I moved earlier this year, and there is one room in my home that had accumulated all the “extra” boxes of things that I wasn’t quite sure what to do with. Today, I decided to start tackling that mess of boxes. It was hard to walk through that room, hard to get to the closet, hard to put things away…you know. It was amazing to me how one hour of sorting, putting a few things away, emptying boxes to send to recycling, and moving some furniture around gave that room a whole new energy.
There are disciplines that teach us about the arrangement of spaces (Feng Shui, for one) or about how to clear out unnecessary things and re-organize your physical environment (KonMari being a recent popular example). Now, anyone who has ever lived with me or even visited knows that I am NOT a particularly organized person when it comes to my ‘stuff.’
But it IS important how I am organized within my Self.
The Alexander Technique is a process of neuro-muscular space-clearing. We practice awareness, so that we can identify places of “clutter:” physical tension, mental tension, collapse, holding, unnecessary stress and strain. We take a moment to pause, with attention that allows us to undo and release the clutter…like putting that empty box out in the recycling. Then, we learn direction, a way of organizing our neuro-muscular system and our thinking in any activity…perhaps like moving items of furniture in ways that allow energy to flow freely in a space.
The metaphor does break down. Rooms are mostly static, with furniture that we don’t move often and less dramatic regular cleaning necessary to keep the space clear. We humans are living, breathing, changing beings, not a room of furniture to be arranged and maintained. But the process of awareness, attentive pause, release, and direction gives us tools to continuously and consciously reorganize our Selves for an optimal flow of energy, allowing us to live with ease and meet the challenges that come our way with freedom and poise.
If an hour of space clearing can make such a difference in a room, what benefits would you notice from an hour of Alexander Technique for your Self?