Applied Alexander Technique Blog

Hello my friends,

Today I'm just sharing a poem. This came to me on my one and only visit to Esalen Institute. Four hours in the hot tub under the stars melted my edges and I felt one with the Universe. The stars agreed.

Starsong at Esalen

The stars are singing
There are so many
And they are so close
Because they want me
To hear them singing

"We are all connected
We are starlight and lovelight
We are all the same

"All of us are stars
Singing in the same sky
With our light and our love
Reaching between to connect us all

"Sometimes we forget we are stars
We forget to let our light shine

"We are here to remember
To learn to shine in this form
In this life"

They are singing tonight
Loudly enough to wake a human
Out of slumber
Into stardom.

©2009 all rights reserved by Dana Ben-Yehuda

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Posted In: Just Because , Life Stories , Mindfulness

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From my friend, Eleanor, comes a link to this video and a message: "It would be great if everybody can pass this around. Open your eyes and open your heart and listen carefully what she has got to say."

From the mouth of a child....truth.

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Posted In: Just Because , Life Stories , Mindfulness , Videos

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Hello my friends,

One of my friends asked me how I got my dogs to let me brush their teeth.

This may not appear to have anything to do with Alexander Technique, and of course, in a direct sense, it doesn't. But I would never have had the patience to do this without the skill of patience that I acquired through my Alexander training. It helped me get my dogs trained in such a friendly way that they leap into their bed eagerly awaiting a good tooth-brushing.

A friend of mine gave me pointers. They involved not end-gaining and lots of patience.

First, I let my puppy sniff the doggy toothpaste from my finger. I bought poultry flavored dog toothpaste; that helped a lot.

He sniffed once or twice and then licked it off my finger.

That was that! I put everything away while he looked around for more.

Continue reading "How to Get Dogs to Let You Brush their Teeth." »

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Posted In: Applied Alexander® , Just Because , Life Stories

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And does it make your mouth water just thinking about it?

I love smoked salmon...the good stuff; Nova. Belly lox. Put that on a freshly backed (boiled - not steamed) bagel with some good Philly and I'm in heaven. Just the thought of it makes my mouth water.

Don't get me started on the steamed, baked donuts they call bagels today. I want the real thing, dropped into a vat of boiling water, then set to rise, and baked. Hard, dense, chewy, and delicious.

But I digress.

The point is, a simple thought can cause a reaction in the body. Just mention freshly brewed coffee and I'm ready to hop over to Starbucks.

Let's talk about this some more....how about tomorrow? We'll chat over a cup o' Joe.

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Posted In: Applied Alexander® , Just Because , Life Stories

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Hello friends,

I wanted to share a little story with you.

It was almost Christmas Eve. I was down like the day; gray, cold and without a single ray of sunshine.

To my surprise a box with flowers stood upside-down at my front door. I was sad and the box was light. How strange that in a dark hour of feeling empty, a flowerpot arrived that was also bare.

It was filled flatly with gray-green moss; there was nothing to see.

I read the card. My dear friend, Stacy, sent me a flower - only it is yet to grow. She sent just a bare pot – or so it seems – with gray-green moss on top and no weight to the plant.

Continue reading "A Return to Happiness" »

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Posted In: Just Because , Life Stories , Mindfulness

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Hello my friends,

Thanks for stopping by to say hi. I feel the need to take a break from news about back pain and tell you about a baby giraffe that was recently born at the world-famous San Diego Zoo.

You might think that this story is about Giraffes because I'm an Alexander teacher. After all, we deal with the poise of heads on top of necks. They are graceful and they have amazingly long necks that have only 7 vertebrae - just like us. Did you know that?

The truth is, I've always liked animals and Giraffe have always fascinated me. I went to high school in San Diego and visited the Zoo frequently.

Giraffes are so big and so shy. They are gentle creatures with huge eyes, the longest eyelashes imaginable, and incredibly powerful, fast legs. Here are fascinating facts about Giraffes.

On a recent visit to San Diego, I went to the Zoo with a friend and we saw the Giraffes. I don't know if it was Debbie the Giraffe who gave birth shortly thereafter, or another one, but it is an amazing process to witness.

Here's a video. I can't believe the baby falls six feet as it's born, and survives.

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Posted In: Just Because , Life Stories , Videos

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Hello, my friends. How are you today?

Here’s a question for you. Have you had your eyes examined recently? I did, and learned that flashing eyes are not just a figment of fiction and fairy tales.

Dr. Michael Marmor, world-renowned retinal specialist and Professor of Ophthalmology, Stanford University, sat across from me. He wanted to measure the electricity that is emitted from my retina, as a measure of the health of my eye.

“Do you mean that our eyes really emit electricity?”

“Yes!”

I started to smile, “…so the idea of someone having flashing eyes is real?”

“We are electrical beings. The body works through electricity!”

I was fascinated. Pacemakers work on electricity. Brain neurons and in fact, the nervous system communicate electrically. Now I learn that our eyes not only have electricity, they emit it.

Continue reading "Beings of Light" »

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Posted In: Alexander Technique , Life Stories

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