| "As a child, 'helping' in the kitchen, it was by watching | | | | often told by their parents for example. |
| my mother that I learned how to beat eggs with a | | | | And adults too. How many times have you read a |
| fork. Along with the rapid forearm movement, I | | | | magazine article advising you to "sit up strait"; while |
| copied what she did with her shoulders - and soon | | | | using a computer, or "walk tall" or "hold your head |
| began to feel cramped and tired. How could I know, | | | | high"? |
| young as I was, than the tension I had copied was | | | | What this kind of advice ignores is that it's asking |
| merely an expression of my mother's anxiety to | | | | you to change what your body does without |
| hurry on to the next task, that it contributed nothing | | | | changing the way your body functions. |
| to the speed or effectiveness of the egg-beating. | | | | It's a little like taking an automobile that's pulling to |
| Whipping the whites was done with a knife on a | | | | the right and driving it with the steering wheel always |
| large plate, but since this skill, even more fascinating, | | | | turned a little to the left to keep the car moving |
| was demonstrated by my grandmother, a dignified | | | | strait ahead. You've certainly changed the way the |
| old lady who operated at how own speed, it never | | | | car moves, but it's still not functioning properly. |
| involved me in muscular problems, then or later. As | | | | Most drivers understand that's only a temporary |
| an adult, I have been able to analyze the difference, | | | | solution and take steps to adjust the car's alignment |
| and have become passionately interested in | | | | - a fairly simple job for a trained mechanic. |
| disentangling skills from the snares surrounding them." | | | | But with human beings, the problem is a quite |
| - Elizabeth Langford, Mind and Muscle - An Owner's | | | | different - we have to be our own "mechanic". And |
| Manual, page 220. | | | | that poses special challenges: Our posture, |
| Like fire, habits are excellent servants but can be | | | | coordination and balance are directed by our |
| very dangerous masters. They're necessary for us to | | | | thoughts. If that directing is done sub-consciously - if |
| get through life without thinking about every little | | | | it is habitual - then in order to make changes in it, we |
| detail of our lives, freeing our minds for more | | | | have to learn how to make the directing process |
| important things; we want, for example, to carry on | | | | itself conscious. |
| a conversation while chopping vegetables for - or | | | | And that's not all. As any experimental scientist can |
| beating eggs - for dinner. | | | | tell you, it's a very tricky business to make |
| But it's precisely because much of what we do is | | | | fundamental changes to a system when you're using |
| relegated to the unconscious realm that our habits of | | | | that very system to make the change. As John |
| posture and movement can be quite inefficient and | | | | Dewy, the great American philosopher and educator |
| even harmful. I'm sure you can think of people you | | | | said, "No one would deny that we ourselves enter as |
| know who have odd ways of holding themselves, of | | | | an agency into whatever is attempted and done by |
| walking, speaking etc. - mannerisms that have no | | | | us. That is a truism. But the hardest thing to attend |
| obvious cause such as an injury or disease. | | | | to is that which is closest to us, that which is most |
| For the most part these people are blissfully unaware | | | | constant and familiar. And this closest "something" is, |
| of these patterns, even ones that are quite | | | | precisely, ourselves, our own habits and ways of |
| pronounced and easy for all to see. And while this | | | | doing things..." |
| lack of awareness may seem like a blessing - relieving | | | | F. Matthews Alexander faced precisely this challenge |
| them of something to worry or feel embarrassed | | | | in confronting a serious problem with his voice. In the |
| about - it also ensures that the habits will persist. And | | | | course of overcoming his difficulty, he developed a |
| the harmful tensions and pressure they're | | | | method - today known as the Alexander Technique - |
| unconsciously generating in their body can eventually | | | | which can be systematically taught to others. |
| lead to pain and even serious injury in later life. | | | | If for any reason - pain, discomfort, the desire to be |
| What can one do about physical habits of this sort? | | | | able to do things better - the idea of making a |
| The usual solution involves exercises and other | | | | fundamental improvement in the way your function |
| attempts to "fix" the problem by doing something | | | | appeals to you, the Alexander Technique is well |
| else. "Stand up straight", "Pull your shoulders back", - | | | | worth your investigation. |
| these are the kind of things slouching children are | | | | |