Alexander

                                      School

 Yoga and the Alexander Technique            

by Ken Thompson

 This article is an attempt to explain some of the misconceptions that have come about in trying to understand the Alexander Technique without having had lessons from a qualified Alexander teacher.

Also where possible, I would like to draw some parallels between Alexander's discoveries and Yoga. The first thing that struck me when I became involved in the Technique, was the similarity between the basic goals of A.T. and Yoga practice. For instance:-

Yoga is not about acquiring knowledge, but rather removing the ignorance that stops you understanding and knowing about your true Self. Alex. Tech. is not about trying to be right, but avoidance of the misuse that is putting you wrong!

In yoga we are looking for harmony and balance throughout, that is spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Alexander was many years ahead of his time, he realised that body and  mind work together, and referred to psycho-physical health. In reply to the question "is your technique physical or mental?" he said, "it's both, but if anything it's more mental!"

Incidentally the titles of two of his books expresses this nicely. 'The Use of the Self' 1931, and 'Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual' 1922. So in both Yoga and A.T. we are seeking to 'Undo' rather than 'Do'. (Ref. 1)

                           'Doing' and 'Undoing'

Frederick Matthias Alexander or 'FM' as his pupils/students liked to call him, would often say to them during their lessons not to try and 'do' anything, and then qualify that by adding, 'or what you understand by doing'.  He found that pupils would always be tempted to try harder to put things right, which only meant that they reinforced more and more their old feelings and habits which always put them wrong!     They had to be prepared to experience new ways of functioning, which understandably would be unfamiliar and different!   This brought 'FM' to ask his pupils to learn the important principle of 'Inhibition'.

                                           'Inhibition'

Inhibition is the keystone in learning the Alexander Technique and perhaps the main thing that differentiates it from all other re-education systems. Unless you can learn to inhibit, or stop your old habitual way of responding to a stimulus, you are never going to change.  This is really too simple a statement for most people to understand the first time round. I am continually telling students "you can either change, or you can stay the same, but you can't do both!" Once you have a student who wants to change, then you are in business. By letting go of the past that is 'Inhibition' and not seeking the future that would be 'End Gaining', instead staying in the moment, and focussing on the 'Means Whereby'.

                               'End Gaining' and 'Means Whereby'

FM saw in himself, and in most of his pupils than the 'End Gaining' attitude predominates when we are confronted with a familiar stimulus, that is, the desire to achieve a result along the same old lines because it feels right. To bring about a change to a more satisfactory manner of 'use' would require first, 'Inhibition', then a carefully thought out strategy, or 'Means Whereby'.

This 'Means Whereby' approach would always begin by observing and ensuring that the 'Working Integrity' of oneself was maintained. By 'Working Integrity' I mean all the important components necessary for functioning, like breathing, circulation, digestion, flow of  nervous energy ,etc.           If in learning new skills or continuing with your old ones, you are constantly lowering or diminishing your 'working integrity' over a period of time you may finish up doing yourself more harm than good. Our working integrity can be maintained by focusing attention on the important head, neck and back relationship, or what FM called the 'Primary Control' in our manner of use.

                           'Primary Control'       

The 'Primary Control' has so far not been completely physiologically explained, we do know however thanks to F.M. Alexander, how to bring it back into functioning again.  When we were young children most of us had good use of ourselves. As we grew up that natural poise that we inherited gradually disappeared and was replaced by tensions, anxiety, fear, and a general 'Pulling Down' which inevitably begins by a stiffening of  the neck muscles and a shortening of the spine.     By applying conscious intelligence to this problem we can 'free' the neck, direct the head forward and up, and by allowing the spine to lengthen, and the back to widen, we can return to our natural birth right of good use. To be able to do this, with help from a teacher is difficult enough, but to try to do it on one's own is practically impossible. Alexander did say, "anyone can do what I did, if they do what I did", but remember it took him seven years in front of mirrors! The main problem here for most of us, is what FM called 'Faulty Sensory Appreciation'. (Ref. 2)

             'Faulty Sensory Appreciation'

There are very few people who have perfect co-ordination, that is who know exactly what they are doing with them selves. This can easily be demonstrated in basic activities that we are doing every day, like walking, sitting, standing, picking things up, etc. We all tend to diminish, to a greater or lesser degree, the 'Working Integrity' of ourselves by 'Pulling Down', that is stiffening the neck, shorting the spine, narrowing the back, and even tightening muscles unrelated to the task, this is generally what you could call 'Overdoing'. Let's take a look at the problem of faulty sensory appreciation, by carrying out a couple of experiments.  To start, stand facing a wall about half metre (18") away. Bend your knees slightly forward and incline the head and torso towards the wall. Close the eyes, then bring one hand up onto the wall above your head, then place the other onto the wall, have the hands approximately shoulder width apart.   Now can you sense which hand is higher up the wall? If you can, make what ever adjustment you feel necessary to bring the finger tips of both hands level with each other. Then open your eyes and check how accurate you were. Now recall in your adjustments how you sensed or felt out the position of the hands. You then begin to see that your sensory information is not as reliable as you think.

Now try this one, lying down on the floor, on your back, head, neck and trunk in a straight line, arms alongside your body palms down.  notice your breathing rhythm, because you are going to this to govern the speed of the movements you are about to make. Visualise this movement in your mind now before you come to do it.   The movement is as follows, as you breath in, both arms travel back over head to touch the floor behind you, exactly when your lungs are filled. As you exhale, both arms travel forward, coming back onto the floor alongside the body, exactly when the lungs are empty. Now as you breath in commence the movement, synchronising the arms to move exactly in harmony with the breath. Carry on with this movement, and then begin to focus your attention on how accurately you are able to move the arms, without interfering with the breathing rhythm.                        Do you notice that perhaps one hand is touching the floor slightly in front of the other? Can you make the necessary adjustments to the arms, so that both hands touch the floor simultaneously, as they go back on the in breath, and as they come forward on the out breath?   Do the arms reach the halfway stage exactly when the lungs are half empty? See if you can adjust the movement of the arms and the breath to be harmonising perfectly. Not and easy thing to do at first, but with a little practice and awareness it can be done.                                   By working with co-ordination movements like this, it is possible to improve your ability, so that when you come to do more complicated patterns, you have a more accurate understanding of your capabilities. I have devoted over a decade or more of study, to this particular problem, and have produced a useful tape and booklet, which students have found extremely helpful for bringing about an improved use of themselves. (Ref. 3) 

As to the title of this article, what do we understand is the difference between poise and posture? Most people tend to look at the Alexander Technique as a postural training systems, particularly when you find that in some books it is described as such. Now of course it will have an affect on your posture, that is fully understood, but it is not primarily for that.  The main reason for this is that a static position tells you nothing about a person's use, what you have to see is that person move.  The technique is about poise, that is a dynamic state of balance, which is consciously controlled by the individual, and that is something you can only judge, by observing movement patterns in the individual. So to summarise, it is about movement, dynamic poise and conscious control. The reason Alexander students are more upright than most people, is that they are constantly thinking up!

Perhaps when yoga began thousands of years ago people had a far better instinctive habitual good use of themselves, in the same way that animals do. If this is so, it may explain why we need to bring our 'use' up onto a conscious level, if we are to benefit from the yoga practice in the way that the ancients that devised the system intended.   Patanjali states;- 'Posture becomes firm and relaxed through control of the natural tendencies of the body', also the commentary adds that, 'a good natural posture is very rare. Most people do hold themselves badly and are subject to all sorts of physical tensions'. (Ref. 4).     

This is exactly the area that A.T. teachers are bringing into focus with students. Most people do hold themselves badly, they may, or may not be aware of it. The point of course, is what can they do about it?   To try and hold yourself up by muscular effort is not the answer, you will very soon get tired, and slump worse than before. Instead, by having a course of lessons, the student is introduced to a conscious way of re-establishing Natural Poise. This means that the so-called antigravity or support muscles are brought back into play, allowing the body to regain it's natural height and width, and to function with less effort and more freedom.

I personally find that Yoga gives me a philosophy for living, and the Alexander Technique gives me the 'means whereby' to do it, with 'good use'.

References

(1) These books are obtainable from Angela's Yoga Books;-                     70 The Hornet, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 7JJ

Email. sarah.mccrae@virgin.net                               

website:- angela's~yoga~books.co.uk

(2) For Alex. Tech. Teachers look in website:- www.stat.org.uk

(3) Co-ordination Movements CD. £9.95 P&P inc.                                    The Movement Book £8.50inc.P&P inc.                                       Obtainable from Angela's Yoga Books, address above.

(4) 'How to Know God' by Swami Prabhavananda & Christopher Isherwood.          (Chap 2. V 47)                

To obtain please contact:-

www.angelas-yoga-books.co.uk