A beautiful morning at the garden. "Vibrant" was the word Theta Drivon, our Alexander Technique workshop leader, used this morning upon arriving at the garden. Theta and her husband Jack Fischer led a group of garden members and visitors to the garden in creating body awareness. We worked with pitch forks, grub hoes, broad forks, and shovels to learn proper ways to lunge, squat and use our entire body to efficiently and effectively work in the garden. We looked at the ways leverage, balance and breath can improve our experience working in the garden. We explored how simple changes in alignment could make a movement seem effortless and sustainable over a period of time.

For me personally, as I am a yoga instructor and life long dancer, I found Jack's suggestion to bring awareness to my breath particularly helpful. In a squatting position, sometimes referred to as crow pose in yoga, my lower back can become tired over a period of time. Jack encouraged me to breath all the way into my lower back where I experience tightness. This created a feeling of expansion in my torso and made me realize that often I breathe shallowly as I work because the simple act of weeding or planting seeds does not consciously require deep breathing.

Everyone in the group expressed something valuable that they gained from the workshop and would be using in their garden work in the future. I am grateful to everyone who participated and to Jack and Theta, Certified Teachers of the Alexander Technique, for spending their morning with us. To learn more about their work visit: www.altMD.com/Specialists/ConsciousAlignment or email to jacksknack@gmail.com.