One of my favorite Alexander missions is to ‘fill out my back’.
So what does that mean?

We have a strong tendency to inhabit our front half more than our back half… which is pretty understandable since our world is mostly in front of us.

In front, and down.

We get stuck down into our front half, a lot.

So… Show me the antidote! How can I fill out my whole back?

Let’s say I notice that I’ve gotten pulled forward. Again.
(Insert celebratory moment: I noticed, woot woot woot!)

How about I get REALLY CLEAR about what I don’t want by noticing aspects of my forward-downward-pullingness:

Neck pulled forward;
Eyes narrowing;
Shoulders hunching;
Tension in my belly and legs;
Breathing: non-existent.
The gang’s all here!

And I exaggerate all of it.
Pull more, peer harder, squeeeeze…

Yowzer, I can sure feel that!

Yes, I am now quite clear about what I want: not that. Thanks for the clarification!

Care to join me in inhabiting the opposite of that?

There is no rush. Nothing to get right. Just a peaceful stop.
What am I in contact with? What’s around me?

What would it be like to let any forward pulling ebb away?

I float my attention to the space behind my eyes…
And farther back…

Can my awareness move into that space and open up through the whole back chimney of the skull?

Can my whole neck gently release back?

Can my whole back half open toward the whole back wall, ceiling to floor, all the way out to the side walls?

Hey front half, shall we lighten, widen and generally stay the heck out of the way?

Merci!

Ah, the breath arrives…

My student arrives for his lesson and has clearly been thinking about occupying his whole back space more. “I’ve named it“, says he. “Boris!“

My students frequently delight me.

Welcome, Boris!

Credits:

Kids doing homework photo by Norma Mortensen from Pexels;
Laundry photo by wilhei from Pixabay;
Skull image from sciencephoto.com.

With thanks to Jon C for Boris!