"I don't have time": Adapting to your student’s learning style
"I need results. Tell me what to do."
When I began my career as a new Alexander Teacher, this question used to throw me for a loop. The Alexander Technique is about doing less. It's about learning to pause, taking a thorough inventory of what you are actually doing, and finding a way to accomplish the same things in a more efficient way. It takes time to learn (hours, weeks, months, years, depending on how deeply you learn). And it takes time to apply the skills you develop (half a minute, seconds, mere moments.)
Read moreSTEP 4 and STEP 5
There are some subtle distinctions within Step 4, which leads into Step 5. What does it mean to make a fresh decisions even if you end up carrying out your original action? This is more about your attitude and how it will influence your physicality, than it is about discrete motor action.
In steps 1 through 3, you have taken the time to allow a deeply ingrained pattern of action to pause and recede; and you have promoted a more refined, poised, efficient state of being. We typically assess the quality of balance, posture and movement to recognize the new, more beneficial set up.
Now, you are reintroducing the original activity, minus the full impact of your habit. You may do ultimately perform the original task but you will do it differently.
Read moreStep 3: F. M. Alexander's 5-Step Process
"continue to project these directions until I believed I was sufficiently au fait with them to employ them for the purpose of gaining my end"
Step 3 arose from Alexander's observation that as soon as he turned his efforts to his original task, the changes from step 2 evaporated and he performed the task in the same habitual way.
This step is about shifting priorities. From a nervous system point of view, the original pattern to perform the task was triggered just by thinking about it. When I think about lifting my arm, neurotransmitters begin to signal certain muscles to contract, others to release. It's like a custom, shortcut program in my "movement software". Hit the "lift arm button" and the complex sequence starts to happen.
Read moreStep 1: Exploring F. M. Alexander's 5-Step process
“Inhibit any immediate response to the stimulus…”
For our purposes, you can choose any activity you like.
Alexander was particularly focused on speech and oration, his profession. He was suffering from chronic hoarseness which put his livelihood at risk. He began his exploration to solve problems with speaking, thus his stimulus was “to speak a certain sentence”.
Read moreSensation is an unreliable witness
One hallmark of Alexander’s work was his recognition that the way things feel is not a precise measure of what is actually going on.
Read moreAnatomy of the head and top of the spine
In this video blog, I show you where the head rests on the top of the spine. Having a more detailed understanding can facilitate your self-work and what you are exploring in lessons with your teacher. I am currently offering video sessions until it is safe for us to meet in person.
Read moreSherlock Holmes? Not quite, but Alexander teachers do detective work.
In a recent video session with a colleague, we debriefed a series of three lessons she taught to a new student. It was hard to tell whether she was pleased overall, or disappointed. The student has a pain condition, and reported different degrees of change, relief and comfort at all three lessons.
So I started asking her questions. Lots of questions. And since we were separated by distance, I had to rely more on dialogue than I might if we were together and I could see more details about her expressions and my hands could supplement that information with what I could feel.
Read moreTraining Teachers: Lesson/Session - The continuum of Alexander Technique
One hallmark of the Alexander Technique is that it is educational. People who study will be learning independent skills that they can use any time, any where. Autonomy and self-directed mastery are a main goal of the work. The method is a set of principles that inform skills of self-regulation, decision making and problem solving.
Read moreTraining Teachers: "Looking Under The Hood"
For the majority of students of the Alexander Technique, the value comes in gaining the skill to apply their “Alexander” tools to the task of living. Most drivers don’t need or choose to understand the engineering and mechanics of their cars, they focus on learning to drive. Similarly, exploring and understanding the underlying mechanisms that produce the positive benefits of applying Alexander Technique is far less relevant for students.
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