It is amazing to find that as aware of your body's movement you may think you are, there are infinite more levels to be aware of. The idea of questioning all basic assumptions finds a welcome home in what I have been doing for years. The Alexander Technique promises to add yet another level of direction to this lifetime endeavor.
From the book, "Body Learning," by Michael Gelb, I learned that Alexander discovered that to overcome his voice issue, he needed to use his head in a way that he called "forward and up." Due to his habitual patterns he found that he was actually doing the opposite of what he wanted or intended to do. He came to understand that his patterns of misuse were not just physical, but involved the mind as well.
So when Alexander thought that he was putting his head forward and up, he was actually pulling it back and down. All this because of what feels right, and what feels right is conditioned by our habit patterns. To remedy this, Alexander decided to leave behind what felt right for conscious reasoning alone.
So what it looks like he did was to do away with doing, and adapt a version of non-doing. In other words rather than physically adopting the postures that he found to be useful, he simply willed the posture with his mind. Now I could be totally wrong by this, but it seems that this is one of the things he decided to do to get around his habitual physical patterns.
So what does this all mean?
I have no clue, I am merely a student. I don't have to worry about what it all means yet. It does provide another rout of inquiry and practice though. To see what happens if I stop trying and doing physically, and trade that in for simply willing the posture that I find most helpful. It is amazing what affect thinking has on one's physical self.
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