Finding aLiveness At Play

Sports, gardening, and leisurely activities such as TV watching and playing video games can be healthy and fun outlets. But, maximizing your work-out or chilling with a good movie on television doesn’t mean you have to compromise your body’s poise and natural integrity. Sometimes we think we have to work harder to burn more calories, or on the other extreme, we can’t be relaxed without slumping in the chair or sofa. The proper mixture of tone and muscular release can help increase stamina, agility and even boast our capacity to concentrate. There is benefit in an Alexander Technique lesson when we learn how to walk or run with our hip joints free, our knees unlocked, our weight distributed over our legs rather than pitched forward of our feet. There is benefit when we learn how to sit and squat, hinging at the hips rather than folding at the waist as we reach to pull weeds and pick flowers.

Anne demonstrates how too often runners pitch their weight forward, causing tension and squeezing in the lower back. Sara helps Anne to release her weight through her torso and into her legs for better support.

Polly and Porter play a game, but notice Polly’s hiked shoulders and Porter’s rounded frame. Jack, in the opposite picture, sits upright, letting the weight of his body pour through his pelvis and upper legs.

Shawna loves to garden, but she may find she can’t sustain her sitting if her legs remain tightly held together and her shoulders continue to rise. Finding the relationship between her head, neck and torso, she will also find new freedom at her hips and knees when she works in her garden.