Posture, Gray Days, and Leaving the Nest

Oregon Junco

Today I checked for the Junco family and the little ones are gone. The weather has been cooler and we have neither been sitting on our balcony nor noticed if they are still around at all. I have opened the curtains to better see if any of our little friends come to the flower box which holds the tidy, but empty, little nest and where close-by the suet-birdseed hangs for their dining pleasure. I wistfully look out the window hoping to glimse one of the birds. I remember the joy it was to see and hear the Junco family during the warmer, sunny days of May.

What can we do when we awaken to a gray day? Sometimes it is the weather that is gray; sometimes it is the mood that is gray; sometimes it is both. It takes so much more effort to get moving on these gray days. But, alas, there is a choice. There IS always a choice! I can choose to stay in the gray or I can adjust my posture.

Alexander Technique is promoted by many as a system to help us develop good posture. I was attending a meeting a few days ago. An attendee was surprised to learn, at the end of the meeting, that I teach this process called the Alexander Technique. As he exclaimed, he sat himself up tall to what he believed personified the Alexander Technique. That was, sitting up extra straight with “good posture”. In my case, I am not meaning I need to adjust the postion of my limbs or my carriage. My choice must be to change my mental attitude. Yes, I change my attitude, my mental posture, by stopping for a moment. I use my tool of noticing my own breath. I allow my breath, that stale air, along with the stale thoughts, to flow out, out, and away. Fresh air and fresh thoughts come flooding into my being. Even though the gray day is still hanging outside, my mood does not need to hang low and gray. Creative ideas start to flow and in the background, outside the closed window, I hear birds singing and chattering away. And, best of all, I see a Junco or two hopping around. I am imagining the new “Junquettes”, as we lovingly call the little babies, are safe and are only out testing their new ability to leave the nest and explore. So too, I will breathe, put on my new posture of letting the sunshine come from within. I will adventure out using my renewed posture of positive joy to create the day I want, to allow myself to leave the nest and explore.  And, hope that the little “Junquettes” are safe and sound.