Archive for February, 2025
Take Time
It’s been awhile since I posted on this page. Life gets busy. Do you ever stop to consider your priorities? Do things that seem important to you get pushed aside for tasks that seem urgent? When you make those choices, are you responding from a place of physical contraction or relative ease? I think for most of us, the urgency of a situation or project, perhaps dictated by a boss, leads to an interference in our Primary Movement Pattern (another description of Alexander’s Primary Control). We find ourselves reacting with the same urgency that was present when the task was given to us (perhaps the urgency in the person giving it to us). Hmmmm. What if we pause for a millisecond (or longer, if you wish) and attend to the reactive state of our being? There will likely be a contractive pattern reflected in how our head is resting (not so happily) on our spine. What if we take that millisecond and attend to ourselves, allowing us to accept the reality of the present moment? It is, after all, the only place we can be.
I have been struck lately by the amount of practice time I have been able to find because I have upcoming performances. At other times, it seems that piano practice takes a back burner to other more pressing issues. Something for me to consider. What is my priority when I don’t have a program coming up?
Today, posting something on this page became a task that rose to the top of the list. Why? I have no idea. But I decided to take that millisecond and let it become the important task it really is for me right now. What tasks have you been procrastinating over? Can you take that millisecond to consider their importance to you? And if you find something IS important enough to rise to the top of the list, perhaps the urgency and associated contractive patterns will subside. You might even enjoy doing it! I enjoyed writing this just now!
Debi Adams, Alexander Technique 