Non-Reactivity
When diving in to the subject of stress management I will claim that stress itself is not the problem. Stress is nothing to get rid of or learn to manage, because it doesn’t appear randomly out of nowhere. It has its good reasons to exist. Understanding the reasons of stress is more likely to guide us forward on this path.
Simply put: events in life demand us to respond, constantly and in any appropriate way possible. We would like to think that the response is our choice and we’re in control of our behaviour. Well, not always, and stress is a good example of it. Million little things are happening that affect our BodyMind condition in any moment of the day. Our quality of being is what determines our response. Do we choose to get stressed or are we feeling stress as a reaction to something that has happened? When triggered, something has already made us react before we’ve had time to choose a response. Behaviour then is shaped by that automatic reaction.
Stimulus ➜ Reaction
It’s also important to consider that the stimulus itself is not a problem. As we know experiencially, somebody being late to the meeting can make us angry when we’re in a hurry or, the same situation can bring us great relief when we desperately need another 10 minutes to get ready. Same stimulus, different reactions. Stimulus is not a problem.
To quote an American pastor and educator Chuck Swindoll: „Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” This attitude leaves little focus on the facts and puts an emphasis on reactions instead. Often all we need is a shift in the attitude.
Most people taking Alexander lessons express surprise when they realize that it’s possible to exercise more choice in our reactions. Being less reactive will help resolve issues of excessive muscular tension and overthinking or busy mind. In a less reactive state you have more space to choose an appropriate response to the situation.
In Practice
That’s how the practicality of AT comes in. In order to manage stress, it will offer you an actual experience of how not to react to a trigger. It goes way beyond the layers where you’re still able to choose. After a while there’s no need to learn to manage the stress as your whole organism has developed a capacity to prevent the reactions to stimuli in the first place. The outcome is a less reactive state of being, ability to respond more thoughtfully and appropriately, staying grounded in the situation.
So how do we start the process of reacting less? Unfortunately there’s no use of reading about it. The only way is to have an experience of reacting less under the skilled guidance of an Alexander Teacher. From there a lot can happen.
