learning to observe

The Alexander Technique is a method that helps you to discover and reflect on how you are doing even the simplest of activities: walking, standing, sitting, lying down. You learn to develop a kinesthetic awareness of the quality of the movement – or the stillness: how easy – how effortful is it? Is the breath flowing freely or is it held? Is there a sense of flow and connection in the body, or does it seem static or more fragmented?

The quality of our performance of the simplest, everyday activities is of the utmost importance, because, whatever our field of activity, we are the instrument through which we act. As we sit, stand, walk, breathe, we are already actively using – or misusing – this instrument. These simple acts underlie all other activities.

They are so basic to our active life, that we rarely appreciate that they are complex activities in themselves – our unique, continuous response to the world around us, within the field of gravity.

In living, we often neglect this. Our attention is centered outside ourselves on the task at hand, the goal to be achieved. In guiding ourselves through these activities, we are seldom aware of the quality of our coordination. Often our attention is only drawn to ourselves by symptoms of pain or discomfort.

our potential

As living human beings, we are designed to be able to move and act with the soft, resilient strength, coordinated mobility and alert ease that we sometimes still recognize in young children. This is our innate potential.
Alexander discovered that this "natural" coordination has a definite pattern: when things are working well, a certain dynamic relationship of the head, neck and torso is maintained in all activity, in such a way that the head balances easily on the top of the spine, while the back lengthens and widens. This functions as a "master reflex" (Alexander called it "primary control") which is associated with fluid, easy movement as well as generally ensuring good functioning and health.
How exactly do we interfere with this innate potential?

habits

Throughout our lives, we develop habits of “posture” and movement, most of which operate below the level of consciousness. We all stand – speak – move in our own unique, unmistakeable way. The Alexander Technique helps us to identify those habits which interfere with our breathing, balance and overall coordination and functioning. These habits constitute a “misuse of our instrument”; not only do they affect our well-being and general health, but also make our actions less efficient, be they simple or complex. They influence (and are an expression of) the quality of contact with ourselves and with the world around us.

While habits are useful, allowing our conscious attention to be available for further learning, problem-solving or creative activity, they can be very deep-seated and difficult to change – particularly our habits of the most basic activities, which we acquired during the first year or so of our life. The mere intention to lift an arm, stand up or speak will immediately mobilize the whole body in accordance with our habit, calling forth the habitual movement pattern. This is why changing these habits can be very challenging.
How can we un-learn our habits of undue tension?

"When you stop doing the wrong thing, the right thing does itself."

The Alexander Technique helps us to re-educate and refine our kinesthetic awareness, while developing our ability to identify and “undo” inappropriate habits of tension, in stillness and in movement. This is not "relaxation" as it is usually understood, but rather a process of redistribution of muscular activity and tone throughout the whole body. Good coordination is nothing we can control directly. It is far too complex, and any attempt to do so will result in rigidity and interfere with the breath.

Instead, we learn to expand our field of awareness to be able to be present and alert both to ourselves and the environment, to what we are aiming to do and to how we are going about it. We learn to stop our automatic response to any stimulus to act, and to gently redirect ourselves in order to allow a new pattern of coordination to emerge that is more in tune with our physical structure.

As we learn to let go of our patterns of undue tension (or collapse), we unfold to our full uprightness and are rewarded with a sense of ease and lightness. At the same time we feel more grounded and better supported, more connected and focussed. We recognize that, perhaps contrary to our past experience, being alert and focussed need not be associated with effort or strain and is not necessarily the opposite of being “relaxed”. In retrospect, it can be seen that our understanding of "relaxation" often corresponds more to a collapsed, lethargic state - the flip side of a state of activity that is disproportionately tense and effortful.

This is as much a process of un-learning as it is of learning, and can potentially be a life-long process!