"You are perfect as you are, except for what you are doing to yourselves" F M Alexander
This quote refers to the natural, effortless balancing act, the continual tiny adjustments that the body carries out, to keep us upright, like a beautiful, flowing, dynamic dance. What we are ‘doing to ourselves’ is interfering with this natural, easy way of being. We interfere by over-doing, using too much muscular effort. We don’t know that we’re doing this because it has become a habit.
The Alexander Technique is a way of releasing tension and letting go of unhelpful postural habits that may be causing stress and pain. However, the Technique isn’t simply about posture. It’s more accurate to say that it’s about using conscious thought in a constructive way to bring about a change in the way we respond to life – ending the pattern of over-doing and over-reacting. In this way, we can reclaim our freedom. Not just freedom of movement, but freedom of choice as to how we re-act to any given stimulus in life.
Becoming more conscious, more present, we are able to truly engage. Not only are we able to change our habits of physical use and enjoy all the benefits that go with that but we’re able to appreciate the world around us and the people in it. And it is from this space (because being mindful is all about spaciousness) that we can expand and grow as human beings and step into our true potential.