that's great! Yes, sometimes being able to put a physical activity into clear words helps our body to carry out the invitation...and having specific places for our brain to address is important in making movement effectively.

Hi Susan! So glad the way I communicate about this somewhat elusive state of being makes sense you you! This kind of confirmation is meaningful and much appreciated :-)

That's wonderful to hear A. Lee! I can see how the mobilignment points would come in handy when you are playing! All best, Clare

Thanks for letting me know! You never know how videos are landing, it's like sending a letter in a bottle on the ocean :-)

So glad it was helpful Marcos! Yes, counter-balancing the weight of objects with our own body weight makes life so much easier and relieves so much unnecessary strain. When I look at the efforts that people are often making to take care of their posture, what I often see is trying to "hold" or prevent our center of weight from shifting wherever it needs to. Good luck!

Hi Beatrice, thanks for stopping by on my channel and I'm so glad this makes sense to you. I hope that the AT work can be made more accessible to all through the Mobile Body Alignment points framework, and this channel. Keep coming back for more - I post a video every couple of weeks.

Well thank you Cate! It might surprise you, but when I've had new students who come to work with me that had lessons before, regardless of wether they got something out of those previous lessons - I always find that I can tell they had them, and that those sometimes confusing lessons laid the groundwork for the understanding that emerges in my studio. Now I see that can happen even with a video!! M

PS - would you you be amenable to me putting this lovely little review on my website near the link to my youtube channel ? Would be happy to include a link to your voice studio :-)

I'm glad it's helpful Patrick! I teach online if you would like to connect in person :-)

I'm very glad you found it helpful number nine!

That's wonderful. Yes, ease in the body often has something to do with orientation in space, which is effortless. THat's my gospel!

Thank you Marguerite! This way of paying attention to yourself is designed to be easy to use in activity - that's the idea! you should be able to stay free, poised, and mobile while doing things you need to do.

Yes indeed! That point is a place that needs to move when your head articlates on your spine, either tipping forward or back. We often create compressive movement lower down the spinal column, but allowing the skull to move can relieve undue pressure on the neck and shoulder. That point makes it super simple to identify the movement and explore it. Have fun!

@@EmbodiedLearningSystems And being able to identify it, makes orientation easier! The spot feels a little bit sore because the muscles got disturbed and I enjoy being spot on within moments.

Being called Mestre is a first - obrigado amigo!

Thank you so much Robb that means alot! I've made many mistakes in my own presentation of the work and have learned alot from them :-)

It IS amazing isn't it, that a little clarity about the design of your body can relieve so much stress and strain??? :-)

@@EmbodiedLearningSystems I have congenital hip instability. Whole life has been trying to adapt to the pain in some way. For a year during my personal rehab I have been intuiting everything you have laid out consisely here. What a pleasure and thank you!

@@Bowruss The principles I'm employing here are basic to developmental movement. If you look at children moving, they always employ the weight of their hips to support their movement, thus activating all the big muscle of the torso. I imagine that would really help with femur/hips that get polled out of place easily. I've worked my way through hip pain as well as a dancer - wishing you more success on your journey!

@@EmbodiedLearningSystems the analogy of the child using their hips shall serve me well as I go forward as a non child! Funny what we forget or unlearn....thanks from a grateful new subbie!

Adrian, I have pain in my neck, and ciatic (I learned about this connection really recently) and I realised that my breathing pattern isn't very good... I have this feeling that the pain I feel is connected to my breathing patterns because when in meditation - as I get a good quality of profound breathing - the pain, anxiety and stiffness go away... Thanks for mentioning about the diaphragmatic breathing! =)

@@luana6564 ​ get to feel your left sit bone when sitting on a chair , exhale, let your left hand hang by, drag the left foot in while externally rotate the right leg and then try to hold it there for good couple of inhalations/exhalations.( inhale for two exhale on third )... look more towards your left feeling the left teeth too... youll get rid of it at some point if you keep doing it ... cause it reshapes the diapragmatic muscles... and then youll see how your neck muscles relax... use them only when you look around ( for danger ).. get more to the left ... and then rotate to the right ... feel more left heel( above the heel, ankle like ) , right medial arch .. .that right glute max will kick in at some point ... ;) as those left ribs will start getting internally rotated ... you need more air in the left mid back and right chest wall.. its because youre loosing ability to shift wheight from foot to foot when walking ... you need basically more left abs, more right glute max ... that's why you actually see usually people with a more left side of face being more proeminent ... :)

Well, it's easier said than done. If you are accurately perceiving that total body habit pattern, then chances are you can "stop doing it." But you might need the skilled help of an Alexander Technique teacher to do it! You can't change a total body pattern by trying to "fix tension" in one place. your whole body will need to adjust it's balance, and that affects every part. Maybe you can find an AT teacher in your area? I do work online! You can book a free 15 minute consult at calendly.com/clare-mobilignment/15min-free-consult

So glad this is helpful Eileen! Neck exercises are well meaning - the only problem is that by narrowing your focus to the "problem area" you can also narrow your own mobility and strain or compress that part by isolating it. the Alexander work looks at the unity of the body and how each part affects all the other parts for optimum strength, support, and functional mobility. And yes - I was for many years a student of Hula, and in order to understand the language, songs, and dances we all learned how to play 'ukelele! It is a wonderful, heart expanding instrument and became a super fun part of my life outside of Hula as well.

Patricia, these skeletons are no longer being made. They were created and sold by Johns Hopkins University, and you can still find them on Ebay or in antique shops! I just saw one a few weeks ago for $150. If you got that price, you would be very lucky.

They don't make these any more :-(

When people think, or are told, that they have a "weak neck" I am always curious - my suspicion is that it is not just your neck but your whole postural system, which is what the Alexander Technique addresses. Unfortunately, "neck exercises" that try to focus in on only the muscle of the neck can do more harm than good (in my 21 years of teaching, based on observation. I've got no studied to back that up!). I would recommend (of course, since I'm biased) a course of Alexander lessons to get a bigger picture of how your postural support system works. It involves many different parts of you, not just your neck.

Right? It's a key fact of life that the pelvis needs to move for us to balance! yet so many different modalities train us to hold it in place in different ways, which causes alot of damage elsewhere, not to mention balance issues which can even turn into anxiety if they are long term.

@@EmbodiedLearningSystems You are so smart, also you come across as an amazing human being!