Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE

« Born in the wrong era? | Main | Gaining Lightness »

Familiar as old shoes

As new shoes need 'breaking in' so they become comfortable and do not rub or hurt your feet, and new spectacles or sunglasses feel different on the bridge of your nose, so does my new Waterman fountain pen feel odly strange and not 'broken in'. Constructed of solid brass so the barrel is relatively heavy but lacquered in the most beautiful deep blue that changes in the light and the nib is solid 18c gold, it sits comfortably and balanced in my hand, but as with new shoes, the nib will gradually take on the right shape for my style of handwriting with use and will eventually glide across the paper.

If you were to swap postural habits with a friend so she had yours and you carry her tendency to stoop or sit in a twist it would feel dramatically wrong. How strange do people hold themselves! How can they possibly live like this? Guess what your friend will say on her first day out with your habits...."How strange! How can he hold himself like this?" We would be shocked far more than the oddly new and unforgiving nature of our recently acquired shoes.

But we were not always this way. Indeed as young children we are free of habit and apart from differing in size, shape and proportions at the age of 18 months we are probably far more similar in postural terms than we will ever be later in life. We are akin to lots of new shoes in the shoe shop waiting to be purchased. Once bought, the more they get worn the more different they become. If two of us went to a shop and bought the same style in the same size, in other words, they are exactly the same in the shop; after a few months of wear they become increasingly different so we could not possibly exchange our shoes with each other without suffering severe discomfort.

When we have lessions in the Alexander Technique we begin to lose some of the postural habits that we've acquired over decades, so we regain a childlike free quality that is well poised, strain-free and expansive. During each session changes are happening so we feel rather 'odd' without our stoop or tensions that we've had for so long. Gradually we become accustomed to the new way (which is not new at all but completely natural as we once were as toddlers) and it no longer feels so odd. Then people wonder if they've changed because they feel 'normal'. It's just that their new 'normal' is them standing an inch or more taller in height, more open across the shoulders, less stressed., breathing better and their backache has disappeared. They've got used to it. But with so much less stress and wear and tear going on in their bodies they are likely to now live healthier for much longer and the change ultimately helps us enjoy a better life. Getting rid of habits can feel as strange as putting on someone-else's shoes, but actually much more comfortable in a strange way.

Our old postural habits may be like an outworn pair of worn out shoes and we know they've outlived their best. New ones feel so wrong at first but we instinctively know they will be better for us in the long term. It's the same with our habits; they may feel 'comfortable' but this is probably because our sensory perception is so faulty (because of the effect of our habitual tensions) as to tell us our posture that is harming us actually feels 'comfortable'. Familiarity becomes 'comfortable' but not necessarily healthy. Gradually our sensory perception becomes more accurate.

So my new fountain pen will remain firmly in my hand and I shall desist from lending it to others for fear that the different use, pressure and angle etc of another hand can spoil the nib for my own use. Gradually it will become as familiar to me as an old pair of shoes.....I hope. :-)

My Waterman fountain pen

Posted by Noël on December 3, 2007 4:27 PM | Permalink