Notes to Self is a series of dialogical journal entries in which I attempt to break down my own understanding of The Alexander Technique and psycho-physical education through Socratic questioning, with the goal of finding new ways of articulating this field of study and of rebuilding my own understanding of it from first principles.
What is a brief encapsulation of this field of study (often referred to as The Alexander Technique) and its goals?
Just like other systems in the body, our system of balance, coordination, and postural support has a specific design, and when it is working properly one experiences, often for the first time since childhood, an effortless spring-like support against gravity and the expansive, lengthened, and integrated feeling of the muscular system functioning as a unified whole according to nature’s design. Just as modern trends of diet and fitness have led many in our culture to chronic health ailments and lowered standards of functioning that would have been foreign to our distant ancestors, so too has our modern lifestyle led us to interfere with our upright support system in ways that become very habitual and, like many long-term habits, almost entirely unconscious. In this light one can see that this work aims not at a feel-good experience or a minor improvement in movement or balance — we are aiming to restore a fundamental component of health, just as someone with a nutrient deficiency would aim to change their diet not for a good or therapeutic “experience”, but in order to return to a positive state of health, and in doing so eradicate various problems that may have been symptomatic to their lowered condition of functioning.