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.
🗣 Let's talk clown and the Alexander Technique
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?
Tune in to your body’s language with this embodiment meditation
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..
Alexander Technique Lie Down to Relieve Tension
The “lie down” is a tool in the Alexander Technique, used to let go of unnecessary tension and practice mindbody coordination. There are many ways a lie down could go. It can be used to prepare for performing or teaching, or to decompress at any time in the day.
3 ways to begin a lie down:
Feel the weight of your body on the floor. Notice the parts of your body that are touching the floor and let them spread out a little bit.
Feel the weight of your head on your head platform. The weight of your pelvis on the floor. The souls of your feet on the floor.
Notice the subtle, three-dimensional movement of your torso as you allow yourself to be breathed.
Check out a sample recording here.
coming home
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?
psychophysical lessons I'm collecting watching my daughter learn to roll over
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!
Can You Learn the Alexander Technique Online?
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?
Bridging the Gap: Mind. Heart. Gut
❓ 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.’
A wholistic look at Jaw Tension
🔺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.
5 steps for working with an Injury
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.