Category Archives: Alexander Technique

Jun8

The Art of Flexible Strength: Drop the Strain, Keep the Strength!

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Cecile Raynor

Striving to Stretch

As a yogi or fitness practitioner, do you feel it is important to develop strength and flexibility? And yet do you truly feel you are developing flexible strength in the process? The flexible strength of the cat for instance which allows the cat to be totally tension free one minute and in an instant, display amazing strength, flexibility, accuracy of aim and speed of action.

If you are like most of us, the answer is no, not really!

Beautiful natural integrated stretch

The truth is you strive for more flexibility and you may succeed up to a certain point. Yet are you tension free between yoga classes or even on the mat? If you can say yes, then you can stop reading right here. If the answer is no, then read on.

One reason you may not feel as flexible as you would want to be in your body (even though you work hard at it), is because flexibility starts in the mind, it is not just a body feature. And since the mind and the body are the two sides of the same coin, if your mind is not flexible, your body will reflect that by feeling uptight and it goes the other way round as well if you are flexible as a whole rather than having some flexible parts.

Different bodies and awareness levels, different practices, different level of benefits

Another reason is that you may have unconscious habits of movements that are in the way of getting the result you are working for. I have found this to be a common explanation for nagging muscular and joint tension. In fact there are five such common habits that stem from misconceptions of movement. They have to do with you using parts of your body to do the job of other parts of your body so naturally, the misused parts end up complaining that they are not suited for the task. Becoming aware of this in your own body is a game changer.

The young man in the picture is aware of the way the pose is supposed to be but some of his unconscious habitual patterns prevent him from doing the pose the way he sees it and if he tries to straighten his back muscularly, he can only strain. Luckily he sensed that and was not trying to force anything. And the habits could manifest more subtly and be harder to detect but still doing a job on the synergy of your body. The fact is these common unconscious habits make you use your body in a way that is not in line with your innate body wisdom. As a result, no matter how much exercise you do, you feel you are not getting the results you want or when you do, you find them not to be sustainable.

One way to address this is to attend my free webinars or better yet sign up for my 90 Day Live Interactive E-Course. The work I do is very practical and can benefit you from the start by expanding your awareness with a new way to approach movement. It can also help you handle mind or body stress from a fresh new perspective and truly transform your life.

For more info or to sign up to June 9 webinar, go to: https://offthematyoga.leadpages.co/free-live-interactive-webinar/
For the E-Course, go to: https://offthematyoga.leadpages.co/cecileclearofferinteractivee-course/

Mar5

The Secret to Ultimate Safety and High Performance on the Yoga Mat!

Posted on March 5, 2016 by Cecile Raynor

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“Striving Yogis” by Cecile Raynor

Since 2012 when the New York Times published an article called “Can Yoga Wreck Your Body?” followed by a Huffpost interview with Glenn Black, many yoga studios and teachers everywhere have been innovating to increase safety on the mat. Teachers have been learning how to assist yoga students. Practitioners at risk have chosen gentle forms of yoga, while many others shy away from yoga all together.

In the meantime, yoga studios are filled with a big majority of young yogis with forgiving bodies who still handle a lot of strain. For them, “no gain without pain” has been replaced by “no gain without strain”. Pushing to their limit just because they can (whether stretching or strengthening) is seen as a good thing. So they follow their teachers guidance and are satisfied to push and pull to their heart’s content as long as it feels good and they pay attention to not reach their pain threshold.

NO GAIN WITHOUT PAIN has become NO GAIN WITHOUT STRAIN

But is that enough for ultimate safety on the mat and is it even the best way to reach highest performance? Are yoga studios safer than before? Is yoga practice enough to keep yogis bodies strain-free and their minds able to manage stress gracefully between classes? How is it for you? Which part of your yoga practice is sustainable in your daily life and which is not? We all know yoga is not what wrecks people’s body, so why do many people still get hurt on and off the mat even when they exercise in the gym or on the mat?

For one thing, some of the assisting has been questioned to the point that some studios have created special tokens or cards used on mats to signal teachers whether they are welcome to assist or not. True, some yoga assists have turned into well received massage moments although some yoga students simply do not care to be touched and always want the option to say so; mostly, students asking for tokens have gotten hurt by teachers assisting hands. Why is this happening?

There are 3 main reasons for this happening. Despite the numerous assist workshops given out there, the first reason is a lack in quality touch experience in teachers as well as a lack of awareness of the mind-body foundation of all movements. These happen to be strengths of Alexander Technique teachers who have a 3 year training of 1600 hours before they get certified. Yoga teachers start teaching after 200 hours of certification with little training if any in these two aspects. Secondly, there is the way teachings were passed on through generations of teachers suffering from loss and misinterpretations which led to some asanas created only in the past century to be widely embraced even when not necessarily appropriate for everyone nor always in line with our innate body intelligence.

Last but not least, since the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, men have been focusing on appearances, money and machines. We have come to think of the body as a machine with parts to exercise and replace when necessary. For all the buzz on holistic health, the norm remains to focus on body part exercising across the fitness world. Do you catch yourself chronically holding your back trying to sit or stand upright to slouch only seconds later? Could it be happening because it is neither comfortable nor natural to being up that way?

Organic good posture, no conscious efforting involved!

Many are disconnected from their “whole body” wisdom as they are exercising their “body parts”. Do you go to yoga to improve your posture, strengthen and stretch? Yet do you still experience neck or back tension, or strained knees on or off the mat? As it were, there are more gadgets than ever on the market to address “bad posture” and its consequences: neck, back, shoulder or joint discomfort or pain. However, are they only band-aid solutions or do they produce sustainable results?

Much of the teachings on posture tend to equate alignment with good posture which results in a static expression of aligned posture. Like posture gadgets, they also imply that muscularly correcting posture is the ultimate solution. The reality is that there is more to good posture than alignment. “Good Posture” is a dynamic and organic happening like in children!

Learning to activate your postural mechanism is the secret breakthrough skill that can lead you to improved posture with no neck, back or joint straining on or off the mat. It is a reflex-like system we are born with that is activated when we step out of our own way to let our body intelligence do its job. And every time we release excess tension without sacrificing our skeletal height, it gets activated. You probably stumbled unto it before when you suddenly reached your effortless balancing spot. Only it is a skill you can learn and access on demand based on undoing conscious and unconscious habits of movements. When under your belt, that skill allows you to approach every yoga poses from a totally different angle where straining is not necessary to strengthen or stretch with ultimate safety and to reach your highest performance!

FREE LIVE EVENT:  BREAKTHROUGH SKILL
 << Not taught in Yoga Trainings >>
 March 16, 2016 @ 7.30pm EST

It is to bring you an experience of this breakthrough skill that I have been learning about webinar and e-course technology. I am now happy and excited to invite you to my first webinar offering and I will personally introduce you to this breakthrough skill which can help you open the door to ultimate safety even within high performance level! You will be given a chance to engage in some experiential activities and I am scheduling time for Q & A as well. I will also explain how this skill can lead you beyond band-aid solutions, to sustainable results.

Why mark your calendars and sign up asap? It is a global offer to yoga practitioners and teachers in the world, yet I am only offering 50 spots. Participants will be accepted on a first come basis. At the end of the webinar, participants will be given a chance to sign up for my 90 Day Interactive E-course First Launch at 50% off which includes loads of bonuses as well. Available only to 25 people!

So here is the link to sign up to the Free Webinar: https://offthematyoga.leadpages.co/free-webinar-breakthrough-skill/

Hope to meet some of you in cyberspace!

Cecile Raynor
Alexander Technique Teacher, Thai Yoga Therapist & Kryia Yoga Initiate

Dec31

Vision/Posture Connection & Drishti

Posted on December 31, 2015 by Cecile Raynor

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This time of year seems appropriate to talk about vision for various reasons.

On the physical level, the health of your eyes is a precious thing you may take for granted especially when they don’t give you any trouble. However, they can affect your overall health depending on how you use them in your everyday activities. Neck craning forward or head tilting back while slouching at the computer for instance can actually create compression or over-extension of the back of your neck and rounding your shoulders. On the mental level, you envision a specific future for yourself. New Year’s Resolutions for example require you to have a vision of the future you want to see happen. Or you may have a personal vision on a work project or on how to solve a given issue. Such vision guides what you manifest in your life or not. Spiritually, vision is a reference to your ability to see with your intuitive heart beyond what is visible. It refers to your inner vision.

Yoga teachers may talk about “Drishti” (vision), and on the mat, they often refer to it as a form of gazing in the distance to focus your mind in the present moment. Focus is fundamental in yoga practice. Focusing your eyes and your attention is using this yogic technique called “Drishti”.

However, although using your vision to stay in the now or come back to it is an excellent tool, there is something important to consider in “Drishti”. Along with this intention to gaze so as to step out of your over-active mind, you need to always make sure the gaze direction does not lead you to sacrifice your spinal length so the kundalini energy can flow through it.

The woman in the triangle pose above is using her vision well to support an integrated triangle pose. As she is looking towards the tip of her fingers and beyond, her head neck and torso remain nicely aligned. However, there is more to good postural balance than perfect alignment, there is dynamic alignment. Dynamic postural alignment implies the harmonious relationship between the various part is respected so that the energy can flow back and forth through the muscles into the support and up the skeleton then able to expand in its full space.

Straining interferes with getting the benefit of any yoga pose. Having space to release while in a pose is the most dynamic way to engage in a pose. It challenges the muscles to work without adding body stiffness to the mix. If you have gone to a place where release into your support is no longer an option, you are doing too much.

These women engaged in a seated twist are using their vision to lead their seated twist as they stay balanced and centered above their supported sits bones. Led by the direction of their vision, each is going as far as they are comfortable without sacrificing their skeletal height.

On the other end, the instructions for the seated twist on this picture are incomplete and it shows on the model illustrating this pose. The sits bones are arched a bit like a rocking chair so it is not enough to feel your sits bones, it is crucial to be aligned above their balancing point. Otherwise, any attempt at releasing your back will take you into a slouch.

Here it is clear that she is not balanced because her gravity line is behind her sits bones. As a result, she is slouched in her twist. It is straining her back, squishing her internal organs, limiting her breathing and how far she can go into her seated twist. Although she certainly seems like a happy camper on this picture, she is not getting the best out of her yoga pose!

Even in daily life, you need to know how to do this. Whether you are siting on a chair or in a car, you can hurt your neck if you do not apply these principles as you turn your head to look behind yourself.

Helpful Tips

1) To maximize a seated twist, connect to the balancing point of your sits bones so your head is still above them without loosing your skeletal height which comes by sending your sits bones into your support rather than tensing your back muscles. Then look in the direction you are turning moving from the joint at the top of your spine first. As you go, keep releasing neck and back muscles straight into your support. This prevents you from creating body stiffness or muscle straining.

2) Do not fix your gaze, a fixed gaze creates a fixed body which is not the purpose of yoga, keep it soft and wide using your peripheral vision as in driving. Keep it connected to the rest of you! You are on the mat to stay present and to tune in, not to tune out!

3) When doing asanas, just do asanas. Don’t start to think about the meaning of life or anything else but what is happening right there and then. Your vision, your breath, your kinesthetic senses are all ways to anchor yourself in the present moment.

4) The spiritual dimension of “Drishti” can only come from the practice of being present yet non attached to thoughts, body senses and sense pleasures. Mind grasping or muscular grasping (the two sides of the same coin) take us away from such practice. So stay in touch with yourself and don’t tense your muscles. Body stiffness is not body strength. Body strength remains flexible, like the strength of the cat!

5) Stay aware of the direction of your vision as often as possible. When lost in your thoughts or in your body feelings, you may be gazing in a way that stiffens your neck. So watch out for your neck by making sure your vision choice does not conflict with the need of your neck to stay free of tension. This will give you an integrated movement connecting you from head to toes.

When not aligned above support and relaxed, gravity promotes slouching.
When aligned above support and relaxed, gravity promotes effortless good posture.

Do you want to learn more about this mind/body approach to natural good posture? 
Do you want to learn how to reclaim efficient moving for balanced living?
Join my latest FREE 6-part EMAIL SEMINAR:
"How to Unlearn Habits that Create Body Stiffness On and Off the Mat"
(Based on the Alexander Technique Principles and Facts)

Wishing you a wonderful New Year,
filled with Gratitude, Health, Prosperity and lots of Laughter!

https://offthematyogablog.com/

Nov22

Bandhas, Blocks and Bones!

Posted on November 22, 2015 by Cecile Raynor

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Yogic Bandhas are a form of energy activation via special centers in the body to temporarily contain the body energy (prana) in the torso. The 3 specific bandhas are : Mula Bandha, energy activation at the perineum, Uddiyana Bandha, energy activation of the abdomen into the rib cage, and Jalandhara Bandha, to energize the throat.

It is common to practice this energization by squeezing and tightening these centers to close energy gates as a way to create energy flow when the tightness is released (it functions a bit like a damn). However, when practiced this way, unnecessary tension can also be created from muscular overdoing out of habit and because of the conditioning around more being better. But is it?

Listen to Leo’s experience with block squeezing versus blog hugging when activating Mula Bandha

Bandhas are about energy activation above all else. Although performed on the physical level engaging the skeletal muscles (part of the core muscles), they also function as an internal energetic process. The key is to not overdo muscle tension so the energetic process can happen most efficiently and body stiffness can be avoided.

It is my personal experience and the experience of yogis I have worked with, that when you focus only on the local area around the centers, you loose connection with the whole body and its innate intelligence. You still can get results from your practice yet you also develop or reinforce body stiffness in the process. How can you avoid overdoing in this context? Stay connected to your bones and skeletal structure!

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Watch or re-watch this easy to view 7 min video by Kathleen Porter
about how the skeleton works as your primary support system!

Muscular overdoing overshadows the skeletal structure and bone strength. To experience this, explore energizing the root chakra with Mula Bandha using a block between your legs as high as it fits to hug the block with your bones. Start exploring in Mountain Pose or Bridge Pose for instance and compare plain squeezing to bone hugging. Bone hugging instead of muscular squeezing prevents excess tension while connecting you with your complete skeletal structure and the support under it. This way, your bandha activation is allowing your whole body to be engaged in an appropriate way, each part using just the right amount of muscle tension.

Once you have experienced energizing the root chakra with the block to connect with your skeletal structure and strength, it can be done without the block as well even in lotus pose. As a result, the outer muscles can let go, the core muscles kick in organically working with the skeleton and its support. The energy activated by the bandhas is then both localized and generalized so that when released, the gates for the energy to flow are wide open all over the body.

Notice the muscular pulling down created by the squeezing versus the lengthening and improved alignment
when simply hugging the block to activate the root chakra for Mula Bandha!
(Compare the red line in his shorts on both pictures!)

With an awareness of bones hugging rather than muscles over-squeezing, you will experience the strength of your bones working harmoniously with necessary muscle tension to create flexible strength and powerful energy flow. You can use a block to practice through a flow of poses or a single pose. All the while, you activate the bandhas in an integrated way that includes and respect your innate body intelligence guidance.

This way of handling the bandhas, based on Cecile’s experience and teaching of the Alexander Technique, reminds us to always use the body as a coordinated self, rather than focusing on isolated body parts. This allows all your movements to be in sync with your innate body intelligence. Such movements then become your safest and most efficient movements. Yoga poses or other yogic practices then benefit from optimal safety and efficiency.

Do you want to learn more about this mind/body approach to strain-free yoga? 
Do you want to learn how to reclaim efficient moving for balanced living?
Join my FREE 6-part EMAIL SEMINAR:
"How to Unlearn Habits that Create Body Stiffness On and Off the Mat"
(Based on the Alexander Technique Principles and Facts)

Oct27

Mastermind for Committed Yoga Teachers with a Vision!

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Cecile Raynor

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BODY SYNERGY LAB
 The First Mastermind For Committed Yoga Teachers with a Vision

A Mastermind is an awesome journey for a small group of people with a similar focus. All participants have an interest to serve and support each other, personally and professionally with an intention to deepen personal accountability as they learn and grow, during the time frame of the Mastermind, towards a specific goal (or in a specific direction) that also happens to benefit Humanity. It is a journey that allows each member to blossom towards their deepest inner goal with the committed support of all members in a spirit of harmony.

As a participant, you bring your own life experience and professional experience to support the others to attain their chosen goals. My contribution to this mastermind is my life experience and professional experience as a Facilitator, an Alexander Technique Teacher, a Thai Yoga Therapist, Kriya Yoga Initiate (through lineage of Paramahansa Yogananda) and Kinesthetic Artist. As a result, you will receive a Body Synergy Lab Certificate of Completion for studying one year of Alexander Technique-Based Yoga with Cecile Raynor (even though this is only part of the benefits you will gain from committing to this Mastermind!).

My work sprouted from my 25 years teaching the Alexander Technique, the best kept secret of famous performers and Olympic athletes who swear by it because it allows them to reach their highest potential without straining or over-stressing while enjoying effortless postural balance. As applied to yoga, it is the best tool for ultimate safety, and optimum benefits even within high performance practices. These benefits naturally spread over your daily life and include improved posture and flexible strength.

My contribution to this Mastermind supports and complements the yoga training you received with an uncommon perspective that makes your practice safer, your teaching more impactful on and off the mat, while giving your career a unique edge.

Here is a testimonial by Anthe Kelley, Founder and Director of Akasha Yoga School 
and Akasha Studio in Jamaica Plain, Boston MA

“The enormous impact that Cecile makes in a few hours at the start of each 6 month yoga teacher training program I run has never ceased to amaze me. I’ve witnessed students completely transform through the insights gained from her work. Teacher trainees approach all subsequent material through a lens that encompasses and continues to revisit Cecile’s work based on the Alexander Technique as applied to yoga practice and teaching.

The profundity of this phenomenon is nothing short of remarkable! Any yoga teacher trainee who gets to experience her hands-on attention, the breadth of her insight, wisdom and postural understanding will be well-served in their career as a successful, evolving, present and sensitive yoga teacher and human being.”

Here is also a testimonial from one of the yoga teacher graduates 
 about the work we have done together and the impact it had
 on her own yoga practice and her yoga teaching practice right from the start.

Click here to listen to Sara!

Discover strain-free yoga whatever yoga style you are attracted to 
from Kripalu yoga to power yoga, hot yoga or any other style!
 Discover the joy of a strain-free body On and Off the Mat!

To be part of this journey designed for a small number of selected teachers with a vision, simply apply for it by going to this link !

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email me at cecileraynor@gmail.com.

Aug15

What Can Be Wrong with Always Doing “What Feels Right?”

Posted on August 15, 2015 by Cecile Raynor

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She is holding a lotus, symbol of the Self-Realization happening to yogis
who have blossomed beyond Ego Consciousness!

Do you assume that doing “what feels right” is always the right thing to do? Is it true of everything all the time? Is it true whether you are talking about movement or behavior? Is it true whether your sensory perception is accurate or not? And who is assessing what is right or wrong, the human limited mind of your ego or your higher consciousness?

This concept of “unreliable sensory perception” is at the core of the Alexander Technique which I have been teaching for over two decades. This unreliability of perception is often the reason why you may spend time, energy and money to change your habits, only to find the outcome to be unsuccessful or not sustainable. The good news is that, once you realize and acknowledge that it is unreliable, you can proceed to reeducate your sensory perception as you expand your awareness, and unlearn habits that do not serve you. Then you can truly be in tune with the innate wisdom of your body and of your higher consciousness.

OR

Movement and Sensory Perception

A) Sometimes, you are moving in a context where there are “no preconceived ideas“ like playing with movement in a spirit of exploration such as an improvisation dance for instance. In such a situation, you naturally tend to listen to your whole body. Therefore your body wisdom is guiding you. Going with what feels right then is appropriate, safe and restorative. Children are very good at that, especially babies.

In the short video below, notice the baby girl’s eyes leading her head which leads her shoulders which lead her whole body to spiral until she lands on her belly. And she can do this back and forth. Body wisdom at work when left alone. Skeletal system and necessary muscle tension working together effortlessly throughout the whole motion.

Reconnecting with the evolution of baby movements is very beneficial for adults to rediscover their motion potential and even process tension stored in the body over time!

Baby rolling over without help!

B) When you walk, when you sit, when you do pretty much anything where “habits” or “preconceived ideas” play a big part, can you trust, that what feels right, is necessarily right for you? Maybe not, due to the power of habits and of the mind overriding your body wisdom!

For instance, in my last blog about “Yoga Body, Daily Body & Sensory Perception“ , I talk about the connection between daily body and yoga body in relation to posture. I show how our sensory perception often corrupted by our daily habits of movements is not 100% reliable once on the mat. What is habitual is mistaken for what is natural. Hence injuries brewing down the road on or off the mat.

Does it mean your sensory perception cannot be trusted at all? No, of course. If you listen to what feels right, you are less likely to let your mind shape your body up only according to preconceived ideas of what the body should be doing. But listening to your body’s pain edge, stretching edge or strengthening edge is different from listening to your whole body wisdom.

Your focus on a specific aspect of the body or on a specific body part often blinds you to hearing the wise guidance of your whole body. Your body wisdom can only come loud and clear when you function as an integrated self. When in touch with your body as an integrated whole though, you will perceive the specific as well!

Integrated One leg Stand with a dynamic relationship between the head, neck, torso and leg!

 

Behavior and Perception

I am purposely choosing a striking example here: battered women. A phenomenon that many do not understand. Why would anyone stay with a loved one when being mistreated by them? Could it be they grew up with a parent they loved who was mistreating them physically and their notion of being loved got corrupted out of habits just like our sensory perception? Or maybe they were verbally mistreated and their lack of self-worth led them to feel they deserved to be mistreated that way? It is not my field of expertise but I wanted to make my point. It may feel right to stay with someone you love despite being mistreated. Yet, how trustworthy is this “feeling right” corrupted by past experiences?

On a lighter note, when you do not grow up in a culture that eats snails, the idea of eating snails may feel very wrong. Is it right or wrong? Neither. It is what the French do. They even consider it a delicacy.
So often, what feels right or wrong is relative to habits.

Conclusion

Frederick Matthias Alexander used to say that sometimes, we need to accept what feels wrong (the challenged habit) so it can feel right again in the natural way. Have you ever considered that? Working with a teacher at the beginning is quite helpful to keep things in perspective because most of us are not comfortable with the concept of “feeling wrong” in any context. We were trained to believe it is always a bad thing. Hopefully now you see that one needs a bigger picture to assess more accurately whether “a feeling” is right or wrong. We need to investigate where is it coming from before we condemn or embrace it!

It is not always easy to make that step towards the unknown. When on a path towards personal growth, we eventually do it though. It is said that when we are ready the teacher appears. And when this happens, it is time to go along. Our higher consciousness knows it!

Why is it we are often afraid to go in the cave that holds the treasure we are looking for?

Our dual nature, no doubt! Our human limited self tends to feel right staying with what is familiar while our higher consciousness knows with clarity that going into that cave is the right thing to do. Only fear holds us back! Luckily for us, we are born to thrive sooner or later!

Join my latest FREE 6-part EMAIL SEMINAR:

"How to Unlearn Habits that Create Body Stiffness On and Off the Mat"
(Based on the Alexander Technique Principles and Facts)

Jul7

Yoga Body, Daily Body & Sensory Perception

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Cecile Raynor

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Daily Body Sitting

Do you see a difference between your Yoga Body and your Daily Body?
Would someone observing you (without you knowing it) perceive a difference?
What is your Yoga Body focused on while on the mat? Core strengthening? Flexibility? Proper Alignment? Relaxation?
All of the above? What does your Daily Body remember between classes?
Does it remain strong, flexible and does it display sustainable good posture? Or not?

Yoga Body Sitting

Often, there is a bit of a discrepancy between those two bodies
and yet they impact each other greatly in a positive or negative way
depending on how in touch you are with your body wisdom.

DAILY BODY STORY
Do you find yourself slouching at the computer or on the couch? Do you find yourself crossing your legs always favoring the same side crossing over the other? Or if you are a parent, do you favor one hip over the other to carry your young one? Or maybe you crane your neck forward and down to read or send text messages?

640-01351420 Model Release: Yes Property Release: No Portrait of a mother carrying her son

Right hip locked to the right, left foot forward and to the left

As you sit at your computer, you probably try to stand more upright once in a while and you bring your shoulders back and lift your chest up. Doing so you may be arching your back and this feeling becomes a synonym for feeling taller, only is it sustainable for long? Not really, unless you are a chronic holder, seconds later, the synergy of your whole body reclaims the habitual slump. Does it sound familiar?

The fact is if you repeatedly spend time in a distorted position, you start distorting your skeletal structure in a way that is so habitual that it feels more natural than the natural way. As a result, your skeleton is not organized for effortless balance, so your muscles are overworking creating stiffness and tiredness or giving up all together into an inevitable slouch. You can’t wait to go to your yoga class to stretch and strengthen yet why is your back not getting strong enough to stay upright in a sustainable way?

The danger of regularly catering to harmful habits is that, although it may feel comfortable in the moment,
it weakens your postural muscles because you do not let them do their job.

YOGA BODY STORY

You finally make it to your yoga mat, it feels so good to stretch and move your body. Whether you do power yoga or gently yoga, you enjoy yourself because this is the style of yoga that speaks to you. But whatever the style, you are also bringing with you your Daily Body habits to the mat. You may be aware of some of them but habits can become invisible to your awareness after a time.

The confusing thing is that, you can still feel better on some level because yoga is a wide field of many colors, the asanas being only a small part of it. However, how you use yourself on and off the mat must be addressed if you are to get the most out of your practice and truly prevent injuries even if you choose to challenge yourself on the mat? Stretching tension or building strength can be beneficial if done in line with your innate body wisdom. Overdoing can be seductive and often misleading because of the element of physical pleasure and instant gratification it includes. And this is true both for stretching and strengthening!

How can you know for sure if you are in line with your innate wisdom of your whole body when you listen to parts of you at a time and your sensory appreciation is no longer fully reliable?

The woman on the beach is an example of distorted torso to gain the end of touching her toes.
An integrated pose that respects your innate body wisdom as the woman in purple is more beneficial!

SENSORY PERCEPTION & INJURIES

As mentioned earlier, your Daily Body sensory perception gets somewhat corrupted over time. As a result, it needs a bit of reeducation. Without regaining accurate sensory perception, you cannot truly rely on what you feel while practicing yoga or engaged in daily movements and yet most people do. As a matter of fact, it is my experience that this is the real culprit in most yoga injuries. Whether they happen on or off the mat, the majority of neck back or joint injuries if you are a healthy yogi, tend to start with your Daily Body habits brought to the mat.

SENSORY PERCEPTION REEDUCATION & BODY WISDOM

Controlling your habits on the mat then catering to them the rest of the time
is not going to get you out of the tension cycle.
It is like collecting water from your dripping ceiling when it rains 
instead of fixing the roof problem in the first place!

On the surface, it may seem that tension is the problem and yoga the solution. However, you will get more out of your yoga when unnecessary tension is dealt with for what it is, a symptom of something else that needs addressing to get lasting results. And sorry to say that no costly gadgets can get around the need to regain accurate sensory perception!

You have a wonderful mechanism in your body called “Postural Mechanism” and it is an ambassador to your Innate Body Wisdom. It is in charge of handling your posture, fluidity of movement and balance. When you learn how to stimulate it, you can stretch and strengthen without taking a chance to overdo. In fact, as you unlearn your harmful habitual patterns, you keep empowering that mechanism to do its job. And it is available to you 24/7.

When not aligned above support and relaxed, gravity promotes slouching.
When aligned above support and relaxed, gravity promotes effortless good posture.

Do you want to learn more about this mind/body approach to natural good posture? 
Do you want to learn how to reclaim efficient moving for balanced living?
Join my latest FREE 6-part EMAIL SEMINAR:
"How to Unlearn Habits that Create Body Stiffness On and Off the Mat"
(Based on the Alexander Technique Principles and Facts)

May8

The Top 5 Myths about “Good Posture” On & Off the Mat – Debunked!

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Cecile Raynor

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MYTH #1: Good Posture means Chest Out and Shoulders Back

Reality: Good posture is not about getting it right, it is not about positioning your shoulders. This way of approaching posture creates back muscle tension and is not sustainable. In a daily context, by pushing your chest out and pulling your shoulders back, you soon find yourself slouching right back to where you started (unless you are a “chronic holder” which does not serve you either). Good posture is a dynamic and integral part of fluid functioning, not a deliberate holding in place. Look at young children! No effort whatsoever. It is your birthright!

Solution: Instead of letting your mind manipulate your skeleton by engaging your muscles, learn about integrated body use so you can let your innate body wisdom handle your posture for you. You are using your body in an integrated way when all body parts are working in harmony together guided by your innate body intelligence. As a result, you experience your skeletal system strength instead of using unnecessary muscle tension.

Effortless Good Posture

MYTH #2: Exercising Core Muscles promotes Good Posture

Reality: Yes, core muscles are crucial for good posture. Only they are not the muscles you may think. Just like an apple core is the center part of the apple, core muscles are also located deep in your center. Inner muscles and outer muscles must work in harmony but they cannot all be equally engaged at once. When you engage your outer muscles to feel strong, you are automatically disengaging your core muscles.

Solution: When you challenge your body in whatever position or exercise you chose to; give your core muscles a chance to step up to the plate and strengthen by not tightening your outer muscles. For instance, if you are doing a plank, you stay in your plank all the same. The challenge of it remains, only disengaging the outer muscles allows the core muscles to kick in. The secret here is to keep your skeletal alignment. Then, listen to your whole body. Do not expect the inner muscle work to feel like the outer muscles when engaged. Inner core muscles work deeper, quieter and are felt more as a whole body experience.

Her open hands, smile, and her open upper back suggest she is building Flexible Strength rather than Body Stiffness!
This also means she is allowing her Core Muscles to step up to the plate and strengthen!
She is cooperating with her Whole Body Wisdom.

Her uptight upper back and neck, her held facial expression and tight fists are clearly signs
she is building Stiff Strength in her Outer Muscles & not allowing her Core Muscles to step up to the plate and strengthen!
She is not cooperating with her Whole Body Wisdom.

MYTH #3: Stretching & Strengthening Back Muscles promotes Good Posture

Reality: Stretching and strengthening the back as it is commonly done is working the big outer muscles of the back, the ones you can feel being stretched and exerting effort to strengthen. It may feel good when you do it but “feeling good” and “being good for you” are two different things although they can happen together when in line with your whole body wisdom.

Solution: Discover your postural muscles for effortless and sustainable good posture. These core muscles get increasingly stronger when you let them do their job of supporting you instead of you engaging the big outer muscles to do the job. It is all about developing trust in the wisdom of your body. You don’t need to work so hard like in the plank example given earlier. Work smarter instead by choosing to experience what flexible strength feels like. The fact is that you are still building the same amount of strength. And that is the strength of the cat, not an ounce of stiffness in their body, but they are quite strong when they need to jump or pounce on a moving target.

Power, Accuracy, Grace…. Flexible Strength at work!

MYTH #4: Good Posture is all about Proper Alignment

Reality: The truth is that there is more to good posture than proper alignment. If you are holding yourself in what you think is the right alignment, you are doing just that, “holding yourself”. And the way you are holding yourself is with excess tension. Besides, you are forcefully going again the synergy of your own body so either it is not sustainable or you are building chronic tension.

Solution: Exploring how much holding you are actually doing would be a first step. Then, choose to no longer hold your skeleton with tensed muscles. Connect with your skeletal system, keep its height, and discover its own strength. That will change the synergy of your whole body so you can experience what it is to be bone tall with relaxed muscles!

Her arched back and belly forward suggest holding tension in her back.
His perfect alignment without back arching or shoulders pulled back suggest a released yet dynamic posture.

MYTH #5: Gravity challenges Good Posture

Reality: Not so. Gravity promotes good postural balance when you use yourself as you are designed to. When you lose your skeletal height, you are not balanced above your support efficiently. As a result, gravity claims the heavy weight of the unsupported head forward and down. It also brings the shoulders with it whether you are sitting, standing or walking.

Solution: By learning to be balanced above your support, the need to push up disappears without being replaced by the urge to slouch. Allow your weight to be evenly spread on your feet when standing and learn to find the balancing point of your sit bones when sitting, and voila, anti-gravity action works for you instead of against you, propelling you upwards effortlessly like children do all the time!

When not aligned above support and relaxed, gravity promotes slouching.
When aligned above support and relaxed, gravity promotes effortless good posture.

Do you want to learn more about this mind/body approach to natural good posture? 
Do you want to learn how to reclaim efficient moving for balanced living?
Join my latest FREE 6-part EMAIL SEMINAR:
"How to Unlearn Habits that Create Body Stiffness On and Off the Mat"
(Based on the Alexander Technique Principles and Facts)

Mar21

Muscle Engaging, Bone Strength and Dynamic Posture!

Posted on March 21, 2015 by Cecile Raynor

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MUSCLE ENGAGING

In the fitness world including yoga, it is common to hear teachers urging students to engage their muscles in one way or another. Mostly, they urge you to engage your core muscles. But what does that really mean? What do you do when your teacher encourages you to engage your muscles? Are you using your will power to tighten your muscles further expecting to feel and get stronger that way?

Have you considered that tightening muscles may not be the best way to “engage your muscles”?
Could it be creating as much body stiffness as it creates strength?

What about building the flexible strength of the cat instead?

Obviously, no matter how strong your muscles are, if you had no bones, they would turn into a puddle on the ground? That is because your skeleton has a lot to do with your strength. Your bones are the structure and firmness needed by your muscles for you to stand, sit. walk or jump.

BONE STRENGTH

Watch or re-watch this easy to view 7 min video by Kathleen Porter
about how the skeleton works as your primary support system!

Your skeleton does need a certain amount of necessary muscle tension to work with; however, as long as skeleton and necessary muscle tension work together as part of an integrated movement, your strength develops itself to support the movement with no need for unnecessary muscle tension, the source of much of your body stiffness. Your bone strength makes up for it. Using your will power is more about the mind choosing to sustain a challenging integrated pose or activity than to muscularly force the body to stay in it. The more you use your skeletal system strength, the easier it is to not use unnecessary tension and the stronger you are building your core strength. Only then, you are building the flexible strength of the cat!

In integrated movements, all your body parts work in harmony together.
Tightness gets in the way of this harmonious functioning of the whole.

The woman in black displays Poor Use of her Skeletal System, notice her muscular straining in the upper back and neck.
The woman in white displays Good Use of her Skeletal System with her skeleton and muscles working more together.

While exercising, necessary muscle tension is a whole body feeling of power or stability rather than a tight feeling in a specific muscle group. Your body-wisdom does work some muscles more than others as needed yet it also knows your natural limits of the moment and will not let you go in an injury promoting zone. Children and animals trust that process. Just touch the muscles of a cat, so soft! And yet they certainly can jump up or down with powerful strength and accuracy in a beautiful integrated and fluid motion!

Maybe it is Time to Learn to Be Strong Using Brain and Bones & No Longer Overworking your Muscles. Besides, it feels easier simply because gravity becomes your ally and you can work out smart instead of hard! The only thing you will loose is body stiffness, not strength. Check the humorous 2-minute video below, you’ll see what I mean!

A woman in the early 1900’s lays the smack down with some classic Jiujitsu

DYNAMIC POSTURE

Dynamic posture does not require you to remember to check in and position yourself to sit upright. It is an integral part of good and fluid functioning, not a holding you go back to when you think of it. Look at young children! No effort whatsoever, and it is also your birthright!

Modern life offers challenges for sure with time spent at desks and computers, or standing for hours. Yet is it those activities that are the problem or how you use yourself while engaged in them?

You know that you cannot force a horse to drink water but you can salt his oats to make him choose to drink. And when thirsty, he’ll go the extra mile to satisfy his thirst. In the same way, you cannot strengthen your inner core muscles by sheer force but you can challenge your whole body with a specific pose or exercise and let it engage your inner muscles which will strengthen them in an organic way. They will go the extra mile if and when they have to!

So you can learn from children and animals how to reclaim an efficient and integrated way to use yourself on and off the mat where all your body parts work harmoniously together to benefit all of who you are! .

Till we meet again, be well!

Incoming workshops in Boston, MA:
Integrated Motion for Mind/Body Flow on March 26, 2015 6 to 8pm
Strain-Free Yoga/Strain-Free Body on March 29, 2015 1.15pm to 3.15pm
For more detail and registration, go to: https://offthematyogablog.com/schedule/

Working with an Alexander Technique teacher is a short cut to changing the habits of a life time. Call me to schedule and appointment or sign up to my workshops and classes. And I am working on an online workshop or class for those far away who want to work with me. Will keep you posted!

Jan28

Core Strengthening Language Part 2: How Helpful is the Focus on Anatomy?

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Cecile Raynor

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An increasing number of yoga training courses and teachers feel the need to focus on anatomical data as if the quality of their skill depended on it. Does it really? There is nothing wrong with acquiring knowledge especially for those with the right mind to enjoy learning this kind of information. However, how many doctors are being helped in their own body by the anatomical details they know? How useful is it to them or to most yoga teachers and practitioners?

What matters more with yoga is to discover the anatomy of movement and stillness as a purely kinesthetic and holistic experience which is being lost in translation when the focus is all on anatomical details. What follows about core strengthening is supported by anatomy specialists (we do need them) but is expressed in a way everyone can receive and start practicing.

CORE STRENGTHENING

Beyond anatomical data, do you know how core strengthening happens in an organic way?

Like the core of an apple, your core refers first to the inner muscle sets of your torso which work partly intertwined and always in harmony with all other muscles to keep you up and together. Core Strengthening happens organically when you allow the outer muscles to release while engaged in a whole body activity. When your outer muscles cooperate rather than take charge of maintaining your skeletal height, your core muscles can step up to the plate and get strong in their own deep and quiet way.

Torso muscles cannot remain efficient when engaged all at once. Like the arm or leg muscles flexing or extending in turn to allow movement, your torso muscles are part of a similar dance; while some engage, the others need to quiet down. Their way of working feels different. Postural muscles for instance quietly do their supporting job and give you a sense of effortlessness. Outer muscles however have a presence which can easily be turned into body stiffness when no distinction is made between necessary muscular tension and unnecessary muscle tension.


Releasing excess tension is neither going limp 
nor decreasing how much strength you are building. 
It is preventing building body stiffness while you are building strength.

Bracing yourself with muscle tension thinking it will give you core stability is a myth and only leads to body stiffness
as you can hear Peter O’Sullivan explain in his 2013 interview.

LANGUAGE INSTRUCTIONS AND DISTINCTIONS

Verbal instructions to get into a pose must reflect this duality of functioning to be efficient. The verbal instructions you still follow yourself or use to lead others into poses have an enormous impact on how those poses are performed. Experienced yoga teachers who actually did make some language changes felt the difference in themselves and in their students as a result. It comes down to making important distinctions.

Outer Muscles need Space to Release 
for the Inner Muscles to Efficiently Strengthen.

The purpose for the block used in this pose is to keep the skeleton properly aligned,
not to squeeze it with all your might creating body stiffness in the process.

“Holding” makes you grab your skeleton for dear life instead of letting your postural mechanism take care of your balance. “Staying” in a pose gives you space to release without loosing the pose kept by the skeleton. As a result, you can build strength without building body stiffness in the process. When releasing unnecessary muscle tension into what is supporting your body weight, you are activating your postural mechanism and it can do its job which is to handle your postural balance and coordination using an appropriate amount of necessary muscle tension.

“Allow the spine to lengthen” / “Lengthen the spine”. When allowing something to happen, you are less likely to overdo. When you think of lengthening the spine, you are likely to work at lengthening the spine, stiffening your mid back in the process and getting the very opposite of what you think you are doing as the woman in the picture below.

Arched mid back, hips tilted forward, sits bones pointing back, upper back leaning back.

“Do not allow the back of your neck to compress as you look up” / “Look Up”. Your spine must remain an open channel all the way to the top. Compressing the back of the neck just because you can go that far into a pose is not helpful to create an integrated pose where all body parts work in harmony.

The woman in black has a beautifully integrated pose.
Her spine (including the neck part of it) and her arms are all part of the same curve started where her knee is supported.

“Allow your whole body to expand into its full space” / “Lift this or pull that to get taller”. The goal is the same but how you get there is different. Of course, you may not have been taught how to trust and experience your innate body wisdom. Just know it is possible, safer and more efficient to work with your body wisdom which is different from listening to how a specific body part or muscular area feels.

“Listen to your whole body, not your body parts”. When always listening to your whole body at once, you will be aware of individual parts in need of attention as well. Keeping your attention on body parts to check how they feel makes you loose connection with your whole body wisdom. You may help one part of your body at the expense of another.

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If you want to learn more about the Alexander Technique or Off-The-Mat Yoga (Alexander Technique based Yoga), check my workshop and class schedule by clicking here. You can also follow my blog by signing in on the home page to receive tips of the week right to your inbox.

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Category Archives: Alexander Technique

The Art of Flexible Strength: Drop the Strain, Keep the Strength!

The Secret to Ultimate Safety and High Performance on the Yoga Mat!

Vision/Posture Connection & Drishti

Bandhas, Blocks and Bones!

Mastermind for Committed Yoga Teachers with a Vision!

What Can Be Wrong with Always Doing “What Feels Right?”

OR

Yoga Body, Daily Body & Sensory Perception

The Top 5 Myths about “Good Posture” On & Off the Mat – Debunked!

Muscle Engaging, Bone Strength and Dynamic Posture!

Core Strengthening Language Part 2: How Helpful is the Focus on Anatomy?