I feel it is sometimes worthwhile to refresh my own clarity of purpose and remind readers of this as well. This blog is primarily devoted to my crazy life experiences and my reactions to them. I often feel as if my expression of the breath connection and those life adventures may seem a tad nebulous. Over the years of learning about and practicing the work of F.M. Alexander I have received what I recognize as the gift of time and space. Life happens with it’s sunshine filled days, it’s excitement, exhilaration, beauty, rain, tornados, earthquakes, and general chaos, at times. There are ups and downs and much in between. The ability to be conscious to all is often an illusive endeavor; but thankfully, this work has afforded me the space to be aware, if not all the time, more of the time. Striving for this ideal is conscious and constant. My blog reflects upon the ups and downs of this journey.
An example: even as I write I am aware that my old groove is deep; it elbows into my consciousness, asking me who would ever read about my experiences. “It”, the negative voice of that groove, tells me there are so many more talented scribes who paint such clear and eloquent works with their words. I drool as I read them and am envious of their gifts. Yet, even as the needle might seem stuck in that old groove, I only pause for a second; my pen defies that naughty groove and continues to move across the page in my journal. Ho hum! What a boring tune that groove plays!
Onward! Back to the gift from practicing this work. What is it? Simply the ability to pause. The ability to pause for one second and in that second to notice I am holding my breath or my shoulders are rising to my ears, or my puppy is in some ridiculously funny, odd position. I also notice the homeless woman lying at the doorway to my home on a cold, rainy night and in that pausing am aware of the pain of being conscious of another’s hollowed eyed yearning. On and on it goes!
Yes, the bombardment of stimulus from our modern world can be, much of the time, overwhelming. That is where the breath comes in. In that second of pause, literally, the breath holding ceases and for one moment the nervous system resets and the tune of that nasty groove is quieted! Thank you for that gift, F.M. Alexander.