Alexander Technique Forums - All Discussions Sat, 19 May 2012 09:12:41 +0000 http://at.dodman.org/ Lussumo Vanilla 1.1.10 Introduce Yourself Here! http://at.dodman.org/discussion/21/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/21/ Thu, 20 Apr 2006 11:26:57 +0000 Angel For those just arriving to this new forum, here's the place where you can say a little bit about yourself and - if you like, your interests besides Alexander Technique.

As for myself, I'm located in California, just above San Francisco in a small town. I've been trying to write about AT since I started teacher training in 1979. Aside from teaching AT privately, I'm interested in David Bohm style Dialogue, playing the array mbira and juggling a toy called Stix. I also publish a tiny phone book and have worked as a signwriter and fine artist. You can see more about me at http://www.franis.org

Dod wanted some help with making this forum more of a happening place, so I volunteered, and here I am!]]> Questions and answers http://at.dodman.org/discussion/1/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/1/ Sat, 14 May 2005 07:17:44 +0000 dod
I think it's important to remember that while there are 'right' responses to objective questions such as 'how long does it take to train to be a teacher' or 'are there any teachers in Moscow', there are only opinions, informed or otherwise, as to 'how to direct' or 'does the Technique help with lumbago' and I would encourage everyone, no matter what their qualifications might appear to be, to speak their mind.

Opinions don't have to be 'new'. If you have something you've written elsewhere about the Alexander Technique and would like to make it public, for others to read or make comments on, go ahead and post it. Also, please add details of any events, seminars, workshops, teaching exchanges, etc, you might be organising or have heard of.

Feel free to add any site or sites you know of to the links section. If you have a comment to make concerning an existing link, go ahead and make it.

Forums and email groups can become confrontational. Usually, this is a case of a tiny minority alienating the majority. In my view, there is a clear dividing line between vigorous debate and what amounts to a slanging match. Crossing that line, posts that have no connection with the Technique and, of course, junk, are all I will endeavour to moderate.]]> Alexander Technique in a corporate setting http://at.dodman.org/discussion/77/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/77/ Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:41:55 +0000 maryderby
I am about to embark on a journey of creating an Alexander practice at a large corporation. Yes I am very excited !! I know that there are other teachers who are doing this but I cannot seem to find them!
I would like to ask questions about setting up a program...etc, etc.....So please respond if you have experience, advice or ideas!

Thank you!
Mary]]> Best/earliest age to start learning? http://at.dodman.org/discussion/64/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/64/ Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:09:18 +0000 Matty30 For any parent wanting to give their child the best opportunity in life, I would like to hear what everybody thinks is the best/earliest age for them to start learning? (i.e paying for private lessons for them)

Also, although i am not a teacher, i would like to know do teachers teach their own children? One teacher said to me they dont know any that do because it's quite intrusive. Personally, i would have liked to have grown getting lessons from my mum or dad. my old teacher before i moved, used to give sessons to her grandkids after me, they loved it, they were about 7 years old and would run in saying 'can i get on the table, nanny?!' in excitement.

thanks]]> Lack of facial and cranial development http://at.dodman.org/discussion/61/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/61/ Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:50:16 +0000 Michael
Could poor use be related to poor cranial development (evidenced in facial features) and to failure of the middle third of the face and the lower mandible to develop properly? This must surely change the whole balance of the head, and have knock-on effects throughout the body.

Why do so many people in "developed" countries need dental braces and have impacted wisdom teeth?

There's an American dentist, who was chairman of the research committee of the American Dental Association in the 1930s who had an interesting answer to this one. At the time it was thought that this must be due to "racial mixing" -- people thought almost everything was down to "race" in those days. They thought maybe a individual might have got his teeth from one "race" and his jaw from another, so that they didn't match. Price said not. He toured all around the globe looking at hunter-gatherer populations, even then disappearing, and found that living in the traditional state they had perfect, or near-perfect teeth, well-formed dental arches, and broad well-formed faces. As soon as they begun to get hold of modern foodstuffs, such as sugar and white flour, their children started to get rotten teeth -- and more than that dental arches that didn't form properly, thin narrow faces with constricted nostrils, and receding chins where the jaw hadn't developed. So it couldn't be "racial". Price said the problem had to be dietary. He found, in fact, that contrary to today's wisdom a diet high in fat-soluble vitamins (A & D) -- and hence in animal fats -- seemed to be a good thing nutritionally. All over the world wherever there were hunter-gatherer groups living on traditional diets, he found the levels of the fat soluble vitamins in the diets of *all* these groups were *ten* times as high as in the American diet of his day. (The levels of A & D are probably even lower in the average Western diet these days.)

So how about this as an explanation for some of the bad use around?

As a footnote to that, why is eyesight so much poorer with us than it is with primitives? (E.g., notice what Darwin says about the eyesight of the Tierra del Fuegians in _The Voyage of the Beagle_ -- but one could multiply references here)

Here is what one dentist says:

"Another sign of poor facial development can be detected in the eyes. When someone is looking straight at you and you can see the sclera or white of the eye, that is a tip off to a very, very under developed upper jaw and mid-facial area."

Here's an article specifically on cranial development (or the lack of it) and what the author says is its relation to general physical health and what Alexander people would call "use".

http://www.westonaprice.org/healthissues/facial-development.html

Here's Weston Price's original book:

http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/price/pricetoc.html

Some startling sets of pictures in there -- such as the pictures of the little Swiss girls from the remote Loetschental Valley with perfect teeth, broad strong faces, and large open nostrils. (The people were, apparently very strong and well formed in the body -- and no wonder the Popes chose to have a Swiss guard!) Girls from a valley a little nearer to what we fondly think of as "civilization" show rotten teeth, narrow faces, and pinched nostrils.

So what thoughts have people got on this? It looks like there's something there to me.]]> Question - pain in the sitting bone http://at.dodman.org/discussion/76/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/76/ Fri, 25 Nov 2011 07:35:16 +0000 the student
when i sit i usually lean back on the back support when i sit like i should with the AT i get a pain feeling in my sitting bones - i feel like they are sitting on the chair and there is no muscle under them like just the bone and it hurts]]> End-Gaining 2 http://at.dodman.org/discussion/15/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/15/ Wed, 15 Mar 2006 12:30:36 +0000 Malcolm Alexander Technique question http://at.dodman.org/discussion/52/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/52/ Wed, 26 Dec 2007 06:36:10 +0000 Matty30
Does anyone else out there doing the technique feel the same?

I know any AT teachers would say stop end-gaining during sex. Easy said than done. It seems when it comes to 'fight or flight' then Im in fight mode during sex. Over time things have got better and I feel things will continue to improve.

Any teacher's /students views would be much appreciated!]]> AT & OOBE http://at.dodman.org/discussion/75/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/75/ Sat, 09 Apr 2011 09:55:46 +0000 Matty30
Has anyone ever had an OOBE? (out of body experience)

I was wondering how they may relate to the Alexander Technique.

thanks!]]> head going forward and up back lengthening and widening http://at.dodman.org/discussion/74/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/74/ Tue, 22 Mar 2011 05:20:01 +0000 rajesh_chirala_2006 =========================================================
i think the head goes forward and up in relation to
the torso goes forward and up in relation to
the pelvis goes back and up in relation to
the knees goes forward and away from the pelvis

then the shoulders float at their balance location at the back of the torso.
=========================================================================
is this correct or any modification needed.?????????????????????]]> The Lost Sixth Sense http://at.dodman.org/discussion/73/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/73/ Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:13:34 +0000 Matty30
Is Kinaesthesia in Alexander Technique anything to do with the new 'sense' developed whilst wearing the FeelSpace Belt talked about on Horizon (in clip below)?
Is it the same type of sense?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tbTFy4vCz4
http://feelspace.cogsci.uni-osnabrueck.de/en/index.html

Doctor on David Garlick on kinetic sense:
http://www.alexandertechnique.it/Alexander/ATb_en.htm

many thanks.]]> 10 myths about Alexander technique http://at.dodman.org/discussion/72/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/72/ Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:30:25 +0000 Matty30 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UA1uGnUqb0]]> MRCP II MADE EASY http://at.dodman.org/discussion/71/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/71/ Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:46:48 +0000 kay halloway My husband who is a musician loves it as well as my two kids as each story is like a series of House MD. He describes the FRMI ( long before SALT ) and the importance of mindfulness in one's posture as well as the fact that the human body can pharmaceutically synthesize all the drugs needed on an organic basis. I hope that this is helpful and supportive of a field which has the patronage of The Prince of Wales.]]> Alexander Technique and hormones http://at.dodman.org/discussion/70/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/70/ Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:19:20 +0000 Matty30 Could someone tell me if Alexander Technique has an effect on 'balancing' hormone levels in the body, if there some are too high or low?
If so, could you give a (scientific) reason for this i.e what exactly starts happening to the body after a lesson and why it effects the hormones.
Many thanks]]> Should it ever be painful? http://at.dodman.org/discussion/69/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/69/ Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:59:51 +0000 harriet Research into Alexander Technique http://at.dodman.org/discussion/68/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/68/ Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:08:07 +0000 Matty30
I was watching this documentary about meditation. As you see, it shows how theres research going on regarding how meditation affects the brain.

Are there any studys like this for AT, regarding MRI brain scanning/structure I mean?

I hope so,
if not then a teacher should write to Dr.Sara Lazar in Massachusetts to get some done!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEyaEa-VcBQ&feature=related]]> STAT http://at.dodman.org/discussion/2/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/2/ Sat, 14 May 2005 07:24:34 +0000 dod
www.stat.co.uk]]> Changing the way you talk... http://at.dodman.org/discussion/35/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/35/ Wed, 25 Oct 2006 21:59:05 +0000 Angel
We were writing on the introduction thread when dod made an observation about himself as he was reading someone else's story...

dod wrote:
A personal trait of my own surfaced as I was reading your post. I thought I saw where it was going (you were walking towards a reflection of yourself) and responded to that before I had got more than half way.

I find I do that a lot of the time, especially when people are talking to me. I then take over their part of the conversation, just to ensure it goes the way I have anticipated.


dod, I agree that our mannerisms of style tend to take over, just to be on the safe side. :lol:

There seems to be a rainbow of timing and second-guessing that is much more distinctly divergent in people's styles of speaking than anyone would first imagine. Also, they can be surprising similarities. For instance, I'm from a Californian subculture - and dod is not. We Californians tend to interrupt other people to show that we are in rapport with others. We Californians as a group also tend to finish sentences and imagine where speakers are going with their important points of meaning.

CA speakers also allow others to interrupt us, and suffer possibly never getting out what we meant to say. We tend to allow ourselves to be too easily interrupted and distracted.

Nicholas (dod) and I would be a very exaggerated combination - because he would interrupt me, I would interrupt him, and neither of us would get out what we meant to say. In fact, we'd probably be incorrigible together!

Why change a thing such as this about the way we speak? Sometimes we are talking to others who speak the same language, but grew up in other subcultures. Where I live it's not as obvious as the differences between the Brits and USA cultures, but more unique and subtle. It's as if each person's family grew up in their own subculture. Someone might see interrupting as an example of disrespect. So, for people such as that, it would be handy to stop ourselves from interrupting others, or to just be flexible.

But...dod and I wouldn't want to do that. This situation used to happen to me quite a bit, and it wasn't even dod's fault. :oops:

Putting my challenges into a positive question, (another way I've changed my style of speaking) I'd ask something for that purpose like this:

How could I provide for the warm fuzzy feelings of rapport through interrupting and also remember what the two of us were saying despite having both gone gladly off on an interesting tangent?

One solution that worked for me was to temporarily carry around a little notepad. When I'd get interrupted, (or when I was in a group of people who all wanted to talk,) I'd write down my point. Then I could be patient until I could eventually get my point out, because I wasn't likely to forget something I'd noted. This exercise of using a notepad made me interrupt people much less and be more patient to hear what they were saying. It also made me unashamedly be interrupted and gladly follow any tangent. Eventually, my ability to retain my point past being distracted from it grew wider as my memory improved through the use of this notepad, and now I no longer needed the notepad for that purpose.]]> Footwear http://at.dodman.org/discussion/59/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/59/ Fri, 12 Jun 2009 07:17:10 +0000 Michael
The issue of unsuitable running shoes seems to be slowly emerging into public consciousness thanks partly to the book _Born to Run_ by Christopher McDougall. This had some fairly good reviews in the press one of which, in the _Daily Mail_, was linked quite widely:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1170253/The-painful-truth-trainers-Are-expensive-running-shoes-waste-money.html

Then one finds out there's a fair bit going on. Some sports people are going barefoot or experimenting with the Vibram FiveFingers footgloves. Terra Plana, started by a "rogue member" of the Clarks family is actually (unlike Clarks) offering shoes that don't hurt the foot. (Interestingly, it turns out his "Vivo" shoes emerged out of a suggestion made by the Alexander teacher Richard Brennan to his son -- that he play tennis barefoot.)

And reading around and following links, one eventually finds there's a can of worms here. It's not just sports shoes. There's a fair bit of research out there implicating ordinary shoes in foot (and probably ankle, knee, and hip) damage. For example, there is this study from the University of the Witwatersrand:

http://web.wits.ac.za/NewsRoom/NewsItems/feet.htm

From the perspective of the shoes, not the feet, there are also some interesting articles from a Dr. Rossi, who seems to have been a podiatrist, a contributor to the Encylopaedia Britannica, and an advisor to the shoe industry -- and one has to wonder why they're not taking his advice.

This is perhaps his most enlightening article:

http://nwfootankle.com/files/rossiWhyShoesMakeNormalGaitImpossible.pdf

But there are more here (including "Children’s Footwear: Launching Site for Adult Foot Ills"):

http://nwfootankle.com/home/FootHealth/drill/2/110

Among the things I learnt were:

* that "toespring" (a device to compensate for inflexible soles) intereferes with gait;

* that most shoes are built on the wrong axis;

* that most are too narrow, forcing the toes in;

* that most lasts deliberately (and unforgivably) create a kind of dip intended to allow the middle of the ball of the foot to sink, so that narrower shoes can be worn;

* that most are too heavy (12 oz. for women 14-16 oz. for men would be better);

* that while women's shoes are worse and more foot-distorting, in some respects men's shoes are worse than women's, being more enclosed (thereby allowing less free movement and less circulation of air -- as well as interefing with blood supply if laced tight), heavier, and with thicker and less flexible soles;

* that "Relative to body height, a one-inch heel worn by a child of seven is the equivalent of a two-inch heel worn by an adult. So almost all children above age seven are wearing “high” heels the equivalent of two inches in height -- and neither the shoe industry nor the doctors has any idea of this absurdity occurring before their eyes".


I hardly know what to say. It's truly staggering. If people only knew, the rage against tobacco companies would be nothing to how they'd feel about the shoe industry. So far as they know, their feet hurt a bit. What they don't perceive is that their footwear could be causing bone damage (c.f. the South African study) and making natural gait impossible. The only acceptable shoe from the podiatric point of view, might be something like the North American Indian moccasin -- no heel, wide, soft material, flexible sole.

One thing that surprises me is that I've never heard much on shoes from Alexander people. There's the odd remark about ladies' high-heels, and there's the injunction to remove your shoes at the start of a lesson. That seems to be about it. I can't even recall any comments in any of F. M. Alexander's books.'

But it looks like shoes have a lot to do with how the natural gait becomes messed up -- in Rossi's words "Shoes Make 'Normal' Gait Impossible". If chairs are one of the worse things we do to children, I have to wonder if putting them in the currently available crop of shoes is perhaps *the* worst.]]> Become ambidextrous? http://at.dodman.org/discussion/67/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/67/ Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:19:33 +0000 Matty30 I was wondering if it would be seen to be beneficial to learn to become ambidextrous in the quest to be 'balanced'?
Is there any mention of this in AT?
Im right-handed but have learnt to use the mouse left-handed when a few years ago i started getting aches and pains in my right arm. I was thinking about trying to take this further with writing etc.
cheers]]> 'No direction' teaching http://at.dodman.org/discussion/66/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/66/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:21:51 +0000 Matty30 I have noticed on the ITM Alexander Technique Teacher Training Course website (which is a four year- 1 weekend per month course) they dont teach directions..

http://www.alexandertechnique-itm.org/contributions-mag/april-2003/content-april-03/contri-april03-cc.html

I dont know if this means silent lessons but I was wondering what people make of that choice.

I have mix feelings on the matter.]]> The England Cricket team and other sports. http://at.dodman.org/discussion/65/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/65/ Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:27:56 +0000 Matty30 Im listening to the Ashes on the radio and the commentors are making big deal of the England players, especially Bell, looking nervous and playing very nervously.
I was wondering what an alexander technique lesson prior to the start would have on the players?
Should they all get lessons before a match?
Is a sudden introduction to the technique prior to sporting event a good idea?
I would think it could make them more relaxed and more focussed.
However, my teacher once said that at the beginning of learning the technique, it can change someones performance for the worse. Specifically, What I mean by that is, I said I was going to play Snooker and he said it could make it my shots slightly harder due to the changes to the balance to my body, in other words, I would still be used to the old way but my new movement would be doing the shots.
So if this the case, would someone involved with 'precision sports' like Stephen Hendry be best to start learning the technique AFTER their careers have finished as oppose to the middle of their career, to avoid a potential dip in form (and loss of earnings)?

Also, the same question goes to other sports like long distance running, boxing etc?
Surely with endurance sports, the sooner they start learning the better?

thanks]]> Arms-Control Breakdown http://at.dodman.org/discussion/63/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/63/ Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:56:01 +0000 Michael
"... it’s really about a culture gone insane, favoring victory over health and ambition over balance. Our relationship with sports and youth sports in particular has become a cultural obsessive-compulsive disorder. We would be right to call it a form of socially-accepted child abuse, except that we, as adults, treat ourselves in a similar fashion, driving ourselves far past the point of balance."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/magazine/09littleleague-t.html]]> Wave Stool http://at.dodman.org/discussion/62/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/62/ Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:52:03 +0000 decoy
I do suffer from occasional lower back pain and I suspect my sitting habits contribute to this.]]> does the right thing do itself? http://at.dodman.org/discussion/60/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/60/ Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:46:18 +0000 alex
The phrase implies:
1) that there is a "right thing" waiting to happen
2) that it is innate, so you don't really have to learn it.

The phrase is, in my opinion, intimately connected with the concept of a primary control.

However, from what I've read, reflex patterns are malleable at the deepest levels. This suggests that when you learn a habit, you learn it at the deepest level. Therefore unlearning a habit also requires learning something new at the deepest level.

I can see that in practice, it is helpful to tell people that "the right thing does itself" to basically calm them down. Most people tighten up when they think about changing a habit. If the goal is to reduce excess tension and increase efficiency, then tightening up is just the wrong response. So it is helpful for these people to think that there is a right thing just waiting for them as they let go of a pattern of postural tone basically to keep them calm.

But taking the phrase literally may fly in the face of physiology.

The alternative view is that we are nothing more than a collection adaptations to our environment. Some of these adaptations may not work so well in the long run and need to be reconsidered if we want to get the most out of life and/or reduce chronic pain. But the process of change will require taking a smart look about what patterns you want to change, as well as how and why you want to go about changing them.

So . . . what do people think - does the right thing REALLY do itself, or is it just a useful image? What does it really mean?
And . . . can you be a true Alexandrian without believing that the right thing does itself?]]> Dizzy (during session) http://at.dodman.org/discussion/58/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/58/ Sun, 31 May 2009 18:12:29 +0000 bradls fainted, had the sensation of blacking out preceded by a long moment of nausea.
We took a rest, I got flushed and began a cold sweat. Ok, I was freaked. My
teacher was surprised and said it was odd for a young person in good physical
shape and health to experience this but said not to worry, that it sometimes
happens.

Anyone ever have this happen before?]]> Eyebody http://at.dodman.org/discussion/42/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/42/ Thu, 15 Feb 2007 14:32:23 +0000 dod
http://eyebody.com/]]> Pilates and Alexander Technique http://at.dodman.org/discussion/49/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/49/ Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:26:17 +0000 alan
In that time I have not progressed much at all, as a result I am thinking of doing Pilates to complement the AT lessons.

However, my AT teacher warns against doing pilates becuase he says it only stengthens and therefore shortens the muscles in the stomach area, and long term pliates practice can lead to kyphosis. Surely this cannot be true !]]> Wii fit http://at.dodman.org/discussion/57/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/57/ Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:44:13 +0000 geef
I've put in over 100 hours with this device and think that it is an amazing concept but at least in my case flawed. (It may be more helpful to people with less pronounced problems). It's problem seems to be that it may reinforce existing issues. For example, I watched a friend do the soccer heading game which involves exclusively moving from left to right. But his habit was that when he moved to the left he also moved backwards. The game does not penalize this so he continued to do it.

Although I'm frustrated with the device, I see great potential in it. If the software in it could be made compatible with ideas in AT or physical therapy the amount of people that it could help would be astounding. I have been wondering if this is an area where I could help. I have programming experience and if I could create software for this system that could prevent people from going through some of the difficulties that I've had then it seems like a good direction for me.]]> The use of the hips http://at.dodman.org/discussion/53/ http://at.dodman.org/discussion/53/ Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:35:32 +0000 dod
At a certain point, turning one way but being propelled in the opposite direction by the sea, I felt a stab of pain in my left hip. I thought little of it then, though the next day I noticed a dragging sensation whenever I took a step. I shrugged this off as a minor injury, expecting it to settle down over time.

By early summer, I belatedly realised that what I had dismissed as an irritation, necessitating me nursing a hip that would heal in due course, was developing into a fully fledged limp that if I was not careful I would grow so used to I would cease to notice.

I considered it was largely because of the awareness I had developed through Alexander work that I could so easily recognise myself masking an incidence of pain by limiting my mobility; but I was at a loss to understand why that same acuity was unable to alert me to why I still had a problem.

I was convinced I had injured myself in a way that required time, rather than any change of behaviour, to heal: but when several months had gone by, and my condition had got worse rather than better, I began to suspect it might be due to something I was doing. But what? Was I moving any differently now (apart from limiting my stride to avoid pain) than before the accident? I hardly thought so: but if I wasn’t, did that mean I had been using myself badly since well before going surfing, and the pain I was experiencing, and possibly the injury itself, were the result of less than optimal conditions, then?

I reconsidered how I walked, and could find nothing wrong. I did what I thought I should to approach matters from as pure an Alexander angle as possible. I inhibited and directed conscientiously, with greater motivation than usual. However, if anything, the condition got worse; and the limp became more pronounced the more I tried to mask this. If I stopped myself limping, I gasped as I walked, so acute was the pain.

At this point, I thought perhaps I had acquired an inherent weakness in my hip that needed strengthening. I started doing various stretches and exercises. These appeared at first to be helping, giving me a day or two’s grace, before a seemingly inevitable relapse occurred.

I found the entire episode puzzling. I was convinced I was walking correctly, as I understood the term, and I could see no reason for the pain to continue beyond a reasonable period of recuperation. My Alexander conception of walking may have been fairly simple, but it was, I thought, unimpeachable.

During training, we would practice in front of mirrors, slowly lifting a foot off the ground, and noticing the tell tale signs of collapsing into the weight bearing hip. We learned to curtail this tendency, so we could maintain the stability of our trunks while standing on first one leg, then the other. It was impressed upon us how important it was not to lose height at any stage.

Put into practice when walking, this made for what appeared a light, effortless, free flowing progression, with the overall emphasis on ‘coming up’ out of the hips at all times. This struck me at the time as sound logic.

It now ‘felt’ that way, too, having become for me a well oiled habit; although these days it no longer seemed so fluid. I strove to detect where I might be going wrong, but could register nothing untoward.

On the assumption I was doing something amiss, this struck me as an excellent example of the main shortcoming of the Technique, at least as a means of self help: the impossibility of being able to stop doing a wrong thing without first needing to become aware of it, in detail; and the lack of any well defined method for doing that.

I could inhibit my initial response to the impulse to walk, and I could then give my directions, but as soon as I took a step, I became reliant on habit again - which, in my case, I was beginning to suspect was a bad habit.

How was it possible to advance from a state of unknowing wrong doing, without comprehending what was wrong, first? The obvious answer - to visit a teacher (though that, in fact, would have been unlikely to help me) - belies the expectation in Alexander circles that poor habits can be inhibited without our having to have them pointed out to us, or for us to need to know about, still less experience, them, directly.

Given that the linchpin of the Technique is inhibition, I think we grossly misunderstand its way of working. It is overly simplistic to believe that by stopping what we are doing, or refusing to initiate anything new, in order to ‘give directions’, we are somehow able to then go into motion without engaging our usual subconscious habit patterns.

The sanguine attitude encapsulated by dependence on ‘blanket inhibition’ is, unfortunately, far from uncommon in the Alexander world. To believe we have a means of controlling our reactions by the simple expedient of delaying their onset, seems to me to foster complacency and stagnation, both personally and professionally.

The truth is, the only way we can inhibit - that is, not do - any pattern of interference, is by first recognising it for what it is, kinaesthetically and intellectually, and then consciously deciding not to repeat it. Otherwise, we might as well be inhibiting any number of imaginary habits as one that does exist but that we don’t know of.

In the context of walking, I was brought up short by my own assumptions. I had no notion of what I did - what habit I persisted in - that could be done without. I felt I had pared the process to the bone. That, perhaps, was my problem. Maybe it was not so much that I was doing anything superfluous, but that I was preventing what needed to happen from taking place.

It was at this point that I remembered an exercise I had come across a couple of years earlier in Thomas Hanna’s book, Somatics, which specifically covered walking. I had done the exercise a few times, and had found it intriguing. Unfortunately, I had let the insights elude me over the passage of time and could recall few of the details.

It shocks me that although I was in pain, knew I had a copy of the exercise sitting on my shelf, and suspected it might be helpful, I had to remind myself repeatedly over a period of many weeks, before I finally took action. This was partly because I was most aware of the pain when away from home, and tended to forget about it at other times; but I suspect an alternative motive might have been an unwillingness to concede my use was at fault.

Eventually, I set a reminder on my mobile phone to alert me at a time which I knew would find me sitting at my desk, within easy reach of the photocopied pages. I remember taking them from my shelf and leaving them in an obvious place, where they again sat untouched for another few weeks.

Finally, one day, the pain was so excruciating, I hobbled home, picked up the sheaf of papers, and thought to myself I would give it a try. Ten or fifteen minutes later, I was parading around the garden, asking my wife if I looked silly ‘walking this way’, and wondering how it could possibly be that the pain in my hip was so noticeably absent.

For anyone interested in knowing what the full exercise is, I suggest reading Thomas Hanna’s book. Somatics, along with Feldenkries, from which it evolved, and the Technique itself, are the only approaches I know that truly address the way we use ourselves in everyday life. Somatics and Feldenkries may emphasis exercises for increasing awareness and mobility, whereas Alexander relies on changes in thinking to produce the same effects; but the common ground is unmistakable.

Having had the advantage of putting Hanna’s insight (readily conveyed through the exercise) into practice over a reasonable period of time, I am satisfied I now know where I was going wrong. By dint of unthinking habit, initially, and by later paying undue attention to ‘length’, I believe I had lost a large part of the mobility in my hips; and that this loss of mobility led to fixation of my pelvis, with concomitant effects elsewhere.

Walking is such a fundamental part of our functioning, it is hard to evaluate where or when we begin to go wrong. Presumably, when I first took an interest in the subject, I had inherited from my past much the same acquired stiffness, or set of habits, as anyone else of my age and cultural background, about which I knew little more than how I had learned to walk in the first place.

An interest that began when I first started having Alexander lessons continued when I went on to become a teacher. During this period, I learned to recognise certain ways I, and others, appeared to interfere with what I came to think of as good use while walking. Over time, I cultivated, and passed on, a new, and I thought better, way of approaching the subject.

I remained somewhat uneasy about dissecting the activity of walking, from an Alexander standpoint, because I didn’t want the process of giving undue attention to the individual components of such a wonderfully coordinated activity to interfere with its operation, causing it to become stilted. This applied as much to myself as any student I may have been teaching.

I tended to fall back on the need to maintain a free neck, a poised head and a lengthening and widening back, and for the knees to go forward from the hips and away from each other; but what did that mean, in actuality, when walking?

Time and again, I had seen Alexander teachers - and copied them myself, as soon as I became one - putting their hands on their students’ necks, and leading them forwards into walking, as if head direction alone would influence and condition everything beneath it. Of course, it does, to some extent; but although we talk about being free in the hips, knees and ankles, we don’t like to consider this directly, but tend instead to assume our ‘freedom of neck’ will ensure it for us.

Hanna’s exercise forced me to conclude this assumption was far from the case. At its core, lies the suggestion that the hips need to be addressed much more directly than we might like. He has various lying down procedures to amply demonstrate this. They seemed uncontroversial until I stood up and tried putting them into practice. Only then was I able to realise that what I had been doing was not at all what I had thought I was doing.

We will all be aware of following behind someone whose buttocks veer freely from side to side as they walk. Occasionally, this seems, and probably is, exaggerated for effect. Essentially, though, it is what Hanna suggests we emulate.

The best way to experience this, without taking the trouble to run through the full exercise (although, clearly, this is to be recommended) is to begin by standing with feet hip width apart. Then, allow the weight to be gradually taken by one leg - say, the left. Do this normally, and simply notice what happens. Then, try it on the other side, taking ample time. Now, go from one side to the other, standing on each foot alternately.

Having established what is habitual, try this, instead. Gradually take the weight on the left foot, by allowing the left hip to slide out to the side, and to rise somewhat, while the right hip drops, causing the left buttock to move backwards and sideways. Don’t force this; simply allow it to happen.

There is a natural limit to the possibility of movement here which, when it is reached, will allow no further adjustment without a degree of force. Then, the right foot may be lifted from the ground easily.

Try this on the other side, with the right hip sliding sideways, the right side of the pelvis moving upwards in space and the left side downwards; and the right buttock going backwards and sideways, as the full weight is taken on the right leg. Then try moving from one side to the other, while allowing the sliding movement to happen alternately; and finally try walking on the spot.

Essentially, the feeling should be one of the buttocks swaying easily from side to side, as the hips glide first one way, then the other.

Now, try walking forwards, integrating this pelvic roll into the movement. What should be noteworthy is the effect this has on the lower spine, not dissimilar to that of the moving crown of a tree influencing the upper part of the trunk. Remember to emphasise, without in any way forcing, the buttock movement. It is normal for this to feel unnaturally exaggerated, at first.

Now, go back to the old way of doing things. First, stand still; and then shift weight to the left side, as if a step was about to be taken, and notice what happens. It is important not to pretend, here, how different one way was from the other, by allowing the ‘new’ experience to cloud the ‘old’.

Do the same on the right side. See if the exact moment can be pinpointed when weight is about to be taken on one leg and yet the hip and buttock are not allowed to slide out to the side.

The question is, what prevents the pelvis from shifting; what interference is being introduced into the hips to stop them sliding sideways?

In my case, the answer was a tightening of the muscles surrounding the pelvis, in order to hold it in a fixed position, prior to and throughout the act of walking. Without realising it, I was expending considerable effort in maintaining the apparent integrity of my trunk - effectively binding my pelvic and thoracic regions into one - by refusing to allow my pelvis to ‘oscillate’, or my hips to ‘rotate’, as my legs swung. In other words, I was turning a versatile ball and socket joint into little more than a utilitarian flat hinge.

In Hanna’s view, this is a prime (and very common) example of poor use. My suspicion is that Alexander enthusiasts, far from being immune to such interference, are more susceptible to it than most.

I believe we have become obsessed with remaining ‘up’, at all costs. When someone exhibits patterns of general collapse, our emphasis is on helping them regain their height and poise. Working with them getting in and out of a chair, or in virtually any other setting where both feet remain on the ground, it is possible to encourage a degree of longitudinal (by which I mean forward and backward) freedom in the hips that need involve no more - and conceivably much less - latitudinal (or sideways) freedom than they already enjoy.

This is partly because both legs are equal weight bearers, and any latitudinal freedom of movement - or lack of it - is going to appear far more subtle, and far less important, than longitudinal freedom; but it is also because latitudinal freedom is likely to masquerade under the guise of ’shortening’, and therefore, if recognised, be actively discouraged.

When it comes to walking, we naturally want to transfer the ease we - or our students - have cultivated when sitting, or standing, to this activity, too. The major emphasis, as always, is on not ‘pulling down’. So, when transferring weight from both legs to a single leg, it seems axiomatic that height should not be lost, and the best way of achieving this is by the injunction to the brain and body to not slide sideways into the hips, or allow either side of the pelvis to lift. In Hanna’s view, such sliding and lifting is precisely what we need to encourage.

Interestingly, playing with this concept in activities other than walking provides an experience of freedom in the hip that is markedly different to what is usually the case when merely ‘thinking up’.

One way of testing this is to investigate what happens when going from standing to sitting. In my experience, there is a major, if subtle, difference between allowing the hips to slide sideways in tandem (which barely registers as a movement) and preventing them from doing this (which is our likely default mode) when letting the knees bend.

In the first case, the consequent bend at the hips, following the initial knee bend, happens in accordance with the requirements of balance, almost as a reflex, without any need for conscious decision making; and this in turn appears to organise similarly automatic changes in the lower back.

In the second case, neither of these occurs, at least not spontaneously. The knees bend, and then the hips are separately instructed to ‘release’. These instructions can seem, without being, inextricably linked to the knee bend; and the release is, in fact, only partial, containing orders for the hips to remain latitudinally locked.

Nor do the lower back changes happen in the same way. When standing, we have a visible inward curve in our lumber region. As we bend our knees, pass through various stages of monkey, and sit, this curve flattens out. It appears to me that the flattening occurs as the gradual but inevitable consequence of allowing - and continuing to allow - a full range of movement in the hips, far more readily than by partially locking there. When we prevent latitudinal freedom of movement in the hips, the curve in the lower back seems to have to adjust itself in arrears, as a conscious, or semi conscious, afterthought.

Curiously, when we allow the hips a full range of movement prior to letting the knees bend, not only is there an immediate flexing of the joint, and a follow on adjustment in the lower back, but the knees can be experienced moving ‘forwards from the hips and away from each other’ in a most distinctive way. This is quite a different sensation to that felt when the hips remain partially locked.

I hardly dare speculate on the number of times I have intoned my ‘knee directions’ while rigidly maintaining conditions in my hips that ensured those directions could not be carried out.

It is clear to me - though the perceptible difference is more subtle still - that when simply standing, or sitting, or, in fact, when doing anything involving no major muscular movement, the resting state of the hips can either be one of remaining open to the full range of potential movement, or of imposing a limit on that range.

I have no hesitation in saying I now prefer the former state; but that my default mode is probably still the latter.

My impression is that a person who habitually interferes with the free operation of his or her hips when walking probably interferes with them most of the rest of the time, too. In other words, even when they are at rest, the muscular lock that prevents their hips from sliding out to either side will be engaged.

I imagine a majority of adults have this lock switched on most of their waking lives, utilising, as Hanna puts it, “unconsciously contracted muscles”, to lessen their freedom of movement. This would include a majority of Alexander students, who are likely to be contracting these same muscles, though for different reasons - not wanting to ‘collapse’ into the hips - even more assiduously than before they encountered the Technique.

This is because, no matter how much upward thinking takes place, it will not, of its own accord, cause any latitudinal ‘unlocking’ to take place. On the contrary, it is likely, particularly in cases where the initial locking, from the normal process of habituation, is not so severe, to actively encourage it, in the name of upward ‘direction’.

From an external point of view, what does latitudinal hip freedom look like? Is visible height lost, or bodily integrity compromised? Is it a risible spectacle?

When walking, I used to think the ideal was maintaining an almost perfectly level and (with due allowance for the mechanics of respiration) static upper body - from the hips to the head - while my legs pedalled me forwards, rather like the pistons of a steam train. Looked at in a waist high mirror, I would appear to be moving on air. The top of my head would barely deviate from an imaginary line of height drawn on that mirror.

Now, I’m finding this an increasingly disconcerting concept. I’m sure a rolling gait is not to be encouraged, where the entire body lurches from side to side, but a freely moving pelvis does make sense. In Hanna’s words:

‘The pelvis and hips move freely as the weight shifts from one side to another, but the head and upper trunk remain quietly stable and in balance.’

It disconcerts me even more to realise I needed the stimulus of pain to teach me something so obvious.

In motion, this can look different, but so it should; though principally when walking. Looking in a mirror with the imaginary line across it, I would expect to see my head dipping and rising somewhat as I move, and my hips swaying in time. In most other cases, freedom of the hips is unlikely to be objectively discernible.

Although actual height may be momentarily lost, during rhythmic movement, Alexandrian ‘height’ need not be compromised, so long as this is not confused with maintaining an absolute distance between the top of the skull and the tailbone, at all times. My conception of ‘length’ is no longer dependant on keeping my pelvis strictly aligned to my upper trunk, so much as allowing it the fluidity to move in accordance with the demands of the rest of my body, not least my legs.

Hanna makes the interesting observation that as our hips tighten and we move less and less freely, we begin to walk ‘like old people’; but that this isn’t a necessary consequence of age at all, but only the consequence of habit.

This struck a chord with me. I have an acquaintance, around my own age, who my children deride for ‘walking like an old man’. I hadn’t noticed this, and I wondered to what extent my conception of how people ought to walk had been adversely coloured by my Alexander conditioning. This made me question in turn whether the common criticism of Alexander enthusiasts looking stiff, as a result of what they have learned, may have as much to do with partially locked hips as over enthusiastically ‘freed’ necks.

I suspect we all start walking from an early age as freely as Hanna suggests and that from various causes we begin to restrict the freedom of our hips. Presumably, we do this at much the same time and speed and for much he same reasons as we tighten our necks and limit our breathing.

If we don’t want to acquire the restricted movement patterns typical of old age - which are clearly evident on most continents - many might think their best recourse would be to visit an Alexander teacher. It would be a shame, in such cases, if the tightening hips associated with limited freedom while walking, were passed over in favour of an excessive emphasis on not losing ‘height’.]]>