That is a mouthful! Mental Rigidity! The very idea that mental rigidity can be a habit is even a challenge to contemplate. The other morning I wrote a comment to a friend’s internet post saying I believe the negativity and the hate we see so commonly surrounding us, is habit.
Because the mental/emotional side of the whole psycho-physical self particularly interests me, I am again in the process of rereading F.M. Alexander’s writings and of reviewing what he does say about the emotions and our mental process. I find it personally perplexing that the thinking, emotional, mental side of his work does not get more mention in other books, essays. memoirs about the Alexander Technique and it’s benefits.
In his book, Man’s Supreme Inheritance, Alexander states, “Briefly, as I see it, the subconscious in the application is only a synonym for that rigid routine we finally refer to as habit; this rigid routine being the stumbling block to rapid adaptability, to the assimilation of new ideas, to originality. On the other hand, consciousness is the synonym for mobility, that mobility which will obtain us physical regeneration and mental outlook that will make possible for us a new and wider enjoyment of those powers we all possess, but which are often diliberately stunted or neglected.”
The portion of the quote that calls to me is his statement that mental rigidity, in the unconscious, is a “stumbling block… to the assimilation of new ideas, of originality.” Dislike of change is a major fear of many; it seems to me that more people dislike change or fear change than welcome it. Hardly a day passes that I don’t hear someone say, “I hate change’. Awareness of what is stimulating negativity or fear has to be step one and having the conscious desire to move on from that negative space has to be a second step. The desire to change, in itself, does not change the habit of rigidity or negativity, or any other habit, for that matter. To truly move forward we first must consciously stop/pause and insert a new behaviour in place of the habit.
For example, even I, who normally loves change, have been bristling at the change going on at my local grocery store. I will admit this is not a huge important life-issue, but it is a practical example of negativity about a changing circumstance over which I have no control. My local grocery is becoming one of those mega stores which carries everything, except maybe the kitchen sink! As my son said, “if this store doesn’t have it you don’t need it”. Honestly, upon contemplation, I mean stopping and trying to not react ever so irrationally, I realized it is not the change I mind. The fact is, I just do not like shopping in those huge mega stores of any kind; I find it overwhelming. In fact, during the remodel I have been well-entertained watching the way the community as well as employees have been adapting to the change. It has been kind of an adventure watching it all unfold. BUT, now that a new huge section has opened, I have found myself not enjoying and in fact, a bit angry about the experience of shopping in the new and bigger environment. Thankfully, again my habit of stopping and becoming aware of exactly what is bothering me has helped me choose a better way to deal with the change. First of all, the fact of the matter is this situation is not going to change; change will happen. How I deal with it, the negativity, must change. First, I stopped and the insertion of several long exhales to stimulate the breath movement did help recalibrate my nervous system from anger to exploration mode. I consciously realized that I was not going to stop the progress and get my smaller store back. But, I could change how I approach and prepare myself before going to the store. I do have choices. Consequently, I have achieved a splendid start to making significant change in my own behavior of approaching the issue or my own mental rigidity. Taking that time to exhale and breathe helped speed the positive progress toward mobility, rather than rigidity. Again the pause and breathing into the moment has helped me move on from moments of negativity, to grasping this change if not enthusiastically, with a workable plan. Who knows maybe I will even grow to like the change once it is complete.
By stopping and allowing a pause, we leave ourselves open to more possibilities and to more choice. We learn it is possibie to move on and accept change and maybe even learn to welcome it.