what is it?
'The centre and backbone of my theory and practice, upon which I feel that I cannot insist too strongly, is that the conscious mind must be quickened.'
F.M. Alexander
Don't worry, this is not as painful as it sounds!
On the contrary, the Alexander Technique is a tool we can use to find out in what ways we are using much more energy than necessary to achieve our objectives, be they taking a sip of tea, running a marathon or solving a crossword. In the process, chronic ailments such as back pain, breathing problems or trouble concentrating can diminish and eventually even disappear. We become able to choose to feel comfortable, think clearly, move gracefully and look better.
If you have ever felt like you are one step behind yourself and struggling to catch up this is for you...
Alexander teachers work to help the pupil perceive something that is so basic we don't ever really talk about it - our habitual way of doing things. As soon as the idea comes to us to do something (let's say sit down in a chair), a cascade process commences in the brain to prepare the means whereby we will accomplish the task. Once we feel this preparation to be complete, we almost invariably give consent for those means to be employed. The brain sends messages to the musculature, and we move to sit down. This all happens very quickly and usually subconsciously. Communication within the nervous system then establishes whether the goal of arriving in the chair has been accomplished and we tick it off our mental 'to do' list and move on to the next item (which might be 'picking up the newspaper'). This sets the next cascade of psycho-physical processes in motion etc.
Alexander discovered that most people habitually and unduly 'shorten their stature', or more specifically: tense the neck, pull the head back and compress the spine (and all the other joints involved) whenever they 'give consent' for their habitual 'means whereby' to be employed in gaining an end.
It would never occur to most of us that there is another option.
But there is. It can be exquisite to discover that there is a gap between the habitual preparations in the brain and the signal sent to the muscles, where we can consciously decide to do things by expanding instead of contracting our whole selves as the basis for activity.
By exploring this breathing room between thinking and acting, we can learn to consciously project different messages and rediscover how to move in a pretty much effortless way, like we did as young children. And because we don't give consent to enacting every idea automatically the instant it comes to us we may realise that we shouldn't sit down yet, because we left the newspaper in the hall.
what it is not:
Alexander Technique is not a relaxation technique, although it can help with anxiety and stress management by reducing nervous tension to a more appropriate level.
It is not a treatment or therapy, but if continuous general dis-coordination is the underlying cause of a dis-ease, preventing that dis-coordination from continuing can have curative effects and bring about ease.
It is not a quick fix, but an open ended-process of self-discovery.
what happens in a lesson?
Generally we use simple everyday activities such as sitting, standing, walking and lying down as examples to find out how we are interfering with our own good functioning in general. The teacher will speak and use gentle touch to help the pupil perceive what is going on in themselves.
Once pupils have the basics and are applying the principles in everyday life, they are welcome to use lessons to help apply the technique to a specific activity such as playing an instrument, juggling, changing a light bulb or whatever they wish to refine with the teacher's help.
