Finding Quiet strength is a practical philosophy that connects to both ancient wisdom and modern neuroscience. The work is about enabling a calm, confident, and coordinated approach to life, helping us to find how to be centered, grounded and develop a sense of poise and equilibrium.
At some point, most of us need help with the challenges of life. FQS is a practice of being present in a way that develops our emotional intelligence and embodied awareness enabling us to navigate the many ups and downs of being human.
The work develops a deep and gentle self-acceptance. Through this self-acceptance, FQS helps us work on an embodied resilience and become more aware of what we can let go of and change.
The Inspirations
A core element of this work is based on F.M. Alexander’s principles of inhibition and direction, stopping, thinking and connecting. With practice, we can take a moment to pause and consider how we might be limiting ourselves. We can then begin to notice the interconnection of our thinking and mindset with our bodies and emotions. Often the patterns of worrying and anxiety that we embody as sets and gestures go below our conscious radar and can start to limit the joy, peace and ease which we find when we feel in charge of ourselves.
Finding Quiet Strength integrates Alexander’s discoveries with the work developed by Professor Raymond Dart. It also draws on the disciplines of Yoga, Chi Kung and Tai Chi. These ancient traditions help us recognise the signals of threat that trigger old patterns of defense and fear and restore us to a sense of being centred through working with breath and movement to cue in a feeling of safety and conscious control. .
Current research shows that humans are able to consciously re-pattern their nervous system by regulating their thinking, breath and movement in response to stimulus. Understanding this means we can get better at being present with what we are doing, easier under pressure, and start not to mind so much about getting things wrong. These are powerful and relevant skills for everyday life, learning, and moments of challenge or performance.
FQS works on the relationship between thinking in stillness and thinking in activity to find a sense of wholeness in whatever we do so we can feel at home with ourselves in all situations and our lives can become more joyful.
Finding Quiet Strength:
- Builds an understanding of the interconnectedness of the thinking mind, body and emotions.
- Develops our sensory awareness with an emphasis the somatic sense of the body in stillness and movement.
- Charts reliable maps of the structures and systems of the body.
- Explores the connection between our body and the environment through breath, spatial awareness and balance.
- Teaches us how to listen to our nervous systems in order to recognise the signals of threat and anxiety and learn how to cue in safety and ease in order to self-regulate and co-regulate.
- Allows us to be present in an easy way with what we are doing while we are doing it.