Change Habits, Move Freely, Be at Ease

Whether you sit for hours at the computer or while watching television, whether you are a professional or amateur musician, a lecturer, a dancer, a dentist, a handyman, a top athlete or an occasional sportsman, join the many people, including celebrities, such as actors, musicians, authors and Nobel Prize winners, who have benefited greatly from studying the Alexander Technique.

F.M. Alexander and his work

Having developed chronic voice troubles and enjoying only temporary relief by following his doctor’s advice, Frederick Mathias Alexander (1869–1955), an Australian actor, turned inward and asked the question:

Could it be something I am doing in using my voice that causes this condition?

He came to understand that there exists an innate, dynamic and critical relationship of the neck to the head, the neck and head to the torso and limbs: a Primary Control that regulates tensional balance throughout the musculature to facilitate coordination for ease in motion. It’s misuse greatly interferes with proper functioning of the organism, accelerating the wear and tear that contributes to discomfort and injury.

His experiences demonstrated, in a time where disease was clearly divided into purely physical or mental categories, that an individual, under all circumstances and in all spheres of human activity, responds to a stimulus as a psychophysical whole. Something we are now more familiar with while treating dis-eases and educating ourselves in the art of living.

He dedicated his lifetime to teaching the principles of his technique. His work is taught throughout the world.

A detailed account of his brilliant journey can be found in The Use of the Self by F.M. Alexander.

Change involves carrying out an activity against the habit of life.

A Question of Habit …

Regardless of its applications, the process of stopping, recognizing and transforming the harmful and often unconscious habits that limit our ability to thrive, is in essence what your lesson is about.

The recognition of the force of habit, the ongoing impulse to do things in the same/familiar way, and its constant influence on our functioning is one of the five principles that define the A.T.

In weeding out posture related concerns you will also be establishing, and with practice, cultivating and with time be refining your ability to skillfully change course at will, so that you may enjoy thoughtful, flexible habits that serve rather than enslave.

and Principles

The five principles are set out by Patrick Macdonald, master teacher trained by Alexander, and teacher trainer, in The Alexander Technique As I see It, 1989.

I think it might be useful to list the items that, taken together, I believe makes the Alexander Technique into one unlike any other. They are:

  • Recognition of the force of habit
  • Inhibition of reaction to stimulus to overcome wrong habit
  • Recognition of faulty sensory awareness
  • Directions
  • The Primary Control

If one meets a technique that has some similarity to the Alexander Technique, run these five simple rules over it and see what is missing.

Lessons consist of deepening the practical understanding of these 5 principles under the hands and guidance of a ATC/CANSTAT certified teacher of The Alexander Technique in activities such as Constructive Rest Position as well as standing, walking, sitting and other more specialized activities.

A.T. Canada logo CANSTAT logo

Horizons (detail). Drawing: Roxanne Lafleur
Stool. 3 photos: Roxanne Lafleur