Alexander Technique Articles:

'The Personal Account':

A personal account of a three year Alexander Technique teacher training course.

Part 6 - What happens if you Stop Barking up the Wrong Tree?

From here on I realized that the work is much more about helping people to recognize, then stop repeating and therefore reinforcing the wrong habits. I also started to understand why Alexander wrote about end gaining. Having spent a large part of my training being reasonably oblivious to my habits, I started to take more notice and realize when my body started its usual contortions. The “Do you know you’re about to…?” questions were less frequently asked.

In the practical work at the school I noticed when my intentions became hell bent on achieving an end result, and saw the connection with corresponding physical habits; physical habits the teachers had been encouraging me to take notice of since the day I’d arrived. I had to own up to the fact that end gaining had almost complete control over all my actions, and I had been barking up the wrong tree whenever I resorted to it. Even though all my habits had led me to pain, frustration and misery, I had been convinced that the same set of end gaining habits that had got me into that mess could get me out of it.

As soon as I go into this end gaining mode, I notice that my head starts to swing back, and quite often, when I am doing something demanding, it has already swung back and locked tight, trapping and crushing my neck. Sometimes I realize at this stage but if it goes a step further I become aware that I am also arching my back, I’m bracing very stiffly, and I’m holding my breath. It is still a huge temptation to just go straight for the end result, but if I go down that road, the rest of what comes with that habit will return. Others can see immediately, but one needs to really experience this to understand what it means.