Preliminaries
This relaxation scheme is loosely based on yoga and autogenic principles. PRENATAL YOGA RELAXATION POSES The routines should be performed twice daily, preferably at set times. Select a suitable place in which to carry out your relaxation programme, and try to use the same place throughout the 10 days. Wear loose clothes, and no shoes. (See page 9.)
You may find it curious that a book on relaxation techniques finds itself using what may seem very like gymnastic exercises. Chronic stress is, however, reflected in the way in which we stand, sit, work and generally conduct our lives. You could almost say that stress imprints itself on the whole of our muscular skeletal system. The successful osteopath appreciates this and spends a considerable part of his time attempting to remedy these stress-induced postural problems.
Stress may focus itself quite acutely on one particular body function. Frederick Matthias Alexander was an actor who suddenly found himself trying to cope with just about the worst stress problem that an actor has to face – the loss of his voice on stage. As a result of self-analysis he found that he could get over his speech difficulty by reorientating his posture while acting. He became so interested in the applications of his discovery that he devoted the rest of his life to teaching people to ‘unlearn’ their bad stress-induced postural habits. In the 10-day course we also explore the possibilities of unlearning bad postural habits.
