Poised For Life
Feel and look better by moving your body the way nature intended
Definitions
'Use'
As Alexander refered to it, this is the way we (our mind/body unity) move.
When we use a hammer to knock in a nail, 'we' are the user and the hammer is the thing 'used'. When we talk about the 'use of the self', we are, at one and the same time, the user and the thing used!
'Mis-use'
By this Alexander means the inefficient use of the self : use with more effort than is necessary and not respecting the way the body is evolved/designed to be used. You could say it is unskillful movement.
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" When you stop doing the wrong thing the right thing does itself."
FM Alexander
Click below to watch an excellent video introduction to the Alexander technique
What is the Alexander Technique?
" A re-education for the mind and body" FM Alexander
The Alexander Technique is a technique to support people to give up the harmful tension patterns that have developed in the body through what we call 'mis-use'. It is taught through verbal instruction and hands-on gentle guidance. And yet it is not a 'how to' technique! It would be more accurate to say that it is about learning the art of 'non-doing' (and this being very different to doing nothing).
Let me explain: Many of us have tried 'how to' approaches and still find ourself stuck in our old habit patterns. The part of the brain that understands logic and what to do is not the part of the brain that we want to employ to let go of habits that no longer serve. Think of this in relation to stopping smoking for instance. Every smoker knows that to stop smoking: they need to stop lighting up cigarettes and putting them to their mouth! Yet it is the 'felt sense' in the body that keeps them smoking (and granted there is an additional addictive aspect to nicotine). It 'feels right' to smoke. This feeling of 'righness' is what holds us to all habitual behaviour - including how we move, sit, sing, stand, bend etc. It is because of this felt sense of 'rightness' that it is hard for individuals to make the necessary changes themselves and why we as teachers use our hands to gently guide people through movements to help them get used to novel sensations in the body that can, at first, so quickly be interpreted as 'wrong'.
As we get used to the new sensations of freer, lighter movement we can begin to enjoy them! In this sense, the Alexander Technique manisfestly supports us to have CHOICE away from our habitual behaviours. In this way, the Technique is so much more than a pain management system. It is the foundations of living a meaningful life and on which learning any new skill lies. It is for this reason that many musicians, horse-riders and sports people use the Alexander Technique to develop their skills and why most people report that it enhances the quality of their life.
Click here to read about what happens in a typical Alexander Technique lesson.
The AT is a unique combination of the following experiential teachings:
Use Affects Functioning
The way we use ourself affects our functioning.
Inhibition
Choosing to stop and be fully present without reactivity is key to making change.
Giving Directions
These are non-doing conscious, new instructions to ourself to stop the unwanted, habitual patterns of tightening.
Non-Doing
We need to stop doing the 'wrong' things to allow the 'right' things to do themselves.' Primary Control'
There is a certain beneficial relationship between head, neck and back that when operating benefits the whole body.
'Unreliable Sensory Appreciation'
This is the recognition that our 'felt sense' and interpretation of the felt sense are not the same - The teacher encourages you to allow new, more beneficial movements to happen even when, at first, they 'feel wrong'.
Penny working with a pupil lying
in 'semi-supine'.
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