New Year, Complicated You
Trying to write about anything related to the human body seems especially fraught at the beginning of the year. We are all supposed to be re-inventing ourselves; more gym, less alcohol, better choices, new planner, improving yourself with a retreat or workshop. I thought I would write a bit about how I de-invented myself, instead.
I’ll keep the story short. My father passed away unexpectedly in November 2019 and I became the primary caregiver/care overseer for my mother. COVID-19 hit Oklahoma in March 2020 and my mother went from assisted living to long-term care in June 2020. Navigating health care for another person during lockdown was overwhelming; we could visit her in person but only outside, masked, and six feet apart, and I could not accompany her to her medical appointments. She passed away in February 2021, before the vaccine was widely available. I finished my spring semester 2021 remote-learning class piano class in May 2021 and informed the college that I would not be back in the fall. After almost 25 years as a piano teacher and 10+ years as a caregiver with increasing responsibilities over that time, I wasn’t sure who I was but I knew I wanted to try something different.
Resilience is a wonderful thing but it is HARD sometimes. This was in front of my parents’ old house, taken after another round of cleaning and sorting their things.
Despite the stress, worry, and frustration of lockdown, there were some things I really missed - sitting on the porch watching birds, going for walks and hikes, and an occasional sense that people were more willing to give each other some grace and a little extra time. I have been teaching Alexander Technique since 2001 but it has always been scheduled around my piano teaching, and I wanted to focus on it more because I felt that AT would bring some of those qualities of having extra time and space to our post-lockdown world. Hands-on experiences and working with touch also seemed to be important after COVID isolation and living online for so long. I found a studio to rent in the fall of 2021 and have been working to keep that practice going safely, including masking and communicating about what students needed to feel comfortable. I always feel better after teaching and I wanted to make that experience available for others to slow down and find space for themselves.
This mother robin made a next a few feet from our porch and we watched the babies grow up over a couple of months in the spring of 2020.
So, this is my modest contribution to the “wellness wave” that hits us all at the beginning of each calendar year. Your body is your body, living and moving can be easier and freer if you want it to be, extra time and space is available both mentally and physically, and Alexander Technique will meet you where you are right at this moment. I hope you will give it a try.
