Balance and Vitality

I had my 11th AT session a few days ago, but that isn't what I want to talk about today. Instead, I'd like to talk about how I am really starting to feel results from doing the Alexander Technique.

First of all, my once-frequent headaches and backaches have been reduced to making a feeble cameo appearance maybe once a week. If and when it does happen, I lie on the floor in "Alexander position" and ask my back and/or head to quit it (the latter is an idea I picked up from a book recommended to me by Alexis, Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection). These tactics seem to work.

 Secondly, I feel like I have a new perspective on my life. I'm much more committed to doing what I want, rather than what I should (or worse yet, what I think I want). Somehow AT has made me stand back and analyze my situation from a place of semi-detachment.

Lastly, (and this is of course related to everything else) I feel that I am more centered than before. "Cool" will never be a word that someone would use to describe me but I am less prone to be at the mercy of someone else's whim.

Here's what I am talking about. A recent revelation suggested to me that I look for part-time work in a kitchen. Disregard the fear of getting stuck on a career track that normally does not pay well. Forget the fact that I've never done it and that I majored in Classics at university. I like food, I've been looking for stimulation and I've got extra time on my hands. Why not? And why hadn't I thought of this before?   

Today was my "audition". From 0730 until 1730, I peeled, sliced, served, cleaned, poured, got yelled at and trotted between the kitchens and dining room. Everyone was stressed out and blaming the new moon and eclipse for the neverending barrage of uncharacteristically aggressive customers. 

Strangely, I had a great time. While everyone around me argued and rolled their eyes and yelled into the telephone, I stayed in my quiet little world of cucumbers and whole wheat loaves and pats of butter. Even when I was loudly reprimanded, the words glanced off my skin. For someone who usually takes everything entirely too personally, this one incident was like achieving self-help nirvana.

At the end of the day, I was offered the position for my ability to "not do anything too terrible in the face of disaster". Having spent more than nine and a half consecutive hours on my feet, my legs were swollen and there was a dull ache in my lower back. When I got home, I rolled out the rug on the floor and lay down in Alexander position, feeling quite pleased with myself.