The Work
The AT Work
"Man is a creature of super celestial thoughts and subterranean being." —Michel Montaigne
Take a subject! Go on. Any subject. Shuffle it around in your head. Type the subject into Google, or Chat GPT, or even ask Claude. And with their results: you'll know all about it. If you typed in "how to play violin," well now you know. Or "how to jump pole vault Olympic standard." And it'll tell you all you need to know about it. But now comes the word: however.... obviously the info you just received might not get you hired at Carnegie Hall, or even into the next Olympics.
Many years ago in the UK the BBC did a documentary on the Alexander Technique. It was called "A Way Of Being." This title underscores the nature of this work. Needless to say—all of us are just so different. We react differently, we adapt to our worlds differently, we learn differently, we interact differently, we love and hate differently, and so on. Over time we embody all this. Over time our inner and outer selves reflect this adaptation/maladaptation, as the adaptation/maladaptation becomes embodied.
F.M. Alexander understood the mind/body connection, not as a theory but as embodied understanding. He developed his Technique so people would experience their psycho-physical connection practically. In his day his Technique was referred to as "The Work," he did not think of his work as work with the body, but spoke and wrote of it as "The Use Of The Self."
Because the AT work cannot be reduced to mere knowledge/data/info, it cannot be understood or even explained by this means alone. (Why is it we assume we understand something by grasping the concept of that particular something?) Aldous Huxley, a pupil of Alexander for many years, spoke of the difficulties of merely explaining the AT work: "Trying to explain Alexander's Technique is like trying to explain what a banana is to someone who's never seen a banana." In short: this AT work needs to be experienced and embodied in order to be understood. Data/information/intellectual familiarity alone won't and don't cut it.
So much has been written about the AT work, much of it attempting to define it from the perspective of the particular author. Some of the writings can be illuminating, while others are repetitive. Nowadays people feel forced to write for marketing purposes. But given the limitations of writing about this work, it's best if it comes from years of actually experiencing it, not from acquaintance via the reading of books on the subject. (A few years ago I was taken aback to discover that a book about the AT was written by a recent graduate of the training program I co-directed—this graduate had been qualified a mere 6 months. What?) Embodied learning needs to recognize experience in the teacher/facilitator, as it is continuing experience that creates 'a way of being'.
With the advent of social media, everyone who puts pen to paper seems to coronate themselves an expert. Ideas are regurgitated from other writings, AI being the master of this value. And we are left with a culture of opinion and ideas, and lots of intellectual knowledge. However, as the AT work addresses the whole being in daily activity, we can't be left with it being anything less.
AT lessons are traditionally taken one-on-one, similar to psychotherapy, which is mainly done one-on-one, as group approaches to individuality have limited effect. Likewise the AT work. Over time, AT students learn principles of the Work they apply to their daily life while at the same time experiencing the kinesthetic hands-on qualities from a qualified teacher. The teacher is trained to identify where tensions, holdings, and disconnects are held and with this special quality of kinesthetic guidance, the Teacher then helps the individual student to undo them.
Briefly: when we consciously undo our learned reactive patterns which interfere with innate connection, then connectivity appears, it is inherent in nature. Ergo: we undo into connection. The student experiences the hands-on skill of the AT teacher, which is completely unique (which is why it takes 3 years and 1600 classroom hours to qualify as an AT teacher), at the same time he/she learns to apply AT principles so thought and action are reunited in present time.
It has been said that education is often the best healer, which is why this work has earned the reputation of being the go-to for people experiencing psycho/physical disconnection/discomfort like back pain (an in-depth study published in the British Medical Journal showed the Alexander Technique decreased back pain by 85%). It is also used by performers worldwide to address performance tensions while learning to play their instrument with the appropriate amount of tension, balance and freedom. The performer example extends to 'everyman' no matter the work we do.
Alexander was famous for saying 'it's what you are doing to yourself that causes the problem.' Our embodiment is multi-layered, unique, and may seem complex to many. But one thing is for sure, conscious changes in embodiment won't be addressed by YouTube videos, or asking Dr. Google, or by searching for magical quick fixes (there aren't any by the way). Health, well-being and making fundamental changes in ourselves require we come back to 'being.' Being more at ease in the world, in our understanding, in our experience and, not forgetting – in being yourself.
(And as Oscar Wilde said: ‘Be yourself! Everyone else is already taken.)
John A Baron is a senior teacher and teacher trainer of The Alexander Technique. He has a private studio in Sausalito California and is also the founder of the communications coaching program: FindYourBusinessVoice.com