Sitting a la Alexander

October 6, 2006 at 4:53 AM

Greetings,
In the light of all the discussion on the subject, I can’t help beginning this blog with an interesting prophecy (?) made by FM Alexander many years ago. He said that as a result of future increases in information overload from amazing developments in technology and information overload peoples` ability to memorize and memories were going to get weaker and weaker. Couldn’t help recalling it today as I worked with a class of about 30 eight year olds on what should have been a very simple task: students worked in groups of four and listened to me state three object in a specific sequence. Their task was to choose the three objects from a selection of cards in front of them and place them in order. It was very striking how little capacity they had for holding something in short term memory.
Anyway, now I am thinking about what is a traditional Alexander lesson, how radically some teachers depart from this and what does have one have a right to expect?
When FM Alexander was giving lessons what one typically got from the lesson was a lot of practicing standing up and sitting down and not much else. Nor was there much in the way of verbal explanation. An anecdote Alexander was always happy to repeat rather tongue in cheek was of a gentleman leaving after half an hour of standing and sitting. He turned round at the door, looked at Alexander commenting `and people really pay money for this,` What then would have been the point of what was being done?
Well, since AT is transmitted non-verbally the mind/body has to be given clear new information which it can evaluate. Sitting and standing is one of the most often repeated daily actions, one that most clearly demonstrates our misuse of the body and contains everything one needs to know about AT.
How do people stand up these days?
Basically, they drop the head back crushing the top of the spine, pull upwards from the waist and thigh muscles and often have to support this ridiculous action by placing the hand son the thighs for an extra bit of shove. Part of the origin of the problem is the believe that we have a waist. Actually no such medical concept exists. It is a sexual/commercial concept derived from movie stars and marketing- the ubiquitous 36/24/26 of Marilyn Monroe et all. But in reality the body divides into two parts. Our upper body goes down to our hip joints where our legs begin and our guts live inside our pelvis which is part of a single entity, the upper body. These guts are of course displaced by a baby during pregnancy. The current mental conception of our guts is that they are held in a kind of carrier bag, the base of which rest in a neat straight line running above the pubic mound.
Athletes know the difference. A pro tennis player waiting to receive a serve is crouched and moving on their hip joints where we are supposed to.
To stand correctly in an AT lesson one simply leans forward at the hip joints (most people don’t know where they are) until the weight coming forward trigger a shooting up of energy through the spine and the body catapults effortlessly out of the chair like a cork from a champagne bottle. It’s fantastic. A major factor in this beautiful, fluid movement is that the head leads. In fact the eyes lead. The boy must retain primary control during the lift off. Unfortunately the ingrained habit of collapsing the head back will continually kick in until the hands of the teacher help us to inhibit that action. Sitting down is fun too. I have seen the AT teacher and cellist Vivien Mackie ask groups so many times `what do you do in order to sit down?` There is only one correct way. Bend the knees (with the head going forward and up-primary control) That`s all!!! Typically we twist, contort, draw on the stomach muscles , press out hands on our thighs and so on. And the resulting crash is harmful to the spine, especially since we do it dozens of times a day year in year out. To sit down as nature intended is one of the most beautiful experiences on could wish for. Watching someone doing it is calming and pleasurable. That is the beginning of AT.

Cheers,
Buri

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Sitting a la Alexander

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