Gravity

Martina Maloney

Gravity is a concept I bring up regularly in my Alexander Technique practice. One question I ask beginner students is, ‘What force on Planet Earth holds you upright?’. I tend to get blank faces at first, and then I reply, ‘Gravity’.

The student may look perplexed, but gradually it starts to make sense.

I ask them to visualise astronauts heading off into space in a rocket. They imagine them floating in the rocket’s cabin, with objects drifting weightlessly around them.

Most of us work against gravity, and that is the problem. We try to hold ourselves up in the world, and in doing so, we create unnecessary tension throughout the whole mechanical system.

Our skeletal structure naturally connects us to the Earth’s gravitational pull. When we begin to trust and connect with that support, the body’s natural reflexes can kick in, bringing us back to an upright position.

I have seen students transform quickly simply by allowing themselves to relax and release more fully into the ground beneath them.

In standing, the ground is the floor; in sitting, there are two grounds: the base of the chair supports the upper body through the pelvis, while the floor supports the lower body through the feet.

Students begin to feel more upright, and the good news is that they haven’t strained their muscles or bones in the process.

You would never ask a toddler to stand up straight; it simply happens innately. A child’s movement is effortless and precise, much like that of a young animal.

Sadly, however, we ask children to adopt a lifestyle that does not support their bodies, and poor habits gradually build up over the years.

By the time many children reach adolescence, they have already learned to slump most of their day. That, of course, is another lesson entirely.

In brief, our bodies dislike remaining static for long periods.

We go to school, college, work, and spend hours sitting, which invariably takes its toll.

Most chairs are not designed to allow gravity to work in our favour. They often tilt slightly backwards, taking us off the base of the pelvis – the sitting bones or rocking bones. Instead, we collapse on to the coccyx, creating excessive tension in the middle back.

The slump continues, and then we try to pull ourselves upright, using muscular effort to compensate. Muscles end up doing more work than they were designed to do, and we go against our natural balance and reflex support.

So, if I can offer you anything today, it is this: allow yourself to align with the wonderful force of gravity during your day. I am not asking you to do more work; rather, it is a process of remembering and allowing. Our habits can get in the way, and they are often deeply ingrained, so patience is important.

Trust is the key. You might quietly remind yourself during your day, ‘I am being held upright’. You can allow yourself to let go a little more and release into the ground beneath. You might imagine roots extending from the soles of your feet deep into the ground, or simply begin by relaxing your shoulders – one of the main places we hold tension.

Often, you can feel that release almost instantly.

And finally, laugh at yourself – your wonderful self, with all its faults and failures.

FM Alexander, the founder of the technique, used to say, ‘Smile at the wrong, and the right comes along anyway.’

Underneath it all, we are already perfectly designed.

Inklings Writing Group meet on Tuesdays 11am and Wednesdays at 7.30pm in the Annebrook House Hotel. Visitors are welcome.