Today is the first day of Lent. It’s a long time since I acknowledged it. Like Valentines Day I can love and show love anytime. I  can commit to giving up a habit or focusing on developing one anytime. 40 days of lent might be a good time to focus on a challenge, as many others sync up with their commitment. It's good to have a support buddy or ten.

Ash Wednesday signifies this start in the Catholic practice, where there is a special mass to acknowledge the start where ash is crossed on your forehead. I was noticing as I crossed the road a girl with this black mark on her lovely face. It takes the eyes up. The brain noticing something unusual takes the eyes up to investigate.

I noticed many eyes look down as I passed them. Today I happened to be having a very free day and chose some pink and blue striped socks to bridge the gap between my calf length pants and Converse. I must admit it was not my best fashion ensemble but it did make me smile when others would take in the socks and giggle or change their expression. One woman stopped talking to her colleague as I passed, and nearly fell over herself as her eyes followed my feet. This was all very amusing to me, and reminded me of something.

A while ago I went through a phase of dying my hair not natural colours, pink and purple and blue. I thought it was fun but many would just ask, why Fiona? Maybe it was some sort of madness I needed to get out of my system. I’m looking professionally respectable at the moment, which doesn’t turn as many heads as a flash of pink or a rainbow of purples did.

Similarly I noticed where people’s eyes would go when they passed me. Usually their eyes went up to investigate what was different about my head. In the beginning I would have forgotten what colour my own hair was and just became aware of the looks. Then I remembered, and enjoyed the observations. My observation of theirs.

Something really interesting happened. As people looked with their eyes at the top of my head, they would go up. Their whole body followed the eyes up by their internal curiosity, often drawn there before they were even conscious of staring. But get this. As they went up, I went up. I was getting, mini Alexander lessons all over the place as I sported a bright blue fringe. Clearly mirroring was happening. Isn't it nice to think I gave someone an UP direction and they in turn gave me an UP direction.

Now it wasn’t my intention to draw attention. It was simply a wish I had for a long time to experiment with colour, but probably never had the bravery to do it. So colouring my hair was a little leap into the unknown. Isn’t every trip to the hairdresser, or home attempt with a bottle of colour or bleach in the bathroom? But playing with my hair was something I was doing for me, regardless of what the world or my mother thought. An act of boredom more than anything. But it taught me so much.

I think I will focus on doing something fresh and different for Lent. Maybe not every day, because that would be predictable, but a general commitment to exploring creative ways to dress, or draw attention somehow to help others in gentle ways interrupt their days for a moment. Put a smile or bewildered expression on someone’s face. Or let them bask in a moment of judgement if that is all they want to do.

For Lent I am going to play.

What are you not going to do?

Love Fiona X

​PS If you don't know what "giving an UP direction " means try an Alexander lesson or workshop  with me or a teacher near you. Or play with it your self. Imagine your head is a big balloon floating UP towards the sky and let your body follow it. Notice the difference in allowing your head to lead Up with this thought rather than trying to sit up straight. The movement should be head led and not tightening your back. If you find difficulty a teacher can put you in the right direction.
 
 
 
 
 
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I was wrong. I used my body wrong.

    Welcome Fiona. How do you know you have done wrong?

My body is telling me. I have neck tension, low back pain, and pains in my chest from coughing. I thought I knew what I was doing, but I must have forgotten, or put in too much effort, tried too hard.

    Are these feelings familiar?

I suppose so, but I have not felt them for a while.

    Are these some of your habits?

Yes. I am looking at habits all the time. I endeavour to be good and make changes but the pesky habits are very strong and sometimes overwhelming. It has been a few months since my last lesson. 

    What did you learn in your lesson?

I pulled my head back and down. I didn’t think I was. I was working on up and may have omitted the subtlety of forward. It has been an emotional time. I see now how I am reacting to my environment to protect myself. I know I am safe but sometimes it doesn’t feel that way.

    What else?

I tightened into my ribs, interfering with the natural flow and ease of my breath. I have had a cough for months. I have worked on it for small periods of time but the cough got in on me and has been hard to shift. I think it glued my ribs and sternum together.

    Anything else?

My back hurts sometimes. I see now it is probably because I was pulling my head back and not letting myself flow forward as I moved. And I didn’t lie down when it hurt. I kept going.

    So you are human and are busy with life.

I suppose.

    Of course you pull your head back and down. It is a very common human reaction. You were doing it for   twenty odd years before you found Alexander technique. Notice how you have grown since then. This is just a moment of relearning.

True

    Life can be tough but please remember you are safe. Remember this often. It will help you let your neck muscles release so your head can go forward and up into movement.

What about my cough? I try to breathe through it, but the cough overcomes me.

    A cough is tiring. It pulls your whole body together every time and can be quite violent. Focus on letting your breath fall past the tickles in your throat and the tightness that stimulates you. Be patient. You can breathe. You will find greater space in your chest and it will pass soon.

And the back?

    Back pain can teach you a lot about how you are moving. It is a wonderful reminder to come back to yourself and mind how you move.

Yes. It does give me something to work with on the floor and in the park while walking. So what should I do?

    Your penance homework reminder for this week is:
    1.       10 free your necks, in every moment you choose to remember  
    2.       10 whispered ah’s, in 10 minutes work daily observing your breath
    3.       10 semi supine sessions where you listen deeply to your whole self while supported by the floor. You are safe to let go as you cannot fall in this position.
    This may seem like a lot of work for such little sin but it will reward you. Take your time and play with how and when you work with yourself. It is your work, about you, for you. You will do it your way. It is simply recognising too much work and getting out of the way.
    How do you feel now?

Great having been listened to. You always know the truth Fiona. I think we all need a little help and direction from time to time. That’s why it’s important to have regular self time and lessons.

    I may not always know the truth, but I can spot a mistruth, a barrier to ease and flow.
    By listening deeply to yourself you will show yourself how valuable you are in any moment and how your choice to be free is important to you. It is compassion. Let your next lesson be not too far away. For we learn in every activity.
    Thank you for being so honest here today. You will feel more whole and have less pain now you have listened to your body. By listening to your self you are supporting your self. You are loved. 

Thank you Fiona for listening to me and refocusing my whole self. I am sorry for straying off the path of ease and making life hard for me again. Forgive me these habits as I promise to be more physically, mentally and emotionally gentle with myself. I will do less to protect myself with added tension. I will remind myself I am safe so I can free myself up to bend in the winds that come.

    Fiona, you are forgiven.

Thank you.
Love Fiona x
 
 The Art of Listening explored on March 4th. Sign up.
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When the line you are standing in isn’t going quick enough, are you jittery inside, looking around for reasons to explain such inefficiency? When someone is explaining their position or telling a story, do you interrupt to get to the end quicker? In a moment of quiet do you turn to your phone to fill the time with something?
In this fast world these are common daily occurrences.

If you said yes to any of these scenarios you are in the majority.

But here is the real question. How do you feel at these times?

You probably don’t even notice how you feel because your attention is on the passing time, or the eegit that is holding up the queue. Or you are looking at the décor because you have stopped caring about the end of the sentence, or are planning he email you have to write.

We are living in a world of distraction. Our attention is on the next thing, the other people, the complaint or blame that has us frustrated, the device, the child, the news, the traffic. We are not aware of what is going on inside of our own selves most of the time. Until pain arrives.

Pain can be in many forms. It could be physical pain where unknowingly we injure ourselves. It could be having gone along with the status quo for so long, we finally notice our stress. It could be every time we go to do what we want to do, a block gets in our way.
Pain, of whatever form, tells us to stop. We don’t want to do this anymore. Our plan for our lives was different. We want change. But how?

It starts with listening. When we are focused on things outside of ourselves we are losing our personal power. The pain, in whatever form, is asking us to stop and listen to what is going on inside of us. The pain arrived because we were not checking in to our internal signals and changing course accordingly. Now we have landed on the rocks. But all we want to do is get off the rocks, get away from the pain, without knowing how or why we landed there. So we survive this time, but the same pain returns because we did not learn the lessons.

Listening to ourselves, our inner feelings and thoughts is an art. It brings about awareness. We don’t just listen to the pain, although the pain is all we hear and see and feel and think about. We must listen deeper, below the pain, to the bigger picture. There we can reveal our secrets, and maybe the answers, to ourselves.

We all have similar problems, habits, unfulfilled wishes. But we cannot solve them as “we”. We have to solve them as “me”.

FM Alexander solved his problem by observing himself and the detail of his movement over a long period of time. What he learned has served a lot of us, but he was not the first or last to solve his problem and develop techniques to solve common problems. He said “Anyone can do what I do, if they do what I did. But none of you want the discipline.”

Of course he is right. There is a discipline in refocusing awareness back to myself in an age where everything is built to distract us. But the practice can be so deliciously self-powering and enjoyable. It takes some time to learn a new practice but all the tools are right there inside of you and me.

We all need help to make a change. Simply because everything we do is habitual and normal. Getting out of the way to allow the balance of our nature find its own way is a new way of learning for us. We have been educated and understand a value in working hard to achieve what we want. Stopping, doing less or something new, requires a change of tack. We don’t have to do more work, use more muscle tension, but that’s what our habits will tell us to do. Understanding stopping is the challenge. We must learn to do less, and it starts with simply and gently listening, gathering information about myself for myself.

Take the time you are gifted, the next time you are in a queue or stalled for no fault of your own, to listen to yourself. Leave the phone alone and look around. See what you see. Hear what you hear. Feel what you feel. Notice your thoughts. Are your thoughts taking you away or can you bring your mind back to your senses?

Bring your self back to your self. That’s where it all starts.

Let me know how you go by commenting below or contacting me directly.

Love Fiona x
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 PS
Join me as we explore all this and more in a workshop entitled The Art of Listening on March 4th. We will be focusing your attention on the most important person in your world, YOU, and how you move and think. It will be revealing, enlightening and empowering.
http://www.dontholdback.ie/classes.html
Contact me on 087 6503523 or fiona@fionacranwell.ie to book your place
 
 
 
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​How are you today? Did you survive St Valentine's Day yesterday? Did you feel any more or less loved? Did you feel under pressure to perform, to present, to show? Or was it just another day?

I took myself to a Zumba class which was lovely and fun. It was a loving gesture to myself to move. Valentine's Day has never been a thing for me. Once, when I had a boyfriend, Valentine's Day became something the year I was away in February. It had NOT been a thing when we were together previous Februarys. I don't think we lasted another February after that.

​It was lovely to receive messages from friends yesterday and how the singles are being consciously wished well these days. Love is universal. Love is for all and not a special thing only couples enjoy.

My most interesting Valentines Day was when I made red hearts about an inch big with a cut out maker. Armed with these paper hearts littering my pockets I would share them with every passer-by I met on my walks that day. Catching the eye of some one as they walked toward you was the initial challenge. Often they would look down or away to avoid you. You could feel a resistance build in them as they began to realise I had more than a friendly glance in mind. What was I going to do?

​As I reached out my hand, pinching a heart they could not see as my thumb covered it, they invariably hesitated. Their way was interrupted. They did not want to receive anything. Is she selling something? What does she want from me? I don't have time?

​As I passed with a smile and they left with a tiny heart in their hand, I could feel their shoulders drop behind me. I would turn my head and the eyes were softer now and gentleness resumed as they took a moment to realise what the heart represents, and smiled back at me. No danger here. The fear of the storm had passed, and it wasn't as bad as expected.

​Isn't it amazing how we resist love, connection, engagement because we don't have time, or fear something. We don't listen to our loved ones because we are too busy. We are afraid to slow down in case of  . . . .what?

So a day has been created to help us to sit down and share a special time with our beloved. Culture (Hallmark or the saint, you choose) has done this for us to remind us that love is what it is all about. Love is why we are here.

​And if we look at our busy ness it's probably wrapped in love. We get up in the morning for the love of life. It may be to get the kids to school because we love them and wish for them to have a good day being educated. We get up to work, to make a difference in our jobs to provide a service to other people, or to make money to support our loved ones. We make food to share for the love of our friends and family. We make a cup of tea for someone to sit and share or enjoy in comfort. They are acts of love.

​But sometimes we don't see it like that. We see the everyday as mundane. We see pain as not moving right. We feel pressure because we judge ourselves and have an inner battle of negative thoughts. We have no time, we are late, we will get into trouble. We live in cycles of habit that include blame and hurt and pain and loss.

​But it is so easy to interrupt a pain by looking at it in a new way. When we choose to say I am here I am standing on my own two feet, and I am ok in this moment. I am loving myself.  When I realise I stand on a world that is constantly moving and it supports me. I am loving my self. When I choose to let my breath go and feel the expansive nature of my chest. I am loving myself. When I stop and take in the magic of nature on this earth. I am loving myself and the world I live in. When I stop arguing to be right, I am loving myself and the arguer. When I stand up for myself and stay true to my conviction, I am loving myself.

Every little act is actually borne of love. It's all a matter of perspective.

​How does it feel . . . to allow yourself time . . . to appreciate . . . something ordinary?
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Everyday is Love Day.

Love Fiona x

​Thanks to Deirdre and Elizabeth for inspiring today xxx  
​Saturday March 4th a workshop on Living With Ease may interest you. We will look at simple ways to take care of (love) your self in everyday practical ways.  

I have a dark place. I don’t know if I can call it depression. One, out of respect for those who have it worse. Two, because we don’t talk about it.

Now I know mental health is a huge talking point and awareness of it has been on the forefront of campaigns and strategies in Ireland and internationally for some years now. The aim, to benefit those who cannot speak of it, families and friends who don’t know how to deal with it, and to save people from themselves.

But we still don’t talk about it.

We talk about it, as if it is over there. The thing called the label – mental health, suicide, depression… The thing that other people have, are or do. Other communities deal with it. The people on the couch discussing their story, offering help, raising money and awareness of the supports/charities/7 step plans/professional services can help them to a better place. They are talking about it. They are telling those people who need the help where it is and how to find it. That’s a great service, me thinks, for them.

But we don’t talk about ourselves in it. Ourselves. Our feelings. Identifying what the “it” that might be inside of us. Even when we have all this help and awareness around us we still are not connecting inside of ourselves. We want to get away from it. Whatever it is that's inside of us that is uncomfortable, we bury, disassociate, remove, push away.

Why?

Because when we feel like that we don’t feel like talking. We don’t feel like being in company and dragging our friends and loved ones down. We don’t know what to talk about when all the thoughts in your head are self-loathing and really don’t sound good out loud. Also talking might give us away and we don’t even know how we are. We could be judged. We feel physically low with patterns of tiredness or pain. Raging thoughts or physical pain can interfere with a night’s sleep that can lend itself to the downward cycle. Bags under eyes, dull skin and poor posture all tell the world something is down, but often we think we are covering it up, keeping it in.

Oh look! I have started identifying as we. The arrogance! How do I know what we feel? I can barely figure out what I feel for myself. I must speak from my “I”.  

I have spent some years watching how my year goes and noticing the winter lows. It’s not as bad now as it was, due to my awareness of the feelings, the signs and my ability to accept some down time before I find my way back. But for a long time I didn’t accept that I was low, that I could be something called “depressed” or even use the word. We are a family who got on and did. There was no time or education spent on not getting on with it, regardless of what is thrown at you. And hey I have the tools in my work to deal with it, to live up and be happy.

About 6 or 7 years ago in the middle of a dark period, I had arranged to go to exchange work with a colleague. Normally we would meet up and work on each other, but sometimes it would be one way and reciprocated another time. Even though I thought it was going to be a reciprocal event this time, my colleague saw me coming, gave up any thoughts for himself and put me on the table.

We were talking and I was telling him of my day and how I was coming from a lesson with my favourite client, a man in his 80’s who I loved spending time with. We would chat and I would attempt to Alexander him. He relished his independence and the goal was to keep him moving as his health ailed. But I think I got more from the relationship, his wisdom and charm, than he did. Anyway he had been an Opera singer in his youth and this day he brought a Wagner cd as a gift and we played it, focusing on a particular track he wanted to share with me. When I described the music to my friend he identified it as the most depressing music he had ever heard and questioned should I be working at all in my state.

Well I nearly fell off the table laughing at the acknowledgment and realisation that I

1. was low, down, some class of depressedness
2. that I hadn’t realised, as I struggled on to keep everything together for my work, for my clients
3. how ridiculous and stupid that was
4. there was an irony in there that I fully didn’t pinpoint but still wasn’t lost on me

I’m not sure why I am telling this story, but I suppose it was a first step in awareness that I was one of them. One of the ones (millions) they were talking about on the TV couches when the subject was mental health and depression. And my realisation came as I laughed. Not when I was crying.

My separations, them and me, mind and body, happy and sad, far away and small, were coming together in a new way.

But this is the thing. Aren’t we each “one of the ones” they are talking about? Don’t we ALL have something to learn from listening to our feelings and our bodies, rather than splitting, pushing away, burying, braving, holding it together? Why is mental health somebody else’s job?

We all need help to feel safe. We need help when we can't do for ourselves. Help to find the tools, to listen, and be listened to, to support, to not isolate when all you want to do is hide or leave. 

I needed to realise help is all around. That I, we, live in an ocean of help but we just won’t take the water. Asking for help is the hardest thing, especially when we don’t even think we need it. But there are simple things we can do to help ourselves on our way. Just do something to realise we are NOT on our own.

All I’m saying is that I am not separate to everything around me, even when I think I am or want to be.

Love Fiona x

ps
These are simple things I do to reconnect.

Go for a walk. One foot in front of the other. Short distance or far, just leave the house.
Attempt a half arsed smile at a passer-by. They are not judging me. It's only a few seconds in time and they will be gone.
Pet a dog or a cat. Feel their fur, the heat of their body, movement. 
Lean on a tree. Let it support me.
Stick my nose near a flower. I don’t even have to do anything to let the smell into my nostrils.
Put a hand or a bare foot in a river and let the water roll over, feeling the gentle pressure of it. Deliciously refreshing through my skin.
Sit by the sea and watch the rolling waves, incessantly moving.
Spend time with my natural self in nature, even if it's just sitting on the small green patch outside my house. Get out of the box I live in.

For help to find your internal supports, contact me, join a class or come for a lesson - Classes . I can help you help yourself.

Even with all the tools in the world, the happiest thoughts, strongest practices, we all still have crap weeks.

I’m really good at glossing over things. Being optimistic. Staying calm. Looking on the bright side. Letting go of the negative. Focusing on the practical. What we CAN do or be. Interrupting the CAN’T. I’m a problem solver. I’m very good at redesigning in the moment, when we see the plan develop.

So I am seen as cool, capable, and kind. Which I don’t deny that I am, some of the time.
But I’ve had a crap week.

I could look at what happened, what I can learn from it, what I can address practically, focus on the achievements and positives. And there were many.
But today I just want to acknowledge it’s been crap, without wanting to justify or change it.

Cancellations. No money coming in at the end of the month. Insurance companies trying to screw you, and then being uncontactable when you go looking for help or answers. Credit card being scammed and cancelled so no card for a week. Frozen. Can’t transact. A jacket robbed from the car. The senseless violation. And people died. I was not close to the deceased, but still learning of their passing has its effect on my senses none the less.

So it feels crap. I feel frustrated and angry and fed up. And I really want to curse more as I write. But I feel I have to sit here, in it. Whatever “it” is?
Like I said I am very good at finding the space in the situation, in my thinking, in my body. I can say the cancellations are not rejections of me personally, they just don’t understand how the work can help them. How can I communicate better? What have I learned about my message or how I say it? No money, grand, I’ll just tighten my belt. Look at how well I can save. Some opportunistic bollox stole from us – practice better security, or let it go. Insurance!!!! Who needs it??? I haven’t ever used it to claim. I practice good driving and they still want to put up the price 30% for no reason, as my car depreciates. FFS!!!

All external events, I can or cannot influence.

So let’s look at the frustration and anger that has me feeling jagged and uncomfortable. Deep feelings of being out of control. A childish helplessness. My teeth are clenched and my mouth is in a frown. My boobs are touching my lower ribs as a slump seems the appropriate posture. Well it’s just the way I am today. I have been having some pains in my left side which probably means my appendix is about to burst and I will die (catastrophizing now) but who cares. It will be an end to debt and uselessness and no need for car insurance.

As I stay here I watch the words that come out. Then, over the short time of writing, how I feel. I don’t want to stay here anymore. My ridiculousness is entertaining to me and my front is lifting. My breath is moving my ribs and my head is finding the space above me. I turn my head to catch my reflection and the downward pointing lines around my mouth have levelled as there feels to be more space there. I wouldn’t call it a smile, but the corners are lifting.

And there I am on my optimistic, forward and up way. It’s nice to feel better. The day is lovely with blue skies and interesting light colouring the fluffy clouds. The wind has subsided and it’s not that cold. Insurance. Who needs car insurance when I’m on a train?
But have I missed something that those negative feelings are here to tell me. Do I just wait out the bad for better times to come around on the clock or the calendar? Isn’t it anger and frustration (pain) that spurs us on to take action, to make a change? How can I hold onto my negative feelings long enough to figure something out? But not long enough to sink into my dark non-productive place? It’s a delicate balance. Because if I fall into that dark place who knows when I’ll get out?

But let’s stay here in my active awareness. My foot on the accelerator out of here, while also biting the clutch.  A full push of the clutch pedal to the ground would see me free falling. So I stay in the critical place. The lights are amber. I can go either way. But what is the most useful direction in this moment? An angry rage against the machine, or a slumping retreat? Or maybe what I am doing right now is what’s right for right now? Maybe I haven’t lost my call to productive action. Writing and exploring is an action. Honestly connecting to myself here and now, helped. Do I go deeper? Do I just see what happens next?

Maybe being ok is enough. Perhaps being able to press the accelerator and release the clutch so that I smoothly drive out of this place is good. That would be better than a stall or a crash.
​
Maybe I’m ok, right now. 

​Maybe I am ok.  

I was speaking about pain in my last post. I figured out the source. It was the dogs. It was probably many more insidious invisible actions I was doing as well but I had a big insight with the dogs. I don’t blame the dogs. They are gorgeous and fabulous and wonderful. Sure look at them. They taught me something about me.

So I don’t own dogs therefore walking is not a daily occurrence. I have the honour and freedom of being fairygodaunt to this pair of 5 month old puppies I gifted my niece and nephew. A brave decision at the time, but it really has worked out as everyone is in love with them. So a couple of days a week, or when needed, I take them out.
 
They are growing very fast and while not as dotey as when tiny, they definitely deliver on cuteness, fun, loving and have a great tolerance for small people, who can be either over exuberantly loving or rough. The middle ground is being developed. We still get stopped in the park with the oohs and ahs of how gorgeous they are, but less so as they get bigger.
 
Two Saturdays ago I had two pups and two kids that grew into five kids. Mighty fun and very active day. Great to have them all out chasing a ball and interacting with each other, away from screens and solo entertainments. Anyway, managing all these enthusiastic and active variables under my responsibility meant I had little attention for my good whole self. Lots of fun, though.
 
The following day there was stiffness and then there was pain when sitting, but I thought that was to do with sitting. Not wrong. I explored sitting and standing, made some changes and helped myself out of pain. I described a bigger picture in the earlier post.
 
Anyway, last Saturday, I took the dogs while the children attended a party. While walking with the dogs I re-  discovered the pain that I had worked through and released during the week. Ouch!, but Aha!
 
So when the pups first arrived they were discovering the world around them sniffing everything. It was start, stop, sniff, start, be stopped, admire, rub, cuddle, start, sniff, stop, duck, run, stop, head to one side (what’s a duck), whine in fear, meet a swan, tiny brave bark, run, stop, sniff, meet someone, stop, go  . . .
You’d hardly raise a heartbeat.
 
As they grow older and more familiar with the spaces we travel they are eager to run. Sometimes together in one direction, which is helpful, often in different directions, or stopping quickly. Sniffing everywhere and birds are very interesting. Moving fast, using their whole body and seeing how fast they can go, is interesting to them as they continue to grow and discover. Or maybe I am putting my thinking on their simple brains. They have sleeping, snuggled up to each other or flaked out upside down, down pat. So when they stretch into race speed it feels like they are testing themselves, but maybe they are just testing me.
 
My discovery of me and how I move is as exciting. When the dogs go into a run they pull my arm which is tied to a body that is walking. They will work to go faster and I either go with them, choosing to run, or I will not, which is resistance training for the pups. Either way when the dogs pull through the arm, I was leaning back at the shoulders while my pelvis led the movement. The dogs dragged me along.
 
I was noticing this while working through the pain that showed itself bright and brilliantly on Saturday. However due to its familiarity I had worked through some of the mental associations and so it wasn’t so acute or sharp. Once I noticed the middle of me being pulled along and therefore leading my own whole body movement, I could do something. What had I been doing? I was HOLDING my BACK. What’s the name of my website? DON’T HOLD your BACK. "Doh!"
 
You see the dogs always lead with their heads. Following their noses to discover new paths and other dogs and all of these exciting things that aren’t in the backyard. I forgot to lead with MY head. A principal principle of Alexander’s technique. So I thought UP and let my head fill the space above me. I felt longer and bigger and moved more swiftly that all three of us gained pace. And it was easy. NO PAIN!!!! Not even a twinge or a hint. I stopped HOLDING my BACK which was HOLDING ME BACK.
 
We were all flowing into movement, easily, freely, joyfully. I even enjoyed running, going for longer without being puffed as I would normally. It felt fabulous and free, running through nature laughing at my rediscovery.
 
It was all lovely until one pup turned sharply and my leads divided. An abrupt stop happened. Brakes on. Some pain right up through the back from heels to locked knees and ouch!
 
But hey I had figured out, again, what was always there. Alexander’s discoveries work. So back to the flow and next time the dogs crossed leads my soft knees absorbed the change and off we go again, up and forward.
 
I can’t wait to take them again.
Tell me about you and your dogs, or your discoveries . . .
Don’t Hold Back
 
Love
Fiona xx
 
If you are in pain and need help figuring out why or what you can stop doing, come for lessons or join a class http://www.dontholdback.ie/classes.html
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