Happiness

Everyone knows the saying: ‘it’s the little things that bring happiness’.

Since becoming an Alexander Technique teacher, I have come to grasp the truth of this better than ever before. I used to think that happiness came from ‘doing as many enjoyable things as possible, working as hard as possible and achieving as much as possible’. Everyday activities (washing-up, doing the shopping) were things that I rushed through as quickly as possible, because they got in the way of all the things that I considered far more important and much preferred doing. Nowadays working hard still makes me happy, but I also experience much happiness when doing everyday activities. Does that sound boring? Well it isn’t at all!

Alexander Technique is something you put into practice while doing everyday things: queuing in the supermarket, washing the dishes, running, playing the violin. It feels wonderful to think about it again and again: I feel how my body moves in a well-coordinated way, as if it had been oiled. I feel supple, light and free; as if I am effortlessly riding my bike with the wind behind me. I notice once again how I breathe more deeply, how I become aware of my sitting bones on my bike saddle while I watch a glorious sunset. Every time I think again: how fantastic! Often I discover something new about myself and the way I move. So every time I experience a small moment of happiness.

I still get much enjoyment from visiting a restaurant with friends or successfully managing to complete two projects at the same time. But happiness is also within easy reach as I sit in the car on the way to the restaurant and carry out trivial everyday tasks: every day afresh, the whole day long!