Hello,
This is Nick Brandon.
I've been teaching the Alexander Technique in Central London for 20 years.
This talk is to guide you through 20 minutes of constructive rest.
Being still in active rest position has countless benefits,
Such as reducing stress and anxiety.
You're spine will lengthen,
Your back will expand and your neck and shoulders will release.
The discs between your vertebrae will open up and reabsorb all the spinal fluid.
Giving your spine more length and also allowing your muscles to unravel and to lengthen,
Creating more space for all your organs to function efficiently.
Internal space will open up in all your joints.
You will become peaceful.
This practice will allow the whole body and mind to return to balance.
This is a very simple but powerful practice,
Which is nourishing,
Healing and rejuvenating.
It does take patience and practice,
So be kind to yourself.
It's like a mini retreat from all the various routines,
Roles,
Responsibilities and relationships you have.
To begin,
Create a quiet space and time.
Remember to switch mobile phones off or any other distractions.
Ensure the floor you're going to lie in is not too hard or soft and have a couple of paperback books ready to support your head.
Gently lower yourself and your torso to the ground using your hands.
Then look at your feet to make sure they're hip width apart and about a foot away from your bottom.
Whichever way you lie down,
Your aim is to arrive on the floor in as released a state as possible,
With maximum length in your spine.
Make sure the books aren't touching your neck.
The books help to align your head with the spine to allow for maximum length and expansion in your torso.
Ideally your head won't be tilting back.
Create the intention of just being still.
The body and the mind are usually over stimulated and stressed.
Stillness is such a gift in this busy world.
You're now going to begin the journey of connecting with your body,
Allowing gravity in the ground to work with you to facilitate the release of compression and tension that you hold in your body.
Also the body's amazing natural healing systems will bring you back into a balanced state where you become quiet and still.
Gravity works completely differently when you're lying down.
Most of us forget that by the end of the day the gravity has caused the body to shorten and compress.
So make any adjustments so you feel comfortable and resist any temptation to fidget or move.
Now you're on the floor,
Think of your lower back and upper torso releasing into the ground.
Think of your pelvis releasing down and your knees floating up.
Place your arms comfortably beside your torso.
Think of the space around your shoulders and between your shoulder blades.
Think of your shoulders being light and buoyant.
Have your palms facing up or gently rested on your body,
Basically wherever they feel comfortable.
Think of allowing your neck muscles to release,
Which will allow the head to release outwards and away from the tip of your spine.
Think of your spine and torso lengthening and widening right from the base of the spine and pelvis all the way to the top of your spine and you can think of your head as a continuation of your spine.
Remember not to try to make the release happen.
In other words,
Your thinking isn't accompanied by any muscular activity.
Remember your head is a heavy weight,
About 4-5 kilos,
Balanced on some of the most delicate bones in the spine.
Think of allowing your head to be fully supported and the gravity will help that.
Think of your throat being soft,
Your jaw releasing,
Facial muscles softening.
Think of your eyes resting and nesting in their eye sockets and also the skin on your forehead being soft.
And just to ensure there is no holding in the neck muscles,
The neck muscles get very tight and stiff,
You can just gently allow your head to roll from side to side,
Almost like your head is turning to listen to the ground.
Notice if there is tightness in the range of movement.
Then bring your head back into alignment with your torso.
When the head is supported,
It really allows the neck muscles to quickly unravel.
The body loves being supported.
With this support and the neck muscles releasing,
It also allows a long chain of muscles that runs from the base of the skull all the way along the back,
All the way through the torso and those muscles continue to run all the way down along the legs right into the Achilles heel,
Right into the foot.
So you can think of that big posterior chain of muscles unraveling,
Softening,
Releasing and lengthening.
And just think of being,
Being still,
We are so used to doing.
So you are just there listening and observing without interfering,
Judging or doing.
This is active resting,
So the challenge is to be present with your expanded awareness.
So keep your eyes open,
This will help you stay awake and be present.
Your mind will naturally want to wander off.
When it does,
Just gently come back to the body,
Back to the moment.
If you notice your mind is very busy,
Just observe like a detached observer.
Emotions and thoughts are always moving.
As you become still,
Your thoughts will begin to slow.
Your mind will begin to get calm and you will have a sense of the mind being lighter.
Ensure you can feel your feet touching the ground and the ground touching your feet.
Ideally you will be able to feel your toes and the outside and inside ridges of your feet.
Think of your feet being rooted and planted and grounded.
Think of space between the foot and the ankle joint,
Then the knee joint and then your hip joint.
Using your conscious mind to communicate to your body,
Your thoughts needn't be demanding,
Pushy,
Just a gentle intention,
A wish or whisper.
Remember your thinking influences all your muscles,
Your breathing,
Your organs and all the systems in your body.
The thoughts are what we call directions.
Your conscious mind is speaking to your body which will encourage the release of tension and flow of energy in your body,
Helping your body to expand and open rather than contract and shorten.
Give yourself permission to let go.
You are allowing yourself to release into the ground.
Remember you are supported,
Safe and nurtured by the earth.
We are now going to consider the breath.
Take a few deep breaths,
Focusing on the out breath.
Imagine the exhalations are like big deep sighs of release and relief.
Each breath is taking you into a deeper state of awareness.
Imagine on each out breath you are letting go.
The incoming breath is a natural response to the out breath.
Think of your inhalation as healing,
Nourishing and cleansing,
Permeating every pore,
Every cell,
Every nerve and tissue and organ in your body.
Your breath is inspiration,
Breathing life and energy into you.
You are breathing life,
Life is breathing you.
No difference,
No distance.
Just for a moment think of your breath like the waves of the sea.
Each breath entering your nostrils where it's warmed and filtered.
Imagine your breath waving along the natural curves of your spine,
Helping to awaken your back.
Ideally your lips will be sealed,
Gently sealed and your breathing will be through your nose.
This ensures that the air is filtered and warmed as it enters your lungs and body.
Think of your breath filling you with internal space.
Remember not to get too involved with the breath.
It will find its natural flow and rhythm.
We will continue your journey to explore the body.
Think of your entire back and spine beginning to open and expand.
Notice the impressions your back is making with the floor.
What areas of the back can you feel and notice?
What areas do you sense?
Maybe there's some places that are dense and tense or light.
Maybe there's areas that are foggy and hazy and you can't easily sense.
This enquiry will bridge the gap between your body and mind and cultivate intelligence and awareness of your body.
Your body is such a great anchor to bring you into the present moment.
Your body is always present and working reliably to serve you,
Whereas the mind can be anywhere.
Begin the journey of discovering your back and other parts of your body by doing a body scan.
So you're surveying the body,
The back,
The feet and the parts of the body that really give you support and carry you through life and generally do a really reliable job but rarely do we think of our back and our feet.
Think of the muscles of your neck releasing,
Unraveling and lengthening.
Again allowing the head to release outwards and away from the top of the spine,
Allowing your torso to lengthen and to widen.
Think of your shoulders releasing and moving away from each other.
Think of smiling across your shoulders and collarbone.
Think of space between your shoulder blades.
Remembering your shoulders,
Your shoulder blades are moveable bones.
Think of your shoulders letting go of all the stuff they carry.
It's like letting go of all the shopping bags or rucksack of emotions falling off your back.
We're really not that aware of our backs,
It's one of the reasons we don't use them so well.
Lying down when you're still is a real opportunity to explore your body and back and increase your awareness and your body intelligence.
And remember we're three dimensional,
We're not just the back and the front.
Think of your ribs,
Especially in the back of your torso.
Think of them opening and expanding when you experience this lovely movement in the ribs and usually there's very little movement in the sleepy ribs in the back.
This movement gives a gentle massage to your internal organs.
Also this movement in your ribs opens up to the tight back muscles.
We often feel limited by time and space.
Say to yourself,
I have space,
I have time.
This is a lovely message to give to yourself.
If you feel discomfort anywhere in the body,
Think of breathing into that area and that part of your body opening up and letting go of any unwanted tension or stress.
Direct your expanded awareness to your pelvis,
The base of your spine.
The pelvis is like a container which includes the sacrum and the tailbone.
The pelvis bears all the weight of the upper torso so we can often feel fatigue and tight.
Think of breathing into any tightness or tension in your lower back.
Think of this area,
The pelvis and lower back taking on a softer quality and again giving away any unwanted tension to the earth.
Think of your lower back being broad,
Long,
Strong and agile.
And again when the mind wanders off,
Just come back to the moment and back to your body.
Giving your body that attention,
Affection,
Appreciation,
Acceptance and acknowledgement.
Think of your body becoming lighter,
Your thoughts becoming lighter.
Think of your bones like floating driftwood gently and lightly releasing into the ground.
Think of widening across the base of the pelvis.
Think of the hip bones,
Your hip bones releasing away from the pelvis.
Think of the long bones of your legs and the muscles that support them releasing and lengthening so that your legs feel light and long and buoyant and that your knees can release away from the pelvis and up towards the ceiling ensuring that they are not pointing inwards or not falling outwards,
They are going directly upwards.
Revisit your feet and consider how they support the entire weight of the body when you are standing and moving.
Think of your feet spreading,
Opening and widening.
See if you can sense each individual toe.
So with that expanded awareness you've got your mind in your feet,
Your feet are in your mind,
You're still aware of the space around you,
The ground beneath you,
Your senses are alive.
And just notice where the weight is falling inwards or outwards into the feet.
Think of the gravity trickling into the body causing you to gently soften to spread and to open.
Think of any limitations or constraints leaving you.
Say to yourself,
I am alive,
My body is free.
You are balanced,
Centred,
Grounded and present.
Before you roll over to come up to standing allow one leg to extend and lengthen along the ground.
Think of the entire body releasing and lengthening.
Enjoy the release and lengthen.
Bring the knee back up so the feet are planted on the floor again and repeat on the other side with the other leg extending along the floor.
To complete your constructive rest you are going to now make a small journey from lying down to standing up in such a way that your spine is lengthening and widening and you are breathing.
Roll to your right side with your head leading,
Your body following.
Your knees will gently fall to the right.
Bring the left arm over to help you come onto your knees then gently onto your feet.
Once on your feet just be still and present.
Notice the space around you,
The space within you and continue your day being present,
Aware,
Awake and alive.
