Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
« Trees under Ilam Rock, Dovedale, Derbyshire | Main | 80 years old and flourishing »
Stiff hips and legs
As a youngster I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, and I won every school and regional race going. I was tops. It occurred to me at the grand and insightful old age of 13 that the looser my legs were, the quicker they might move. I imagined my hips and knees having ball bearings soaked in lubricating oil. And as magic, the looser I thought them, the freer they became. I also thought that they might go faster if I told them to; by not trying harder physically, but by simply thinking. This worked too. It’s only now that I realise that my creative thoughts had many parallels to the Alexander Technique, a method that can help anybody else do the same thing.
It just doesn’t make sense to be stiffening our legs, hips and knees when we’re trying to move them, as the stiffening acts like a brake. Would you apply the brake on a bicycle at the same time as trying to pedal fast? So why do it now? Well, the answer is that we’re human and we get into habits. If it’s our habit to tighten, then that’s what we need to overcome.
The great thing is that no matter how we are at the present moment, we can actually make life better than we’re currently experiencing it. We may be stiff from over exercising, or by injury, bruising, or we may have a more serious mobility problem. But no matter what condition we’re in, it’s possible to get our body working better.
