Applied Alexander Technique Blog

Hello my friends,

My friend, Amy Flynn, wrote a story with many meanings, about a little daffodil named Dinky. This story resonated with me and Amy kindly gave me permission to tell you about it here. I’ll give you a little peek into the story and why I liked it, with full credits to Amy Flynn © 2008.

Once upon a time there was a daffodil named Dinky. Dinky grew in the shade of an oak tree, quite apart from his daffodil friends. He felt lonely and unhappy and wished to be growing with them under the bright sun over in the meadow instead of alone under the shadow of a great, big tree.

The oak tree tried to help Dinky understand why he was in a better position than his daffodil friends. Dinky was just a young daffodil, though and it was very hard for him to see beyond his current situation. It was dark and it was cool under the oak tree.

All of the other daffodils bloomed in the sunshine, soaking up the rays.

Continue reading "Dinky the Daffodil" »

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Posted In: Just Because , Mindfulness

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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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Hello friends,

Lately, I am reading a new book: Forgive for Good, by Dr. Fred Luskin, and enjoying it very much.

It's all about forgiveness, and that necessarily includes looking at grievances that we can learn to forgive.

Dr. Luskin talks about how much mindspace we give to grievances in our lives. He uses the example of a flight controller's screen that shows planes flying around as dark spots on the screen. They are an analogy for the dark feelings we get when we harbor grievances. Dr. Luskin goes on to say that dwelling on wrongs that have been done to us is like making those planes stay in the air forever, circling round and round. They are a corollary to how much mindspace we give our grievances. He suggests letting the planes land...

I tried it and what I noticed when my planes of dark feelings landed, is that what I was left looking at was the sky. Clear, blue sky (and my imagination added just a few, small puffy white clouds.) The sky was wide open and all things were possible. I felt sunny inside.

Reading this book is causing an attitudinal shift in me. It is making me wake up and look for the sky instead of the dark planes in my life. I'm learning to let the planes settle and focus on the sky.

I started thinking about applying the principle of dark planes to pain. Pain is like dark planes that become the focus of our attention, to the exclusion of the sky. Often times when various places hurt, we ignore everything else and our entire awareness may become focused on pain.

I think that this is one of the ways Alexander Technique helps with pain. In the practice, we stop focusing on the dark planes that are our aches and pains and let ourselves notice the whole and flow with it. So, my friends, let your mind wander a bit. Let it wander up and down your back and out your shoulders, and on to the world beyond. Try a lesson if you're curious; it is easier to learn this skill with a teacher.

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Posted In: Alexander Technique , Applied Alexander® , Mindfulness , Pain Management

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Hello friends,

My Tweeting friend, MaAnna Stephenson, sent this note. “Aristotle stated all things fell to Earth because all was made of earthly substances and were attracted to their natural home.”

It made me wonder; does this mean that what we call death is really just that our spirit is attracted to its natural home and falls up?

I wonder; where does this thought lead you?

Love to hear from you....

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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 again!

Thanks so much for stopping by on Valentine's Day. I thought it would be nice to post some news of the heart. Or in this case, the heart, the brain, and the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama and Stanford University are working together to research the connection between compassion and the brain.

The goals include taking this to the next step to gain understanding in ways that can reduce childhood bullying and recidivism. Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul and Mary, has a project called Operation Respect, with the goal of ending bullying.

On a day that is about love, isn't it nice to know that some people are putting their money where their hearts are?

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Hello friends,

Remember, I promised to tell you how I might apply this thinking in the body to real life? I will tell you about my experience with the dentist....and undoing tension in my neck.

A year or two ago, I had to have a root canal and was literally getting uptight and tight-necked about it. I decided to try and apply the Alexander Technique to my thoughts about the dentist.

I started by doing the same thing I ask all my students to do: "First, we stop." Just Stop - Pause - and notice where I am and what's going on with me.

Then I began undoing the tension in my neck. You can do it along with me....we can do it, step-by-step.

Want to try? We'll start with something simple and expand to the neck.

Continue reading "A Visit to the Dentist without Pain - Neck or Otherwise" »

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Hello again...this is a nice habit we are creating. We stop and have a chat and stop to breathe for a moment or two.

I often meditate on the mental image of a rose, but even better, is to put a real rose in a glass of water and study it.

Look at it closely, till you can see the texture of the petals. Breathe in deeply; does the fragrance smell sweet? Spicy? Look at the gradations of color in the rose. How open is it?

Look at the stem and notice the leaves. Are the edges spiky or smooth? How big are the thorns? Does it have teeny-tiny little hairs that are thin thorns, or smooth skin and big, bold, honest thorns that are large enough to see before you impale yourself upon them?

Breathe in the fragrance of your rose for a minute or two. Even if you do it in your imagination, tell me, now how do you feel?

The same thing can happen with pure thought in the body. The Alexander Technique is a good way to learn this skill and apply it to benefit your well-being.

What fascinates me is where this skill may be applied in life. How can we use it to improve our relationships? How may it enhance the quality of our lives?

See you again tomorrow....let's see where this may go.....

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Posted In: Applied Alexander® , Mindfulness , Pain Management

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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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Several months ago I returned to meditation after some years away. As I sit, quietness seeps through my body and all my cares fall away. I take time just to be in my body and enjoy the aliveness that it brings.

It reminds me of a story I used to make up about why going to the ballroom dance lightens my spirits so much. I used to imagine that I brought a big, white box all tied up with a big, red ribbon with me. I’d put all my troubles into it and leave the box right by the entrance door to the dance. I’d go in and dance and hope that someone would pick up that box and steal it. That never happened, but on my way out, I’d pick up the box and somehow, it was always lighter.

The same thing happens when I meditate. All the rest of the world can wait while I settle into my body and sit in a chair. I let a few deep breaths in and out. I let all the cares and woes wait and I focus on the flow of energy going right through my body.

The Alexander Technique does something very similar for me. The first step is awareness. In that way, it reminds me of a meditation in the body. It is always done in present time and all the work you do to retrain how you move is done in the Now.

I invite you to come try a lesson. Park your troubles at my door in the big white box with the nice red ribbon and come on in.

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Here is a lovely video of Thich Nhat Hanh, talking about his walking mediation.

I readily admit to thinking about it but not slowing down enough while walking my dogs.

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Hi there! So nice of you to drop by again. It’s spring and I was just walking my dogs.

Do you have dogs to walk? If not, how do you take little mental health breaks during your day?

Sometimes when we walk, I meet a neighbor. Other times, I just look at what comes to my eyes and think of Thich Nhat Hahn’s walking meditation.

Today, I looked at the yellow and pink snapdragons by my front door and noticed how relaxing it is just to pause and really examine the details of a flower. I remember feeling that way on a vacation at The Mauian, a hideaway in Maui, when a gecko walked up the glass walls of a phone booth as I was inside. You can lose your worries watching sticky little footpads inching up.

Of course, my eyes were open looking at the gecko and at the same time I had a feeling of relaxation.

Some people close their eyes when they try to relax. What do you do? Closing the eyes may be an unconscious association with a certain amount of tension in the body and eyes being open, and relaxation with closing the eyes for sleeping or meditating. I realized meditation is also possible with eyes open, as with looking closely at flowers.

Once in a while during my Alexander training, the Director would put a flower in the middle of the floor. We’d all sit in a circle and look at it. The instructions were to just notice the flower.

Continue reading "Walking the Dogs" »

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When you are centered and grounded in your body you are centered and grounded in your Self.

Do you want to try and prove it to yourself?

Try slumping in your chair. Let your chin come rest on your chest, if your neck will stretch that far. Let your arms fall into your lap. Let your back collapse.

Now try and sing The Star Spangled Banner in a bright and sprightly voice. It doesn’t work very easily.

It is hard to be up when you’re down.

And it’s hard to be down when you’re up.

One of the things I tell all my students is, “Wherever you are, you’re Up!”
That’s because in Alexander terms, “Up” means up the spine and out the top of the head. Therefore, “Up” is a relative term to you, wherever you are. And given that, then truly wherever you are there is an Up and it is within you!

We literally cannot separate mind from body, and mood and mind and spirit are intertwined.

Think about someone who is happy. What do you see? Are they smiling? Are the corners of their mouth turning up? I bet they are not frowning and tears are not rolling down their face. It seems simplistic, but it’s very true. We read people by their expression and also by their body language, and we do it all the time.

Continue reading "Wherever You Are, You’re Up!" »

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Posted In: Alexander Technique , Applied Alexander® , Mindfulness

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