Tag Archives: muscle tension

Fear Makes You Contract, Love Makes You Expand

When you’re afraid, you tighten up. The contraction will start in your neck and then spread to the rest of you. You compress, make yourself smaller, less of a target, and go into some version of the fight-or-flight reflex. When … Continue reading

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Should You Sit Up Straight?

I was talking to a group of psycho-therapists the other day. I said every emotion requires a particular alignment of the body. Lose that alignment and you’ll lose the emotion. For instance, when you take up your full space in … Continue reading

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Letting Go Of Resentment

I went to a meeting the other day, arriving five minutes early. On the door was a notice that the building was closed for maintenance for the next two days. The door was locked. I left. Arriving home, I sent … Continue reading

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When Our Beliefs Are Just Muscle Tension

I heard something hard to swallow from an Alexander Technique teacher — that all of our beliefs are just unnecessary muscle tension, and that when we let go of that unnecessary tension, we let go of our beliefs. I’ve always … Continue reading

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‘Constructive Awareness: Alexander Technique and the Spiritual Quest’

I picked up this book and I did not expect much. On the back cover, it reads: “Daniel McGowan has personally introduced more than 7,000 people in the U.S. and Europe to Alexander Technique since 1983.” That kind of talk … Continue reading

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