As summer is upon us, time at the beach, the shore, the lake, and other favorite spots awaits us. It’s time when we can relax and get away from the regular day to day stresses of our lives. Unusually, for most people anyway, it’s time that’s designated specifically for that purpose, and it occurred to me that makes it the perfect time for practicing Constructive Rest – especially if you don’t typically find time for it.

Jennifer Roig-Francoli doing Constructive Rest in Ibiza, Spain

Constructive Rest is a wonderful gift you can give yourself. All you need is a few minutes to lie down on a firm surface, knees elevated and head supported. No experience with the Alexander Technique is necessary to benefit – simply lying down in this position helps posture by improving your spinal alignment, relieves tension, allows the mind to quiet and the breath to become calm. I can’t speak highly enough of the practice and recommend it to everyone!

So, if you have a day at the beach, go ahead and spoil yourself and give yourself at least 20 minutes of undisturbed Constructive Rest. Obviously the more secluded and the quieter the better, but even on a busy beach, the sound of the waves in the background can be wonderfully relaxing.

Jennifer Roig-Francoli doing Constructive Rest off the coast of Mallorca, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean

Alternatively, if you’re into more active holidays, find time for Constructive Rest at the end (or even in the middle) of your hike, for instance.

For those days spent touring and sight-seeing, some time in Constructive Rest before continuing  with the evening’s activities can make all the difference between exhaustion and enjoyment.

And if you’re vacationing in the UK and find yourself trapped in your holiday cottage because of the pouring rain outside, a little Constructive Rest can help relieve the frustration!

Jennifer Roig-Francoli enjoying Constructive Rest in Ibiza, Spain

My friend and colleague, Alexander Technique teacher Jennifer Roig-Francoli has allowed me to use these wonderful photographs of her doing Constructive Rest on vacation in Spain. I hope you are inspired to follow her example this summer. Indeed, another colleague remarked that he believes Constructive Rest is even more powerful when done in a beautiful environment!

If you’ve found some beautiful or interesting places to do Constructive Rest, I’d love you to share your experience in the comments below. I’m collecting photographs of Constructive Rest to share on my Facebook page, so if you’d like to be featured, please send yours along. Need more information? Check out my Constructive Rest page, and if you have questions, please ask in the comments below.

Photographs courtesy of Jennifer Roig-Francoli, who writes a lovely blog about her experiences with the Alexander Technique at balanceandharmonyat.blogspot.com.