We all want to tighten and stiffen.  Tensing our muscles makes them stronger, ready for action. It's a sign of life.  When babies learn how to hold a toy with their fingers Ã?¢?? they won't let go of it.  Tightening the fingers is learned first.  Letting go of them is learned only later on.  But for how long can we keep the tension?  How much unnecessary energy do we spend on it?  How tired our body becomes from too much of it?  Especially when having health issues, which require going through time- consuming medical tests, strange procedures, and long medical treatments?   As P. D. Alcantara explains in his book, "Indirect Procedure," the tension itself is not a problem, the problem is the strain, the over-tension, in the wrong places, in the wrong amount, for the wrong length of time.  Here is a little experiment you can do:  Tighten your arm, and at the same time try to bend it.  Now let go, and bend it again.  Notice that the bending on the second time was much more easier then on the first time.  In the first time the tension prevented your elbow from doing it's job, and so the bending action was forced on a compressed joint.  F. M. Alexander called such a movement "misuse." Over- tension is one example of misusing ourselves.  Letting go does not necessarily mean giving up.  We don't want to give up on fighting for our health.  What we want to learn is how to get rid of any unnecessary stress, including unnecessary thoughts causing stress.  With the Alexander Technique we learn how to observe and coordinate ourselves in such a way that there will be no need for extra tightening.  We learn how to maintain a dynamic, balanced relationship between our body parts, especially the head, neck, and back. We learn how to undo our tension- habits as we go on through our daily life activities like walking, sitting, bending, and even resting and relaxing.  On Thurs. Nov. 17 - Shula Sendowski will give a workshop on Tension-Patterns for people with cancer in the Wellness Community Center of Westlake Village, 530 Hampshire Rd. CA 91361, at 6:00 pm.  For information call:  (805) 379-4777  The class is free of charge.

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