Me and my muscular habits
| Sometimes I’ll hear this from a student: “Darn, I was frustrated to realize that I’ve been tightening my neck (butt, jaw, toes, etc) AGAIN!!” I’m always quick to point out that noticing a habit is a sign of greatly increased awareness (a victory right there) and that awareness offers us the golden opportunity to exercise a different option. Access to other options is exactly what we learn in Alexander lessons, so that we don’t have to keep on being the hapless victims of our learned habits.
But….will those habits EVER go away??? No. They live on in the neural network. It’s not a problem. The more we learn to choose those ‘other options’, the more time we get to spend in a lighter and more open coordination. And the more time we spend there, the more those old habits retract their claws and grow weaker. The ‘neural ruts’ get shallower.
So, even if life converges on me and I’m tossed back into habit-land, I get to exercise this super-power: I can redistribute muscle tension at the drop of a thought! Habits? I got ’em, but they don’t necessarily have me! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As always, I welcome feedback. New awarenesses? I’d love to hear them. An Alexander classic for redistributing tension, if you have a quiet space and a bit of time.
Photo credit: Leap off the dock photo by grace schlitt on Reshot |
This is so helpful! She said, sitting up straighter and uncrossing her legs….
Thank you!
TeeHee!
Awareness is power! And as my tai chi teacher is fond of saying, “Training is the treasure.”
I can relate! What a wonderful perspective to allow to sink into my practice. Thank you for sharing the positive mental perspective!
Thanks, Kimberly!
I remember reading, “Bless your mess” somewhere….I try to do that as a kind foundation for inviting in the other options. 🙂