So... I am often stumped on what to do with strong stimuli. You know there will be something (could be anything) maybe an electronic device, a loud noise, a room, or even a person... whatever it is, it seems to always get your goat. And by that, I mean bring you down both literally and figuratively.
So... how do we handle strong stimuli? Ignoring it sometimes makes the "down" stronger. Removing it might be an option, but when it's not an option what can you do?
One thing I like to play with is "inclusion". Whatever the stimuli, I try to include it into my environment. Accept it. I don't mean I have to like it, but rather say to myself "It is what it is. I am with myself and the stimulus is doing it's own thing. I do not need to take on the negativity I am feeling with this stimulus. I will allow the stimulus to have it's own space while I have my own space and Self.
OK - So, I know this is a lot easier said than done. I'm not saying I succeed a whole lot, but maybe over time this concept will start to sink into my being and become second nature to me. What can it hurt?
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Meade Andrews' Preparing the Receptive Field
I am very fortunate to study under Meade Andrews. She has taught at many of the Alexander residential workshops I have attended and also visits my school, Chesapeake Bay Alexander Studies. She was teaching us this past November and walked us through what she calls "Preparing the Receptive Field". This is an activity that she leads groups through at the beginning of the day or the beginning of the conference. The idea behind it is that is an activity that helps unite the group and focuses the individual on their Self and their surroundings. This activity has taken various modes - but whatever the awareness activity, it helps our sensory receptors to wake up and look around.
This past weekend, we started with the "sacred circle" which means the group stands in a circle (not an oval, not an ameba but an evenly spaced circle). We enjoy that environment for a moment. Next we turn around so that we are facing away from the circle. We check in with our own backs. After we have our own back we sense the backs of everyone in the circle and then turn back in to face the circle. It is amazing how much the energy of the group has changed by this point!! We were really cookin' that morning. Each of us have our own back and we also have the support of the collective back of the group. We take a moment and with no one indicating, we take one step into the circle.
After this introduction, we walked about the room sensing the dynamic of our own back while in movement. We would pause occasionally and come to stillness. Our partners were then allowed to put a hand on our back or shoulder while we paused in space. This symbiotic connection was pretty darn cool. No matter if I was the one with the hand on my back or if I was the one with my hand on the other's back, we both were sensing one collective back.
Another really cool thing that happened was that Meade was explaining this type of connection and she offered her hand to me. I took her hand as if to shake it and I completely felt a wave go through my body. Sounds a little crazy, I know. But what it boils down to is that whatever we have in our hand - be it a pencil, fork, violin etc - we automatically map it to our body. So if two people are aware of this mapping, then one of the results may be this type of tangible wave or energy flow. All we were doing was connecting hands while thinking through our use. Pretty amazing!
This past weekend, we started with the "sacred circle" which means the group stands in a circle (not an oval, not an ameba but an evenly spaced circle). We enjoy that environment for a moment. Next we turn around so that we are facing away from the circle. We check in with our own backs. After we have our own back we sense the backs of everyone in the circle and then turn back in to face the circle. It is amazing how much the energy of the group has changed by this point!! We were really cookin' that morning. Each of us have our own back and we also have the support of the collective back of the group. We take a moment and with no one indicating, we take one step into the circle.
After this introduction, we walked about the room sensing the dynamic of our own back while in movement. We would pause occasionally and come to stillness. Our partners were then allowed to put a hand on our back or shoulder while we paused in space. This symbiotic connection was pretty darn cool. No matter if I was the one with the hand on my back or if I was the one with my hand on the other's back, we both were sensing one collective back.
Another really cool thing that happened was that Meade was explaining this type of connection and she offered her hand to me. I took her hand as if to shake it and I completely felt a wave go through my body. Sounds a little crazy, I know. But what it boils down to is that whatever we have in our hand - be it a pencil, fork, violin etc - we automatically map it to our body. So if two people are aware of this mapping, then one of the results may be this type of tangible wave or energy flow. All we were doing was connecting hands while thinking through our use. Pretty amazing!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Tyranny of Symmetry
Last month in my weekend training at Chesapeake Bay Alexander Studies (in Greensboro, NC) my director, Robin Gilmore, mentioned this phrase - "tyranny of symmetry". I didn't have my note book in front of me so I failed to write down the context of this phrase. But for some reason the phrase has kept swirling around in my noggin.
A lot of questions have been popping up more than answers:
I like applying this to other areas of my life as well... I think finding balance is incredibly important in livig a healthy life.
A lot of questions have been popping up more than answers:
- When is symmetry tyrannical?
- How does symmetry differ from balance?
- Is it possible to find balance (in my Self) when I'm not symmetrical?
I like applying this to other areas of my life as well... I think finding balance is incredibly important in livig a healthy life.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Live in the Tension; Lean into the Ambiguity
Last Sunday, my church had a guest speaker. The main point she kept referring back to was this phrase, "Live in the tension; lean into the ambiguity". Her application of it is talking more about the "unknowns" in our every day life and how they can bring us so much stress. For example, there are many tense-filled moments with my son as he is growing to into his own individual self. His defiance and power struggle with me brings a lot of tension and stress. The speaker's point is that I can live/rest/chill-out in those moments of tension because those are the times that I will meet God. Those moments are inevitable, so why fight & struggle... wasting all of that energy.
The same concept applies to "lean into the ambiguity" - only the context changes. For example, if a student is beginning to fret and worry over what they are going to do with the rest of their life after they graduate... the answer is quite unclear. For any of our questions dealing with our future selves or worries over things we have no control... that is when we should invite ourselves to lean into that ambiguity. Which, for me, that means to breathe, look from a larger perspective, and seek direction.
You are probably already connecting the dots that I did... When I get pulled down into an activity I lose myself. I lose the larger perspective. I lose my breath. I lose my direction. I remember so clearly the first year or so of AT lessons where I kept trying to "get it right". I also remember having no clue whatsoever if what I was sensing was accurate or if the directions I was giving myself were helpful. The whole concept and practical application of AT was ambiguous! But I kept "living in the tension" of not "getting it right" and I kept "leaning into the ambiguity" and trusting the AT process. Of course over time I have learned to take a breath, become aware of my self and my surroundings, to give myself direction... all of which doesn't seem ambiguous anymore!
Please know that I am not making any connection to God and the Alexander Technique. I'm not saying that one will find God through AT... but I was immediately attracted to the language this guest pastor used and thought it could also be applied to my work in AT. I don't know... when I think of these phrases, they kind of bring the breath to me.
An interesting experiment with language.
The same concept applies to "lean into the ambiguity" - only the context changes. For example, if a student is beginning to fret and worry over what they are going to do with the rest of their life after they graduate... the answer is quite unclear. For any of our questions dealing with our future selves or worries over things we have no control... that is when we should invite ourselves to lean into that ambiguity. Which, for me, that means to breathe, look from a larger perspective, and seek direction.
You are probably already connecting the dots that I did... When I get pulled down into an activity I lose myself. I lose the larger perspective. I lose my breath. I lose my direction. I remember so clearly the first year or so of AT lessons where I kept trying to "get it right". I also remember having no clue whatsoever if what I was sensing was accurate or if the directions I was giving myself were helpful. The whole concept and practical application of AT was ambiguous! But I kept "living in the tension" of not "getting it right" and I kept "leaning into the ambiguity" and trusting the AT process. Of course over time I have learned to take a breath, become aware of my self and my surroundings, to give myself direction... all of which doesn't seem ambiguous anymore!
Please know that I am not making any connection to God and the Alexander Technique. I'm not saying that one will find God through AT... but I was immediately attracted to the language this guest pastor used and thought it could also be applied to my work in AT. I don't know... when I think of these phrases, they kind of bring the breath to me.
An interesting experiment with language.
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