Alexander Technique Articles:
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is it for?
Alexander work is a Technique we can learn to
apply to:
1) Recognize habitual responses to everything we do in life
2) Question the usefulness of those habits
3) Consider the implications of mindlessly repeating the habits
4) Experience the difference in terms of strain, difficulties
and effort when one doesn’t repeat the habit.
What should I do instead of the habit?
The only thing to do instead of the habit is
prevent the habit.
The usual obvious solution is to do something as an alternative
to the habit, but as Alexander discovered, until the faulty
sensory perception is made more reliable there is no point
trying to do anything instead, because it is worked out using
the same faulty mechanism that caused the problem.
We are all unwilling to exchange what we do know – in
this instance, habits, - for what we don’t know. We
might be sick of the problem, but suddenly reluctant to give
up ‘our way of doing things’, because that is
what we know. However, it is ‘our way of doing things’
that we ultimately have to accept that has led to this point.
Unfortunately the problem will never go away whilst we keep
relying on our subconscious automatic pilot to guide us through
a world that is geared to quick reactions and responses. As
Alexander explains in his books, mankind has developed a world
which depends on the accuracy of complicated machinery, but
rarely pays the same level of attention to himself. Fancy
equipment is useless in the hands of faulty operators.
Preventing the habit is more difficult than it may sound,
because the habit is deep-rooted, and feels right. We rarely
deliberately try to be wrong! Alexander, midway through his
own experiments reached a stage where he could clearly see
the habit happening in the mirror, but try as he might, every
time he tried to speak, the habit was back. Luckily for the
rest of us he persevered and discovered a different approach.
Pupils frequently accept their habits of mis-use contribute
to tension, strain, anxiety, fear of failing, feeling down,
exhaustion, inflexibility, backache, repetitive strain injury,
headaches, migraines and stress.
In the course of a lesson, if a pupil has an experience of
doing something without repeating the habit which causes the
problems, the pupil has done something pain free. The pupil
has not learnt to try an alternative or how to do something
right, just to stop the habit.
Who is it for?
Everyone comes to the Technique for a variety
of reasons. Some people come because they are experiencing
particular physical problems, others because they feel stressed
in life, and others because they feel ‘there is more
to life’ but don’t know how to go about adapting
to it. No two pupils will experience the same from the Technique.
We are all individuals and have individual habits. Accordingly,
the Technique looks at people as individuals. Alexander Technique
does not aim to just treat and cure a problem. It looks at
the root cause of that problem.
The Technique is well known for helping particular conditions,
but can also benefit anyone wishing to enhance their health,
and improve their overall functioning.
Does it take a long time to learn?
I often equate this to learning a musical instrument
and say that a pupil can take it as far (or not) as they wish.
At the end of the day, it is about having an understanding
of oneself. Some people find that fascinating and want to
know more, and others are quite content to just discover a
little bit. This is a purely individual decision. Obviously
one cannot learn in two lessons the same as after twenty lessons,
or years of lessons.
Do you have to think about it all the time?
Yes and no, just like music, sport, a home,
a job, and a partner or having children. Anyway, it is not
unpleasant. The Technique works in different ways. The more
I build up experiences of doing something without the habits,
my previously extremely unreliable sensory perception becomes
more reliable and my overall ‘use’ improves. Then,
when the bigger situations come along for me to react to,
the basic starting point is not as strained as previously,
so the degrees by which I over react are not as huge.
At first it may only start with glimpses. Pupils often say,
“I was doing such and such the other day, and it was
different to usual, just like in the lessons”. These
glimpses become more frequent and may last longer, until the
better ‘use’ and habits learnt in Alexander Technique
become the new way of reacting.
I do not think about it obsessively, because I would not be
free to get on and have a life, but if I am involved in an
activity that requires immense precision, skill and accuracy,
then yes I will be aware of whether my habits are strong.
I only have one thing to think about, ie, to prevent the habits
that interfere, instead of 101 things to think about. If I
ignore the habits, I will end up in pain, in a mental whirl
and I will not carry out the activity very well, because habits
interfere with my levels of co-ordination.
I have gradually come to realise that I cannot continue to
‘end-gain’ as a way of life, and then expect to
be free of it each time I play the cello. If I allow ‘over–reacting’
and ‘end-gaining’ to guide and shape me most of
the time, it will almost certainly be what I resort to at
times of greater pressure when performing, because I am not
developing other ways of managing myself.
Pupils in the beginning frequently make the excuse that they
haven’t got time to think about what they are doing
to themselves. However, no one would recommend crossing the
road without remembering to look, or fetching something out
of a hot oven without thinking they may need to use something
to protect their hands. In both these instances, people are
prepared to think about the consequence of their actions.
These are habitual ways of thinking when faced with a stimulus,
learnt at a very young age. It only takes half a second to
remember. Alexander Technique is showing us how much more
we could apply ourselves, if we just give things a bit of
thought. It is then down to the individual how much or little
they do it. Being more self-aware seems a small price to pay
in exchange for the improvement gained..
What is the correct position?
This is possibly my favourite question. I spent
many years in search of this ‘correct position’,
never more so than when playing the cello. Ultimately I had
to concede that ‘correct positions’ are more fixed,
rigid and tightly held than ‘collapsed’ postures.
Alexander himself said that THERE IS NO SUCH THING. His Technique
does not just take into account the physical structure but
the psycho-physical whole. Therefore an approach which aims
to ‘fix’ a position affects the person’s
whole being. If something is fixed, there is no room to grow,
develop, mature or change.
However, that is not to say that by recognizing and then preventing
the habits we adopt of drooping, arching, bending and stiffening
we cannot acquire a more poised, toned, focused use of ourselves
when we stop reacting in our familiar ways.
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