How To Learn
The Alexander Technique

How To Learn The Alexander Technique Tip: Don't even try to get it right! Chapter 12

"For although there is nothing esoteric in his (Alexander’s) teaching, and although his exposition is made in simplest English, free from technical words, it is difficult for anyone to grasp its full force without having actual demonstration of the principle in operation."
Professor John Dewey

How you explain music to someone who has never heard it? This is a similar to describing The Alexander Technique to someone who has never tried a lesson - not easy. Having said that, I will try and give you some practical experience here.

Perhaps using 'learn' can be a bit misleading when it comes to a subject like The Alexander Technique. Because in reality you are 'unlearning' all the bad habits that are preventing your body moving with the ease and lightness it is capable of.

The use of 'Technique' is also a little confusing because it's not really a technique in the sense we have come to accept the term. Rather than a technique to master, it is a skill to apply to your everyday life - the skill is being able to remain focused and alert to prevent the sort of habits that not only lead to aching backs, neck and shoulders, but also the sort that lead to stress, poor decisions and unfulfilled potential.

So in my view, the question 'how to learn The Alexander Technique' is best answered by saying don't try! This doesn't mean going off to Pilates instead, what I'm saying is that you are learning to unlearn. Well doesn't that make sense!

Let's look at what happens in a typical lesson and see if that helps.

How To Learn The Alexander Technique
Without Really Trying

If you haven't already tried my Habits and Fitness Test I suggest you give it a go so the rest of this chapter will make sense. The lesson to learn from it is that anything that feels right is only right because it is your habit. Anything that feels 'wrong', on the other hand, only feels wrong because you haven't done it like that before.

So when we do any activity in a way that feels right it's because it is a habit. It doesn't mean to say it is the best way to do it, but it's the only way we know how to do it - just like the arm fold experiment in the fitness test.

So keeping that in mind when pondering the question 'how to learn The Alexander Technique' - you don't try to get it right because you will keep relying on the habits that got you where you are today!

The Lesson:

The Alexander Technique is educational and therefore anyone wishing to learn takes lessons. This is an important point to note because an individual coming to a session is a pupil, not a patient, and therefore takes an active role in the process. People coming for their first lesson have very different expectations, some anticipate a miraculous cure after one lesson or expect to be wired up to a box of technical wizardry to speed up the process. The Alexander Technique is none of these and some are put off by its subtlety. The lesson is very different from previous educational encounters as here the pupil is shown what not to do to allow a condition where we have the opportunity to change.

To watch a lesson does not give much insight as very little appears to happen to the untrained eye. The real work is at the fundamental level where stimuli evoke a response. Pupils have difficulty in explaining what happens in a lesson without appearing vague or mad as the subjective experience can only be appreciated by taking lessons. The objective is to learn how to stop doing the things that interfere with natural functioning. This invariably involves using the wrong muscles to perform even the simplest act, for example, when getting up from a chair most adults use the lower back muscles to push themselves forward. They are not needed to perform the act, in fact, they make it harder than it should be, but it is a very common habit. They will also use these muscles to 'sit up straight' - again not appropriate use.

A lesson is on a one-to-one basis lasting up to forty-five minutes in which the teacher guides the pupil through a series of movements whilst giving verbal instruction. The initial response for most is to attempt to complete the act by applying the amount of effort determined by the habit, which due to poor co-ordination is usually far too much. The pupil is therefore encouraged to inhibit their habitual response to a stimulus, such as ‘stand up’, and become aware of any unnecessary actions they may perform in readiness to move.

This will help to overcome the problem of inappropriate preparation and promote freer movement with appropriate muscle tension. These activities provide a new sensory experience of movement with better balance and co-ordination. The gradual process of performing everyday movements without excessive effort changes overall functioning.

In essence the pupil is learning how to differentiate between the stimulus and their response. Once we can recognise what makes us react in a particular manner we have the opportunity to control our response.

Muscles are re-conditioned more effectively when used in a manner suited to their intended function with appropriate effort. There are no exercises in the usual sense, any movement can be used whilst applying the method to promote better use. The pupil is asked not to try to get it right to avoid guidance from their habit. If I perform an act how I believe to be right, I will continue to use the same patterns. I will also become frustrated if I cannot achieve what seems to be a simple request without getting ‘set’. An attitude of frustration brings about more muscle tension. Following the teacher’s instructions, without trying to get it right can be difficult initially, as conventional education has instilled the need to be right yet in order to change we have to become aware of our tendency to react without prior thought.

However, with guidance and application anyone can learn how to stop, think and then act in the most appropriate way. The benefits from taking Alexander Technique lessons can far exceed improved posture and reduced aches and pains it is often associated with. Any problem caused by habit can be overcome when we can first learn to think before we act. Just think of the benefits for your sport, business and personal life!

How To Learn The Alexander Technique
Without A Teacher

I am often asked whether this is possible and of course its originator, F.M. Alexander, had to! For a technique that has been around for over one hundred years there are still a limited number of teachers and these are mainly in the US and UK. So for many people the nearest Alexander Technique teacher may even be on the next continent!

I have written a program which is a sort of 'how to learn The Alexander Technique without a teacher' book. It contains a number of practical procedures that will help you to appreciate where you may be making movement (and life) harder than it really needs top be.

For more information please click here.

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