When This Baby Hits 88 Miles Per Hour...
You're gonna see some serious sh*t
I woke up tired today. Not exhausted tired, but tired. Maybe it was the Sichuan food last night or maybe it was the lingering effects of the near night terror that I had after watching the latest Alien flick***.
Who knows!
I think before studying the Alexander Technique I would have responded to today by going for a run to make myself wake up or taking a brisk walk to a cafe. I probably also would have done the insane thing of thinking I was developing some kind of allergy to chilli oil (😱 NEVER!).
Instead of doing all of that, I’ve come to understand that I have an engine. In some moments, it can go 88 miles per hour. In others, it can go 40 or maybe only 5 miles per hour. The big /@$$ kicker of a lesson that I’ve come to learn is that I can be productive in a moment if I can feel my speed limit and stay at or under it.
Know Your Engine
How do I figure out how my engine is tuned? Well unfortunately I don’t have a speedometer that I can strap to my forehead. But I do have 2 check ins that I perform regularly on days like today.
Check In 1. Balance
My sense of balance is very sensitive to my energy level. On days like today where my energy is low, I will start to stiffen my neck and lose my sense of balance if I walk too quickly. It’s a very important check point to have in your day.
I check in with my sense of quiet before I get out of bed every morning and attempt to carry that into the act of getting out of bed and taking My First Walk to either the bathroom or the coffee machine.
Do you feel like you’re in a groggy stupor some mornings? Respect the moment and walk slowly!
Check In 2. An Honest Moment of Observation
If you’ve been doing your Daily Lie Downs, your Inner Sherlock should have some reliable reasoning. At the start of nearly every lesson I give, I’ll ask the student how their energy level is. Nearly everyone will honestly respond (good/great/exhausted/the sky is falling) and all response are totally fine. The only time when a lesson starts to go poorly is when the student tries to make themselves energised and awake.
The only thing that will really begin to happen in this case is a whole bunch of exhausted stiffening. What is fascinating - to me at least - is that as I bring the student’s attention to the fatigue level and ask them to really see and feel it, they begin to slow down and calm down.
After about 5 - 15 minutes of either laying on the table or sitting in my NEW AND IMPROVED ANIME THRONE** folks either feel their energy level rise with a sense of quiet or they come to the conclusion that they need to sleep.
How Often Do You Check The Engine?
Honestly, this is players choice here. If I’m playing the saxophone or writing a blog article, I’ll take moments to see how my engine is doing. Maybe I need a break? Maybe I’m rushing and trying to get to some check point?
The only structured thing I’ve ever done around this is to use the Pomodori Technique for practicing. The idea is to place a 10-15 minute timer on when you go to do something that demands your full attention. When the timer goes off, it’s time to take a little walk, a lie down, or a squat (or some such thing) for a few minutes.
This little break helps to prevent the stiffening that can creep in from prolonged periods of work. It also is a terrific way to simultaneously prolong a work session (yay! more work!) AND end a work session early.
I want you to end your work sessions when you get tired - if you can - because this is where we tend to make the most mistakes and have the most stiffening! Funnily enough, those two things tend to come hand-in-hand.
And Now for Something Completely Different
Today marks the 80th post for this blog. Woo Hoo! I’ve gotten some nice feedback from readers and will keep this project going for a long while.
I’ve noticed that this blog is being read by teachers of the Alexander Technique in addition to students. I’m very humbled by this! One of the things I will not cover in this blog is information geared specifically towards teachers. Given my background is in tech, advertising, marketing, and … math… I do believe that I can offer thoughts to teachers on these topics if they are interested. In particular, how to build a private in-person teaching practice.
Below you’ll find a short poll. Please take a second to answer the two questions.
And if you ARE a teacher and have a direct question for me on these lines, please leave a message in the subscriber chat!
Thanks for reading “When This Baby Hits 88 Miles Per Hour”!
If you’re in the New York area and are interested in taking a private lesson, please check out johndalto.com or find a time on my booking page. My studio is in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
** This chair setup feels terrific and has many purposes for teaching/exploring. More on this in the future!
*** How old am I? After the movie, I heard some 20 year old folks talking about how they thought the new Alien movie was fun and that they should check out the ones with Sigourney Weaver… HOW HAVE PEOPLE SEEN THESE MOVIES OUT OF ORDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
little known fact - that custom chair is powered by a flux capacitor