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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Expert in ourselves
One of my clients who has just had a few lessons in the Alexander Technique made a very astute comment yesterday. He said that all his life he'd been trying to be expert at the various things he does, from his specialised work in finance to his passion for tennis. But now he realises that although he has success in a number of fields he is not expert in how he uses his body, from a postural point of view. He has let his body work automatically and has trusted that it wouldn't let him down. In recent years though, he has had a very bad back and has decided to address the problems.
He now sees it as really important that he becomes more expert in the 'use of his body'; to have more control; to understand how it's working and how to look after himself. He wants to make the most of himself and avoid recurring problems in the future. I thought his comments very insightful and perceptive.
It's probably a truism for most of us that we take our body for granted, yet we put enormous demands on ourselves. Unlike other creatures in the wild which have a more athletic and altogether more physical existence, where movements are varied with few repetitive actions; we live in quite artificial environments where repetition of tasks form the bulk of our daily activity. Take for instance sitting at a desk for ten hours; that is no mean feat and you wouldn't catch any other creature doing it! Sitting in chairs for long periods is most unnatural, where our physique is far more developed for movement, and we work at a keyboard for hours hunch over a desk, or at home working at a kitchen worktop for a few hours, doing the ironing, cutting the lawn, sawing wood, driving a car. We also walk mostly on flat surfaces which is most unnatural (uneven terrain is far better for our feet and ankles as our balance and footfall changes with every step, varying the wear on our joints and use of muscles).
If we expect so much from ourselves, and why not too, then it makes a great deal of sense to make sure the body that needs to do the job is in the best working order; if it were our car then clearly it needs a yearly service and MOT certificate to be on the road. Well, we're not going to get an MOT for our body, but it makes sense to use it efficiently. While driving a car with a manual shift, you wouldn't crunch the gears every time you change; you use the clutch. Or you wouldn't over rev. the engine unnecessarily, or skid on every corner as it wears out the tyres etc. But we are doing such harmful things to our body all or most of the time, and we don't even know about it. Our habits are so much a part of us that we are oblivious of them.
It makes a great deal of sense, to have a little more awareness of 'how' we are doing things to ensure we do not create unnecessary wear and tear. We will live longer and healthier as a result.
Things we should be aware of are:
1. Avoid unnecessary tension or strain; use less effort in your muscles; the task will get done just the same, if not better. (Don't grip the steering wheel, or spoon when stirring a drink etc.)
2. Be in good balance; upright when standing and when sitting use the chair back for support. If you are sitting upright to type or eat, then be on your 'sitting bones', be vertical.
3. Free your neck from tension as often as you can.
4. Walk freely and upright. Think loose and tall.
As we practice these things, they begin to become second nature; we are changing our habits. Eventually we will be better off physically even when we are not thinking about it. But even after a while at practicing these things, it's still wise to have awareness as often as possible to ensure we are maintaining our best 'use' and avoid slipping into bad habits.
There are many more considerations in terms of improving and maintaining good posture. The Alexander Technique helps us learn a most effective way of doing this and with hands-on guidance from a teacher, we can make the fastest progress.
But even without Alexander lessons, there are lots we can do. Have a little awareness about your posture and you can help yourself enormously. It makes a great deal of sense to be an expert in ourselves, as well as in the other activities we do in life. We are likely to perform better at everything.
