How do we become aware? With practice, we cultivate waking up. We’re more able to recognize the moment that we start being swept away by our thoughts.
You may be deep in thought, deep in rumination. You may be anxious, thinking about something that may or may not happen in the future. You may be comparing or judging. Then, all of a sudden, you notice that one or both shoulders are raised. You may notice some neck discomfort. That bodily awareness can trigger awareness of your mind and your thoughts. Anxiety will have no choice, but to slightly abate.
What is the spark that triggers waking up? Why does it happen when it happens? What triggers awareness? Sometimes a simple movement can break us out of our spell. Sometimes it’s a sight or a sound that wakes us up. We can then shift our attention more towards the body side of the mind/body continuum, returning to the prsent moment. Now we have more intentionality.
F.M. Alexander famously said, when talking about his directions, “All together, one after the other”. Since there are countless directions, the “all together” part is crucial. If you think about ALL the directions before you stand up to make a sandwich, you’ll go hungry.
As part of “all together”, let’s include our habits of thought along with more physical aspects of the directions. Let go of gripping what we want, and pushing away what we don’t want. Preferences and goals are fine, but obsessive behavior benefits no one.
As you let go of gripping obsessive thoughts, let go of gripping in your neck and jaw. Let go of the muscles in the corners of your eyes and your mouth. Use your senses to return to the present moment and notice as those unhelpful thoughts begin to fade.
“Either way” is sometimes an uplifting response.
May 2026
Becoming aware doesn’t necessarily happen like you’re turning on a light switch. To some degree we’re always aware, but sometimes it magically widens. We weren’t doing anything wrong before the widening.
Once you become aware, the stopping has started. Now you can direct yourself with a little Alexander.
The free your neck wars. Ask 5 Alexander Technique teachers about “Free your neck” and you’ll get 6 opinions. But either way: When you free your neck, or whatever words you choose, you stop fixating. Letting go of that unnecessary tension widens your perception. Your awareness opens to more objects—all at the same time, enabling you take in multiple sights, sounds, and sensations simultaneously.
Use the Alexander Technique as you pick up that fallen grape, stand up, and walk to the kitchen. You’re in better shape than before the grape.
Are your shoulder raised up, even slightly? Change the way you wear your shoulders and you change the way you wear your world.
This is a draft for a substack; a work in progress. It might have 8 articles, based on:
Here’s a few articles:
1. Free your neck to let your head rotate forward and move up
“You want my head more forward? If it was any more forward it would be in a different time zone.
And what’s this ‘neck free’ business? How do I do that?”
You free your neck muscles by releasing them – letting them go. Tighten your fist and then loosen it up. You just freed your finger, hand, and forearm muscles – without knowing how. You’re releasing muscles; whatever the name.
Of course you don’t tighten your neck on purpose, but if you’re like me your neck is tighter than it needs to be.
When muscles are working they are shortening.
When the muscles in the back of your neck are tense and shortened, they rotate your head backwards pressing your head down on your spine.
Release those “back and down muscles” and add the intention that your head rotates forwards and moves up. Notice that your nose slightly lowers while the crown of your head rises.
Here there will be a short video showing back and down to forward and up.
Keep in mind that your head is rotating forward and moving up, only because you’re letting go of the muscles that tend to bring it down. And you’re adding that “ up” intention.
Free up your neck, ungrip your jaw and let your head move up – any time you think of it.
Your neck is on vacation, but you’re thinking’s working overtime.
‘Cause there’s never a wrong place or a wrong time to free your neck and let your head up.
We’ll next deal with deal with: “What the hell should I do with my shoulders?”
2. “What the hell should I do with my shoulders?”
Nothing. Just let them rest.
And where do they rest?
Lightly, on the ribcage.
When we slump forward and downward our shoulders follow.
Should I pull them back?
How about this instead:
Start by releasing any tension you feel in the back of your neck.
With practice, your head eases upward just by adding that intention.
When your head releases upward your spine, rib cage and torso naturally expand upward and outward without effort.
Finally, your shoulders are poised on a ribcage that is no longer collapsed.
They’re sitting further back and wider,
without moving them directly.
3. See level
Straight ahead or down is mostly where we look.
Our phone, our soup, the sidewalk with the dog poop – everything and the kitchen sink is at or below see level.
Thankfully, most of the weight of the head is in front of the spine so it’s easy to rotate our head forward.
When you rotate your head forward, your nose lowers, but the crown of your head doesn’t. It’s a way to look down without collapsing
We occasionally need to rotate our head backwards to look up at the sky, clouds, ceilings, stars, and birds. Our head rotates backward to get the first bite of pizza or the last drop of water.
But…
most of the time when we’re walking around,
we’re either looking straight ahead or else we’re looking down.
We watch where we’re walking,
which works out fine,
cause most of our head’s weight’s in front of our spine.
Let’s meet at that head-neck joint
If you’re not driving a taxi or bowling, put your index fingers in your ears and imagine a rod connecting them. You’re pointing towards your head-neck joints (atlanto-occipital joints). These joints are a natural hinging place from which to rotate your head forward to look down, and backward to look up.
When you use these handy joints you can look down without collapsing down, and you could look up without collapsing down.
Got books?
To cut the angle When reading you could prop up your phone, book, or tablet on a table.
No table?
Bags, briefcases, and backpacks make great book, phone, and tablet holders on planes, trains, and automobiles