As I walk to Alexander Technique teacher training now in this November, a soupçon of melancholy hovers around me, as I am thinking about what has transpired in my second city. Paris. Last time I was there was in January. All this awful stuff happening…in France and in our world. Of course the current situation brings me back to 9/11. And it brings me back to times when I’ve been in Paris and terrorist attacks have occurred. Alas…there is a list on Wikipedia…
But the fall foliage I see for sale on West 28th Street makes me smile…the lovely sights and smells. I must say that walking down that street to training is an aesthetic treat. Very healing and uplifting…
As for what’s happening for me in training, among other things, well, it’s about “re-learning” how to walk.
I had a seminal training class recently. It started right before class with an quick observation by Ann Rodiger, my trainer. She corrected the position of my hips. And bang, all of a sudden, I understood kinesthetically my faulty habit of jutting out my hips, thereby making my head to jut out too. Finally I could feel the difference and make the correction. This after two years of previous training…wow. I was blown away! I went to the mirror to look. I kept moving from my old, faulty habit to the new, more correct position on purpose to see what I had been doing. What a change! And then we had a floor class and I managed to lengthen my spine so much that I got all teary…happy teary. Quite an emotional release for me…on all fronts.
So now when I walk I am trying to hold my hips back in the better position. It’s a start. I think about the crease above my hips, and how my hips and knees should move. I think about that my heels should hit the ground first before my toes do.That I should take smaller steps (especially if I am wearing heels omg)… I think about the top of my head going up, lengthening and widening at the very top of my spine.
I think about walking around my beloved Paris…hopefully sooner than later. Meanwhile, I’ll walk around my beloved NYC…with better use of self!
Practicing walking with good use, chez moi…
Leave a Reply