Compassion, the Way to Healing
In order to live fully we may
need to look deeply and respectfully at our own suffering and the suffering of
others. In the depth of wounds we have survived is the strength we need to
live. The wisdom our wounds can offer us is a place of refuge. Finding this is
not for the faint of heart. But then, neither is life. [1]
Rachel Naomi Remen
My journey to a greater sense of wellbeing was made possible by
compassion. In my search for a way to
understand and find a solution to my physical and emotional pain (read here for more about my journey), I learnt that the first step was to begin to meet myself in a
more compassionate way. Through mindfulness meditation and the Alexander
Technique I learnt to see my habitual responses to life and over time develop a
more compassionate response which allowed me to move towards healing.
I was shown the way by one person in particular, a Feldenkrais
practitioner, who met me at the depths of my pain, some years ago. She listened
to my suffering and responded with a deep respect for my experience. I
expressed a need to be treated gently, which she acknowledged and understood. This
set the framework for our work together over a period of months. I was deeply
moved by the respectful and quiet way in which she heard and supported me. This
proved a turning point in my journey and became a foundation for the way I now
work with other people.
Pain, injury and trauma (whether large or small) take a toll on our
bodies and minds. In response to injury and trauma we can lose our sense of
balanced and dynamic support through our emotional, skeletal and muscular
systems. We may lose the ability we had as young children to connect accurately
with the ground and begin to compensate by recruiting excess muscular tension
in parts of the body which are not designed for the task of movement. We begin,
sometimes from an early age, to lose our connection to our sense of wellbeing.
The Alexander Technique offers a unique response to pain and suffering.
Whilst at one level it is about movement, about re-educating our postural
patterns for greater ease and wellbeing, at a much deeper level it provide us
with insights into how we respond to the world and our environment. It reveals a
way to see how this is expressed through the stories we tell about ourselves, the
beliefs and attitudes we hold, and our emotional and postural habits. All this
is learnt early in life and our attachment to the stories of who we are can
bind us to our suffering and pain or lead us to a deeper understanding and
acceptance of ourselves. It is only from this place that healing may begin.
The Alexander Technique provides us with the tools to develop compassion
for ourselves. It develops our ability to attend to how we do what we do from a
place of non-judgmental awareness. We learn to understand our muscular and
emotional compensations and to release that which is unnecessary to meet the
task we are engaged with. We learn to live life from an easier and more
grounded place.
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