first things first

Another Centered Riding Clinic has given me new inspiration, insight and food for thought. Jami Wallace, our instructor and Mary Ann Rudolph, the clinic organizer, kindly allowed us to participate, even though we were only able to attend the Sunday portion of the two-day clinic held at idyllic Sunny Brook Farm in Newtown, Connecticut. Thank goodness for the sunshine and mild (for January) weather, which allowed us to ride in a beautiful outdoor ring.

In my Centered Riding Member’s book where clinics and related bodywork activities are recorded, the space provided for “what I learned” does encourage me to reflect…
I was struck by how much information we were attempting to process during each moment of our riding, which gave us many possibilities of where to place our attention, as we received a lot of wonderful individual instruction and correction from Jami and her assistant Laurie. We were reminded of many of the imagery tools as we rode in our small group of beginners. The Centered Riding method is very “principle-based,” yet many choices exist regarding how to best apply those principles.

The exercises and imagery are the “what” of the equation and lead inevitably back to the “how” –- how to get out of our own way so that the basic principles underlying the technique can function. Jami often reminds us to “allow” this or that to happen, as opposed to doing something – allow gravity to work, allow the back of your knee and calf to lengthen, allow the weight to sink down through your heel.

But, what allows me to allow? What is the hierarchy of useful tools, or images, or thoughts? How do I prioritize the many choices available to me in each moment? What choice helps to make sense of all the others? Experiences in applying Alexander’s principle over the years have shown me that I am best served by returning first and often to a simple thought process -- one that invokes the master reflex of body mechanics which he discovered. This he called “primary control” and when it functions it literally creates the “tone,” bringing the body into a state of equilibrium, releasing excess tension and opening up awareness in the process.

Many reinforcing experiences have shown me the value of making my first priority noticing the possibility of ease in the area where my head rests atop my spine. This is the key area where even a slight release of tension will reflexively redistribute the energy throughout our entire mechanism. Then other and various images can be overlayed to greater effect, and information about the body as a whole is received more accurately. When I work with people who are interested in learning to apply Alexander’s discovery to their activities, I encourage them to create a new habit for themselves – the habit of finding moments within their activities to first, “catch a glimpse” of ease in the head/neck area, and then to observe what happens to the ease as they continue their activity. This describes a process which is meant to be repeated. The quality of ease will ebb and flow, based on the quality of thinking applied.

According to feedback received from more experienced riders, these moments of noticing the ease seem be equivalent to the concept of the half-halt -- a momentary re-balancing of the rider which also re-balances the horse, and communicates a transition or impending change of activity. To me, this means that riding as an activity is inherently full of opportunities to apply Alexander's principle. The half-halt concept was completely mysterious to me until a discussion with a fine dressage rider helped make this connection.*

My own thoughts eventually circled back to an impressive book which talks about priorities in the sense of choices we make about how to use our time, “First Things First.” This book goes far beyond the usual time management systems and suggests getting in touch with deeply-held values and principles, linking those with goals, and learning to understand how the choices we make in each moment ultimately create our lives. From a chapter in the book called “Integrity in the Moment of Choice”:

“Quality of life depends on what happens in the space between stimulus and response.”

Wikipedia entry on First Things First

*The half-halt is a fascinating aspect of riding and will be explored in more entries as my understanding grows; an entry on the psoas muscle has been gestating for some time.

The photo above was taken when Mary Ann took us to visit four two-year-olds who are pastured together at Sunny Brook Farm. On the left is Rudy, son of the Appaloosa mare I rode in the clinic. These young horses displayed a very lively camaraderie, showing off their unaffected and naturally beautiful movement as they teased each other and played together.