Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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One thing at a time
With so many things we want to do in this brand New Year, there's a danger that overload causes a jam in our systems and nothing gets done at all. Nikki has decided to cut her new habits down to one a month instead of five a month. Exercise is her focus and rather than pushing for an hour a day, she's moderating it to 40 minutes. And a good idea too I think! This lady is on a mission, and I'm with her 100 percent.
One thing at a time lets us focus on what we're doing, and although multi-tasking is the vogue, I think we'll probably get better results if we can apply our mind properly to the task. If we mindlessly go at exercises by just repetition, we'll end up doing them in the habitual way which may well cause problems or injuries, depending on our postural habits. We can avoid creating problems for ourselves when we are running if we give some consideration to how we do it. Lessons in the Alexander Technique can help enormously with avoiding injury and help us enjoy our sport to the full. One of my colleagues Malcolm Balk specialises in applying this technique to running and has Running tall workshops. 
If we choose to think about the way we're doing it, then maybe we can help ourselves even further. How about if we choose to make less effort as we pull those oars or run the treadmill? What happens if we think loose and free as we run? Maybe we'll use less effort and burn fat instead of turning it into muscle as the more effort we make, the muscles will develop in strength to cope. As we run we can think not only being free but also of lengthening in stature. This will help us be more dynamic and run more efficiently. Little and often is also a good way of proceeding. So instead of blasting away in one long slog then leaving it for a few days or a week, maybe smaller doses of more regularly will increase our abilities, stamina and improve our performance.
