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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Learn by getting it wrong
When people come for Alexander Technique lessons to improve their posture, health and well being, it is common for them to try and do it right. They stand up so that I can put my hands on their neck and shoulders to see how their muscles are working and they try and stand correctly. However, it will be understood, that their 'interpretation or sense of what is 'right' with regards to posture is bound to be affected by their habitual stance.
A great many people who come for sessions have a stoop, twist or some other tensional habit that affects their posture. But if you ask a stooped person to stand up tall, they will exaggerate some form of posture which they 'feel' to be upright, but to the outsider we can see that they are not doing what they think they are doing. Their sense of what is 'right' is affected by their lifetime experience of habit. When they have Alexander Technique lessons, I guide them with my hands, showing them how to release tension so they start to come up; this new quality can feel quite 'wrong' in comparison to what they have been used to. What they have previously been doing with their posture has felt right (even if it was painful), otherwise they would not do it. Now the new way of standing, walking or bending feels wrong, but only in relation to what they have done before. Eventually as we progress with our sessions, the new way starts to feel right and if they stood in the old way, that would feel wrong. Their senses become more accurate.
FM Alexander had this same problem as he was trying to resolve his vocal problems as a young actor, having not had much help from doctors or vocal specialists. He deduced that he was doing something in his manner of speaking that caused him to lose his voice on stage. He quickly found he could not trust his feelings, so he got a big cheval mirror in front of him; eventually he got three mirrors so he could see all around himself from different angles. He found that what he thought was right, was clearly wrong.
When we have habits, doing something with less effort than usual, in better balance and freer poise can feel terribly wrong. So, in order to learn and change our posture we have to have the attitude of experimenting to see what happens if we do it differently. We need to let the teacher guide us and be prepared for a new experience. Every movement of walking, sitting or standing in an Alexander Technique lesson should be done with the attitude of experimentation. It is not about trying to get it right. It is about seeing what happens if we do it differently. We can make mistakes, but these can be most helpful as we learn from them. Also if we make a mistake, it is certainly going to be different from our normal way of doing things so this too is helping us get out of our bad habits.
We learn by experimenting. We learn by getting it wrong. Indeed the more problems we have to overcome, the more we learn. It is often said in Alexander teacher training circles, that the teachers who have had the greatest difficulties to overcome themselves, make the best teachers. I wish I had a few more problems!
It's always a good idea to have an open mind to see what happens if we do it differently. The Alexander Technique lesson is always about experimenting; no matter how well we are performing or moving,....what happens if we do it differently, with even less effort etc?
With regards to our posture, or a skill such as violin playing, sport, or other activity, never try and get it right. Experiment. Watch experts who you know have good skill in the activity. Absorb their movement, their freedom of poise, grace, co-ordination. With regards to posture, watch young children playing and notice their free and agile poise. Watch your Alexander teacher. Experiment and be prepared to get it wrong. That's the way to learn.
"I have learned more from my mistakes than from my successes." Sir Humphry Davy 1778-1829 English chemist and inventor
