As you get older, your systems start to fail. It's normal, but not nice.

My sister claims: After 40, something is lost every decade.

My score is 2 all. Are you scoring yet?

First decade, both my eyes popped out - retina detachments, new lenses, a lot of grief.

Second decade, I fell over and shattered my wrist - iron insert, operation, a lot of grief.

Now my leg is giving me grief! Is this the 3rd decade coming? NOT YET.

I wrote about my discoveries in "My Leg is in Pain, And I Have 3 Theories Why." and my research continues. Not the "why did this happen to me?!" because - embarrassingly - I already guessed that. (Read the blog, I'm not repeating it here)

Now I just want to know - "How to do I get back to "healthy"?

Use Alexander's discovery. Duh. But how? Here's how…

FIRST* - ANALYSE THE CONDITIONS OF USE PRESENT

My pain is intermittent. Some days worse than others, usually after extended walking, or extended sitting. What do legs need most as support while walking? And sitting? I started to play around with erector spinae.

SIDE BAR - On Erector Spinae

For those who don't know, erector spinae is actually 9 muscles.

The nine are organised into three groups along your spine. Their primary job is keeping your spine erect. It is the chief extensor of the spine for the technically minded, although they all do much more than that besides.

Quite complex.

And massively important.

SECOND - FIGURE OUT THE MEANS WHEREBY TO CHANGE CONDITIONS

In Alexander terms, erector spinae is widely discarded in its primary role.

I was in the Onsen (natural hot spa) at Kuruma yesterday, and EVERY MAN failed to fire up erector spinae as he sat by the side of the steaming pool.

And it made him ugly.

Honestly, I love looking at young, naked men, and yet to me they instantly became ugly the second they collapsed by the edge of the pool.

They were all in a typical slump - so why my big reaction?

In everyday life, we don't see people naked! It was revealed to me - the "ugliness" of a poorly activated erector spinae muscle. Normally, it is hidden. It's weird…

How come a "slumped" naked man is more ugly than a erect one?

(Calm down, I am talking about ERECTor spinae, the muscle)

But he is. Men - and woman - look beautiful when their back is in tone.

Everyone loves photos of African woman bending over with elongated backs. Is it programmed into us to be attracted to a person who has a functionally healthy neuromuscular system?

Biologically it makes sense to be attracted by a strong back. Fascinating.

THIRD - PUT YOUR REPLACEMENT PLAN INTO ACTION

OK, here I am walking down Teramachi Arcade in Kyoto with Grace - she madly shopping for her friends back in Australia - and my leg started to hurt. Again.

So - based on my earlier research - I fired up erector spinae and presto!!!

Like magic, my pain diminished significantly.

I was fascinated by this. I turned it off, then turned it on - experimenting. Of course, firing up the erector spinae called for a systemic change in head/spine/arm relationship in order to INDIRECTLY tone it up…

I am not being a physical therapist here, I am being a good Alexander boy scout.

This is educating (enlightening?) my Self, not giving my Self therapy.

When it's toned up and doing it's "erecting" thing (go on, laugh) my leg is fine.

As I roll around shopping with Grace I slowly lose interest, then the tone in my erector spinae starts to reflect my collapse of interest…

Then snap! My leg reminds me!! WAKE UP JERRY!!!

Don't you love pain? You should. It's what keeps you healthy.

My 40+ years of studying Alexander's discovery and its implications within the anatomy of movement got me to be able to experiment this way. It is how I am able to (1st) anatomically analyse the conditions of use present, (2nd) conceptualize a means to change it, then (3rd) bring about the reality of my concept in the use of my Self. BTW There's a ton of ancillary information that I have edited out of this simple discourse.

I wanted to be sure my trainees could think this way, and help others this way.

This is why I created my BodyThinking Online course, and it is why you would benefit by studying it your Self. We already have 18 people who have started the journey together.

AND, it is still going at a discounted rate for the people who register their interest.

But not for long…

BodyThinking Online

*For the Alexander devotees: I am parroting FM's three steps from Use of the Self "Evolution of a Technique" above. But you probably knew that.
Picture credit: Pixabay