All of you is at the party
Have you ever heard someone say something like, “I’m too much in my head” or “I need to get back in my body?”
Statements like these make me want to jump up and down, wave my hands, and say, “Hey, you’re always in mind and body, together, at the same time!”
Smarty-pants humans that we are, we can conceive of mind and body as separate, but they’re inextricable. We are whole. Even when there are interruptions (ex: confusion or stress) to our experience of that whole, the whole exists.
This may seem obvious to a contemporary reader. A stressful thought is likely to produce a stressful feeling. And, thank goodness, a happy thought will produce a happy feeling.
The physical, mental, and social aspects of yourself are always at the party. It's a lot easier, and more fun, when they get along.
The trick is how to put this connection to work for good in your life.
Now, we do have terrific mechanisms that intentionally create a sense of separation to put a buffer around a traumatic event. These mechanisms allow us the time to process big, bad information over time instead of all at once.
Again, we are whole, even when there are interruptions to that whole.
Integrative Alexander Technique is an approach that champions, even leverages, this wholeness.
It’s how we’re designed, and it works.
Whole-self is a useful reality.
A little backstory:
F.M. Alexander (1869 - 1955) used the term “psycho-physical” to describe the cause and effect between thought and physical function, a conceptual bridge to what I’m calling whole-self. Other terms, such as “mind-body” or the more inclusive “bio-psycho-social” come close to representing the whole.
Most of these naming attempts are words strung together like beads on a necklace. They are good approximations, but calling out the individual aspects may cause a conceptual separation, which, since we are whole, also causes an interruption.
Pondering the naming of this unity is a worthwhile effort. It feels right that this is a tricky naming problem.
Language is a narrow passage through which to squeeze human experience.
Here’s what all of these terms aim to describe:
The physical, mental, and social aspects of ourselves are always at the party. It's a lot easier, and more fun, when they get along.
How is “whole-self” helpful in daily living?
Some of the rewards of living life in this whole-self way are:
Reactions to the people and world around you become more manageable.
Energy previously spent managing all the parts is now available for other things.
Ideas flow more freely.
A person unburdened by self-imposed restriction is now free to do as she pleases.
Here are two quick experiments:
1) Next time you are “too much in your head” get up and move around and then come back to your thinking. What do you notice? Are there changes?
2) Next time you feel not “in” your body, name out loud what you are doing in that moment and include the active body parts, ex: My fingers are moving to type this blog post. What do you notice? Are there changes?
Would you like to learn more about how using Integrative Alexander Technique will connect the dots between your thoughts and actions?
Let’s talk about it. You’re invited to schedule a complimentary call today.
