What is Constructive Rest?
Resting is something most of us could get better at. 'Constructive Rest', from Alexander Technique, is a practical self help skill we can all benefit from.
What are the benefits?
Constructive Rest is a simple lie down, but it's more than just a rest: you learn essential skills for pain and stress management.
- Learn how to relax those tense muscles properly 'on demand'
- Rest your mind - gain skills to turn down the dial of an over busy brain
- Train a habit of calming body and mind together - to cope with everyday stress without it winding up your tension and pain
- Train your body to a have an easy, open posture, without effort
- Train your body to be relaxed on the go - easy sitting, standing, moving. So you learn the skills lying down, but benefit from them the whole day!
How do I do Constructive Rest?
Normally you lie on the floor, like this, with your legs bent.But there are other ways to take part, if this is difficult for some reason.
No special equipment is needed, just something to put under your head, paperback books work well. And something soft and supportive to lie on, like a mat and a blanket.
Just 5 minutes a day can make all the difference to your pain and wellbeing. If you can't do daily then even something like 15-20 minutes twice a week would drip feed more calm and ease into your everyday life.
What's special about Constructive Rest?
The 'secret sauce' to Constructive Rest is in the way you think.
It's neuromuscular re-training. To do that effectively, we need to be calm, compassionate teachers to ourselves. So we have a very intentional, but very gentle and patient way of asking for our bodies to let go of unnecessary tension, calm down flight/flight responses, and train ourselves to be at ease and comfortable in way that we can use on the go too.
You can practice Constructive Rest independently once you have been given the basics, but having someone guide you through it regularly will mean you can develop and deepen your skills in managing your stress and pain.
Constructive Rest is about building short strategic rests, with this extra sauce, into your routine. It's about proactively getting what your body and mind needs. Exactly when and how isn't the important bit: it's an adaptable practice, do what works for you!
What is the Constructive Rest Club?
In the Constructive Rest Club we help people with busy lives take care of themselves a little bit better. We know that it isn't always easy to take that essential time out for yourself, so we support you to build the right self care routine for you.
Mini course
Bite sized videos and audios to get you started with the fundamentals and more.
Live sessions
Live classes most weeks via Zoom at a variety of times to suit different schedules.
Recordings library
Don't worry about missing a session: they are recorded, so you can dip into them at your own leisure.
Private chat space
Join our growing community with others on a similar quest to find more rest in their lives. A place to ask your questions and get support from the teachers in between the live online sessions.
App
Get easy access to all this content and support via an app for a whole year.
What our members say about the Club
FAQs
Do I need to make it to live sessions?
We love to see you live with us, but members get a lot out of having that new recording every week to go and use, and the community support we provide to keep up the habit.
We have members from all over the world, and lots of you are busy people, so we know some of you will be mainly using the recordings.
But we're here to help you build your own self-care practice, the benefits of this club are not dependent on you making it to live sessions.
When are the live sessions?
They are every week* We regularly poll and ask our members which days and times they want, and in our small group you get to mould when sessions are.
We have 3 fixed sessions:
- Every other Tuesday at 7pm UK time**
- The first Sunday of the month at 10am
- On the other weeks we have 'roving' sessions to accommodate people's different schedules and time zones.
*we have the occasional week off - we're humans! This is the current schedule - the days and times may be subject to change.
What if I tend to try things and not keep them up? Will this be another wasted membership?
We know that it's hard to create consistent self care routines. We know you have other things going on in your life that compete for your time and attention. This is what the Club is for. For when your self care is dropping off your to-do list - we'll nudge you to try again.
We live in the real world too, so we don't expect perfect streaks or daily practice. We will remind you without being a constant nagging presence in your in-box. We will offer you tools to make Constructive Rest a habit in a way that works for you, so you can feel the benefits to your pain, stress and tension. We are a small intimate group - with real, proper access to the teachers, so you can always reach out for help.
How long is membership for?
You get a full year's membership for the price you pay, it's not a monthly subscription.
Can I pay monthly?
This is a very low cost membership, so we don't currently offer a monthly payment plan. However, when you go through the payment process you will be offered the option to spread the payment over 3 months via Klarna.
Who are the hosts?
Meet your 3 Constructive Rest Club Teachers. Each an experienced Teacher, insured, DBS checked and registered with the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique (STAT).
We are passionate about helping others to find more comfort and ease in themselves. While we have a wide range of experience in helping people with various needs and backgrounds, we also have our specialist areas of expertise and interest.
Click on a teacher below to check out their website in a new window.
