Had another lesson, some things I picked up. I can refuse to stiffen my neck. I’ve been playing with this, but I’ve discovered as soon as I remotely think of freeing my neck, or doing anything Alexander-ish, I immediately and irresistibly tense my neck. When the teacher gives you an instruction, immediately think “no I […]
I listened to an interview (linked here) about using ‘negative directions’ e.g. saying “I am not tensing my neck” rather than “I am freeing my neck” or “I am letting my neck be free”. This is quite interesting an doesn’t make the assumption that you know how to free your neck. You can also apply it […]
So my last post was in 2008. It turns out I had seriously hurt my back. I had a couple of years of serious pain which eventually went away, then came back double and resulted in something called cauda equina syndrome, which required emergency surgery on my spine in the middle of the night in […]
Well it’s been ages since I wrote a post so I’m going to marshal my thoughts and make some notes… this is just a brain dump for now. I haven’t had any lessons for a few months now, have been thinking about another one but never really got round to it. I’d love to do […]
Well it’s been ages since I last wrote a post… for the last 3 months I’ve been refitting my bathroom, and would never have believed how time consuming tiling the entire room would be – so that’s why people just tile a bit around the bath – you live and learn 🙂 For the first […]
With doing some DIY I’ve noticed that when I crouch down balancing on my toes, I really tense my hamstrings, to the point that it’s painful to release them when I stand up. I think I’ve done this for a long time… the fact that I’ve noticed now is good. This is very different to […]
Breathing Inhibition is not doing anything, but I have to breathe, which is keeping me ‘doing’. I’m sure I’m doing lots of unnecessary stuff when I breathe, I have to get out the way of my body and let the reflex take over. End Gaining I used to have more success with this than I […]
I think about my posture, form and the way I’m using my self many times throughout the day, and try to do things better with varying degrees of success and attention. Every so often, before doing an activity, I manage to completely stop myself and focus on the main directions I find work best for […]
Conscious Guidance & Control Read a chapter of Man’s Supreme Inheritance last night where Alexander touched upon the habit of apprehension in a bit more detail. As he points, when an animal is confronted with something new, its reaction is fear and it can’t function normally in such a situation. The “supreme inheritance” of man […]
Exercise Did some exercise two nights ago: 15 mins rowing, 15 mins on the cross trainer, then a steam room. Haven’t done any for about a 3-4 weeks due to Christmas, but it made me feel really tired and tense the next day, especially around the ribs. I think regular exercise makes you feel better, […]
The Work on my Self 