Today, I taught a lesson to a rower. He taught me a bit about rowing, and I helped him apply the Alexander Technique to his rowing, and his life. Rowing is particularly interesting to me, as I consistently row every …..never. I don't row. So I was afforded the opportunity to apply the Alexander Technique [...]
Take a moment as you're reading this to stop, and look up with your eyes only. Then look straight ahead again. Do this a few times. You may notice that there is an ever-so-slight tensing of your neck, or the muscles in the back of your head as you move your eyes in their sockets. [...]
Sometimes in the early stages of Alexander Technique lessons, I might ask a student to ‘do nothing’ while they're lying on the massage table, or to 'let go' as I move their arm...I'm asking the Alexander Technique student (we're all Alexander Technique students) to inhibit. This isn't inhibition as in suppressing; it more has to do with stopping your initial response giving you a chance to do something in a new, conscious, beneficial way...
Often at the start of an Alexander Technique lesson here in New York City, I'll ask 'how did it go this week?' A few responses: 'I did the Alexander Technique, but not all the time,' or, 'I thought about the Alexander Technique, but not all the time.' To me, these are honest answers, but does anyone think of the Alexander Technique all the time? Would we want to be thinking about it constantly, and thinking of nothing else? Is that any way to enjoy a movie, a book or a companion? The Alexander Technique definitely becomes part of life, and new, more beneficial habits are formed. Even without directly thinking about the Alexander Technique, we've changed. We begin to have less tension with everything we do. We sit at the computer, stand, walk, bend, play the bassoon and bowl in a different way without the Alexander Technique being in the forefront of our thinking...
