This workshop will help you to reduce stress and anxiety and come to a quiet calm and peaceful place, known as the parasympathetic nervous system. Then in time and continued practice you will be better able to cope with stress when it arises.
When we are stressed we are in the sympathetic nervous system, the flight or flight mode or we maybe even in a freeze zone, numbing sensations because life is overwhelming, it is a coping mechanism. When this happens we shut down some aspect of ourselves. Our peripheral vision no longer exists as we focus narrowly with our eyes, the world closes in on us, our breath is shallow and in the upper chest, leading to dysfunctional breathing, often the lungs are not emptied sufficiently on the outbreath before the inbreath happens and there is little room for fresh air to enter the lungs, giving us a feeling of shortness of breath. When we are stressed we may find it hard to concentrate, mind wondering and zoning out or we may keep ourselves busy as a distraction to what is really going on and rarely stopping, if we remain in this state it becomes normal to us and it may also develop into chronic illness.
Alexander Technique will teach you, how to reduce stress and anxiety, working gently by bring focus to your mind and body, coming out of the head where the thoughts are spinning around and coming more into the body. Widening the peripheral vision and opening the depth perception which helps to become calmer and allows space to open up around us. Allowing the breath to soften and deepen into the body, slowing and extending the exhalation and inhalation. If we calm the breath the mind responds and if we calm the mind the breath responds and posture can improve as well.
We will look at posture and how it influences how we feel, poor posture can lead to stress and anxiety and even depression, poor posture can lead to dysfunctional breathing and poor digestion. We often hear someone saying that they feel pulled down by the strains of life or they have a big weight on their shoulders. By improving posture and bringing balance back into the muscles of the torso, we will relieve stress and the digestion system will improve. By improving posture we are also connecting in, with the breathing muscles especially the diaphragm, and this helps to improve breathing.
Life starts to become easier and more pleasant, you can move with ease, you can breathe freely, smell the air, you hear the sounds and see and connect to the world from a different place.