Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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Patience
Patience is a virtue. Yes? Depends on your view as it could be seen as a handicap in certain situations. Sometimes clients say to me that I must have great patience to teach the Alexander Technique where the personal changes are gradual and progress takes time. But this is not how I see it. Indeed patience doesn't come into it.
In today's world we are result orientated. We have financial targets to meet, schedules to complete, deals to be won, matches to win, weight to lose and money to earn. We 'need' the new car and our image status depends on results.....for many of us, but not all. Today's demanding lifestyle puts untold pressures on achievement. And I'm not saying this is wrong. That's the way it is.
But there are different ways of approaching a task. One is to go for the end result, blinkered to all else. The other is to work on the process during the activity and let the end result take care of itself. The former is 'end gaining' while the latter is more considerate to the present moment. I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't have an end result in mind. Indeed I advocate clearly believing in what we want, having a vision, visualising the positive outcome to achieve our goals. This does not preclude the possibility that having done this and visualised our successful outcome, that we don't give our full attention to the task in hand and work on the actual process that will take us there. The thing is to be open to opportunities as it would be equally foolish to blinker ourselves in a process so we do not see the gifts that may come our way. New opportunities can present themselves at every turn in life, often when we're not expecting them. It is also foolish to be so 'blinkered' on our end objective that we miss the great chance to have something better or bigger. Tunnel vision doesn't allow the receptivity and openess to new opportunities that may present themselves.
I play the violin, at least I 'try' to play it. As it happens, I often make a better sound if I stop 'trying' and just damn well 'play it' or 'let it happen'. 'Trying gets in the way'. Sometimes we can just let our subconscious work it out. If we have been able to 'feed' our minds with good examples to copy then we have a wealth of information that goes beyond articulation. I watch archival film footage of early 20th century violinists to inspire my abilities. The same approach will work in golf, swimming, public speaking and any other activity you choose. This is almost akin to research and will inform our abilities. It gives a bedrock of knowledge.
However, when we work on the task in hand, it does us no good at all to be worrying about the end result because that's not what we're working on. The end will get there when the time comes further down the line. At this present time we are at a different stage and that's what we should think about. In 1923 when Yehudi Menuhin found instant fame at the age of seven with his virtuosic performance of Mendelssohn's violin concerto, he wasn't concerned about the grand finale in the final movement until he got there. As a performer he gave his total and complete attention to each and every second he played, and none other. The end came as a wonderful end after all other parts of the piece were played. The ending is nothing without the precluding passages. The same could be said for most books, films or plays. The end is stronger, more complete and more meaningful for what has previously occurred. When playing golf it does no good to be worrying about the ball going in the hole as this will almost certainly cause us to take our eye off the ball at the crucial moment. (this example was used in FM Alexander's own book 'The Use of the Self'.)
Most marathon runners will work along similar lines; you don't get to a quick time by rushing your training. it takes long and many sweaty hours of slowly building up. Marathon runners work on the process; it's the slow and measured build up, pace, rhythm and schedule that counts.
When I give Alexander Technique lessons, I may have an idea of 'how' this person may be able to change and how they can benefit. But I put such considerations out of my mind in order to think about the situation in hand at this present moment. What is she doing with her muscles right now? How is she balancing, tensing, shortening, or how is she freeing up, lengthening and broadening in stature. We work on the present condition and eventually we get to where we're going. I wouldn't pretend to know how and in what manner she will change next as that would be setting up an anticipation of an outcome that is likely to be wrong. Nature will take its own course. We need to be open to all possibilities. So we work, and let the end result take care of itself. This way, we arrive (if one can ever arrive anywhere in this work) wherever we get to. But our main consideration needs to be at the present moment.
By working on the situation at hand, without concerns about the end results is not being patient. It's a different approach where the focus is not on the end result but on the process.
