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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Causality
Looking in the mirror this morning my attention is drawn away from the shaving soap I am brushing onto my chin to my forehead where a number of horizontal furrows now resemble a rather badly ploughed field. I don't know why this became so fascinating as they've been there a while and have not escaped my attention. I let my face relax instead of raising my eyebrows in simulated surprise at either being alive or how the shaving soap bubbled foamy and thick and white. Or is it just by habit? Why do I do that?
Why do we do anything? Naturally there are thousands of things we 'need' to do during the day, from pressing my shirt, eating breakfast, not to mention all the tasks of work and pleasure that fill our day. But while I'm shaving at the unearthly hour of 5.30am I am furrowing my brow and with repetition of my facial expressions day after day the effects of the muscle activity have created some recognisable features.
My mind jumps to some other situations that can cause concern for some, such as a bad back, stiff neck, painful knees, a skin rash, and how shoe heels can wear away on one side. We may have a situation that needs dealing with, particularly if it's to do with health and so often the treatment will involve attending to the area in question; treatment to the knee, ointment for the rash, massage for the back. But it can be easy to forget that nearly always there is a causality involved in our situation and where we may feel that we've got a problem, it is most likely to be caused by something else. We're just looking at the symptom but as with an iceberg, the visible tip is only 15% of the whole thing.
The skin rash may be caused by food intolerance or stress; the bad back and painful knees may be to do with the way we walk, sit or hold ourselves generally. We are dealing with cause and effect and any amount of just treating the symptom can only give temporary relief if there are underlying reasons for it being so.
Habits can be so ingrained that we do not even know they are there. But thankfully our brain and intelligence is clever enough to enable us to take more control of our situation. We can change the way we do things, stand, sit, walk. We can change our diet. Gradually such changes will filter through our system and become fundamentally integrated into us and healing can take place if we cease to 'scratch the open wound'. We just need the presence of mind to be more aware of how we are doing things. I have been asked as a teacher of the Alexander Technique by some people... "Is it bad for me to type?" Others ask the same about running, swimming and a host of other activities. Clearly there is nothing wrong with any of these activities and they can all be very beneficial (typing lets me complete my blog entry). It is the way in which we do it that matters. If we type with stiff wrists, with our chair at the wrong height, slouched and peering forwards at the screen, over time it's not surprising that we may end up with postural or RSI problems. Other people do not have such problems, and although we are all individuals with our own strengths and weaknesses, it can clearly be seen that there are different ways of doing the same activity that may or may not cause problems.
I look in the mirror again at the flattened out creases in my forehead and think if I cease to do what caused these furrows eventually my skin will replace itself and I'll be wrinkle-free. But I'm not going to have Botox or freeze my facial muscles; I need them to communicate as much as voice and action. Expression is so important in relationships. No, I just resolve not to fix my face and let it be mobile. I also resolve not to worry about it. I look at the laughter lines that lie around my eyes and feel a little different about them. They're OK. Oh heck, they're all OK. There's a life to get on with....and I'm going to have a good day!
:-)
If we change the way we do things, then nature can get a chance of
