing?" Here is an excerpt of what was written there:

• Thoughts and actions
• both useful and not useful
• Notice choices
• Awareness of making choices 
• conscious choices
• unconscious choices 

I can't help but be reminded of Buddhism here and ask, "Who or what is it that is doing all this noticing?" Noticing choices and actions is much like mindfulness meditation. Which leads to the next point that reminds me of Buddhism. 

 "Who or what is it that is doing all this noticing?" 

• Where does mind end and body begin? 
• Are they an inseparable pair influencing and affecting each others functioning? 
• How much does my tense, crooked body affect my thoughts and decisions? 
• How are choices made if my body is overwhelmed and frozen? 
• What choices do I have and how many of these am I actually aware of?
• How much of Alexander Technique is doing and how much is non-doing? 
• What is added and what is simply left undone?
• How will I know to get out of my own way if my choices and thoughts are so conditioned by the habit patterns instilled by a culture of sensory/information overload?
• How will I know to get out of my own way if my choices and thoughts are so conditioned by a "modified startle pattern?"

Backyard Dance 2- candlewood

Backyard Dance 2- candlewood from Gabriel Olivares-Todd on Vimeo.