22 Απρ Alexander Technique as a practical philosophy of action: Time.

When I first started having Alexander lessons I had just graduated from the University of Athens as a classicist. During those years I had a strong interest in classical philosophy but with an Anglo-Saxon analytical tradition bend. As a result of that at one point in my training I thought that one way of viewing the Alexander Technique (A.T) is that it is a practical philosophy of action.

A.T. teaches us how to do things. It teaches us that the way we do things, our thoughts, emotions and movement patterns and the way we react to the various circumstances in life (our “use” as Alexander would call it) affects the functioning of our organism and our general health. It teaches us that we can affect change to ourselves by doing things differently to our habitual way of doing them. We can change through our actions. If we change our use consciously our functioning will change subconsciously!

(Alexander used to word “use” to refer to all the actions one does, walking, siting, standing, lifting an object etc etc. He used the word “function” to refer to how our organism operates in itself. How we breathe, how we digest etc. )

So in our Alexander journey we start by doing things a certain way, our habitual way, to arriving at a point of departure were we let go of our usual way, to ever arriving to a point were we pass from end gaining to a different kind of doing, so foreign to what we identify as doing that is called “non-doing”.

But what does it mean to do a thing? What is an action? Can we analyse action into components?An action  involves that actual psychophysical action of doing what we are doing. It involves intention, it has an end, a goal, it has a cause and an effect and happens in time and space.

Let’s say we want to lift an object for example. Lifting an object involves the neuromuscular action of lifting an object to begin with. It has a cause, maybe we are reacting to something.We have an intention to lift the object. It has a goal, it will be completed when we have lifted the object.It happens in a specific time, it has a beginning, middle and an end and it happens in a specific space and we will have lifted the object from point A to point B. 

Psychophysical activity, goal, cause, time and space. Those are the components of action.Therefore time is an essential  component of action!

Everything that we do is bound to time! Happens in time.Therefore time is an essential component of every action .In the Alexander Technique ultimately what we change or what changes is the way we do things and through that change , changes in our functioning occur.Since time is an essential component of every action and agreeing on the fact that the way we conceive of anything determines the way we relate to it, then changing our conception of time, will ultimately change the way we do things , therefore changing us. 

Let’s consider now some questions that will help us see what our underlying assumptions are about time and how we relate to it.

• Do we think we have enough time or do we feel that we are constantly running out of time?

• In everything that we do, do week seek immediate results or do we allow ourselves to invest in time?

• Do we live in the short term or do we allow ourselves to have a long term horizon?

• Do we tend to overload our daily routine with activities one after the other or do we allow time to pause for a moment and regroup?

• Do we feel we always and constantly have to be doing something because otherwise we waste our time  or do we feel there is enough  time to include everything ?

• Is there abundance of time or lack?
• Do we live in the present moment or is our mind wandering between memories of the past and worries of the future? Where are we now? Here, or elsewhere?
• What’s our outlook in life? Do we believe good things lie ahead or are we afraid of what it is to come? Do we have things to look forward to? Is time a friend or an enemy?
• When we are stuck in a difficulty, do we think it will last forever or can we allow ourselves to think that it is just something passing?

Let’s now try some thought experiment to see what our physical reactions are to our thoughts regarding time.

As you are reading this through think that you have to finish this article in the next 10 seconds because you have something very urgent coming up.

As you are having this thought take a moment to notice how you are reacting to it.Are you breathing? Are your eyes free or have they started fixing on the screen? Are your muscles tight?

Imagine that you have a very important deadline coming up tomorrow. How does that make you feel? Are you here now or are you in the tomorrow? Do you allow yourself to be with your senses, listen the noises around you, see beyond the screen of your laptop?What is your heart rate?

A transforming journey is when we pass from an attitude like: I need to do this right now, to questions like: what’s the best thing for me at this time right now? From thinking “I have to do this or that” to listening to and respecting ourselves and finding our own natural time.From saying “I need to learn this now” to accepting “it will take me to learn this however much time it will take me”.

Judith Kleinman writes  in her book Finding Quiet Strength:

“Our embodied habits are usually caused by pressure of time in a particular activity. A great way to change these habits is by building space before the activity to give yourself a moment to stop, think and connect. Then you can let your awareness and ease flow through the activity.”

There is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to both achieve our goals and respect ourselves provided that we respect our own natural time. It only takes a moment!

Apollo Dellios

Director Apollonio Odeio Athens

Alexander Technique Teacher