by Cate McNider (originally posted at Medium on March 12, 2019)
We live in times of turmoil: the need for awareness about how humanity treats humanity in the natural world is greater than ever.
Finishing up with a student the other day, chatting in the hallway, we talked about how the world is in the Age of Aquarius, having left the Age of Pisces. It’s the the Age of ‘Breakdown of Order’. We are in a healing crisis — we can either transform to more enlightened societies or default into tyranny. I’m working towards the former!
What does this have to do with practicing the Alexander Technique? A lot, actually. As we work to let go of our habits, becoming more aware of the next one underlying the last one, it allows our tenuous tower of cards to break down. This may seem scary — especially if you depend on your unconscious habits to wake up in the morning, accomplish everything due that day, then collapse at night, without one conscious moment to yourself. Then, yes, it’s very scary — and therefore even more necessary.
FM Alexander acknowledged that it’s truly challenging to let go of the mental and physical habits that got us to where we are today. That’s why it takes time in this process to really get a grasp and develop the skills and understanding. It’s a dedication my students understand and value, which is why they return each week and are delighted at the changes happening inside them.
We can use this energy to allow ourselves to become more aware of what we’re doing, and the consequences of our thoughts and actions. It’s going with the flow — into a collective awakening, and we don’t yet know what that will look like in the next 20 or 30 years. But if we take the time individually to revisit what we think we know, and trust that we are bigger than our habits, then a new understanding will indeed be realized.
It’s hard to do this alone. I’m qualified as a certified Alexander Technique teacher, and I also have the personal experience of transformation. I couldn’t be writing any of this without the determination 44 years ago to heal and straighten my scoliotic spine, and the underlying trauma. I’m also fortunate to have acquired learning from many different healers and teachers. I became certified in other modalities that brought me to using the sum of my experience through the Alexander Technique today.
I can’t imagine the pain I would be in now, if I hadn’t taken matters into own hands. I hope you do the same, your way. Transform yourself with awareness, mindfulness and allowing. Contact me, and we’ll do it together. We’ll get through these turbulent times and come out with richer experiences — a true security and understanding of ourselves.
Cate McNider, President of The Listening Body® has spent three decades in the Healing Arts — spanning Massage Therapy, Reiki, Embodied Anatomy, Yoga, Body-Mind Centering®, Contact Improvisation, Deep Memory Process® and more — and has further sensitized her instrument through the process of Alexander Technique. Her AT training represents the culmination of a lifetime of work and study and a springboard for future creations. She is also a painter and published poet working on her second collection. Email Cate, subscribe to her blog at www.bodymind.training and follow her on IG and FB: @thelisteningbody