Alexander Technique with Deborah Levy > Alexander Technique North London Blog

What does your ‘inner voice’ say to you?

inner voice

As a fan of Romesh Ranganathan, I was amused when I read his column recently; I can handle my critics – apart from the nasty voice in my head where he talked about his ‘inner voice’ and the problems he has with it. Of course his writing was very funny, in his description of what his ‘inner voice’ says to him – and naturally how his mother features in the scenario as well!

We all have ‘inner voices’ and I think it’s interesting to reflect on what ours says to us and how it affects what we do.

But what was also interesting was how Romesh felt frustrated about his lack of ability to change his inner dialogue. He wrote that he had tried numerous techniques but nothing worked permanently and he always reverted back to his old habits.

inner voice

So, this is my response to Romesh!

Habits are very difficult to change but beginning to notice them is the first step.  If we notice what we habitually think, we can then decide to consciously think something else and notice the outcome, which if it is positive will be encouraging to try the next time. It’s not easy, but it is effective over time. Rather than beating yourself up for ‘reverting back to old habits’ again, you can celebrate that you have noticed and have given yourself a chance to do something different.

Habits are ingrained in memory, whether muscular, thoughts or emotions.

The way we move is also habitual and if it’s habitual to sit, walk, lift or whatever, in a way that puts us out of alignment and causes pain, then the same principle applies – noticing what our habits are and with the help of the Alexander Technique, choosing to do something different.

XMAS2018 Special Offer

special offer

Indulge with a gift for life.

Invest in yourself or someone you love.

Learn a skill that will help you to reduce and manage your stress and pain, for now and for the rest of your life.

Improve your posture and your self-confidence.

Learning the Alexander Technique is a wonderful investment.

special offerYou learn techniques to increase your sense of balance and equilibrium so that you can understand how to align yourself, be more comfortable and feel better, every day.

Mindful movement doesn’t have to take much time because you can learn how to create mindful moments at any time in your busy life.

You learn how to begin to notice what causes your stress and how it manifests for you.  Some people clench their teeth, others feel extra tension in the neck, shoulders or back, others lose their voices or have irritable stomachs/bowels.

Many clients comment to me that after a few lessons they begin to become more aware of when their tension starts to creep in, something they hadn’t noticed before. By starting to notice you can then learn how to manage the stress and reduce tension that could otherwise lead to chronic pain and malalignment.

Give the gift of good health to yourself or someone you love.

With this special Xmas2018 Offer buy 1 lesson voucher for £40 or 2 lessons for £60

Busy, Busy, Busy!

busy

Busy, busy, busy…… we’re all so busy keeping up, catching up, deleting this, deleting that, wading through things we need to do, being bombarded with information, demands, new research about food and health…. And on and on it goes…..

 

And within all this, all those articles telling you that you need to look after yourself are right.  You just need to find something that ‘does it’ for you, that speaks to you, something you can relate to.

 

This article got me thinking; How to make time for Self-Care.  It talks about how to find time in your working day to have some exercise to feel re-charged.  That’s great, but it doesn’t have to be in the gym or even exercise.  It could be going swimming or for a walk or it could be lying on the floor with your head on a 3-5cm book with your knees up to align your body and mind.

 

busyAlternatively, you can find lots of moments throughout the day to align yourself and feel refreshed and grounded.  You can notice how you sit and let your back lengthen and release, aligning yourself on your sitting bones, or you can notice how you stand or walk.  Alexander Technique can teach you to find these ‘mindful’ moments, on the go, so that you can learn to reduce your stress and pain and feel more refreshed and lighter, with more energy.  But it also teaches you what your old physical and thought habits are and how to give them up to make choices about responses that contribute to your well-being and make you feel better.

 

So this article got me thinking as well; Should you delete Social Media? By Oliver Burkeman. He talks about the pros and cons of social media for mental health but also about the issue of how we make choices or don’t make choices, as the case may be. But, in fact, he points out that even by doing nothing you are still making a choice.  You are making a choice to do nothing and keep the status quo even if you are unhappy with it.  Again, this is pertinent to Alexander Technique because AT is also about understanding how you move and balance so that you can learn to make a choice to respond with more alignment to movement or situations rather than react with old harmful habits.

 

Some people say to me that they are too old to change or that they have always been ‘whatever’ and can’t change.  But that doesn’t have to be the case.  You can make a choice to learn to notice your habits and learn how to change them and do things to empower yourself, whether it’s finding time for yourself, doing more exercise or deleting social media.  If you decide to make a change and want to find out more about Alexander Technique, then get in touch.

Posture or Alignment? And magic wands!

magic wand

Many people come to me because they are concerned about their posture and that’s fine, but Alexander Technique is more than that.

It can help you with your posture definitely, but it’s not posture for the sake of it.  It’s about improving your posture in a way so that you feel better, less stressed and more able to manage pain or discomfort, if you have any. And at the same time, you look better too!

We tend to notice ourselves and how we move and do things when we have aches and pains somewhere.  But Alexander Technique teaches you how to notice yourself and think about how you move, at other times as well, so that you can be one step ahead before extra pain and tension creeps in.

By noticing where your weight is and improving your proprioception, (the ability to sense stimuli arising within the body regarding position, motion, and equilibrium) you can learn to understand how to have a sense of your alignment, balance and coordination so that you feel better, look better and move better.

magic wandSometimes we want a ‘magic wand’ to just make things better instantly!

But actually, we are our own ‘magic wand’.

We can learn how to make things better for ourselves by thinking in a slightly different way.  It’s very simple and gentle but can be very powerful and enjoyable.

Empower yourself and be your own ‘magic wand’!

Hot and Bothered??

hot

It’s hot isn’t it?  Lovely though!

Here’s a tip for feeling like you are on holiday;

Walk mindfully down the road, notice the steps you are taking, notice the space and distance between your arm as it swings back and the same leg as it is forward.

hotThen let your eyes be soft, rather than staring and tense, and whilst softly looking ahead just notice the peripheral vision from the sides of your eyes.

Notice that this is like being on a train and let what you see just pass by.

A client recently said to me that when she notices this, she feels connected to the world and as if she is on holiday!

And another thing;

There was a report out last week from Public Health England saying that balance exercises and muscle strengthening are as important as walking and increasing your steps.

See the article in The Guardian about it here

Alexander Technique (AT) teaches you how to improve your balance and how to notice where your weight is and what happens to your balance and weight when you move.

Usually you don’t think about it but AT teaches you how to start noticing as you go about your day and how to enjoy it!

So, enjoy yourself and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Learn Something New: Be Good to Yourself and Others and Improve your Health and Happiness

feeling good

A while ago I read an article by Ruby Wax on Why being Kinder to ourselves is good for society. She writes about how being kind to others and feeling their pain or distress, i.e. being compassionate, releases hormones that make ourselves feel better.  In the same way we need to learn to be compassionate to ourselves, to look after ourselves and feel good about making ourselves feel better, rather than putting ourselves down or continuing in an anxiety cycle.  This positive cycle will not only enhance itself for our own good but others’ good too.

I agree with all this because by using the Alexander Technique you can learn how to look after yourself physically and emotionally. Plus at the same time, you are learning something new, which is good for the brain as well as your happiness factor and well-being.  By using the Alexander Technique, you learn how to notice and understand your tension and habits, and how to consciously respond to them, rather than an unconscious reaction.

By understanding how to improve our alignment and decrease tension we can learn to reduce and manage pain and stress, thus increasing your happiness and well-being!  The additional bonus is at the same time, you are learning to be compassionate to yourself and others, another way of feeling happier and better!

Seems like a win-win to me!  There’s nothing to lose, except some pain and stress!

What’s your persistent habit you’re trying to change? Make sure you notice it.

notice

Well it’s March now, the New Year is well behind us but are you still trying to keep those resolutions and change some of your personal stuff?  Like not looking after yourself re that pain in your neck, shoulders or back that’s getting worse? Or feeling heavy and tired most of the time with all that stress?  And then, of course, you beat yourself up because you haven’t sustained it or you keep getting distracted.

If that’s you then read this little article by Oliver Burkeman from The Guardian; Getting distracted isn’t a problem; noticing when you’re distracted is arguably the point.  He talks about Meditation, but Alexander Technique uses the same principles.  It’s the ‘noticing’ that is important and the beginning of change.

notice Alexander TechniqueHabits are very deep and persistent, whether it’s mental, physical or muscular.  They don’t change quickly or easily.  So by starting to notice you can remind yourself to do something different.

And rather than feeling bad that you’ve let yourself slip again, feel good that it’s given you a chance to think about it again and given you the choice to change your habit and do something different.  Even if it only lasts a short while, but it will gradually get longer.

At Alexander Technique North London, we teach you to notice your postural alignment, notice if your weight is evenly balanced on your feet or on your sitting bones, notice the length of your neck or your back so that you can start to notice if you are more tense than you need to be, which causes pain and stress, and is very tiring.

Our muscles need to have tone to have strength and to be effective but they don’t need to be tense, especially not all the time, as you might find some of yours are.  And this becomes a muscular habit, so it takes some attention and noticing to change it.  But noticing it is a good thing, because then you continually have a chance to make a choice and do something about it.  So be proud and feel good about that.

If you want to ‘notice’ your mental, physical or muscular habits then contact me so we can begin to make some positive changes.

What do singing and running have in common? Ask yourself!

singing

Well, Lisette Oropesa, a very talented and successful 34 year old operatic soprano singer, whose 2 great passions in life are singing and running, and who is singing at the Royal Opera House this November, said on Radio 4’s Front Row review programme:

 

“To sing well and to run well you have to have exactly the same things – you have to have great physical alignment.  You have to programme your breath and be aware of your entire body all the time.  I think the one helps the other and my life has been improved because of the partnership”

 

runningNow this is music to my ears

Because being aware of our alignment and learning how to regain balanced alignment is what the Alexander Technique is all about.  And it can improve how you move and everything that you do, whether you are a singer, musician, actor, dancer, runner, swimmer, sports-person, desk-person, public speaker, work-person, ……..the list is endless – basically everyone, whatever you do.

 

But back to performing and running.

Are you a performer?  I know there’s loads in Muswell Hill and Crouch End.  Are you a musician, dancer, singer, actor or presenter?

There’s always nerves, stress and physical pain and strain that accompanies your work, I’m sure, and you can reduce this, feel better, lighter, more confident and more in balance by learning to move and perform with coordinated, toned muscles rather than tense muscles.

With a toned voice rather than a tense voice.

With toned aligned muscles when running rather than tense ones.

With less tension and pain in your neck, back and shoulders and more tone, alignment, coordination and balance.

 

It’s very enjoyable and you’re learning

How to look after yourself, feel better and more energetic at the same time!

 

Special Seasonal offer; Vouchers for 50% reduction for 1 session

For lessons at Muswell Health Clinic;  50% reduction Vouchers available when booked before 30th June 2018.

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