A moment in the life of a spine

A few days ago I was invited to lead one of three afternoon sessions at a charity wellbeing event. Around fifty women attended the day, and fifteen signed up for my 90-minute session, Bye-Bye Back Pain.

I spoke about many aspects of natural back care and spine health, and how the Buttafly Technique has challenged much of what I thought I knew about the spine and back pain. Through the Buttafly Technique I have learned that the body has a deep intelligence and the capacity to bring itself back into balance. We rarely, if ever, consider how this applies to the spine and posture. But it does, and the Buttafly Technique harnesses it beautifully.

I began by inviting everyone into a short guided meditation so that we could arrive fully in the space we were sharing.

We were sitting outside on a terrace. Although we had our own area, hotel guests were chatting nearby. As everyone settled, eyes closed, I could feel the group landing. I was landing too,

Then the organiser came over and called across the group, asking whether we would like to adjourn to the library, where it would be much quieter.

For a moment, I think it’s fair to say we were all a little discombobulated.

We had just settled into ourselves in that place, and some of the ladies were only just opening their eyes.

I looked at the group. They looked back at me. For a few moments nobody said anything, then I invited them to decide, and it was agreed that moving into the library would be a good idea.

Immediately everyone began moving about and gathering their belongings.

I found myself saying, “Let’s take the quality of where we’ve arrived with us,” and invited them to refrain from talking as we walked to the library.

Once we were all seated again, I realised we had been given an unexpected gift.

What I had been planning to describe had just been experienced by everyone in the room.

Only moments before, our awareness had been resting quietly within. Then, in an instant, everything changed.

Our attention shifted.

Our bodies shifted.

Our movements changed.

Life had asked something different of us, and without thinking we had all reorganised ourselves around what was now being asked.

We spoke about how we spend our lives organising and reorganising ourselves in response to what life is asking of us.

Sometimes we are moving with life. Sometimes we are moving against it. Often we are negotiating opposing forces.

We wake feeling tired, yet know we have to get up. Part of us wants to stay in bed, another part knows we have responsibilities. We push on. We hold ourselves together. We keep going.

As I shared with the group, this is what I find myself paying attention to these days. Not simply posture, or movement, but life itself.

Because if the Buttafly Technique allows the spine to release and realign without anything being imposed from the outside, then the question is:

What has the spine been responding to?

Over the years I have come to see the spine rather differently. Of course it responds to how we sit, stand and move. But it is continually responding to how we live; to the countless ways we organise ourselves around the demands of each day. The interruption to our session gave fifteen women the opportunity to experience this for themselves.