Seminar "Anatomy"

For the Alexander Bewegung Community
November, 2007

"There's no there, there."  Gertrude Stein

"Don't you see that if you get perfection today, you will be further away from perfection than you have ever been." FM Alexander, Articles and Letters

Gertrude Stein's quote reflects the more contemporary version of FM Alexander's. In the Alexander Technique we don't try to be "correct," to get to some imagined place of perfection in ourselves, but rather to allow ourselves to be in right relationship to ourselves and to others. Alexander Technique...there is no better way than coming "home" to yourself. In this work, we use our powers of attention and sensation to be present, without the conflict of needing to be somewhere else. My teacher Bruce Fertman used to say that in Alexander Technique we "pour a person back into themselves." The experience of fluid support in the body is an act of pleasure.   We can simply sit quietly, enjoying the support of all 4 legs of the chair on the floor, releasing our holding into the chair.   The "secret" to Alexander Technique is simple - cultivating kinesthetic awareness and noticing thought patterns that interfere with the fluid support that is at the base of your existence. Noticing just how you cultivate this awareness is an interesting process. Is your thinking one full of a sense of achievement, forcing change on yourself, or is it open, agile, and willing to wait for your bodily sensations to make sense of where you are and where you are going.

The body needs a little time to catch up with the quick mind. Alexander Technique...in a word, it is a way of romancing yourself. How do you fall in love? Just let your eyes linger a little longer....

Finally,
"A self that simply accepts itself is selfless in the sense that it does not consciously attempt to control the paths of its functioning...it develops from and with the experience that it itself provides."  
Robin Bowman, MMus, Head of Vocal Studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, UK.

Glenna Batson
Alexander Techique Teacher
glenna@mindspring.com