I spend a lot of time in my car. Living in Southern California I drive my fair share and I also sit and wait while in horrendous traffic. Yesterday while driving two plus hours from San Diego to Los Angeles, I decided to do a driving and Alexander Technique experiment to see if I could relieve some of the stiffness, stress, and tension that was starting to build up in me while driving. So if you also experience a little tension while behind the wheel on a long commute or just while sitting in bumper to bumper traffic, perhaps you can try this experiment with me.
1. Check in with yourself. I started checking in with myself by making some mental notes of what I was feeling in my body at that moment. Without changing, "adjusting", or correcting myself, I asked questions like "is my back contacting the car seat", "how hard is my grip of the steering wheel", "do I feel an equal amount of weight distribution on both butt cheeks", "am I straining forward with my head to see"?
2. Pinpoint one observation. An example from my experiment yesterday was that I noticed my hand grip was a little intense and decided to explore this observation further.
3. Give yourself an option to DO LESS. In my tight hand grip example, I asked myself what was another option that I could try in the moment. I decided to see if loosening my grip on the steering wheel was an option. Well lo and behold that as soon as I loosen my hand grip on the steering wheel, my whole arm felt more relaxed and I also felt a large rush of air so that I was breathing better. The loose grip, released arms, and easier breathing all made me more comfortable and relaxed on the rest of my long drive! On a side note, the last two benefits in the arms and breath came indirectly from the loosening of my hand grip. More on how the Alexander Technique brings about Indirect Benefits later.
Give these 3 steps a try and explore what it is that you do while you are driving. I'm interested in hearing about what you learn.
1. Check in with yourself. I started checking in with myself by making some mental notes of what I was feeling in my body at that moment. Without changing, "adjusting", or correcting myself, I asked questions like "is my back contacting the car seat", "how hard is my grip of the steering wheel", "do I feel an equal amount of weight distribution on both butt cheeks", "am I straining forward with my head to see"?
2. Pinpoint one observation. An example from my experiment yesterday was that I noticed my hand grip was a little intense and decided to explore this observation further.
3. Give yourself an option to DO LESS. In my tight hand grip example, I asked myself what was another option that I could try in the moment. I decided to see if loosening my grip on the steering wheel was an option. Well lo and behold that as soon as I loosen my hand grip on the steering wheel, my whole arm felt more relaxed and I also felt a large rush of air so that I was breathing better. The loose grip, released arms, and easier breathing all made me more comfortable and relaxed on the rest of my long drive! On a side note, the last two benefits in the arms and breath came indirectly from the loosening of my hand grip. More on how the Alexander Technique brings about Indirect Benefits later.
Give these 3 steps a try and explore what it is that you do while you are driving. I'm interested in hearing about what you learn.
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