Only human after all....
This afternoon I met up with friend, fellow AT teacher and manager of the Pimlico Centre for the Alexander Technique, Susanna. We talked about a lot of things...but one of the early parts of the conversation was about how we AT teachers are human. We do not use our bodies perfectly all the time. Or, we may have bits of our anatomy that we are still working on. For example, those clients who come regularly to lessons with me will know I have a peculiar knot of tension in my jaw / neck which causes me to "twitch" when I am teaching. Also, I frequently wake up with tension somewhere in my body. I might slump a bit now and then. Perfect "use of the self" for 100% of the time is only possible if you are some sort of robot, or live a very, very quiet life (I do not).
But the point is, I have learned this set of tools called the Alexander Technique. This amazing set of tools allows you to do a couple of things:
1) They allow you to keep a bit of your brain on what you are doing as you are doing it, so that you can prevent yourself from falling too far down your own particular "ditch of pain" or "ditch of tension", whatever that may be. So I can go to a meeting, or sit at my computer, or go out for a drink with friends and keep a little bit of my brain on what I am doing in order to stop myself from becoming over-tense as I am doing it. I have learned what to watch out for. This way I don't fall into my own ditch, or if I do, I don't slide all the way to the bottom.....
2) These tools called the Alexander Technique also allow you to reset yourself to pain-free, or climb out of your personal ditch, more quickly. In other words, when I become aware that I haven't been paying as much attention as I perhaps could to the use of myself I can do some lying down, or I can sit quietly and go through my directions, in order to climb back out of my personal ditch and back into the sunlight.
These tools accompany you on life's journey, and you learn to use them with a little bit more skill day by day. So while I may still have a peculiar bit of jaw tension, I tell you, my lower back gives me no bother whatsoever these days. Over time you get better.
If these words make you wonder how you can use your skills a bit more, book a lesson on the Home page. Also, if these words leave you completely baffled, book a lesson, and I'll show you what I mean!!
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