Be a Better Driver

In my private flute lessons, my teacher emphasized Alexander Technique.  The idea behind this is to observe your body and your methods of movement to eliminate pain caused by improper posture or movement.  As you can imagine, this is important for musicians as learning this technique can prevent carpel tunnel, eliminate back pain, produce better sound/breathing, etc.  Ever since I was younger I have had a tendency to slump my shoulders and bow my head in a way that produced excess tension and bad posture.  I'm so used to this that I don't even notice it, until I practice my flute.  I'll get sharp pain in my back, my shoulders will ache, etc.  Thanks to my teacher, I am now more aware of what I'm doing wrong and can fix it.

Recently, I have found myself focusing more attention again to my posture.  At my job I spend most of the time standing and have found that my posture once again slumps back to the old way.  Even when driving, I have started noticing excess tension and have changed the way I drive.  I tend to slump down in the seat, slump my shoulders forward and keep my head low.  This feels normal to me, I've been doing this for a long time, it's natural.  However when I sit up straight, relax my shoulders, raise my head (adjust my mirrors), not only do I feel better when driving, but I drive better.  I'm more alert, more attentive to the road.  Something as simple as sitting up can have a big impact on my driving.  I have even found that when I drive correctly to work, I tend to have a better day at work, I walk in with more energy, I feel better about myself.

Sometimes, when we take notice of even the simplest things to change in our lives, it can have a big impact.