Hello friends,

Lately, I am reading a new book: Forgive for Good, by Dr. Fred Luskin, and enjoying it very much.

It’s all about forgiveness, and that necessarily includes looking at grievances that we can learn to forgive.

Dr. Luskin talks about how much mindspace we give to grievances in our lives. He uses the example of a flight controller’s screen that shows planes flying around as dark spots on the screen. They are an analogy for the dark feelings we get when we harbor grievances. Dr. Luskin goes on to say that dwelling on wrongs that have been done to us is like making those planes stay in the air forever, circling round and round. They are a corollary to how much mindspace we give our grievances. He suggests letting the planes land…

I tried it and what I noticed when my planes of dark feelings landed, is that what I was left looking at was the sky. Clear, blue sky (and my imagination added just a few, small puffy white clouds.) The sky was wide open and all things were possible. I felt sunny inside.

Reading this book is causing an attitudinal shift in me. It is making me wake up and look for the sky instead of the dark planes in my life. I’m learning to let the planes settle and focus on the sky.

I started thinking about applying the principle of dark planes to pain. Pain is like dark planes that become the focus of our attention, to the exclusion of the sky. Often times when various places hurt, we ignore everything else and our entire awareness may become focused on pain.

I think that this is one of the ways Alexander Technique helps with pain. In the practice, we stop focusing on the dark planes that are our aches and pains and let ourselves notice the whole and flow with it. So, my friends, let your mind wander a bit. Let it wander up and down your back and out your shoulders, and on to the world beyond. Try a lesson if you’re curious; it is easier to learn this skill with a teacher.