Our wonderful dog, Mabel died this weekend, having reached the grand old age of 15. It was a long time in the coming, with various health issues accumulating over the last few years. But she was also a dog with nine lives and, previously, had always bounced back. Sadly, it was not to be this time. She is now resting peacefully in the garden under the rowan tree – one of her favourite places to wee!
I’ve been looking back at the many photos I took of her over the years – and thinking what an excellent Alexander dog she was!
Mabel knew what she wanted – you could say she always had clear intention. For example, she would often come and sit quietly next to you without making any fuss, but somehow leaving you in no doubt that you needed to stop what you were doing and give her your full attention. If what she wanted involved moving to get it, you could see her beautifully poised head leading (actually visibly the nose leads) and the rest of the body following, with a clear flow of energy and direction. You could say she was a well-directed dog.
She had a real presence that perhaps came from her strong sense of self and also her serenity. She was pretty good at living in the moment. Unlike humans, she didn’t feel the need to be constantly planning ahead or ruminating on the past. She seemed to live a pretty happy life. As humans, we are generally at our most content when we’re mindfully occupied with a simple task such as gardening, cooking, drawing – the particular activity will be different for each of us but the common thread is that we are engaged in something we enjoy that keeps our thinking in the present moment and involves the whole of us (not just our minds), and with an awareness of our surroundings.
As with most dogs, Mabel had outsourced her care, in the sense that she got us to make sure she was well fed and looked after. As humans we tend to do most of our own care but there is one aspect of self care in which we could learn a thing or two from dogs (not that they will be consciously aware that this is what they’re doing). FM Alexander realised that for all vertebrates, including humans, the head and spine constitute our central coordinating axis. When things are working well, as they tend to in dogs and other animals, there is a fluid, expansive dynamic relationship between the head and torso, with the limbs being of secondary importance (see photos, particularly the one of Mabel running). Whether running, standing, sitting still or lying down, this expansive state of being leads to poise and grace. Sadly, most of us humans begin to lose our natural grace at an early age, as we subconsciously adapt ourselves to our complex environments and lives. Our habitual ways of doing everything usually involve the arms and legs ‘taking over’, tending to compress, constrict and unbalance us, compromising the natural length and springiness of the spine. In this sense, we’re not caring for ourselves moment by moment and this can have negative effects on our long-term health and wellbeing (for example back or neck pain, joint issues and breathing difficulties).
Perhaps we can learn a lot from dogs – and from the Alexander Technique? It’s never too late to learn how to look after ourselves moment by moment in our daily lives.