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.

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.