This weekend, I learned to run and it was fantastic! Malcolm Balk, a teacher of the Alexander Technique and runner with many kilometers in his legs shared his knowledge with us.
As with everything else my mind slipped over to riding and horse management during the work shop. To run is to bring many small detailes to form a whole and every detail is important for the quality of the whole.
Just as in riding, it is important to know in which direction the movement will take place. For a runner, there should be an upward direction in the body while we want to move forward. If we bounce with each step we are wasting energy. I thought Malcolm said that with a bouncy running technique during a marathon you are likely to have climbed up to the top of the Empire State Building (381 m) and down again.
When we run, there is very little free energy for us to use, compared to cycling for example we can let the bike roll from time to time without stopping completely. The small amount of free energy in running is developed when the achilles tendon is stretched as the heel touches the ground and is released when the heel leaves the ground. In order to make use of that energy, our foot fall needs to be both accurate and fast enough. If we stand for to long on our foot the free energy disappears into the ground and we'll have to work our way to the next step. Besides making it harder to run if we waste the free energy our shock absorbing is decreased and the risk of injuries such knee pain, shin- and calf muscle problems increases.
As we sit on horseback, we should have an upward direction in our body (vertical seat) while the horse should move forward. The horse's legs store and release more energy than we can in our legs and therefore can provide more free energy into the next step, if we let the horse's direction in the spine be forward and slightly upward. Riding the horse behind the bit, with the third cervical vertebra as the highest point, the horse moves on its forehand and the power from the back legs is pushed into the ground. Just like us, the loss of free energy forces the horse to work more with muscle power to take the next step and the degraded shock absorption increases risk of problems in fetlock and knees.
A good lateral balance is important for running, it increases the chance that the legs are equally loaded during a run. To train lateral balance, you can stand on one leg and then switch leg with a small jump. You should be able to do that transition without wobble and a need to balance yourself with your arms way outside your body. As humans, lateral balance is fairly easy, we have two legs that needs to interact. The horse has four. Shoulder in in walk is a movement that trains the lateral balance of the horse.
Step rate, or cadence as Malcolm calls it, should be 180 steps per minute (90 steps per leg per minute) when we run. If you, like me, is a recreational runner without competition aspirations, it's a good deal faster than what you're used to. Usain Bolt takes 2.5-meter-long strides with a cadence of 240 steps per minute, no wonder that he is the fastest!
The horse has different cadence in different gaits and that means walking horse with a lower cadence than that one should strive for is free energy wasted straight down into the ground. An approximate cadence to aim for in walk is 55 steps per leg/minute, in trot 75 steps per leg/minute and at a gallop 95 beats per stride/minute.
The best tool for keeping track of cadence is a metronome, there are small handy digital metronomes that you can attach to your clothing for around 100 sek.
I will be taking a summer break with the blog from today. On the schedule is, in addition to summer vacation with the kids, two practical courses in Applied Equine Podiatry (June and July) and the theoretical part where the final exam is approaching. Next week is a two-day conference on the theme Musicians Health in Piteå that I think will be very interesting. Music and riding has so many connections!
All that remains is to wish you all a wonderful summer, many tropical nights and moderately amount blood-sucking insects. Take good care of yourselves and your four-legged friends and we will meet again in the fall when life slows down for the winter.
Happy summer!
Showing posts with label direction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label direction. Show all posts
Monday, 3 June 2013
Friday, 28 September 2012
The Hand
Welcome to a "the day after" blog. Yesterday I came home at 7:00 am after a driving the entire night from Svärdsjö in Dalarna. Together with three other northeners, I have been on a five day hoof clinic with KC LaPierre and it gave lot of new input to be processed. I slept all day...
Today's post will be about our front hoof - the hand. Our hand plays a big role in our daily dialogue with the horse. We inspect the horse with our hands, we stroke it, it holds the brushes we use when grooming, it lifts the horse's legs, it holds the reins and much, much more.
I would like to hand out some tips on how we can improve our use of the hands to make the dialogue with the horse more nuanced. The hand, which I described earlier in the post The hand is dominating, occupies a large part of the brain's sensory and motoric centers. It has an amazing ability to develop fine tuned skills and sensitivity. All we need is to engage in deliberate practice.
These are three experiments for you to play with
1, Take a straw from the horse's tail or mane, put it under a page in the telephone directory. Look out in the room and let your finger cross out the page and feel hair through the paper. Add on another page, feel again. Add on another page, and another. Do this until you no longer think you can feel the hair. Then touch lightly, lightly over the paper. Can you perceive the hair?
2, Develop touch
Take an ordinary A5 envelope and hold it between your thumb and other fingers. Let the fingers "pads" rest on the envelope. Does the envelope bend? How much do you need to hold to keep to the envelope between your fingers? Can you walk with the envelope still between your fingers? Once you find a light touch you can try to replace the envelope with a paper folder, it is a bit heavier but keep your efforts as light as possible to hold the folder between the fingers.
3, Tip touch
Let the envelope rest on your fingertips, with all fingers in contact with the envelope. It can feel like it tightens in the hand. Breathe and let your fingers find their way up towards the envelope. Inhibition, to say no to any attempt to force your fingers into contact with the envelope. Direction, to know that you want your fingertips to have contact with the envelope.
Good luck!
Today's post will be about our front hoof - the hand. Our hand plays a big role in our daily dialogue with the horse. We inspect the horse with our hands, we stroke it, it holds the brushes we use when grooming, it lifts the horse's legs, it holds the reins and much, much more.
I would like to hand out some tips on how we can improve our use of the hands to make the dialogue with the horse more nuanced. The hand, which I described earlier in the post The hand is dominating, occupies a large part of the brain's sensory and motoric centers. It has an amazing ability to develop fine tuned skills and sensitivity. All we need is to engage in deliberate practice.
These are three experiments for you to play with
1, Take a straw from the horse's tail or mane, put it under a page in the telephone directory. Look out in the room and let your finger cross out the page and feel hair through the paper. Add on another page, feel again. Add on another page, and another. Do this until you no longer think you can feel the hair. Then touch lightly, lightly over the paper. Can you perceive the hair?
2, Develop touch
Take an ordinary A5 envelope and hold it between your thumb and other fingers. Let the fingers "pads" rest on the envelope. Does the envelope bend? How much do you need to hold to keep to the envelope between your fingers? Can you walk with the envelope still between your fingers? Once you find a light touch you can try to replace the envelope with a paper folder, it is a bit heavier but keep your efforts as light as possible to hold the folder between the fingers.
3, Tip touch
Let the envelope rest on your fingertips, with all fingers in contact with the envelope. It can feel like it tightens in the hand. Breathe and let your fingers find their way up towards the envelope. Inhibition, to say no to any attempt to force your fingers into contact with the envelope. Direction, to know that you want your fingertips to have contact with the envelope.
Good luck!
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Inhibition
The words inhibition - to say no and direction - to give yourself orders comes early on in the process of taking lessons in the Alexander Technique.
What is it that need to be inhibited, stopped?
Those that I work with first notice that they must stop the already established patterns of movement when they "do what they always do" when they carry out an every day movement. The pause is necessary to find the time to notice what happened - actually.
The second step is trickier to get and involves your own thoughts about what "needs to be happening" in order to go from sitting to standing, for example. - Yes, but I have to xxx, yyy, this or that to be able to...
There is a pre concieved idea of the force needed to bring the body in motion. All such preconceptions need to be inhibited.
An additional level in which inhibition is necessary concernes distrust, selfdoubt in your own ability and what you reckon is possible.
The first, superficial level is easy to see and therefore to understand. I might for example show with my own body what is happening with my students and also show how it can be done in a different way.
Level two is slightly harder to reach. Most people I meet are active, enterprising and energetic people. They take responsibility for and initiates most of what happens in their lives. Vigorous efforts is a living for them! It is a journey in itself for them to realize that their own body can "give them what they want" if they'd only leave themselves alone.
Which almost seamlessly brings us into the last level - the confidence that what we have practised through the lessons and dealth with above really is an ability of their own.
To me it's really a magical moment when those I work with really realize that inhibition, to say no (how paradoxical it may sound) is the key ... and now I have no handy way to describe what I perceive ... allows them to be fully living in their lives. And we're not talking about a fluffypuffy life, many have been troubled by pain for years and will have to live with it for years to come but inhibition can help them live a fulfilling life together with the pain. For those who are free from pain, there might be other burdens that they have to carry with them in their lives.
The magic is that they feel they can live adequately and fully in their process, they know they have the ability to say no and, from there take a more desirable direction, for me it is a privilege to be present at the very moment they realise that all they need is to be found within themselves.
"When you look at fairy tales, it must strike you that one thing that nobody ever worries about at all is how the wish is going to be carried out."
Walter Carrington
What is it that need to be inhibited, stopped?
Those that I work with first notice that they must stop the already established patterns of movement when they "do what they always do" when they carry out an every day movement. The pause is necessary to find the time to notice what happened - actually.
The second step is trickier to get and involves your own thoughts about what "needs to be happening" in order to go from sitting to standing, for example. - Yes, but I have to xxx, yyy, this or that to be able to...
There is a pre concieved idea of the force needed to bring the body in motion. All such preconceptions need to be inhibited.
An additional level in which inhibition is necessary concernes distrust, selfdoubt in your own ability and what you reckon is possible.
The first, superficial level is easy to see and therefore to understand. I might for example show with my own body what is happening with my students and also show how it can be done in a different way.
Level two is slightly harder to reach. Most people I meet are active, enterprising and energetic people. They take responsibility for and initiates most of what happens in their lives. Vigorous efforts is a living for them! It is a journey in itself for them to realize that their own body can "give them what they want" if they'd only leave themselves alone.
Which almost seamlessly brings us into the last level - the confidence that what we have practised through the lessons and dealth with above really is an ability of their own.
To me it's really a magical moment when those I work with really realize that inhibition, to say no (how paradoxical it may sound) is the key ... and now I have no handy way to describe what I perceive ... allows them to be fully living in their lives. And we're not talking about a fluffypuffy life, many have been troubled by pain for years and will have to live with it for years to come but inhibition can help them live a fulfilling life together with the pain. For those who are free from pain, there might be other burdens that they have to carry with them in their lives.
The magic is that they feel they can live adequately and fully in their process, they know they have the ability to say no and, from there take a more desirable direction, for me it is a privilege to be present at the very moment they realise that all they need is to be found within themselves.
"When you look at fairy tales, it must strike you that one thing that nobody ever worries about at all is how the wish is going to be carried out."
Walter Carrington
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
position vs direction - can they unite?
"There is no such thing as a right position, there is only a right direction", FM Alexander said. I have pondered on the words and have found that I do agree and at the same time disagree.
There are those who have trained themselves to become living statues. In their profession the ability to stand still for a prolonged time is trained and developed. Roger "Gränsen" Jonsson is a mime artist with five years of training. -Mime is a combination of tension and relaxation, it's about to rest while standing. To be able to move in slow motion you have to train your body. It takes a couple of years, he says. -When you've put on the costume and makeup and put yourself into position stillness is achieved rather quickly. It is a form of meditation. Even if you are percieved as being standing still you change position very subtly with minute movements every other minute, he continues.
During the 1600s (correct me if I'm wrong!) They trained horses and riders to become living statues. The horse was helped to come into a physical relaxation by soft massage and thereby trained to stay in a pose for a longer time, resting quietly and without unnecessary tension in the selected position.
Positions in this sense perceived as still do not have to be static. And what's preventing them from being static? Well, direction!
If your body is going somewhere - even in slow motion - there's a movement in the brain, that is, the nervous system, and hence a flow of information between the brain and body.
The word position have a physical as well as a psychological application. Deadlock is a term that signals a static relationship without any movement and it can be both physical and mental.
I often see horses and riders in locked positions. A common "place" for a physical deadlock is the rider's hand in relation to the horse's mouth. Another is when the rider takes a position in the saddle, and strive to maintain that position no matter how the horse's body moves. There are mental positions that stem from perceptions that the rider has of himself (performance anxiety) or the horse (lazy, slow, hot)
All deadlock affects suppleness, the muscle suit busy keeping the body in a certain postition, keeping a firm support in the reins or responding to a mental state is stiffening. The stiffened body is affected in such a way that it can no longer follow the horse in its movement/direction.
Now every move requires that the body takes a position. To be able perform a smooth movement requires a clear direction in which way the body/position has to go.
I have started training jujitsu and it's a great exercise in position and direction. If my training partner and I have a good position relative to each other and in our own bodies and a clear picture of the direction of the move, that ensures a soft floating feeling to all moves, and we seem to manage it without apparent effort in our respective bodies, and none of us experience being thrown or tipped over as unpleasant or painful as we train. But when the position and/or direction fails us, we're in trouble, it gets exhausting, inconvenient, uncomfortable (sometimes painful) and the risk of injury increases.
Position and direction are valid also in riding! We do not ride alone, we share a sense of position and direction with a living being. As riders, we select the discipline that we want the horse to work in and the training method.
Regardless of your individual choice, you as a rider need to familiarize yourself with both the position and direction for the maneuver you want to do riding the horse.
Lacking this knowledge transforms riding to horse wrestling and because the horse is much stronger, faster and bigger than us it's easy to resort to "rough methods" and sharper equipment and remaining in the paddock are two bereaved souls...
"Something achieved by means of violence can only be maintained by force."
Mahatma Gandhi
There are those who have trained themselves to become living statues. In their profession the ability to stand still for a prolonged time is trained and developed. Roger "Gränsen" Jonsson is a mime artist with five years of training. -Mime is a combination of tension and relaxation, it's about to rest while standing. To be able to move in slow motion you have to train your body. It takes a couple of years, he says. -When you've put on the costume and makeup and put yourself into position stillness is achieved rather quickly. It is a form of meditation. Even if you are percieved as being standing still you change position very subtly with minute movements every other minute, he continues.
During the 1600s (correct me if I'm wrong!) They trained horses and riders to become living statues. The horse was helped to come into a physical relaxation by soft massage and thereby trained to stay in a pose for a longer time, resting quietly and without unnecessary tension in the selected position.
Positions in this sense perceived as still do not have to be static. And what's preventing them from being static? Well, direction!
If your body is going somewhere - even in slow motion - there's a movement in the brain, that is, the nervous system, and hence a flow of information between the brain and body.
The word position have a physical as well as a psychological application. Deadlock is a term that signals a static relationship without any movement and it can be both physical and mental.
I often see horses and riders in locked positions. A common "place" for a physical deadlock is the rider's hand in relation to the horse's mouth. Another is when the rider takes a position in the saddle, and strive to maintain that position no matter how the horse's body moves. There are mental positions that stem from perceptions that the rider has of himself (performance anxiety) or the horse (lazy, slow, hot)
All deadlock affects suppleness, the muscle suit busy keeping the body in a certain postition, keeping a firm support in the reins or responding to a mental state is stiffening. The stiffened body is affected in such a way that it can no longer follow the horse in its movement/direction.
Now every move requires that the body takes a position. To be able perform a smooth movement requires a clear direction in which way the body/position has to go.
I have started training jujitsu and it's a great exercise in position and direction. If my training partner and I have a good position relative to each other and in our own bodies and a clear picture of the direction of the move, that ensures a soft floating feeling to all moves, and we seem to manage it without apparent effort in our respective bodies, and none of us experience being thrown or tipped over as unpleasant or painful as we train. But when the position and/or direction fails us, we're in trouble, it gets exhausting, inconvenient, uncomfortable (sometimes painful) and the risk of injury increases.
Position and direction are valid also in riding! We do not ride alone, we share a sense of position and direction with a living being. As riders, we select the discipline that we want the horse to work in and the training method.
Regardless of your individual choice, you as a rider need to familiarize yourself with both the position and direction for the maneuver you want to do riding the horse.
Lacking this knowledge transforms riding to horse wrestling and because the horse is much stronger, faster and bigger than us it's easy to resort to "rough methods" and sharper equipment and remaining in the paddock are two bereaved souls...
"Something achieved by means of violence can only be maintained by force."
Mahatma Gandhi
Friday, 14 October 2011
Back part 4 stress management
Now, when I've reached the goal of my travel I'm sitting at a desk with the computer connected to a broadband with a speed that almost scares me!
If you have been doing your home work from the first posting you now have familiarised yourself with your back 30 times. You have begun to explore how movement of the limbs affects the contact your back has with the surface and you have had an opportunity to recognise the feeling of your back resting on the floor even when you're upright.
Today's theme in the supine position series is the power it has on our mind. A typical day brings with it many moments and situations that increase the level of mental tension or stress. Stress (including what we may perceive as positive stress!) is always an increased strain on the body and what you've learned by lying down on the floor can now help you to reduce the effects that stress has on you.
First and foremost, stress leads to increased muscle tone, ie our muscle costume actually shrinks slightly. That shrinking affects both joint mobility and breathing. If you feel excitement or stress take hold of you, inhibit - pause and find the "floor behind your back", just allow yourself get back to your back.
Your moments on the floor has given you a great tool for self evaluation, make use of it! Lying down has presented you with the opportunity to explore how your body feels in a neutral position. Tune in where and how your body is affected by stress. If the jaws have become more tense ease off the tension by just visit them briefly in your thoughts.
We all have a uniquely positioned "stress indicator" where tension gets to us first. My spot is situated on the right side, midway between the spine and the lower part of the scapula, if I start to feel tension there I know that I am under a high mental workload.
If I visit that point often, ease the tension, I can "get through" stress without the body goes into a stress-locked position and the nice part is, as I do it consciously, it may be a pretty tough situation and never the less I feel I still have it in my hand. I can continue to act, which is much better than simply react to the challenge and immensely much better than to capitulate to it.
What I do when I feel I am under stress is that I rest "in the feel of the floor", it helps me to keep my chest open in the front and keep the shoulder blades resting on the thoracic spine. With that direction in my body I minimise the tension around the chest and my breathing is relatively undisturbed. If the breathing works oxygen reaches the brain and the mind can actively work to find a solution or an alternative course of action.
Without a functioning breathing, stress leads to a double burden, both physical (I am suffocating!) and a psychic (I can not handle this!) and the stress increases.
Even under pressure, there are choices, the better you become at maintaining a focused calmness and relaxation, the greater your chance is to see where the situation is heading, you can see the options that pop up and choose how to proceed. You can to some extent, therefore, choose the way in which the battle is being fought, or if there is a need for a conflict at all. All that is needed is perhaps a liberating laughter before continuing with the task.
Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down.
Natalie Goldberg
If you have been doing your home work from the first posting you now have familiarised yourself with your back 30 times. You have begun to explore how movement of the limbs affects the contact your back has with the surface and you have had an opportunity to recognise the feeling of your back resting on the floor even when you're upright.
Today's theme in the supine position series is the power it has on our mind. A typical day brings with it many moments and situations that increase the level of mental tension or stress. Stress (including what we may perceive as positive stress!) is always an increased strain on the body and what you've learned by lying down on the floor can now help you to reduce the effects that stress has on you.
First and foremost, stress leads to increased muscle tone, ie our muscle costume actually shrinks slightly. That shrinking affects both joint mobility and breathing. If you feel excitement or stress take hold of you, inhibit - pause and find the "floor behind your back", just allow yourself get back to your back.
Your moments on the floor has given you a great tool for self evaluation, make use of it! Lying down has presented you with the opportunity to explore how your body feels in a neutral position. Tune in where and how your body is affected by stress. If the jaws have become more tense ease off the tension by just visit them briefly in your thoughts.
We all have a uniquely positioned "stress indicator" where tension gets to us first. My spot is situated on the right side, midway between the spine and the lower part of the scapula, if I start to feel tension there I know that I am under a high mental workload.
If I visit that point often, ease the tension, I can "get through" stress without the body goes into a stress-locked position and the nice part is, as I do it consciously, it may be a pretty tough situation and never the less I feel I still have it in my hand. I can continue to act, which is much better than simply react to the challenge and immensely much better than to capitulate to it.
What I do when I feel I am under stress is that I rest "in the feel of the floor", it helps me to keep my chest open in the front and keep the shoulder blades resting on the thoracic spine. With that direction in my body I minimise the tension around the chest and my breathing is relatively undisturbed. If the breathing works oxygen reaches the brain and the mind can actively work to find a solution or an alternative course of action.
Without a functioning breathing, stress leads to a double burden, both physical (I am suffocating!) and a psychic (I can not handle this!) and the stress increases.
Even under pressure, there are choices, the better you become at maintaining a focused calmness and relaxation, the greater your chance is to see where the situation is heading, you can see the options that pop up and choose how to proceed. You can to some extent, therefore, choose the way in which the battle is being fought, or if there is a need for a conflict at all. All that is needed is perhaps a liberating laughter before continuing with the task.
Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down.
Natalie Goldberg
Thursday, 15 September 2011
Back part 2
Lena wrote in last weeks posting about the horse's inherent asymmetry and it is something that also applies to us humans.
When you lie on your back with books under your head and on a relatively hard surface, you have every opportunity to familiarize yourself with your own asymmetry. What you should pay attention to is the weight-bearing points that are in contact with the surface; the back of the head on the books and the contact the shoulder- blades, sacrum and soles of your feet have with the surface.
If you have done your homework you've had 10 occasions to check yourself. Does your head tend to fall to one side or the other? Is one shoulder blade against the floor while the other is lifted off the surface? Are your weight more on the tip of the tailbone than on the upper part of the sacrum? Is your lower back arched in such a way that you easily can slide your hand inbetween the back and the floor? Are both the inside and the outside rim of the feet in contact with the floor? Does your feet stay on the floor or do they tend to slide off away from you? Do you have as much weight on the left and right diagonal (scapula - sacrum)?
Now I want to emphasize that perception is more important than perfection! I do not think you can be 100% equilateral, the importance of this work is to become more aware of yourself and your asymmetry. That knowledge allows you to know when you need to be more focused on the Means-Where-By so that you and the horse are properly prepared in riding different excersises.
For the next period of homework, I like to give you some tips and hints to bring the process further forward.
If the head tends to tilt to one side it is often due to the muscles on that side being more contracted. One way to help yourself to keep your head still in a neutral position is to make use of your eyes. Aim at a point midway between the knees up towards the ceiling, keep looking in that direction.
If one shoulder-blade is kept a little above the floor I have a personal favorite. Place your arms straight out sideways from the body (you will be like a cross). Be aware of that the muscles of the arms can be shortened so there may be a reason to have pillows to rest the forearm against in the beginning.
When you want to bring your arms back to rest your hands on your belly or the iliac crest it is important that you do not lift your arms off the floor but allow them to slide on the surface toward the body. Keep track of how the movment affects the shoulder, elbow and wrist, if you notice any muscle tension, pause - become active passive (inhibit) - and continue with the movement when the tension has subsided.
If you easily get your hand under your lower back I urge you not to press down the back towards the floor. It is far better to place the lower legs (calf) on a chair seat or sofa in order to free the torso completely from the weight of the leg and allow the muscles in the leg to disengage.
If your feet tend to slip away or you have an uneven contact between the inside and outside of the foot, focus on your knees, make sure they always have a direction straight up toward the ceiling.
Breath, notice your own breathing, were does the breathing become visible in you? Where is your chest influenced?
“When anything is pointed out, our only idea is to go from wrong to right; in spite of the fact that it has taken us years to get to wrong we try to get right in a moment.” F M Alexander
When you lie on your back with books under your head and on a relatively hard surface, you have every opportunity to familiarize yourself with your own asymmetry. What you should pay attention to is the weight-bearing points that are in contact with the surface; the back of the head on the books and the contact the shoulder- blades, sacrum and soles of your feet have with the surface.
If you have done your homework you've had 10 occasions to check yourself. Does your head tend to fall to one side or the other? Is one shoulder blade against the floor while the other is lifted off the surface? Are your weight more on the tip of the tailbone than on the upper part of the sacrum? Is your lower back arched in such a way that you easily can slide your hand inbetween the back and the floor? Are both the inside and the outside rim of the feet in contact with the floor? Does your feet stay on the floor or do they tend to slide off away from you? Do you have as much weight on the left and right diagonal (scapula - sacrum)?
Now I want to emphasize that perception is more important than perfection! I do not think you can be 100% equilateral, the importance of this work is to become more aware of yourself and your asymmetry. That knowledge allows you to know when you need to be more focused on the Means-Where-By so that you and the horse are properly prepared in riding different excersises.
For the next period of homework, I like to give you some tips and hints to bring the process further forward.
If the head tends to tilt to one side it is often due to the muscles on that side being more contracted. One way to help yourself to keep your head still in a neutral position is to make use of your eyes. Aim at a point midway between the knees up towards the ceiling, keep looking in that direction.
If one shoulder-blade is kept a little above the floor I have a personal favorite. Place your arms straight out sideways from the body (you will be like a cross). Be aware of that the muscles of the arms can be shortened so there may be a reason to have pillows to rest the forearm against in the beginning.
When you want to bring your arms back to rest your hands on your belly or the iliac crest it is important that you do not lift your arms off the floor but allow them to slide on the surface toward the body. Keep track of how the movment affects the shoulder, elbow and wrist, if you notice any muscle tension, pause - become active passive (inhibit) - and continue with the movement when the tension has subsided.
If you easily get your hand under your lower back I urge you not to press down the back towards the floor. It is far better to place the lower legs (calf) on a chair seat or sofa in order to free the torso completely from the weight of the leg and allow the muscles in the leg to disengage.
If your feet tend to slip away or you have an uneven contact between the inside and outside of the foot, focus on your knees, make sure they always have a direction straight up toward the ceiling.
Breath, notice your own breathing, were does the breathing become visible in you? Where is your chest influenced?
“When anything is pointed out, our only idea is to go from wrong to right; in spite of the fact that it has taken us years to get to wrong we try to get right in a moment.” F M Alexander
Thursday, 18 August 2011
To stand tall
Take a look at the picture below, notice the directions of the arrows
and then pay attention to yourself, right at this very moment.
What direction does the arrows have in you?
Our spine is made up of 33 vertebrae, at the top of the spine we carry our head, like a ball on a weight-lifters bar, and at the bottom the sacrum and pelvis represents the next ball.
The spine is not straight and stiff as a weight-lifters bar, it curves its way smoothly between the head and pelvis. Some vertebrae have a greater mobility between each other than others. The biggest movement we have in the neck and lower back - that's why it is a common location for slipped discs. Vertebrae in the thoracic part of the spine is more fixed by the ribs and sternum. The sacral vertebrae are completely fused.
The Alexander Technique aims to help you reach your full height, as in the left body. Not by forcing you to stand upright with strained muscles (the military way with the sucked in belly and pulled up, extended chest) but in such a way that the head is allowed to be carried on top of the spine and the pelvis may act as a counterweight at the other end of the spine. Between these "spheres" (the head and pelvis) muscles are stretched. Just as a lead-line works when you hang a weight at the lower end of it, but a lead-line without anchor at the top is collapsing on the floor, just as the right body does in the picture.
Alexander Technique helps you find the way to let the head and the pelvis be each others counterweights. When the lift of the head allows the pelvis to hang freely they provide the muscle that keeps your back upright with proper muscular tonus/tension. You are thereby able to stand tall without having to hold and stretch the muscles to acchieve it.
“People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.” - FM Alexander
and then pay attention to yourself, right at this very moment.
What direction does the arrows have in you?
Our spine is made up of 33 vertebrae, at the top of the spine we carry our head, like a ball on a weight-lifters bar, and at the bottom the sacrum and pelvis represents the next ball.
The spine is not straight and stiff as a weight-lifters bar, it curves its way smoothly between the head and pelvis. Some vertebrae have a greater mobility between each other than others. The biggest movement we have in the neck and lower back - that's why it is a common location for slipped discs. Vertebrae in the thoracic part of the spine is more fixed by the ribs and sternum. The sacral vertebrae are completely fused.
The Alexander Technique aims to help you reach your full height, as in the left body. Not by forcing you to stand upright with strained muscles (the military way with the sucked in belly and pulled up, extended chest) but in such a way that the head is allowed to be carried on top of the spine and the pelvis may act as a counterweight at the other end of the spine. Between these "spheres" (the head and pelvis) muscles are stretched. Just as a lead-line works when you hang a weight at the lower end of it, but a lead-line without anchor at the top is collapsing on the floor, just as the right body does in the picture.
Alexander Technique helps you find the way to let the head and the pelvis be each others counterweights. When the lift of the head allows the pelvis to hang freely they provide the muscle that keeps your back upright with proper muscular tonus/tension. You are thereby able to stand tall without having to hold and stretch the muscles to acchieve it.
“People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.” - FM Alexander
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Calm
In working my young horse I have been working with different versions of calmness.
At first I was scared, insecure in regard to both the technique and the horse. I appeared calm because at times my body was completely passive, frozen, but at the same time the inside of me was a complete chaos.
Now that I'm really confident my body works all the time, it moves constantly to position itself in the best possible manner in relation to the horse. I say "it moves" because in this calm mind set I can let it proceed its work undisturbed. It is a kind of calm that allows me to be present in what is happening without feeling a need to act, but still be ready to do so if and when I feel the need. So when I want something actively with the horse; stop it or turn it or anything else, I go in and control the body or in the AT-language give myself directions.
A horse also needs to come to peace. Being calm is a prerequisite for it to be able to benefit from the training. A stressed nervous system is busy dealing with internal signals that is really about its survival. The horse is a flight animal whose first defense is to get away from the thing that scares them. As a horseowner/trainer you should really make an effort to avoid giving the horse bad experiences, because it will affect the training ahead.
But that's where it gets interesting. How do we avoid bad experiences ... what is a bad experience? Which road should we choose, do we choose not to expose the horse to anything or expose the horse to "everything"?
It is not unusual for riders to ride with their lower legs lifted away from the horse's torso with the explanation that the horse is afraid of the legs. Spectators in the riding hall is being asked to be silent and still to avoid frightening the horse (read: so the horse remains calm). The pram is removed, the dustbin is moved, the hoses should be removed - all in order to keep the horse calm.
But the calmness that the horse gets in arranged surroundings is not the calmness that we seek. The on the outside seemingly calm horse may be a horse with an a huge internal uncertainty. What we want is a horse with an internal ease that allows the horse to react to the environment but without having its flight reflexes activated.
It is a kind of calm that allows the horse to be present in what is happening without feeling a need to act, but still be ready to do so if and when it seems necessary. So when the horse wants something actively, stop, turn or something else, it controls the body or in the AT-language gives himself direction.
"All human errors are impatience, a premature breaking off of methodical procedure." Franz Kafka
At first I was scared, insecure in regard to both the technique and the horse. I appeared calm because at times my body was completely passive, frozen, but at the same time the inside of me was a complete chaos.
Now that I'm really confident my body works all the time, it moves constantly to position itself in the best possible manner in relation to the horse. I say "it moves" because in this calm mind set I can let it proceed its work undisturbed. It is a kind of calm that allows me to be present in what is happening without feeling a need to act, but still be ready to do so if and when I feel the need. So when I want something actively with the horse; stop it or turn it or anything else, I go in and control the body or in the AT-language give myself directions.
A horse also needs to come to peace. Being calm is a prerequisite for it to be able to benefit from the training. A stressed nervous system is busy dealing with internal signals that is really about its survival. The horse is a flight animal whose first defense is to get away from the thing that scares them. As a horseowner/trainer you should really make an effort to avoid giving the horse bad experiences, because it will affect the training ahead.
But that's where it gets interesting. How do we avoid bad experiences ... what is a bad experience? Which road should we choose, do we choose not to expose the horse to anything or expose the horse to "everything"?
It is not unusual for riders to ride with their lower legs lifted away from the horse's torso with the explanation that the horse is afraid of the legs. Spectators in the riding hall is being asked to be silent and still to avoid frightening the horse (read: so the horse remains calm). The pram is removed, the dustbin is moved, the hoses should be removed - all in order to keep the horse calm.
But the calmness that the horse gets in arranged surroundings is not the calmness that we seek. The on the outside seemingly calm horse may be a horse with an a huge internal uncertainty. What we want is a horse with an internal ease that allows the horse to react to the environment but without having its flight reflexes activated.
It is a kind of calm that allows the horse to be present in what is happening without feeling a need to act, but still be ready to do so if and when it seems necessary. So when the horse wants something actively, stop, turn or something else, it controls the body or in the AT-language gives himself direction.
"All human errors are impatience, a premature breaking off of methodical procedure." Franz Kafka
Thursday, 12 May 2011
position + direction + balance + suppleness = the ability to follow
What exactly is balance and suppleness?
Balance is, as I see it, the body's response to the question asked by gravity. Can I stay on my two feet or motion be it standing still or being in motion? Or if I sit in the saddle, am I able balance myself on my seat bones? How much muscular effort do I need to keep me in balance? Do I have to use the support of something outside of me to keep balanced?
Suppleness is, in my opinion, my ability to maintain self-balance allowing the body to keep up with a movement that is generated by someone (or something) else outside my own body. The movement can be generated by me skiing, cycling, riding or dancing.
The basis for a good seat is when we are positioning the bones in such a way that the postural muscles are given a chance to keep us up-right with least possible tension. That kind of basic attitude gives the prerequisite for good balance and ability to follow the motion.
But the concept of position brings about a possible conflict with both balance and suppleness and that possibility arises if we think of the position as something static, something we take and then hold ("strike a pose").
The Alexander Technique way to make a position relative and alive is to emphasise the directions that you want to be possible at every moment the position is in motion.
The picture above is from the book Riding - a tutorial by Percy Hamilton from 1923 and shows a rider good balance and with good ability to follow a movement follows the extended trot the horse offers. The horse carries his head high, but note that the rider does not sit on a sway-backed horse, on the contrary! That is a well connected back, it is particularly noticeable on the horse's legs - it is a snapshot of strenght!
Keep this image in mind when you study riding today. This rider has no fear of speed or force! He asks for extended trot and he lets himself be carried off by the horse, he has a good position and a clear direction - full speed ahead!
"Toughness and force are exclusive to the mediocre who never want to be true."
de la Guérinière
Balance is, as I see it, the body's response to the question asked by gravity. Can I stay on my two feet or motion be it standing still or being in motion? Or if I sit in the saddle, am I able balance myself on my seat bones? How much muscular effort do I need to keep me in balance? Do I have to use the support of something outside of me to keep balanced?
Suppleness is, in my opinion, my ability to maintain self-balance allowing the body to keep up with a movement that is generated by someone (or something) else outside my own body. The movement can be generated by me skiing, cycling, riding or dancing.
The basis for a good seat is when we are positioning the bones in such a way that the postural muscles are given a chance to keep us up-right with least possible tension. That kind of basic attitude gives the prerequisite for good balance and ability to follow the motion.
But the concept of position brings about a possible conflict with both balance and suppleness and that possibility arises if we think of the position as something static, something we take and then hold ("strike a pose").
The Alexander Technique way to make a position relative and alive is to emphasise the directions that you want to be possible at every moment the position is in motion.
The picture above is from the book Riding - a tutorial by Percy Hamilton from 1923 and shows a rider good balance and with good ability to follow a movement follows the extended trot the horse offers. The horse carries his head high, but note that the rider does not sit on a sway-backed horse, on the contrary! That is a well connected back, it is particularly noticeable on the horse's legs - it is a snapshot of strenght!
Keep this image in mind when you study riding today. This rider has no fear of speed or force! He asks for extended trot and he lets himself be carried off by the horse, he has a good position and a clear direction - full speed ahead!
"Toughness and force are exclusive to the mediocre who never want to be true."
de la Guérinière
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Flow – the absence of fear?
Athletes talk about flow and how to achieve it. To be in the flow is desireable since it gives a feeling of enhanced presens in both the moment and movement.
In the Alexander Technique we make references to something we call the startle pattern or fear reflex which is an involuntary movement in the body caused by something that either scare or surprise us.
The reaction is similar to the one you would experience if you took a shower and the water turns out to be cold as ice. You'd pull your head down and raise your shoulders at the same time, bring your arms to your side, gasp and hold your breath for a split second. Your entire body thightens and your thought process is blocked.
This fear reaction is often seen in riders, it can be triggered by almost anything. Anxiety for what the horse might do, the hight of a fence, speed of gate, fear of failing as a rider - simply anything that frightens us. In that moment of tension we are unable to move, think and act. We are incapacitated for a split second and that brings us away from the moment and movement. When the tension releases we find ourselves in a situation we have to deal with. We have become followers instead of leaders.
When I became a mother Sean Scary and Fanny Fear entered my life and also my life with horses. I've had to work with the effect fear had on me. In my case it took a while just to grasp that I was actually scared. I had to acknowledge my fear to be able to get conscious control over the thought mechanisms that created anxiety in me and that was through the use of inhibition and direction.
With our new horse fear was a fact again, the knowledge I had in horsemanship was not enough to handle her forceful and vigourous gestures. Ed's visit in August was an absolute must in order to give me knowledge and confidence to overcome my fear and to continue to work our young horse.
So now, when I find myself capable of handling the rope halter and lead rope without having to look at it, when I've become better at positioning my body in regard to her body, when my feet are moving instead of being paralysed by fear we are making progress.
I've gone from reacting to her behaviour (read: follow her whims) to make her follow my descisions. She still argues but since I'm no longer afraid I can sense her reactions before they take place. I'm in the moment and movement - I'm in a flow!
~~~~~~~~
and then a mail was passed forward from an AT collegue of mine
--- But the articles from this blog (The quest for Equipoise) of two Swedish ladies are just brilliant. It's all about Classical horse riding and Alexander Technique (AT). And I think they have a lot to do with what we do at KaizenTao from a different perspective, especially what Thong has been teaching us the "magic" works.
You'll find jewels every where. Thanks for your post of a skeleton photo from that blog site a while back. That led me to the discovery of this treasure place.
Mitchell Wu
As you can imagine my smile reached all the way to the ears! Thanks for your support Mitchell!
In the Alexander Technique we make references to something we call the startle pattern or fear reflex which is an involuntary movement in the body caused by something that either scare or surprise us.
The reaction is similar to the one you would experience if you took a shower and the water turns out to be cold as ice. You'd pull your head down and raise your shoulders at the same time, bring your arms to your side, gasp and hold your breath for a split second. Your entire body thightens and your thought process is blocked.
This fear reaction is often seen in riders, it can be triggered by almost anything. Anxiety for what the horse might do, the hight of a fence, speed of gate, fear of failing as a rider - simply anything that frightens us. In that moment of tension we are unable to move, think and act. We are incapacitated for a split second and that brings us away from the moment and movement. When the tension releases we find ourselves in a situation we have to deal with. We have become followers instead of leaders.
When I became a mother Sean Scary and Fanny Fear entered my life and also my life with horses. I've had to work with the effect fear had on me. In my case it took a while just to grasp that I was actually scared. I had to acknowledge my fear to be able to get conscious control over the thought mechanisms that created anxiety in me and that was through the use of inhibition and direction.
With our new horse fear was a fact again, the knowledge I had in horsemanship was not enough to handle her forceful and vigourous gestures. Ed's visit in August was an absolute must in order to give me knowledge and confidence to overcome my fear and to continue to work our young horse.
So now, when I find myself capable of handling the rope halter and lead rope without having to look at it, when I've become better at positioning my body in regard to her body, when my feet are moving instead of being paralysed by fear we are making progress.
I've gone from reacting to her behaviour (read: follow her whims) to make her follow my descisions. She still argues but since I'm no longer afraid I can sense her reactions before they take place. I'm in the moment and movement - I'm in a flow!
~~~~~~~~
and then a mail was passed forward from an AT collegue of mine
--- But the articles from this blog (The quest for Equipoise) of two Swedish ladies are just brilliant. It's all about Classical horse riding and Alexander Technique (AT). And I think they have a lot to do with what we do at KaizenTao from a different perspective, especially what Thong has been teaching us the "magic" works.
You'll find jewels every where. Thanks for your post of a skeleton photo from that blog site a while back. That led me to the discovery of this treasure place.
Mitchell Wu
As you can imagine my smile reached all the way to the ears! Thanks for your support Mitchell!
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
The shortest way to yes can be no.
If I compare Alexander Technique (AT) with learning to play the guitar it’s easy to learn some common chords and then you can happily play the accompaniment at a party or a bonfire at the beach. If you want to deepen your knowledge and improve your technique, you’ll find that there is something to learn from this day on and all of a sudden playing guitar has become a way of life.
The same goes for AT. There is a basic level that in many ways is about the mundane and physical. How you sit, stand and walk, a technique for improving posture. As we sit, stand and walk a great deal during a normal day that knowledge is useful for everyday health and wellbeing.
If you decide to go ahead with AT, you can explore what is needed to move and how much tension that is really necessary to make the moves. Then there is an equally interesting aspect of how different stimuli (sensory input) affects the body physically without it showing outwards. How is the level of stress affecting tension in the body? Nervousness? Fear? The sight of the one that you like or hate? AT helps you discover how your body reacts to different stimuli and it can open up for a chance to choose what to do with these initial reactions.
On both these levels you train your perception and inhibition and direction are your tools in learning. As the nervous system is equipped with the ability to automate processes, it is sometimes necessary to actively say no (inhibit) to make room for an active yes (direction).
There are studies showing that the nervous system is prepared to get into action about 10 seconds before we ourselves become aware of what we intend to do. 10 seconds ... in neuroscience that is one (if not two!) eternities.
It is of great importance to realise that even if the nervous system and thus the body "is ready to do what we’ve always done”, there is a moment, a few milliseconds, where we are offered the opportunity to actually say no to whatever the nervous system have prepared itself (and us ) for. The opening allows us to choose a new way of acting, a way that better lead us to where we want to go, a reaction that brings us closer to our goal.
If we refrain from or miss our chance to say no (inhibit) the stone is put in motion, and like a band of crackers nerve impulse after nerve impulse is fired until the automatic reaction is completed. During that journey we have few if any means to stop the process.
Imagine a man who has a habit of betting on the racetrack. He comes to the junction at Solvalla. If he takes advantage of the opening to actively say no to the reaction his nervous system offers as he drives past the junction, he’ll come home with all his money. If he misses the moment and makes the turn, he will go all the way and bet on horses til his wallet is empty.
What do you need to prevent from happening to make way for the things you want to happen?
The same goes for AT. There is a basic level that in many ways is about the mundane and physical. How you sit, stand and walk, a technique for improving posture. As we sit, stand and walk a great deal during a normal day that knowledge is useful for everyday health and wellbeing.
If you decide to go ahead with AT, you can explore what is needed to move and how much tension that is really necessary to make the moves. Then there is an equally interesting aspect of how different stimuli (sensory input) affects the body physically without it showing outwards. How is the level of stress affecting tension in the body? Nervousness? Fear? The sight of the one that you like or hate? AT helps you discover how your body reacts to different stimuli and it can open up for a chance to choose what to do with these initial reactions.
On both these levels you train your perception and inhibition and direction are your tools in learning. As the nervous system is equipped with the ability to automate processes, it is sometimes necessary to actively say no (inhibit) to make room for an active yes (direction).
There are studies showing that the nervous system is prepared to get into action about 10 seconds before we ourselves become aware of what we intend to do. 10 seconds ... in neuroscience that is one (if not two!) eternities.
It is of great importance to realise that even if the nervous system and thus the body "is ready to do what we’ve always done”, there is a moment, a few milliseconds, where we are offered the opportunity to actually say no to whatever the nervous system have prepared itself (and us ) for. The opening allows us to choose a new way of acting, a way that better lead us to where we want to go, a reaction that brings us closer to our goal.
If we refrain from or miss our chance to say no (inhibit) the stone is put in motion, and like a band of crackers nerve impulse after nerve impulse is fired until the automatic reaction is completed. During that journey we have few if any means to stop the process.
Imagine a man who has a habit of betting on the racetrack. He comes to the junction at Solvalla. If he takes advantage of the opening to actively say no to the reaction his nervous system offers as he drives past the junction, he’ll come home with all his money. If he misses the moment and makes the turn, he will go all the way and bet on horses til his wallet is empty.
What do you need to prevent from happening to make way for the things you want to happen?
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
Changing reflection to proaction
Since I have been busy sitting on stands this week I've had plenty of time to think about life, learning and coincidences.
In everyday life we often talk about thought and action, in that order - that thought precedes action. And then there is the concept of reflection, that usually comes after a performed action. Quite frequently the reflection is coloured by remorse.
Many of us are caught in the chain of action-reaction and reflection. We react to something with an action, which we on reflection later on, regret. The Alexander Technique is striving to change that pattern to a thought-proaction pattern instead. That is to say that we have thought through what we want to do and how we would do it before we take action (means where by).
To assist us in the process, we have the ability to say no (inhibition) and to give directions. Reflections is still present but instead of being coloured with remorse, self-loathing, devaluation of ourselves, we change it to the observation, analysis and ideas of improvement.
It is thought that gives us a plan for our action, reflection allows us to evaluate the outcome. This in turn leads to experience, it sharpens our intuition and suddenly we are in the viewer's (and even our own!) eyes "skilled".
What is required of you if you want to switch from a reactive pattern of behavior to proactive? Well, it requires curiosity, the courage to be be- or reginner, preparedness to practice and it is also beneficial to have easy access to a good laughter.
The answer to Ed's question is that two out of hundred horse owners have a functioning leadership in relation to their horse. Are you one of those two? I'm working towards that in "my group of one hundred" we shall be three ...
In everyday life we often talk about thought and action, in that order - that thought precedes action. And then there is the concept of reflection, that usually comes after a performed action. Quite frequently the reflection is coloured by remorse.
Many of us are caught in the chain of action-reaction and reflection. We react to something with an action, which we on reflection later on, regret. The Alexander Technique is striving to change that pattern to a thought-proaction pattern instead. That is to say that we have thought through what we want to do and how we would do it before we take action (means where by).
To assist us in the process, we have the ability to say no (inhibition) and to give directions. Reflections is still present but instead of being coloured with remorse, self-loathing, devaluation of ourselves, we change it to the observation, analysis and ideas of improvement.
It is thought that gives us a plan for our action, reflection allows us to evaluate the outcome. This in turn leads to experience, it sharpens our intuition and suddenly we are in the viewer's (and even our own!) eyes "skilled".
What is required of you if you want to switch from a reactive pattern of behavior to proactive? Well, it requires curiosity, the courage to be be- or reginner, preparedness to practice and it is also beneficial to have easy access to a good laughter.
The answer to Ed's question is that two out of hundred horse owners have a functioning leadership in relation to their horse. Are you one of those two? I'm working towards that in "my group of one hundred" we shall be three ...
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Beginner or re-ginner
There is a big difference being a beginner compared to being a “re-ginner” in many ways.
As a beginner, you are a clean sheet, everything you do, you do from the beginning and provided you have a good teacher you can quickly and easily acquire new skills. I remember an adult beginner that in a relatively short time learned to ride and with great enthusiasm during a lesson exclaimed .- Do I make a passing now?! (referring to a side pass) He had everything to gain and nothing to loose, it's the novice privilege.
As a re-ginner you have to face challenges on several levels.
To re-learn is more difficult than learning a new because you have to struggle with your acquired reflexes or so called habit. Since you already have some knowledge of the subject, you have to put up with reflexes that allow you to automatically act when something happens.
Sometimes you are aware of your reflexes, sometimes you are unaware of them and the latter can cause problem. I saw a lesson where the riding instructor wanted a pupil to raise the hand and the hand rose but it was simultaneously brought backwards. - No, the riding instructor said, not that way. I want you to just raise your hand. The rider made another try, doing the same as the first time. At that point the riding instructor walked over and showed the student what actually happened to the hands. –Oh, I see, the pupil said and at a new request the hands were raised without pulling the reins backwards. You can only change the things you are aware of, you need to become aware of yourself and what you are actually doing.
Once you become aware of what you do "when you do what you do" you will face the next challenge.
You need to find out what your new habit is going to consist of.
So intellectually, you are in the game but your body is unable to go for the new. It feels as it is resisting. If it is any comfort I have heard that it takes 10 000 repetitions to consolidate a habit. If the habit turns out to be something we need to address later on in life, it takes 10 000 reps to work it off and 10 000 to consolidate a new habit.
It is the stubbornly and tirelessly saying no to the first impulse (your old habitual response) and giving yourself direction for your planned new route that brings about change. Being bewildered, clumsy and wrong belongs to that part of the task. To make it easier and to give yourself the space needed to change it is great if you can blur the paradigm of right-wrong within your mind and instead see your chosen path as an experiment. Were the results of your experiment the expected? How well did you keep to your new direction? At what point were the urge to do as you usually did the strongest?
Once you know what you want, have a clear vision of how to do it and manage to prevent yourself from getting stuck in some old habit - then it is possible that what you want to achieve is done by you and for you almost without effort.
And if you can ease the demands of perfection on yourself with some good humoured self criticism and accept that being a re-ginner is going to make you feel lost and stupid at times, then you have given yourself a fair chance to succeed.
"If you stop doing the wrong thing the right thing does itself."
F.M Alexander
As a beginner, you are a clean sheet, everything you do, you do from the beginning and provided you have a good teacher you can quickly and easily acquire new skills. I remember an adult beginner that in a relatively short time learned to ride and with great enthusiasm during a lesson exclaimed .- Do I make a passing now?! (referring to a side pass) He had everything to gain and nothing to loose, it's the novice privilege.
As a re-ginner you have to face challenges on several levels.
To re-learn is more difficult than learning a new because you have to struggle with your acquired reflexes or so called habit. Since you already have some knowledge of the subject, you have to put up with reflexes that allow you to automatically act when something happens.
Sometimes you are aware of your reflexes, sometimes you are unaware of them and the latter can cause problem. I saw a lesson where the riding instructor wanted a pupil to raise the hand and the hand rose but it was simultaneously brought backwards. - No, the riding instructor said, not that way. I want you to just raise your hand. The rider made another try, doing the same as the first time. At that point the riding instructor walked over and showed the student what actually happened to the hands. –Oh, I see, the pupil said and at a new request the hands were raised without pulling the reins backwards. You can only change the things you are aware of, you need to become aware of yourself and what you are actually doing.
Once you become aware of what you do "when you do what you do" you will face the next challenge.
You need to find out what your new habit is going to consist of.
So intellectually, you are in the game but your body is unable to go for the new. It feels as it is resisting. If it is any comfort I have heard that it takes 10 000 repetitions to consolidate a habit. If the habit turns out to be something we need to address later on in life, it takes 10 000 reps to work it off and 10 000 to consolidate a new habit.
It is the stubbornly and tirelessly saying no to the first impulse (your old habitual response) and giving yourself direction for your planned new route that brings about change. Being bewildered, clumsy and wrong belongs to that part of the task. To make it easier and to give yourself the space needed to change it is great if you can blur the paradigm of right-wrong within your mind and instead see your chosen path as an experiment. Were the results of your experiment the expected? How well did you keep to your new direction? At what point were the urge to do as you usually did the strongest?
Once you know what you want, have a clear vision of how to do it and manage to prevent yourself from getting stuck in some old habit - then it is possible that what you want to achieve is done by you and for you almost without effort.
And if you can ease the demands of perfection on yourself with some good humoured self criticism and accept that being a re-ginner is going to make you feel lost and stupid at times, then you have given yourself a fair chance to succeed.
"If you stop doing the wrong thing the right thing does itself."
F.M Alexander
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Three pair of words to devote your life to
This is a description of three pair of words which play an important role in the Alexander Technique.
First out is inhibition and direction.
Inhibition, to cancel something, can also be summarized in the word no. Direction is what you consciously choose to do instead. For riders, the ability to inhibit is crucial. In practical terms this means that if you give the horse an aid you sit quietly and inhibit all impulses to do anything further and wait for the horse's response.
If you work the horse from the ground and would like to make a "join-up” inhibition is necessary. It is when you remain silent and still you give the horse space to make a choice - join up or await. And the horse's response will determine your next move - not your own impatience or desire for a specific outcome.
And that automatically leads to the next pair of words; means-where-by and end gaining. Our proverb "the end justifies the means" sums it up pretty well. What do you do to achieve your goal? Is the goal primary and how it is reached secondary? Do you make your horse sacrifice himself, his health, his life for you to reach your goals? Or do you let your horse have a say and take account of it? Are you taking account of yourself?
But, as it is said in Alice in Wonderland, if you don’t know where you are going you can go either way…So a goal give our directions something to aim for.
And finally, use and function. How you use your body affects how well it can function. Muscles that works tense up, tense muscles become tight muscles and that means that all blood vessels inside the muscle is squeezed together. If you constantly have high muscle tension in your body the circulatory systems within will have a hard time working properly and that means that oxygen, nutrients and waste products have difficulty travelling inside you.
For the rider the high muscle tension affects your ability to be flexible and pliable on the horse. Tense muscles will lead to less mobility in the joints and that is detrimental because it is through having access to freely moving joints we absorb the horse's movements.
Now you have a task to train you in all three word pairs.
Take a pen and paper. Grasp the pen, as if you were to start writing,
say NO to the impulse and
check whether or not you have leaned into the paper by rounding your back, check how hard you hold the pen.
Now straighten your back, keep a certain distance to the mission. How hard do you need to hold the pen to keep in place? How light can you hold it between your fingers and still be able to write? A light touch generates less tension which in turn leaves freedom for movement in the joints.
Take that light touch and straight back with you to your next ride and see what happens...
First out is inhibition and direction.
Inhibition, to cancel something, can also be summarized in the word no. Direction is what you consciously choose to do instead. For riders, the ability to inhibit is crucial. In practical terms this means that if you give the horse an aid you sit quietly and inhibit all impulses to do anything further and wait for the horse's response.
If you work the horse from the ground and would like to make a "join-up” inhibition is necessary. It is when you remain silent and still you give the horse space to make a choice - join up or await. And the horse's response will determine your next move - not your own impatience or desire for a specific outcome.
And that automatically leads to the next pair of words; means-where-by and end gaining. Our proverb "the end justifies the means" sums it up pretty well. What do you do to achieve your goal? Is the goal primary and how it is reached secondary? Do you make your horse sacrifice himself, his health, his life for you to reach your goals? Or do you let your horse have a say and take account of it? Are you taking account of yourself?
But, as it is said in Alice in Wonderland, if you don’t know where you are going you can go either way…So a goal give our directions something to aim for.
And finally, use and function. How you use your body affects how well it can function. Muscles that works tense up, tense muscles become tight muscles and that means that all blood vessels inside the muscle is squeezed together. If you constantly have high muscle tension in your body the circulatory systems within will have a hard time working properly and that means that oxygen, nutrients and waste products have difficulty travelling inside you.
For the rider the high muscle tension affects your ability to be flexible and pliable on the horse. Tense muscles will lead to less mobility in the joints and that is detrimental because it is through having access to freely moving joints we absorb the horse's movements.
Now you have a task to train you in all three word pairs.
Take a pen and paper. Grasp the pen, as if you were to start writing,
say NO to the impulse and
check whether or not you have leaned into the paper by rounding your back, check how hard you hold the pen.
Now straighten your back, keep a certain distance to the mission. How hard do you need to hold the pen to keep in place? How light can you hold it between your fingers and still be able to write? A light touch generates less tension which in turn leaves freedom for movement in the joints.
Take that light touch and straight back with you to your next ride and see what happens...
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