It has to do with the issue of the deep fatigue that often hits students of the Alexander Technique shortly after they start lessons. This is all the more galling because in most accounts of the Alexander Technique, a lot is said about how using less tension in our actions actually makes us more energetic - we're able to do more, we feel full of life even at the end of the day, and so on.
Then we start lessons, and find we have barely enough energy to drag ourselves to bed each night.
I wrote about this in my post Releasing Into Tightening where I described how disheartening it can be when we suddenly plunge into fatigue from the initial euphoria of habitually tight muscles releasing.
Alexander teacher Jennifer Mackerras in her blog post "You Let the Tiredness Out" - Fatigue and Alexander Technique describes the same thing, and gives what she believes could be the reason behind this debilitating exhaustion felt by so many AT students. The fatigue is short term, and part of the total process of letting go of what we actually don't need.
On a heartening note, Maaike Aarts describes the positive changes that have come into her life since she learnt the Alexander Technique. The pleasure she finds in all the actions of her life, especially the small, supposedly minor ones - standing in line at the supermarket, washing the dishes, little things that we normally don't deem worthy of our attention. "The Alexander Technique is something you put into practice while doing everyday things..." - something which I can never tell my pupils often enough.
I often remember the story of a man who went to a very famous hermit to find a cure for his ailments. The hermit listened to him patiently, and finally said, "I can help you. But first you need to decide whether you want to be healed, or just relieved of pain."
When we start lessons, we usually have very powerful muscular habits, the result of years of accumulated tensions, to deal with. We really shouldn't be surprised if, along the way, they show up as an increased sense of tightness, discomfort, or fatigue.
2 comments:
Thank you - I find this very interesting. I have taught the technique for 31 years now, and have found there have still been times of fatigue and stiffness which have concerned me. The peril of the 'should' - the "I shouldn't feel like this; I am a teacher!" And yet I welcome these times at the level of the reminder the afford me; that I am still only a human being, ever learning, ever growing, ever responding an reacting. And after times of great stress, why should (!) it be anything other than it was 34 years ago when I began my journey and experienced the very same letting go's - and my awareness is even greater now so I really do feel them! It reminds me that we maybe don't change nearly as much as we think we do, we just become more experienced and aware in the business of using ourselves during this hugely stimulating journey called our life. The stimulation doesn't stop, the tension doesn't go away, tough times don't disappear, but we have a magnificent Tool Kit in our pocket now with FM's discoveries!
Thanks for your comment, Annie. I know what you mean by "the peril of the 'should'". And you make a very pertinent point - that things don't change, but the way we respond to them do, and it's the Alexander Technique that gives us the skills for that.
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