“I am free to have ease in my heart.”

So said one of the participants in my class last Wednesday. It was the first of my local weekly BodyIntelligence small group classes.

They are short classes – just an hour long. Yet, there is SO much I would like to impart.

I know it’s impossible to share everything. And, I’ve learned, that it’s not helpful to throw too many ideas around at once. Not for me, and not for others.

The classes are not sequential, but the learning is cumulative. You can come to as many as you wish. You may come to just one, though of course I hope you’ll come to more.

In each class, therefore, I intend to work with one main idea or theme, that we’ll explore in different ways to help us reduce stress and tension, move more freely, and be more open, easeful and poised.

In just one class you’ll learn a “snippet” of my approach to the Alexander Technique – something you can take with you, practice, explore and/or experiment with and use afterwards. You’ll gain a tool.

These classes have a strong focus on self-care, and each class includes a guided Constructive Rest session. That, in itself, is a gift.

The gift of rest.

We don’t value rest much in our culture.

We value busyness – doing – producing, networking, selling, making, writing, speaking, shopping, texting, cleaning, and everything else on our never-ending to-do lists.

Yet rest – getting enough of it – supports our ability to do all these things well, efficiently, with enjoyment, not resentment and fatigue. Rest supports our ability to care for others – our children, parents, partners, clients, friends and colleagues.

And so, I decided to include Constructive Rest in every session.

Our theme for the first class was EASE.

Ease as a key to freedom of movement and great posture! Ease rather than tension!

We played with consciously shifting our attention from tension to ease and explored how that affected us when sitting and walking.

This idea of bringing our attention to ease also informed the Constructive Rest session, which everyone found relaxing.

We ended with a short practice of scanning our body, using the prompt, “I am free to notice ease in my _____.”

We took turns naming different places in our body where we could notice ease, starting at the feet and working our way up.

How lovely that we ended with this:

“I am free to notice ease in my heart.”

Other themes and concepts we’ll be exploring in these classes, include:

• Mind-body unity – how what we think always has a physical correlate and vice versa.
• Awareness of our self – body and mind.
• Conscious thought as a means for transformation.
• The importance of the head-spine relationship to our overall coordination.
• Improving our internal “body map” – having a more accurate knowledge of our own basic anatomy helps us move our body more naturally and efficiently.
• Doing less. Instead of learning something new, we learn to subtract the tension, habits and behaviors that do not serve us.
• Natural Breathing – and how our breathing is inextricable linked to our posture and functioning, and our ability to be in the present moment.
• Support and energy. Where do we get our internal support from?
• The art of the mindful PAUSE – as a means for choice and change.
• Self-care as a priority and a necessity.

The class is fun and relaxing…and you learn tools you can use in your life. It’s about ease for living. That’s the Alexander Technique in practice. I also allow for half and hour afterwards to share a cup of tea together, which helps us all get to know each other better, along with more time for questions and to continue any discussion from the class.

If you live locally and this sounds interesting, click here more information on the class itself. There are still spots in each class for the rest of the month. Let me know as soon as possible if you’d like to register. I currently have openings in this week’s class (Wednesday, May 17 at 11 AM) and in the following ones. I’d love to have you join us.

Ease for Living: The Alexander Technique in Practice, BodyIntelligence Small Group Classes in Wilmington, DE
More Information and How to Register Here >>

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