Hello friends,

Remember, I promised to tell you how I might apply this thinking in the body to real life? I will tell you about my experience with the dentist….and undoing tension in my neck.

A year or two ago, I had to have a root canal and was literally getting uptight and tight-necked about it. I decided to try and apply the Alexander Technique to my thoughts about the dentist.

I started by doing the same thing I ask all my students to do: “First, we stop.” Just Stop – Pause – and notice where I am and what’s going on with me.

Then I began undoing the tension in my neck. You can do it along with me….we can do it, step-by-step.

Want to try? We’ll start with something simple and expand to the neck.

Make a fist. Go ahead, make a good fist and tighten it up, hard.

Next, leave your fingers all curled up, but stop tightening.

All you did was think, and there was a response in your body. Tightening your neck is like making a fist out of your neck.

Now, Stop. Just think, not to tighten your neck. What do you notice?

I continued with the Alexander Technique, undoing the tension in my neck.

And then something happened. Along with stopping the tension in my neck, I noticed that my thoughts about the dental work also loosened up their hold. I was not tightening my thinking, if you will, not clamping down on those thoughts and holding on for dear life. In letting go of my neck, I also let go of my uptight thoughts.

The root canal went very well. By the time it was over, I was relaxed and ready to have a good day. I would NOT have believed this was possible had you sworn it on a stack of Bibles. It had to be experienced to be believed.

Would you like to try the Alexander Technique? Find a teacher near you at The American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT). Or if you’re in the Bay Area, contact me at dbenyehuda(at)comcast(dot)com.