Applied Alexander Technique Blog

Aloha, my friends!

I promised to let you know how my pineapple crown does.

You may recall the instructions. They said to pull off the bottom inch or so of leaves from around the crown, let it dry on the counter for 2-3 days, and at long last, to put the crown in 1 1/2" of water.

Two days after being in water, I thought it was going to die. The remaining outer leaves started turning brown and soggy. A few fell off. I was worried about writing to you.

I kept adding a little water to the dish and kept it out of the sun but in a bright spot on the kitchen counter.

Several days later, I ventured to lift it out of the water and see what was going on.

Roots! But quelle surprise! It is growing roots, but not out the bottom!

Continue reading " Roots! Or, A Pineapple's Story " »

Aloha my friends!

The feeling of Hawaii is still within me and I'm doing my best to make it real.

I have a pineapple crown set in a dish of water on my kitchen counter. I don't know if it will grow but I am giving it lots of attention and a bit of fresh water every day.

I had a real education in pineapples recently.

I didn't just buy a pineapple at the Foodland in Maui. The local pineapple had a brochure attached, to teach me more.

It's called Maui Gold®. This is a special pineapple that has 3 times the vitamin C of other pineapples. It's also much sweeter than regular pineapple; these pineapples don't bite back.

Back home, my local Safeway gave me a happy surprise; Maui Gold® pineapples, picked ripe and flown in from Maui. I picked up a few as gifts, and of course I had to bring one home.

It had the same brochure on it.

One part told about growing pineapples from the crown. I had to try it.

Continue reading " Pineapples, Sweeter than Sunshine " »

Hello my friends,

Welcome....come on in and enjoy some of the sweet end of summer while we can. I just came back from Hawaii and have lots of good energy to share.

I woke up this morning thinking about Maui.

I woke up feeling the Island air and how soft it is. I can still feel it, caressing my skin. It is so warm that it melts me, but not so warm that it burns. It is soft, it is soothing, and I could drift away into it, into the Zone.

Melting into nothingness, feeling my body float away till there is nothing left and I’m just floating in space; that is the experience for me of sitting quietly out by the ocean’s edge.

Two days ago, I was lying under a tree on Ka’anapali beach. The breeze was warm and gentle. I drifted off to sleep, and when I woke, it was to consciousness but not to any particular sensation.

Can I do Constructive Rest while floating off in a Hawaiian breeze?
In that floating feeling, how does one find a sense of direction?

I notice that I can think very lightly up my spine, just letting it be and yet knowing it is there.

Thinking lightly down my legs, out the heels, but not pulling, not pulling at all.

I notice that my back widens out the shoulders in either direction. I send a thought going up my neck and notice my head is lightly poised on top.

It is as if I am floating in space. Nothing is pulling, yet I sense that there is a space that my body takes.

I can think in a direction in my body, in whatever position I may be.

I can think of Maui and the warm, Hawaiian air and let it fill me again, all the way here in the Mainland.

That is the skill, of thinking in the body that is taught in the Alexander Technique. Like any skill, it takes practice. This morning I can still feel Hawaii and the ocean in my body. What a good skill…it is so worth practicing…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit, or in Hawaiian, Mahalo!

Aloha,

Dana