Most people respond to thinking they must accomplish a task quickly by shortening their stature, tensing and compressing their necks, taking shallower breaths, their heart racing, anxiety flying, and overall going into a version of the fight or flight reflex.
By contrast, when you think, “I have all the time I need to accomplish this task,” you will probably breathe easier and more deeply and be more likely to let go of unnecessary tension in your body.
I got this from the following discussion: “Working with Groups – Alexander Technique teacher Meade Andrews talks with Paul Cook ofDirection Journal about teaching the Technique in a group setting.”
Mead has her group pretend to juggle. This activates their primary control and they naturally come into length and width. You can’t juggle and be in a postural set. It won’t work. Their heads are moving because they have to look at the balls. They’re changing their balance and their relationship to gravity. They’re enlivened.
Later on, people ask, is this like yoga? People want to group it with something else. Alexander Technique can’t be compared with anything else. It is unique.
Related links:
by Meade Andrews
This paper was first published in The Congress Papers of the 7th International Congress of the F.M. Alexander Technique published by STAT Books (London 2005).
“The Art of Group Teaching”
by Meade Andrews
This paper was first published in The Congress Papers of the 8th International Congress of the F.M. Alexander Technique published by STAT Books (London 2009).
“Confessions of a Movement Consultant”
by Meade Andrews
This article was first published in AmSAT News, issue 65, Fall 2004.
“An Étude a Day” (coming soon)
This article about Meade’s work was published inDirection, a journal on the Alexander Technique, volume 3, number 6 in 2009.
Listen to the accompanying interview with Meade Andrews by Direction Journal’s Paul Cook
LINKS
www.alexandertechnique.com
American Society for the Alexander Technique
www.AmSATonline.org
Alexander Technique Workshops International
www.alexandertechniqueworkshops.com
The Village Green –
Alexander Technique at Seven Oaks
www.thevillagegreen.net
Direction Journal –
A Journal on the Alexander Technique
www.directionjournal.com
Young Arts – National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts
www.YoungArts.org
British Medical Journal Research Study on the Alexander Technique for Back Pain Prevention
www.bmj.com