Consider the source: Is your body a trickster?
Last summer in a parking lot next to the lake where I had just been inexpertly paddle boarding, there was an adult, maybe 45 years old, learning to ride a bicycle for the first time.
Even though his danger level was very low, the warning siren going off in his head was practically audible.
Learning to ride a bike as an adult. What an accomplishment!
It took all of my good manners to not stop and watch his entire journey.
I could immediately relate to this cyclist's shaky sense of learning something new.
It made me think – how much should we listen to our bodies when they so often trick us?
One of the enduring concepts in the Alexander Technique universe is that of “faulty sensory appreciation.” This is the idea that our interpretation of the input from our senses can be unreliable.
Controversial, right?!
What information do we have to go on if not what comes in through our senses? That’s all the information we get!
One of the skills that Integrative Alexander Technique (IAT) provides is learning to fact-check the first response from your perception.
Like, if you’ve ever been in an earthquake, you might for a moment have thought you were woozy before you realized the earth was actually moving. That’s the kind of fact-checking I’m talking about. Using a back-up to see if the first feeling was accurate.
Here’s why the first batch of information might be unreliable:
Our nervous systems function efficiently by creating processing shortcuts -- habits, neural pathways, attentional filters -- and these shortcuts are how we manage to function among the amount of information we process daily.
These shortcuts work really, really well. We couldn't function without them.
Think about the last time you shampooed your hair. Can’t remember the details? Good! You’ve had enough shampoo practice. This is not information you need to monitor in minute detail.
But if you are trying to make a change in some aspect of your life – even something as regular as how you walk or talk – your nervous system may sound the alarm. Maybe it’s a delightful wind-chime of an alarm! Or maybe it’s a honking claxon.
Sometimes a small change can seem a lot bigger than it is.
For example, if one of my client’s usual way of standing includes a lot of leaning back, and they experiment with being more forward, it can feel reeeaaaally far forward, even if the actual change in geometry is quite small.
Their nervous system didn't previously need to waste resources reporting on the “usual” version. The new version can set off outsized alarms.
The usual way feels right. The new way can feel wrong.
The bias towards what’s usual can trick us into avoiding change, even if we have willfully engaged in a change process.
To be integrated, we have to both trust our feelings and recognize the ways in which our processing systems affect the act of feeling itself.
So, in summary… Yes, listen to your body!
Do it! Investigate! Explore! Experiment! Feel it!
And for increased awareness and personal growth, you might want to develop ways to fact-check your first responses.
How to use these ideas in your life
If you are looking to do something new or make a change, here are two ways to ease the way to change.
Safety first. If alarm bells are going off, address safety first. Is there actual immediate danger or just the perception of danger that “new” can bring? Sometimes a simple look around the room, or giving yourself a gentle hug, can help calm your system.
Ask a new question. When you find yourself asking “what do I feel”, try asking “what do I notice”? This may bring in new information from yourself and from the environment.
Would you like to learn to tune in to what your body is telling you AND learn ways to verify that information? Consider classes or private coaching in Integrative Alexander Technique. Reach out to me here and let’s talk about it!
Notes:
“One of the most remarkable of man's characteristics is his capacity for becoming used to conditions of almost any kind, whether good or bad, both in the self and in the environment, and once he has become used to such conditions they seem to him both right and natural. This capacity is a boon when it enables him to adapt himself to conditions which are desirable, but it may prove a great danger when the conditions are undesirable. When his sensory appreciation is untrustworthy, it is possible for him to become so familiar with seriously harmful conditions of misuse of himself that these malconditions will feel right and comfortable.” ― F. Matthias Alexander, The Use of the Self
For those of you who’d like to geek out on sensation vs. perception, here’s an informative post from Alexander Technique Science: https://alexandertechniquescience.com/general/terminology/debauched-kinesthesia/
And here’s another article that dives into interoception, that is, the feelings within our bodies. (Paywall warning.) https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/the-paradox-of-listening-to-our-bodiesThe Paradox of Listening to Our Bodies | The New Yorker
