Semi-supine (or Constructive Rest or Balanced Resting State) is a staple of the Alexander Technique. It entails lying down on your back for 10 to 20 minutes, with a book under your head and your knees pointing towards the ceiling.
Sounds simple, doesn’t it! It is indeed simple but it has profound effects. This is because, when entered into mindfully, it allows you to let go of habitual muscle tension and the thoughts that create it.
An Alexander Technique colleague of mine, Penny O’Connor, has created a 15 minute guided audio description for semi-supine. It’s free of charge to use, but she does suggest a donation to Alzheimer’s Research. You can listen to it here.
Penny’s audio guide is beautifully done. She helps the listener explore external and then internal space; firstly, the relationship between our bodies and the space around us, and then the spaces within the body, that is, the distances between parts of the body. In my view, this exploration is connected very much to the scientific understanding of body schema.
15 minutes flies by, yet we can feel very different by the end. A wonderful, positive experience that I encourage you to try!
