It would be an unsound fancy and self-contradictory to think
that things which have never yet been done can be done
except by means which have never yet been tried.
Francis Bacon
The Innovator
F. M. Alexander, founder of the Alexander Technique, was one of the great innovative thinkers of the last century. His technique, studied by John Dewey, Bernard Shaw, and Nobel Prize winner, Nikolas Tinbergen, was the first mind-body education developed and taught in the West.
Alexander's reason for developing the Technique was simple: He was an actor, and a vocal problem threatened to end his career. When he consulted a doctor about the chronic hoarseness which recurred during every performance, Alexander asked if the doctor knew what he was doing during his performance that was causing him to lose his voice. The doctor said he did not know; "Very well, then!" said Alexander, "I will find out for myself."
Our Reactions
Alexander discovered in himself tension patterns characterized by stiffening the neck, contracting and compressing the spine, holding the chest (and therefore the breath), and tensing the limbs. These plagued him and everyone whom he later taught during performance of any, even the simplest, tasks. His work, then, is universally applicable and essential to those who, like Alexander himself, must perform at work.
The Method
Today we have access to countless relaxation methods, taught in all kinds ways and in all kinds of settings. The Technique is unique in addressing the relaxation of the body during activity. It offers us a method for improving our performance based on conscious release of habitual tensions in our bodies. The tension in our bodies is directly related to tense ways of thinking; the Technique helps us to change these, as well.
Most attempts to alter performance are based in trial and error and result in doing things, in Mr. Alexander's words, "a different kind of badly." In fact, without changing the way we do what we do by revising our approach and eliminating unnecessary and misspent effort we actually risk getting better at being worse!
Through studying the Alexander Technique one sees that changes we make to eliminate unproductive physical tension parallel improvements in our mental approach to work and our overall effectiveness and productivity.
Mind-Body Balance
The Alexander Technique teaches us to redirect a portion of our awareness into the body, to sense what we are doing as we do it. As we develop this skill, we see how greatly we overuse our muscles and nervous systems and how, in turn, our thinking is cluttered with unnecessary considerations, usually regarding events in the past and the future (regret and second-guessing/anticipation), or those not immediately relevant to the matter at hand (mind-wandering).
This keeps us body and mind locked in patterns of overreaction and ineffectiveness. Picture the deer-in-the-headlights startle, or your most recent experience of jaw-tightening, stomach-churning anger or impatience.
The Alexander Technique shows us these patterns (a skilled teacher draws our awareness to them) and helps us back into a simpler, more direct way of functioning. We actually unlearn the more difficult and inefficient ways of thinking and moving in favor of simple, unencumbered actions that do not require undue amounts of tension.
In order to use only necessary tension, in order to focus most effectively on our work (or our play!), we learn to break our activity down into small, non-startle-causing movements.
Creativity
Creativity begins with clarity and freedom from our habitual restraints. This freedom can be gained both physically and mentally; we can build skill in shedding the interferences in body and mind that limit our creative abilities.
Some years ago I was teaching a workshop in the theater department of a small, liberal arts university in Virginia. One of the students with whom I was working was about to play a lead role in Romeo and Juliet. While he practiced his monologue, a speech with a forceful, somewhat angry tone he kept jamming his hands into his pockets at the emotionally intense moments.
This habit was really limiting the effectiveness of his delivery; instead of the power of the emotion projecting outward through his voice and the physical expression of his body, it was getting caught up in this tense, 20th-century gesture. We both laughed as I helped him release his arms and shoulders and pointed out to him that the character he was playing was going to be standing on stage in tights, not in blue jeans with deep pockets! At this moment, the actor began to find his creative ability, his ability to portray a Shakespearean character, which lay outside the limits of his physical and emotional mannerisms.
Team Work
Successful teams depend on the ability of their members to connect and transmit information to one another. Do physical habits interfere with this? Of course! Most people habitually fix their gazes (usually on the ground), constrict their breathing when trying to speak, hold their bodies (and consequently their minds) in attitudes of defense and rigidity. These unconscious habits make us unavailable to a greater or lesser degree to other members of our team.
Teams who use the Alexander principles find a reliable and effective way to break free of fixed personal habits. The Technique helps us become more engaged and animated. We learn to direct our visual awareness, free our breathing, open ourselves physically and mentally to what is taking place right at this moment within the group. We listen better, speak more clearly, respond more candidly, and by contributing our integrated attention, help the group in turn become more connected and integrated.
How Do We Learn the Technique?
The Alexander Technique is taught by a teacher who is trained in a gentle and skillful use of the hands to help students employ their kinesthetic awareness, which is the sensed awareness of the body both in movement and at rest. We call this method of teaching hands-on work; with the teacher's guidance, we begin to sense in ourselves all manner of holding and tensing. Then the teacher goes on to suggest, both verbally and with her hands, ways to free the body and the awareness in order to let go of these fixed habits. All of this takes place in the course of normal activity: sitting, standing, walking, and working in a group.
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