Check out this months video about sensing and opening the connection between your spine and your arms:
What a month it’s been! Upsetting, thrilling, exhausting. I feel so vulnerable, I need so much rest, I despair of being able to keep up with the flow of information and activity. I know I’m not alone.
If you have been feeling the same way, there’s good news! Vulnerability is sexy now, thanks to Brene Brown! In her Manifesto of the Broken Hearted she talks about how hard but important it is to show up “just as you are” for your life. Sarcasm is one of my worst coping mechanisms but I give myself permission to say: NO *#^$ KIDDING!!!!
To quote Brene: “We are all called to be brave with our lives and answering that call means choosing courage over comfort, choosing what’s right over what’s easy, practicing our values rather than professing them and leaning into our vulnerability.”
Paradoxically, I think taking a break is the most courageous action sometimes. Until I discovered the Alexander Technique, I was not showing up. I thought I was, but I wasn’t. I was showing up and shutting down! I needed to learn how to feel myself again, and that meant I had to face the vast unknown, the vast “unfelt.” I needed a break from environments where I was being told what to think, feel, and do (dance training, politics, my family of origin) and instead learn the tools to find out for myself: what do I really think? What do I really feel? This took way more courage than losing myself in endless exhausting activity, which had been my way of coping for years. The Alexander Technique opened the door for me into a wonderful world of integrated embodiment. A transformation occurred, little manageable bits at a time, so that now I can, in fact, really show up as I am. And who I am is always changing! It’s wonderful, and sometimes very vulnerable and scary. If I start to feel shut down again, I know what to do: take a break, get clarity, and then re-engage. There is a unity to my life and my work that makes my actions more powerful. I hope.
Having the courage to show up as vulnerable means admitting limits. We all live through, not in spite of, our bodies. Give yourself a break. Rest. You will bounce back even stronger if you take one, and that’s going to help everyone around you. You might be surprised at your own resilience!
If you want to get a taste of the transformational work I do, see the offerings on my workshops page or my private lessons page. I’ve moved the Introductory End Shoulder Tension Forever Workshop forward into February, since January was so overwhelming for everyone. Bring or refer a friend and get a 50% discount!
Lots of love,
Clare