Space. What does space have to do with guitar playing? Awareness of the space around me has been part of the Alexander Technique training that I have been exposed to for years. Yet my habit wants to take me inward. Bodies move through space. When I play guitar I am playing in space. Can being aware of this space support myself as I play?
In my work with AT David has worked with me on allowing space beneath my armpits. To just think of this space not to do anything, but to think of it as being available. This notion was not new, Sandra has raised my awareness of this over the years, but this week something became alive for me. Subtle yet palpable. Even now as I think of this a sense lightness and "up" arrives, a greater sense of being in the room, that is a sense of the space in which I am. We also played with my arms making gestures and being supported by the space beneath them. More subtle work involved here, informed by my practice of Qi Gong. Then we added the guitar into our work.
Yesterday morning "connect with space" was my word for the day as I completed my morning Qi Gong session. This became alive when I sat in my car. A confined but comfortable space where my movements are limited. Noticing the trees along Sligo Creek as I drove to work. Life bursting forth as spring arrives. The different relationships to space as I paused in the parking lot and took in the morning sun. Do I have space beneath my arms I found myself asking? Throughout my morning I notice the different spaces I enter at my workplace. Hallways, my office, the kitchen, the elevator, other offices and hallways all become part of my space. When I notice them a certain lightness arrives in my upper torso.
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