So far in Viewpoints, I've found it very interesting. Honestly, I feel like I'm just playing with the other members of the class and that's something we don't normally get to do as young adults.
What felt particularly exciting while doing Viewpoints was when I was on the sideline watching the other people moving about in the space, creating their own narratives in the space just by watching everyone else and paying attention to how they were interacting with the other people. It was funny how these different individual little stories managed to combine to make a larger story.
It never felt forced to me. I liked the flow. It feels a lot more impulsive to me than other things that we have done.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Alexander Technique Pt. 2
When Alexander realized that his head and neck were the main reasons for the restrictions in his voice, he attempted to force his body to make these changes, but soon realized that he couldn't do this. Instead, he realized he should apply a process of decreasing his body's inhibitions and directing his intentions toward alignment. He realized that his head, neck, and torso all work together towards organizing his body as a whole, and he coined this process as "Primary Control". It's what allows us to function in the way that our bodies have evolutionarily adapted to behave, that makes all of the functions that we want to do happen in the way that we want it to. To deny yourself this, is to never fully experience what it is to be human.
After realizing this, he then went on to discover that when our body isn't implementing Primary Control, all of our kinaesthetic functions will be viewed in a distorted fashion. We lose our ability to fully understand what we are truly doing with our bodies. When we misuse our body habitually, we come to a point where we are so comfortable in our misuse that we can't trust what our bodies are doing as being correct. The view is skewed because the bad practices have become our normal. It also distorts how much muscle tension we feel we need in order to do simple tasks.
In order to get rid of these misuses of the body, the Alexander Technique teaches the concept of Inhibition. This means that we must bring attention to these tensions and misuses of the body, and once we've acknowledged that they exist, we stop them so that new movements and ways of aligning the body may surface. It's the process of stripping away the bad movements so that you are functioning at your purest, base state.
Once you have determined what is wrong and worked to fix it, when it comes time to actually implement these changes, you must use the concept of Direction. In doing so, you are telling your body what to do in all aspects, adding one adjustment to the other in a sequence, while reminding yourself of all previous steps. It's a state of actively checking in on your body regularly and directing it back from where it may have strayed.
The final aspect of this technique is taking all of these things and deciding what to do with them. You have multiple options in how you decide to approach your body, and by making the conscious decision to flow with it, focusing not on the end goal but on the process of reaching it, you achieve fuller understanding.
I liked reading about this process. I feel in our Western society we focus too much on goals rather than on the journey we go on, no matter how small, in order to achieve this goal. I feel like that's more important. It also drove home all of the principles of Yogic thinking that I've been reading about for years but have never actually managed to implement into my daily life.
After realizing this, he then went on to discover that when our body isn't implementing Primary Control, all of our kinaesthetic functions will be viewed in a distorted fashion. We lose our ability to fully understand what we are truly doing with our bodies. When we misuse our body habitually, we come to a point where we are so comfortable in our misuse that we can't trust what our bodies are doing as being correct. The view is skewed because the bad practices have become our normal. It also distorts how much muscle tension we feel we need in order to do simple tasks.
In order to get rid of these misuses of the body, the Alexander Technique teaches the concept of Inhibition. This means that we must bring attention to these tensions and misuses of the body, and once we've acknowledged that they exist, we stop them so that new movements and ways of aligning the body may surface. It's the process of stripping away the bad movements so that you are functioning at your purest, base state.
Once you have determined what is wrong and worked to fix it, when it comes time to actually implement these changes, you must use the concept of Direction. In doing so, you are telling your body what to do in all aspects, adding one adjustment to the other in a sequence, while reminding yourself of all previous steps. It's a state of actively checking in on your body regularly and directing it back from where it may have strayed.
The final aspect of this technique is taking all of these things and deciding what to do with them. You have multiple options in how you decide to approach your body, and by making the conscious decision to flow with it, focusing not on the end goal but on the process of reaching it, you achieve fuller understanding.
I liked reading about this process. I feel in our Western society we focus too much on goals rather than on the journey we go on, no matter how small, in order to achieve this goal. I feel like that's more important. It also drove home all of the principles of Yogic thinking that I've been reading about for years but have never actually managed to implement into my daily life.
Monday, March 2, 2015
F. M. Alexander
F. M. Alexander spent his early years on a large, isolated farm. He had a respiratory difficulty throughout his childhood until about the age of nine. He developed a love for horses and theater. At sixteen he was forced to move to a mining town where he worked odd jobs by day and taught himself to act and play violin in his free time. After three years, he moved to Melbourne where he began to study under the best teachers of acting. He never had any job for long while he was studying because he was sickly with a violent temper.
He started to lose his voice and when he looked at himself in the mirror to try to understand what could be happening in his body, he discovered that his body was doing strange things whenever he spoke. He developed a few concepts with which he decided to help him retain his voice and speak correctly.
The first of these is Use and Functioning. The core concept of it is that there is always the potential to choose how we wish to use our bodies, and we can always choose at any given moment to change the bad habits we have in order to function better within our own bodies.
"Alexander called this power of choice 'Man's Supreme Inheritance' perceiving that the way in which we use it affects our functioning at all levels'.
When we decide on bad Use, the body easily shows signs of it by gaining weight, becoming sickly, and generally not functioning to its full potential in a way that only good Use will allow.
The second of these is the concept of the Whole Person. Too often in Western society, we view what is going askew in our bodies as something that is happening simply with the part that is showing the symptoms. With the Alexander Technique, we bring focus to the body as a whole, mind included, so that we can integrate all parts of the self to begin healing and becoming our true selves.
He started to lose his voice and when he looked at himself in the mirror to try to understand what could be happening in his body, he discovered that his body was doing strange things whenever he spoke. He developed a few concepts with which he decided to help him retain his voice and speak correctly.
The first of these is Use and Functioning. The core concept of it is that there is always the potential to choose how we wish to use our bodies, and we can always choose at any given moment to change the bad habits we have in order to function better within our own bodies.
"Alexander called this power of choice 'Man's Supreme Inheritance' perceiving that the way in which we use it affects our functioning at all levels'.
When we decide on bad Use, the body easily shows signs of it by gaining weight, becoming sickly, and generally not functioning to its full potential in a way that only good Use will allow.
The second of these is the concept of the Whole Person. Too often in Western society, we view what is going askew in our bodies as something that is happening simply with the part that is showing the symptoms. With the Alexander Technique, we bring focus to the body as a whole, mind included, so that we can integrate all parts of the self to begin healing and becoming our true selves.
Friday, February 20, 2015
Alexander Technique
Anthony de Mello on "Self Observation"
According to de Mello, the most important thing you can do for yourself when no one else will help you is self-observation. This is not to be confused with self-absorption because that indicates being worried about yourself and being preoccupied with your self. Self observation, on the other hand, is watching as much as possible, everything within you and around you as if it were happening to someone else. He states that the reason we suffer from depression and anxiety is because we identify with them, defining ourselves with the depression or anxiety rather than experiencing the feelings objectively. He then goes on to define the self in terms of the sky as being observers of the passing clouds, or emotions we feel, rather than being defined by the clouds that are seen, be they dark or white. Things in our lives don't need to be fixed but merely understood. If we understand them, then they change. He says that "What you judge, you cannot understand."
Reflection
de Mello is basically reiterating what I've been telling myself for the last few years as I've been trying to face my depression head on. The only way you can move past depression is to realize that who you are as a person is separate from the emotions you are feeling. The "I" that is really me is a constant, peaceful, whole person who is observing the universe, and sometimes I let the physical me control how much of that presence is let through. I'm a creative, caring, studious person. But that does not encompass all that I am. I'm a ball of contradictions and I can't put all that I am into words.
Ted Talk by Angela Bradshaw on the Alexander Technique
When we experience fear, stress, and anxiety, we shrink because of our flight or fight response, our bodies preparing for a life-threatening situation. The Alexander Technique allows us to choose a different bodily reaction when faced with fear and anxiety. According to Bradshaw, "Nature would prefer us to be in balance." We can find this by standing on the three points of our feet (big toe, little toe, and the heel), freeing the three joints of our legs (ankles, knees, and hips), allowing the pelvis to be heavy like an anchor. You should also allow your head to float up from the top of the spine, which is behind the ears.
Reflection
According to my view of the world, my mind is separate from my body, but what my mind experiences will effect my body.
According to de Mello, the most important thing you can do for yourself when no one else will help you is self-observation. This is not to be confused with self-absorption because that indicates being worried about yourself and being preoccupied with your self. Self observation, on the other hand, is watching as much as possible, everything within you and around you as if it were happening to someone else. He states that the reason we suffer from depression and anxiety is because we identify with them, defining ourselves with the depression or anxiety rather than experiencing the feelings objectively. He then goes on to define the self in terms of the sky as being observers of the passing clouds, or emotions we feel, rather than being defined by the clouds that are seen, be they dark or white. Things in our lives don't need to be fixed but merely understood. If we understand them, then they change. He says that "What you judge, you cannot understand."
Reflection
de Mello is basically reiterating what I've been telling myself for the last few years as I've been trying to face my depression head on. The only way you can move past depression is to realize that who you are as a person is separate from the emotions you are feeling. The "I" that is really me is a constant, peaceful, whole person who is observing the universe, and sometimes I let the physical me control how much of that presence is let through. I'm a creative, caring, studious person. But that does not encompass all that I am. I'm a ball of contradictions and I can't put all that I am into words.
Ted Talk by Angela Bradshaw on the Alexander Technique
When we experience fear, stress, and anxiety, we shrink because of our flight or fight response, our bodies preparing for a life-threatening situation. The Alexander Technique allows us to choose a different bodily reaction when faced with fear and anxiety. According to Bradshaw, "Nature would prefer us to be in balance." We can find this by standing on the three points of our feet (big toe, little toe, and the heel), freeing the three joints of our legs (ankles, knees, and hips), allowing the pelvis to be heavy like an anchor. You should also allow your head to float up from the top of the spine, which is behind the ears.
Reflection
According to my view of the world, my mind is separate from my body, but what my mind experiences will effect my body.
Friday, February 6, 2015
Getting Out of Your Own Way
Playing the Game of Life
According to Dr. Watts, our society tells children that they are only quasi-people, that they are in the process of becoming real people and the training they receive in school and from people in their lives is how they become real people. He describes the schooling system of preschool, Kindergarten, elementary school, high school, and eventually higher education are things that people are lead to and taught that it's how you become a person of worth. When you finally reach that high tier person in your given profession, then you will have become a real person, but you're going to end up feeling cheated because once you realized that you've "made it", you're going to realize that life feels the same as it always has. The final goal of it all is to have a good retirement, when you're supposed to be able to do all of the things that you've always wanted to do but were too busy working for that retirement to be able to do. The issue with this is that when one does this, you live in a constant state of fear and anxiety about what could potentially happen and you lose sight of what's really happening and occurring in your everyday life, missing out on actually living because you're so focused on making sure the life you've made for yourself is taken care of in the future.
The Secret of Life
In Chinese, the word for nature is ziran, which means that which happens of itself. According to Dr. Watts, you stop the spontaneous flow of nature when you tell it that it must do it. He says that human beings are the structure and fabric of reality itself. The secret of life is to be completely engaged in whatever you are doing right here and now and instead of saying that whatever you are doing is work, realize that it's all just play.
You're Already Awesome
Dr. Brewer's experience of flow was when he was riding downhill on a bike and he simply went with it instead of overthinking everything he was doing so that he wouldn't fall. But, unfortunately, we spend 50% of our time getting caught up in our own thoughts and don't fully experience what we're doing. They concluded that a wandering mind is an unhappy mind.
In another study, they found that the default mode network was quiet and the posterior cingulate cortex (what's responsible for cravings) gets especially quiet. When you pay attention, you can make major changes in your mind in a short amount of time. In just nine minutes, one of the subjects learned the difference between counting his breath and experiences his breath.
Reflection
All of this relates to our yoga practice because, in order to get the most out of the practice, you must be fully present in what you are doing. This translates into acting/performing because if you aren't present on the stage, you're going to come off as one of those bad actors who can't quite keep up with the flow of the production.
I think what stood out to me the most was the idea of indoctrination into the world of education. I've always heard people say that, but this video just really struck home. We don't have to go to school to do something with ourselves, but our society tells us that the only way to be successful is to go to school and get good grades.
According to Dr. Watts, our society tells children that they are only quasi-people, that they are in the process of becoming real people and the training they receive in school and from people in their lives is how they become real people. He describes the schooling system of preschool, Kindergarten, elementary school, high school, and eventually higher education are things that people are lead to and taught that it's how you become a person of worth. When you finally reach that high tier person in your given profession, then you will have become a real person, but you're going to end up feeling cheated because once you realized that you've "made it", you're going to realize that life feels the same as it always has. The final goal of it all is to have a good retirement, when you're supposed to be able to do all of the things that you've always wanted to do but were too busy working for that retirement to be able to do. The issue with this is that when one does this, you live in a constant state of fear and anxiety about what could potentially happen and you lose sight of what's really happening and occurring in your everyday life, missing out on actually living because you're so focused on making sure the life you've made for yourself is taken care of in the future.
The Secret of Life
In Chinese, the word for nature is ziran, which means that which happens of itself. According to Dr. Watts, you stop the spontaneous flow of nature when you tell it that it must do it. He says that human beings are the structure and fabric of reality itself. The secret of life is to be completely engaged in whatever you are doing right here and now and instead of saying that whatever you are doing is work, realize that it's all just play.
You're Already Awesome
Dr. Brewer's experience of flow was when he was riding downhill on a bike and he simply went with it instead of overthinking everything he was doing so that he wouldn't fall. But, unfortunately, we spend 50% of our time getting caught up in our own thoughts and don't fully experience what we're doing. They concluded that a wandering mind is an unhappy mind.
In another study, they found that the default mode network was quiet and the posterior cingulate cortex (what's responsible for cravings) gets especially quiet. When you pay attention, you can make major changes in your mind in a short amount of time. In just nine minutes, one of the subjects learned the difference between counting his breath and experiences his breath.
Reflection
All of this relates to our yoga practice because, in order to get the most out of the practice, you must be fully present in what you are doing. This translates into acting/performing because if you aren't present on the stage, you're going to come off as one of those bad actors who can't quite keep up with the flow of the production.
I think what stood out to me the most was the idea of indoctrination into the world of education. I've always heard people say that, but this video just really struck home. We don't have to go to school to do something with ourselves, but our society tells us that the only way to be successful is to go to school and get good grades.
Friday, January 30, 2015
Mindfulness
What is Mindfulness?
Dr. Kabbat-Zinn defines mindfulness as a way of connecting with your life in which you cultivate attention in a particular way. It's living in the present moment, experiencing your own thoughts non-judgmentally. Your life depends upon it because attention is "the faculty by which we navigate our lives". It doesn't matter what you are paying attention to as long as you are paying attention. Because it is only when you are paying attention to what you are doing can you truly experience what is happening around you. It's not a technique that you can turn on and off when you want to. In order to be mindful, we must cultivate it into our everyday lives so that it is a way of life for us. It makes life more fulfilling and experienced.
All It Takes is Ten Mindful Minutes
Andy Puddicombe suggests that we should spend at least ten minutes each day doing absolutely nothing, no Twitter, Facebook, books, or anything else taking our attention. Simply sitting and clearing our minds in order to do absolutely nothing. According to the Harvard report that he quoted, our minds are lost in thought almost 47% of the time. At the same time, meditation allows you to step back and view your thoughts and emotions as they pop up, viewing them non-subjectively, and allowing them to pass as they come without becoming stuck on any particular thought. He demonstrates this with juggling the balls. If he were to focus too much on the balls in his hand, he wouldn't be able to speak to the audience because all of his attention would be on what he was doing with them. But if he were to relax too much, he would drop them. This is symbolic of how we must approach our lives, finding the equilibrium of thought and emotion, and what we are outwardly doing.
Mindfulness Exercise Response
This one was a bit tougher than I remember it being. I used to spend most of my time in meditation, slipping into that state very easily. Now, my mind is very much wanting to jump to what I'm going to be doing in the future and what I've done in the past. It took me a few minutes of mindfully moving things aside as they came before I was able to just sit, breathe, and move through the emotions as they came without judging them. I actually ended up sitting there like that for forty minutes before I felt I was ready to come back out of the little cocoon I had made. It was refreshing.
Dr. Kabbat-Zinn defines mindfulness as a way of connecting with your life in which you cultivate attention in a particular way. It's living in the present moment, experiencing your own thoughts non-judgmentally. Your life depends upon it because attention is "the faculty by which we navigate our lives". It doesn't matter what you are paying attention to as long as you are paying attention. Because it is only when you are paying attention to what you are doing can you truly experience what is happening around you. It's not a technique that you can turn on and off when you want to. In order to be mindful, we must cultivate it into our everyday lives so that it is a way of life for us. It makes life more fulfilling and experienced.
All It Takes is Ten Mindful Minutes
Andy Puddicombe suggests that we should spend at least ten minutes each day doing absolutely nothing, no Twitter, Facebook, books, or anything else taking our attention. Simply sitting and clearing our minds in order to do absolutely nothing. According to the Harvard report that he quoted, our minds are lost in thought almost 47% of the time. At the same time, meditation allows you to step back and view your thoughts and emotions as they pop up, viewing them non-subjectively, and allowing them to pass as they come without becoming stuck on any particular thought. He demonstrates this with juggling the balls. If he were to focus too much on the balls in his hand, he wouldn't be able to speak to the audience because all of his attention would be on what he was doing with them. But if he were to relax too much, he would drop them. This is symbolic of how we must approach our lives, finding the equilibrium of thought and emotion, and what we are outwardly doing.
Mindfulness Exercise Response
This one was a bit tougher than I remember it being. I used to spend most of my time in meditation, slipping into that state very easily. Now, my mind is very much wanting to jump to what I'm going to be doing in the future and what I've done in the past. It took me a few minutes of mindfully moving things aside as they came before I was able to just sit, breathe, and move through the emotions as they came without judging them. I actually ended up sitting there like that for forty minutes before I felt I was ready to come back out of the little cocoon I had made. It was refreshing.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Patsy Rodenburg's Second Circle
1. How does Patsy Rodenburg define Presence?
Patsy Rodenburg defines presence as being alert and ready to move, interacting with others in a natural state of readiness. She uses a lot of examples to demonstrate what presence is, like "[...]that jolt of energy, akin to electricity, that flicks a switch in your whole body if you are driving without full attention and a child runs out into the street" and "the surge of energy when you catch a stranger's eye and share a moment."
2. What are some ways that Presence is lost? When do you feel a loss or weakness of presence?
Presence is lost by letting the world bog you down. I always like to say that when the world gets too tough, I can always fall back into my imagination. World be damned, I'm happier in my own head. And it shows. I'm quieter, not paying attention to the people around me, and all presence I may have had when I left my house in the morning is gone.
3. What is First Circle? When have you experienced yourself in First Circle?
First Circle is being inside of yourself rather than interacting with your environment. I've had too much experience with First Circle. To me, First Circle embodies everything having to do with depression. It's a lonely place. Entering First Circle triggers off all the thoughts that have plagued me for years. It makes me numb.
4. What is Third Circle? When have you experienced yourself in Third Circle?
Third Circle is a bluff, a way to seem like you're okay, but really you're just nervous and extermely self-conscious. I've seen so many people behave this way and it makes me wonder what hurt them so much that they have to live in a constant state of bluff. In my own experience, I began to act like this in response to my own social anxiety. I remember going out with my friends to the mall when I was younger, getting dressed up in my full on goth garb, trying to come off like I didn't care what anyone thought of me. I was loud and obnoxious in public only to come home and collapse into first circle. It's very exhausting.
5. What is Second Circle? Relate a personal experience (in performance, athletics, etc) when you have been in Second Circle.
Second Circle is a state of being present and open. It took a lot to be able to get to a point where I could really be present with others rather than sitting in my own mind. The first time I can really say that I was present with someone was the night I met my fiance. It was like sparks were flying left and right and I just wanted to get to know him, to talk to him. I drank in conversation like it was the whiskey he was drinking. I got drunk on the feeling.
Patsy Rodenburg defines presence as being alert and ready to move, interacting with others in a natural state of readiness. She uses a lot of examples to demonstrate what presence is, like "[...]that jolt of energy, akin to electricity, that flicks a switch in your whole body if you are driving without full attention and a child runs out into the street" and "the surge of energy when you catch a stranger's eye and share a moment."
2. What are some ways that Presence is lost? When do you feel a loss or weakness of presence?
Presence is lost by letting the world bog you down. I always like to say that when the world gets too tough, I can always fall back into my imagination. World be damned, I'm happier in my own head. And it shows. I'm quieter, not paying attention to the people around me, and all presence I may have had when I left my house in the morning is gone.
3. What is First Circle? When have you experienced yourself in First Circle?
First Circle is being inside of yourself rather than interacting with your environment. I've had too much experience with First Circle. To me, First Circle embodies everything having to do with depression. It's a lonely place. Entering First Circle triggers off all the thoughts that have plagued me for years. It makes me numb.
4. What is Third Circle? When have you experienced yourself in Third Circle?
Third Circle is a bluff, a way to seem like you're okay, but really you're just nervous and extermely self-conscious. I've seen so many people behave this way and it makes me wonder what hurt them so much that they have to live in a constant state of bluff. In my own experience, I began to act like this in response to my own social anxiety. I remember going out with my friends to the mall when I was younger, getting dressed up in my full on goth garb, trying to come off like I didn't care what anyone thought of me. I was loud and obnoxious in public only to come home and collapse into first circle. It's very exhausting.
5. What is Second Circle? Relate a personal experience (in performance, athletics, etc) when you have been in Second Circle.
Second Circle is a state of being present and open. It took a lot to be able to get to a point where I could really be present with others rather than sitting in my own mind. The first time I can really say that I was present with someone was the night I met my fiance. It was like sparks were flying left and right and I just wanted to get to know him, to talk to him. I drank in conversation like it was the whiskey he was drinking. I got drunk on the feeling.
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