It is almost spring and sunny and I am watching an amazing video that shows Roger Federer's footwork. Take a look!

What I notice is his amazing alignment and what in the Alexander world, is called "Use."

The narration describes his footwork and shows the direction of his movement in slo-mo.

You can also look at his alignment. See the perfect relationship between his head, neck and back. He is poised, aligned, and centered in all his moves.

Alexander used the word, "Use," to refer to the way we carry ourselves in every activity of life. He postulated that the basic way our head is set up on our neck, and the head and neck in relation to the back, is what he called the Primary Control for the entire, psycho-physical being.

The point, as one student of mine said, is "...making the most of the facility that one still has."

This related NY Times article on Mr. Federer states that "The argument for Federer as the greatest player in men’s tennis history starts from the ground up."

I suggest that it also starts from the head, down. Look at his head and eyes, turning and focused on the ball and also, on where he's about to go. Can you see the alignment? The head leads and the body follows.

Be well! Stop a moment during your day to say Hello! to awareness and being present in your body.

The first step is awareness....

It is a sunny day and I'm heading out to enjoy it.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Little moments of awareness add up....let's do this again soon.

Victoria Beckham decided that rather than give up her 5 inch heels to improve her posture, she could take lessons in the Alexander Technique.

It's all over the news. Marie Claire in the U.K. wrote about it today.

The Daily Mail got the word out the day before.

Walking in stilettos is all about balance, and the Alexander Technique is a great way to get there. I love my heels and will be teaching workshops on walking in stilettos, coming soon.

Stay tuned for more info!

....more about nothing....

I was just teaching a lesson and again, nothing came up in conversation.

Nothing in the body is also a space where there is the absence of ego. It is the letting go of posturing and attitude. Postural attitude is part of what lets us and also other people know "who" we are. But we are more than that; posture is the external package that we show the world. We are also Beingness itself.

Is there a connection?

Letting go of muscular tension that contracts in to the joints allows for a little space. It literally creates space in the joints so that we move with ease.

First we stop - just Pause - and allow a little space. Try it...try lying down and postulating a little space in all your joints.

Nothing? I mean, nothing in the sense that nothing happens?

Or does something that is nothing happen? Is there a sense of relief or ease?

That physical space connects with a bit of inner ease. For a moment, let go of having to be You. Allow for the possibility for change.

It is a literal way to let ourselves Be. Not to always be presenting ourselves to the world, which is a lot of work if you stop a moment and think about it, but to take a step towards the totality of mind-body, psycho-physical Beingness.

You can always choose to pick up your old habits again; I promise!

Give a little space...

Try a little tenderness and be gentle with yourself today.

See what happens....maybe....nothing.

One of my students was leaving her lesson and she looked at me and said, "I am so excited about feeling nothing."

She first mentioned it when she was lying on the table. As I worked with her leg, she said, "I feel nothing." A smile crept over her face and curled up the corners of her lips. "I feel nothing!"

It wasn't the absence of pain or tension.
It was the positive sense of...nothing!

Have you ever had that feeling?

To me, it is a special moment when everything dissolves. The sense of confinement that is embodied in flesh itself disappears. It is like weightlessness or floating. There is no boundary between the parts; I sense the whole. That "Nothing" is the best stuff of all.

After she left, I realized that the space of nothing is also the space of possibility.

How does that tie in when I feel nothing, after the pain of ending a relationship, after the anger has gone... Suddenly there is nothing and it's kind of peaceful and it's also the space of possibility.

This is not about the hole that's left in my heart by the empty room, it's about the whole that is created by nothing.
It is the place where anything is possible.

One of my dance teachers, Tandy Beal, once shared a dance that she choreographed. It was called, "The Place Where Canaries Are Born."

Where does one create?

Out of nothing!

Today was the day for all things green and growing. I wanted to plant the pineapple, but before taking that on, I decided to patch the big bare spot on the far end of the lawn.

I'm sure you know how one good thing leads to another.... While I was hunkered down patching the open spot, I started looking more closely at the rest of the lawn. I discovered that it's true; what you look for, you shall find. I looked and I found...more bare patches! In the end, I patched almost half the lawn. It was a beautiful day and I didn't mind, not really.

When I came inside I looked carefully at the pineapple. It was green and alive, but the roots seemed to have plateaued in their growth. It was time.

I planted it in a flower pot in regular potting mix and set it back in its spot on the kitchen counter.

I am sure it would prefer the iron rich, red dirt of Maui. The best I could do was black potting soil with those little bits of white, spongy fake rock mixed in it, in a dark red pot.

All it needs to do is root and grow and be alive a month from now and I'll be happy to feed it a cup of liquid fertilizer, per the instructions. I wonder what type it really needs....or does it matter, given that the true need, the warm Hawaiian sun, is absent?

Somehow my little crown of pineapple heaven keeps on going and growing. It is the Energizer Bunny of pineapple. I swear the leaves are greener this evening, just since planting it this afternoon. Whenever I see it, I smile.

We are far from Maui but it is growing where it is planted.

There's a lesson for me.

Aloha,

Dana

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.

Following the directions, I twisted off the crown, and pulled off the lower leaves to expose an inch or so of base. It seemed odd, but they said to let it dry on the counter for two or three days. I did. Then I stood it up in a dish with 1 1/2" of water, per the directions.

Now we'll see if it grows roots, and then if I can successfully get it to grow in a pot. We don't have iron-rich volcanic soil, warm Hawaiian sun, and humid, gentle air. I've never seen a pineapple grow in Mountain View, but what the heck. I grew a sweet potato vine in water, maybe a pineapple plant will start, too.

I learned that color that either green or golden color may both be ripe. And, did you know that they don't continue to ripen, once picked?

How do you pick a pineapple for ripeness? Do you squeeze it or smell it? It's not a very friendly shell to squeeze.

Come on back for a visit and I'll let you know how the pineapple grows!

Aloha, Dana