A blog for creators, somatic explorers, and those oriented toward personal and collective liberation.
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As we collectively take in the stories of violence and displacement around the world, tuning into our somatic resources allows us to access regulation which means we can feel and think creatively about flexible and help-giving responses.
Two practices have stretched the boundaries of what I can do artistically and personally. One is practiced in red nose, with lots of emotion, ruckus and play. The other is practiced with conscious touch and embodied meditation, often quiet and mindful.
So what do Theatrical Clowning and the Alexander Technique have in common?
When we rail against the mind-body habits we’d like to change, they sometimes fight back! Like a human being, they get defensive. This doesn't advance the change we'd like to see.
The body prefers to be whispered to, gently held, and wisely understood. If you're not sure how to do that, you could start with this lie down..
For many of us who have been more isolated during the pandemic, we've craved spaciousness, exploration, and stimulation beyond our home, and now find ourselves re-emerging more in public. This experience can be a sensory overload. There is much more potential for nervous system overwhelm, as our attention is pulled in more directions, and we can balance ourselves with practice.
Where do you stand?
You know how I'm always obsessed with developmental movement and babies? Well, now I have one close up. It's messier and more intense than I had fantasized, and it is absolutely fascinating to watch her literally baby-step her way to new skills. Like rolling over, which she did this week! Her growth is gradual, and then quantum, spiraling between OOPS and UGH and YES!
❓ When I was in my early twenties, I felt a literal separation between my mind, my heart, and my gut.
My body would want one thing, my heart another, and my mind another. I felt no integration between the three.
Confused and discouraged, I had a LOT of trouble making decisions.
🌊 Practicing the Alexander Technique gave me tools for finding easy alignment that allows for the ‘flow’ of information across ‘border lines.’
🔺Ever feel like your jaw is trying to hold you up?
🌀The nervous system’s #1 goal is to keep your head from falling in the ground.
🔺If it doesn’t feel supported from underneath, your muscles will tense to great lengths to keep you upright.
If you’ve ever dealt with an injury, you know that it can feel like that injured place never quite recovers, or like our body continues to compensate for years to come. These five steps can help re-integrate the injured part (or parts) back into our nervous system so we can thrive and do the things we love without pain or extra tension.
“Why do some people seem to have the habit of taking really shallow breaths? I don’t feel particularly stressed out, so I don’t understand the possible causes of the habit.”
Structure allows the fire to 🔥 burn
How are you tending to the space in your day, as well as the moments of activity?
Often, when we think of alignment, we think of something very rigid. But everything in the body’s organic. There are no straight lines.
You know that chronic pain you can’t quite shake? Maybe it’s not about your body. This graphic illustrates the factors I've found have contributed to my own physical pain- which ones can you relate to?
What are the weeds we carry in the sinews of our flesh- in our mental, physical, emotional bodies- that inhibit the fullest expressions of ourselves, and sometimes even ‘run the show’ deep beneath our conscious awareness?
There were initially a lot of questions about whether the Alexander Technique would actually translate.
Typically, it involves a lot of touch work. The Alexander Technique touch is intended to help get you out of your habitual experience of your body, and into a new psychophysical patterning. In theory, how could this work without touch?