One-Minute Practices from Constance

How to use this page:

Choose a practice to read through slowly, and notice your sensations as you bring these ideas into your conscious awareness.

One-Minute Practice: Sitting in Balance

In the Alexander Technique, there is no “perfect posture” into which you should “sit up straight.” Instead, you learn how to use your sense of balance to stop holding tension or slouching. You learn to access your body’s own inner support structure. Postural balance includes toned muscles, aligned bones, lack of compression on joints, and ease of mobility. (Static sitting is sitting in stillness, fixed or collapsed in a position that is rigid or compressed. Most chairs are unfortunately designed for slumping into a static collapsed position.)

Chairs that promote active sitting (Balance Balls, Sissel pillows/sitting discs, or mobile stools) encourage movement and a dynamic postural balance.

But even on a static chair, you can balance upright.

Sense your sit bones on the chair and your feet on the floor.
Let your sit bones rest on the chair as you think of letting your skull go in the opposite direction, up to the ceiling. Allow your neck to release into length, so that your head floats up and you allow your spine to follow.

If you can sense your spine moving upwards from the middle of you, rather than lifting yourself up from the front (chest/ribs) or forcing your back to be straight by holding muscles, then you are on the right track. Picture your spine, with it’s gentle curves. It is very wide and strong in the lower part, inside the pelvis, which is a bowl-shaped structure that can support you in balance on a chair. In the middle, the spine is supported by many tiny muscles deep within you. Visualize, imagine, or sense, that you can allow these deep small postural muscles to do their work, so that the larger muscles of your back do not have do any unnecessary holding. Closer to the top of the spine, the bones are smaller and more delicate. Can you sense that they and their surrounding tissues can be free of tension or collapse?

It does take time to develop these senses and this skill of balance, so practice in increments that feel reasonable to you.

One Minute Practice: Cultivate Peace Within

Being kind even in the face of mistakes other people make is something many of us strive for. But how many of us can be that kind to ourselves?

Being kind to oneself is not only good for emotional health, but good for the whole organism. The tissues of the musculature become softer and more at ease when supported by kindness. Kindness is sustenance for peace within.

Pause right now and check in with your latest self-talk. Notice if you have been harsh or gentle.

Now give yourself a few seconds to sense your body and its weight and your breath. Notice your jaw and face. Can you any release tension there? Notice all the places where your body is touching the chair. Notice the way your clothes feel on your skin. What other areas of your body might benefit from some release? Let yourself soften.

Say something nice to yourself, as you might to a good friend who needs your support.

Try this: “Wow you’ve been doing a lot lately. Even if you don’t feel like you’ve done everything you need to, kudos for all you have accomplished.” Or, “Procrastinating is human. Give yourself a break. Maybe you just need some time to zone out.” Or, “When stressed, we all make mistakes.”

Let the kind words land in your body. Where do you feel them?

Allow your breath to move easily in your torso. Allow your face and jaw to un-do another layer of holding. Allow your head to float easily on top of your spine.

Now, say something kind to yourself that supports a positive attribute.

Something like, “You have been so helpful to the kids you work with.” Or, “You always keep the big picture in mind.” Or, “I appreciate how clear you are about what you want.”

Let the kind words land in your body. Where do you feel them?

Give yourself another few seconds to allow ease and spaciousness in yourself. When you catch yourself being harshly self-critical, allow yourself to be moved by your own pain or suffering, knowing that your experience is part of being human. Give yourself a moment to feel into your body and say to yourself a few kind words.

One-Minute Practice: Doing the Dishes with More Ease

Even a task as simple as doing the dishes can mean bunched up muscles, raised shoulders, and tight legs. Or you could do the dishes with softer musculature, free joints, and balanced mobility. The former contributes to a state of being that is rushed and tense; the latter to a state of ease and spaciousness.

Next time you do the dishes, notice if you are using more effort than needed. Pause for a moment and send these messages from your brain to your neuro-musculo-skeletal system:

I’d like to let my head balance easily on top of my spine. I’d like to use just the right amount of muscle tone for this activity. 
I’d like to allow the joints in my legs the freedom to balance my weight rather than hold me in place as I reach forward.
I’d like to sense my back as well as the front of me.
I’d like to allow my breath to move through my torso in a three-dimensional way, filling out my ribs and back as well as my diaphragm.
I’d like to invite a state of non-hurry into my being.

These invitations to yourself are not pushy demands but rather gentle, clear intentions to un-do excess effort. Because even a task as simple as doing the dish can be an opportunity to practice moving with ease.

One-Minute Practice: Working Well at Your Computer

First, bring your whole body into awareness. Sit on the chair so that you notice the weight on your seat bones, you can let your feet lie flat on the floor, and let your torso balance in neutral over the top of your hips. As you let your hands rest palms up on your thighs, let your hands open and soften. Allow your head to float on top of your long, relaxed neck.

Bring your attention to the head/neck joint—way up high, almost between the ears—and think about allowing this joint to have a little more space. Think about your head balancing easily and delicately. You do not have to hold your head up with your neck muscles if you allow your skull to balance.

Now bring your attention to your breath. Just allow your ribs to move as you breathe—in a three dimensional direction—so that your back ribs have as much mobility as your front ribs.

Next, notice that your skeleton is holding you up, and that you can let your muscles rest in neutral. Allow your arm, shoulder, leg and buttock muscles to rest as you let your bones support you in gravity.

As you bring your hands up to the keyboard, experiment with how little effort is needed. Continue to let your head float gently as you begin working again.