Alexander Technique and Subtle Yoga as complementary systems: Sense your feet

Alexander Technique and Subtle Yoga as complementary systems: Sense your feet: Sense your feet My old yoga teacher used to stop her lessons and in great compassion say: ‘Poor feet, they've been imprisoned for so l...

Sense your feet

Sense your feet
My old yoga teacher used to stop her lessons and in great compassion say: ‘Poor feet, they've been imprisoned for so long. Let them free.’

•The feet are of the most enervated organs in our body
•They are designed to be very aware of the surface they touch so one can move carefully and at ease.
•We imprison our feet in shoes gradually losing access to the sensitivity we once possessed.

Go barefoot whenever you can.
Don't wear shoes at home

Alexander Technique and Subtle Yoga as complementary systems: Chronic conditions

Alexander Technique and Subtle Yoga as complementary systems: Chronic conditions: Chronic conditions G.  had a terrible lower backache.  His work forced him to sit daily for many hours.  He was wearing a lower back brac...

Chronic conditions

Chronic conditions

G.  had a terrible lower backache.  His work forced him to sit daily for many hours.  He was wearing a lower back brace, to ‘hold’ him up and ‘support’ him.  Years of physiotherapy didn’t do much to help his condition.  G was attached to his back brace and felt uncomfortable to take it off.  Living with back pain taught him to be ‘very careful’.  It seemed that faulty habitual use caused the system to manifest pain. X rays and scans revealed no real damage or injury.

People with chronic conditions deal with multiple issues: 

The cause of the pain 

Habits of thinking and management

Patterns of use

Fear of change

In working with a chronic condition, one has to take time to acknowledge the complexity of the circumstances, to be respectful of fears and worries, to avoid the ambition ‘to fix’ the ‘problem’, to bring compassion and patience to the lessons. 

Fear of falling

Fear of falling 

We are born with a fear of falling, which protects us but also significantly impedes our ease of movement.
Standing and walking, our centre of gravity is high and is located in the navel area, which contributes to ease of walking on the one hand, but on the other hand, one is continuously vigilant not to fall. Fear of falling is innate but also gets reinforcement by the environment.
I remember running down a slope and my mother shouting behind me, 'If you run down the slope, you'll fall!' How much fear in such a statement!
With age and loss of flexibility, the fear of falling increases. And with it grows a process of avoiding movements that change the centre of the gravity, such as avoiding bending, sitting on low surfaces, preferring an elevator over stairs, and more. Failure to shift the centre of gravity at ease creates stiffness, clumsiness, and imbalance.

i
photo by:https://danceinforma.com.au/articles/inventories-of-bodies-in-movement-in-wa/

We are designed to live in motion. Our movements are complex, and most are controlled by unconscious mechanisms and patterns.  Our bodies can develop ineffective and harmful movements and posture habits, and there would be no automatic faculty to take notice and correct them.

Most of us go through our days in an unconscious bodily manner, with our heads full of random thoughts. The body and mind are not at the same time and place, and their existence is separate.

A state of unconscious presence in the body may cause suffering. A lack of physical awareness may develop problems of posture and movement, followed by aches and pains.

Unconscious posture and movement, guided only by habits, is a basis of suffering.

Alexander Technique and Subtle Yoga as complementary systems: Psycho-Physical We are Psycho-Physical beings. Bot...

Alexander Technique and Subtle Yoga as complementary systems: Psycho-Physical We are Psycho-Physical beings. Bot...: Psycho-Physical  We are Psycho-Physical beings. Both aspects of ourselves, the mind and the body are intertwined, forming one person. A...

Psycho-Physical

We are Psycho-Physical beings. Both aspects of ourselves, the mind and the body are intertwined, forming one person.

Any thought or emotion that travels through the mind would echo in the body. Any physical unease would affect the mind.

Bio-Feedback equipment attached to the body system would detect the slightest changes in the physical system following a change of thought. A positive, optimistic thought would release blood flow raising the skin temperature. A stressed or negative thought will drop the skin temperature by restricting blood flow. Positive and helpful thinking combined with poise and ease promote a happier Psycho-Physical self.

Fascia release

Our body is like a library that stores the memory of our life events, both physically and psychologically.

When provided with the right conditions, it has an inbuilt corrective mechanism to realign itself, release its traumatic contents and correct bad habits of use.

As you give the body space and attention to free itself from restrictions, it unwinds, moves spontaneously, finds its limits and releases.

Fascia Release is an instrumental technique to assist this inbuilt mechanism to express itself.

Fascia Unwinding -An Introduction

An Introduction to Fascial Unwinding

Mika Hadar-Borthwick

Fascia

Fascia is the connective tissue that surrounds muscles, groups of muscles, blood vessels and nerves, binding those structures together. The fascia extends from the top of head to the tip of the toes. Fascia can be seen as the organ linking all internal structures within the human frame while separating its functioning units. It is responsible for the shape of our body, organising into posture patterns.

“Fascia is the organ of posture.”¹It takes time and work to change patterns within it, while at the same time it is constantly changing and adapting in response to demands placed on the individual’s body and emotions².

A  Psychophysical System

The body’s life is the life of sensations and emotions. The body feels real hunger, the real joy in the sun or the snow... real anger, real sorrow, real tenderness, real warmth, real passion, real hate, real grief. All the emotions belong to the body and are only recognized by the mind.³

The fascia is like a library that stores the memory of our life events, both physically and psychologically. "In the formation of a life impression, the membranes are the clay upon which the information is etched."⁴In a case of trauma, this collagen-based soft-tissue gets stuck in patterns of stress, and bad use.

Psycho-Physical pioneers of the last century, like FM Alexander, Wilhelm Reich and Ida Rolf, pointed out that body and mind are a combined unit and affect each other.

Alexander wrote: “the term psycho-physical is used.... throughout my works to indicate the impossibility of separating "physical" and "mental" operations in our conception of the working of the human organism”⁵. Ida Rolf was among the first to address how the body holds unresolved trauma in the tissues and how to restore balance: “Go around the problem; get the system sufficiently resilient so that it is able to change, and it will change, it doesn't have to be forced.  It's that forcing that you have to avoid at all costs.”⁶According to Somatic Psychotherapy, chronic patterns of muscular tension can store negative emotions, thereby perpetuating the influence of those emotions on the individual personality. According to Reich, we tend to hold unresolved emotional trauma in the tissues, thereby locking us into patterns of thinking and behaving⁷.

Self-Corrective Mechanism

When provided with the right conditions, fascia has its own inbuilt corrective mechanism to realign itself, release its traumatic contents and correct bad habits of use⁸. As you give the body space and attention to release itself from restrictions, from fascia-pulls', it does just that - unwinds, moves spontaneously, finds its restrictions and releases. Fascial Unwinding is a very effective technique to assist this inbuilt mechanism to express itself. 

What is Fascial Unwinding?

Fascial Unwinding is a therapy through which physical and emotional blocks, whatever their cause, can be released. 

“Fascial unwinding provides a means of discovering and releasing the effects of traumas and tensions, be they recent or long-standing, thereby releasing restrictions which may be the deep-rooted cause of pain....It is a very gentle and non-invasive treatment process which involves responding sensitively to the body’s demands, never forcing or imposing on the body tissues in any way. It is therefore generally painless (even in acutely painful conditions) and brings about a sense of ease, softness and relaxation, as well as the more profound therapeutic release of chronic underlying conditions.”⁹

In Fascial Unwinding,the client undergoes a spontaneous reaction in response to the therapist’s touch. Fascial unwinding can be used to “release” fascial restriction by encouraging the body or parts of the body to move without habitual restrictions. 

The Process of Facial Unwinding

I'v been working with Fascial Unwinding for many years, often in conjunction with the Alexander Technique, sometimes as a system in its own right supported by the presence of direction and inhibition.

Fascial Unwinding requires a sustained active attention from the practitioner.

The person being worked with is invited to relax into an unconscious sensory space. Perhaps to close their eyes, and to rest their attention in a pleasant memory, or a quiet place. The practitioner is required to inhibit any 'doing' habits and to 'listen' and wait until a movement presents itself under their hands, sometimes hardly perceptible, allowing the person touched to open to their movements.

An FU practitioner will often start the practice by touching the person quietly, listening to the contact area, to the quality of the touched system and to any subtle movement that presents itself. Sometimes they will lift the person's arm, or another body part, support its weight, inhibit and wait, listening to the contact point and to any movement that presents itself. When a movement presents itself, the practitioner follows the movement, whether it is very subtle or very expressive. It is important to be open to surprises. These movements are unconscious. The practitioner just provides holding, listening, without any attempt to control the movement expressed, following the movement until it stops at a point of resistance, like a barrier. The arm, leg, or whatever is being held stops moving. The practitioner waits, staying there, witnessing until eventually, the movement starts again, releasing the barrier, sometimes followed by an emotional expression. The movement is then followed to its conclusion where it comes back to rest. As the skill develops, one can transfer the listening to deeper tissues, joints, muscles and organs.

Fascial Unwinding and the Alexander Technique

Unlike the Alexander Technique, Fascial Unwinding is not an educational consciousness-building system. It is a trigger to an unconscious release. In fact, it requires a high level of inhibition and letting go of conscious control by the person being worked with, and by the practitioner, allowing freedom of expression beyond the person’s and practitioner's conscious control.

In FU the mindful process is all about inhibition, relying on the body's unconscious mechanism to know where it needs to go. The practitioner’s ‘means whereby’ in FU are inhibition and listening, supporting and following without any expectations, listening to one’s own presence and poise, to the other person’s system and movement, following that movement and allowing it to unfold.

?Why Practise Fascial Unwinding

I find FU to be a very useful, simple, yet profoundly change-evoking system. It is very compatible with the ‘spirit’ of the AT, with inhibition and ‘non-end-gaining’.

It is a great tool to use when the system is resistant to change, and when it has suffered physical or mental trauma. I find it a good companion to the AT when dealing with depression, chronic fatigue, persistent aches and pains. Alexander Technique is a teaching-therapeutic method; FU is a therapeutic method. One is all about being conscious, the other about opening to unconscious patterns. Both are catalysts for profound change.

Mika Hadar-Borthwick has worked as a healer and teacher for over 25 years. Through her work in teaching yoga, Alexander Technique, Cranio-Sacral Therapy and a variety of mind-body and healing systems, she has developed her unique style of teaching. She has taught and worked therapeutically in the UK, Italy, Estonia, Spain, Israel, Switzerland, India and Bali.

1Ida P. Rolf, Rolfing and Physical Reality (Healing Arts Press: Vermont, USA, 1978, 1990)p.124

2See Ida Rolf op cit and Thomas Myers,https://www.anatomytrains.com/fascia/[accessed 1 December 2015]

3D.H. Lawrence, Sex, Literature and Censorship(London: William Heinemann, 1955) p.232

4D. VanHowten, Ayurveda and Life Impressions Bodywork: Seeking our Healing Memories(Wisconsin: Lotus Press, 1997) 

5F.M. Alexander, Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual(Integral Press: Bexley, Kent, 1955 [1923]) p.2 

6Rolf, op cit, p. 83

7W. Reich, The Function of the Orgasm(New York: Touchstone, 1973) pp. 270–271

8M. Kern, Wisdom in the Body: The Craniosacral Approach to Essential Health(Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books, 2001) and MJ Shea, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy(Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books, 2007)

9Thomas Attlee 'Fascial Unwinding',http://www.ccst.co.uk/unwinding.html
[accessed 1 December 2015].

Alexander Technique and Subtle Yoga as complementary systems: The Midline - introduction

Alexander Technique and Subtle Yoga as complementary systems: The Midline - introduction: The Midline - introduction The midline is a well-known symbol of alignment. A geographically imaginary body line that is not anatomical...

The Midline - introduction

The Midline - introduction

The midline is a well-known symbol of alignment. A geographically imaginary body line that is not anatomical, not visible, yet when present, it promotes ease, clarity and vitality. 

The body has few anatomical midline defined zones. Our brain is divided by a midline membrane called falx cerebelli, the septum divides our nostrils, the centre of the diaphragm is active in every breath, and the perineum at the pelvic floor is in the midline zone.

We organise ourselves continually around the line of gravity- the midline. 

Cultivating awareness our of midline improves body alignment.

In esoteric teachings, taping into the midline opens up an energy channel, which is also a gateway to spiritual growth. 

In Chinees martial arts it is called the 'Middle Channel', in yoga it's called Sushumna, in Alexander Technique there is a term called 'Primary Control', the junction that highlights the relationship of the neck, head and back and can organise the system to its midline.

The midline goes through us as if from crown to base, but it doesn't have physical boundaries. As you tune into it, it opens to the infinite. The midline is a channel of energy. When you find it, you can experience a peripheral presence in all directions.

Alexander Technique and Subtle Yoga as complementary systems: Alexander Technique and Subtle Yoga as complementa...

Alexander Technique and Subtle Yoga as complementary systems: Alexander Technique and Subtle Yoga as complementa...: I teach both the AT and Yoga, and I love the way these two systems complement each other.  Hatha yoga offers an awareness of how the body...

Alexander Technique and Subtle Yoga as complementary systems

I teach both the AT and Yoga, and I love the way these two systems complement each other. 

Hatha yoga offers an awareness of how the body organises itself through gravity, while AT has an appreciation of the 'Primary Control' and the way the body unfolds and arranges itself through internal integration.

The key and initiator to both systems is a mind-body focus.

Yoga Asanas (postures) become alive when infused with the AT understanding of 'Directions' and 'Non-End Gaining'. This understanding gives the yoga 'Non-Attachment' an extra clarity and focus, contributing further stillness, and a capacity to Stop and wait for change to happen.  AT teacher's touch and understanding, delivers to the yoga lessons Inhibition that is much needed in 'performing' Yoga Asanas.

On the other hand, The fruits of the Yoga practice enrich AT lessons. There is a further understanding of the feet, toes, ankles, and their role in weight shifting, and movement.  There is an in-depth understanding of the pelvis, pelvic floor, sacrum, spine and their inner movements.

Having a Yoga teacher's experience brings to the AT lessons awareness of gravity and how the body interacts with space.

Both are mind-body systems, promoting focus, proprioception, and presence while encouraging poise and ease of movement.

Throughout the years of practising and teaching both the AT and Hatha Yoga, I developed the art of 'Subtle Yoga', a unique yoga practice that enhances proprioception, awakening the Central Nervous System and cultivating vitality. 

AT principles, Hatha Yoga and esoteric understanding of our Subtle Anatomy(the ways that Prana-Lifeforce travels in the body), are at the core of SubtleYoga.