You are studying the Alexander Technique. You’ve taken lessons for weeks or months or years. Maybe you even teach the Technique. You’ve read some or all of what F.M. Alexander wrote. You’ve read some of the other literature on the Technique. You understand most or all of it. And yet…much as you enjoy your lessons, enjoy teaching, you have a nagging feeling that something is not quite working as it should be, that if you were more conscientious, more awake, that things would be better.
You apply the things you’ve learned in your lessons to your music, juggling, dance, tennis. You pay attention as best you can when you sing, stare through a microscope, work at a computer, eat supper. You try to pay attention as best you can, and yet…
I’m hoping that in this blog ideas can be passed around to make the Technique more useful for more people. Questions students and teachers have about the Technique can be explored. Teachers can have a dialogue about problems that come up for them. Students can talk about Alexander experiences they’ve had in and out of lessons. Performing artists can get some questions answered about ways of approaching specific problems they are having with their instrument–whether it be the oboe or their own body.
There is a comment section you can use, and I hope you do, and links to articles that may be of interest.
Enjoy.
As a novice, the most striking thing about AT has been the emphasis on relaxing muscles, rather than on exerting them. I do find there is exertion involved, in the sense of mental intention. But it’s more like the “exertion” in relaxing one’s “monkey mind” during meditation. In fact, there are many parallels to meditation, such as a gentle awareness of different parts of the body—the alert relaxation involved in meditative sitting. Has this connection been remarked upon? Do others, including more advanced practitioners, feel it?
Hello Jerry,
Thanks for starting the conversation.
I am wondering what inspired you to address the “not quite working” question. Do you find this is a common issue with long-term students and also teachers?
My own experience is less “I should be this way…” oriented. Not that I am perfect by any means, but I am aware that I have ongoing choices to be “more conscious or awake” whenever I have the capacity. And when I, for many varied reasons, may not have the capacity to be fully present, conscious and choiceful, at least I can remember to allow my neck to be free.
My students often comment that remembering to be aware is the most challenging part of learning the Technique. I think that remembering, and mindfulness of what is going on moment-to-moment, is a skill that we build on as we practice. All of us, at whatever level, practice building this mindfulness; it’s just that the layers of awareness and the fullness of choice get deeper and more layered.
So at my best, I have a far greater sensory awareness, understanding of my habitual patterns and ability to choose than I had when I began lessons. And at my worst, my habits are not as bad as they used to be!
My comments were not meant to undermine the very real value we experience from working on ourselves, or from lessons if we are studying with a particular teacher at a particular time. I was simply trying to capture one aspect of the Technique that creates difficulties for many, that unlike studying the piano or tennis or dance, the signposts of progress are harder to read, to be certain they are what they appear to be. We continue on, because we have an underlying confidence that the direction we are moving in is the right one, but, for many, uncertainty persistently nips at one’s heels. I think that is one of the main jobs of the teacher: to inspire the student to keep exploring, while not overselling the Technique itself. The paradox, as I see it, is that we have an inefficient tool that can make remarkable changes.
Hi Jerry
Thanks for the forum. Great to spill out your thoughts occasionally. I have had the problem of feeling ‘there must be more.’ Also of students getting frustrated they ‘couldn’t do it themselves.’
I think all this is a load of old endgaining! Once I stop worrying about it and think about my inhibition and direction, I always remember that in terms of what there is to learn and to teach. I have only just begun. And I try to convey this to my students. But, if they won’t stop endgaining, well there is very little anyone can do about it really. Trying a new teacher might help for a while!
Cheers
Nick Chapman
Great idea Jerry!
I’m finding rereading ‘the Power of Now’ by Eckhart Tolle useful for AT practice. He says ‘ask yourself – is there joy, ease and lightness in what I am doing?’ I would then add, if not, can you let there be more? Sounds like an AT lesson with different vocabulary to me. To find enough peace of mind in troubled (or interesting) times is a daily struggle for me. So many thoughts and duties seem to pull in all directions. To find the next thing to go about calmly, not to be unduly irritated by the students who come late or cancel unnecessarily. Just living my life in a reasonable way does not seem to me easier after 39 years of AT lessons and practice. Increasing awareness seems to bring increased responsibility. However it is a daily privilege to apply thinking in activity to my life.
Robin Möckli
Is this blog still active??!