Lengthening and widening is our innate way of being, no matter what age. If it is not true for you at this time, it is within you, part of you, it is your natural way of functioning and accessible to you always, no matter what age or state of health you are in.
What does that mean ?
Lengthening & widening is a term used in the Alexander Technique and refers to the functioning of your musculature in connection with your skeletal structure and it's reference to gravity. It is our inborn way of being at home in our body, at ease, moving freely, balanced and stable. This balance & stability is not dependent on our age, or limited to our condition, but it is dependent on our state of functioning within that condition and age. We sometimes believe that it is a given to be losing balance, freedom of movement, range of movement and flexibility as a natural part of the aging process. And that exercise can assist us in maintaining more of our functioning, fitness and balance. While that is true, there is an essential distinction that underlies all of it. This distinction, as demonstrated by F.M. Alexander in the discovery of the innate principles that govern human movement & functioning, has profound and important meaning.