Control should be in process, not superimposed.
FM Alexander
FM Alexander
FM Alexander was an Australian actor who repeatedly struggled with losing his voice. While no doctor could provide a solution, one physician suggested that perhaps Alexander's own habits were at the root of his vocal issues. This insight ignited Alexander's curiosity and ultimately led to the development of the Alexander Technique.
To better understand his problem, Alexander began observing himself in mirrors. He discovered that when projecting his voice, he inadvertently pulled his head back and down. This action caused his spine to contract, pushing his larynx forward and straining his voice. He also realized that this detrimental pattern affected all his other activities. Despite his enthusiasm to correct these habits, he found himself unable to change.
Over several years, Alexander worked to untangle the complexities of human reactions to stimuli. Through determination and a scientific approach, he developed a method to remain present and consciously coordinate his body in thought and action, which he termed “Thinking in Activity”.
Inhibition, within this framework, refers to a non-doing activity—a conscious act of pausing and becoming aware of oneself as a whole.
Direction involves thinking: consciously sending motor-signals from the brain into the body. This guidance facilitates the body's natural coordination. It is no forceful act upon the body, but rather an ‘allowing’ and sustaining of free and natural integration of the body.
Neck free.
Head forward and up.
Back to lengthen, back to widen (not the chest the spine).
Hips free, knees forward and away.
Shoulders free, arms to lengthen to the finger tips.
One after the other, clearly, and all at once!
Not holding the breath and not fixing the eyes.
A true art of consciousness.
Alexander learnt to inhibit (to stop) his old physiological habit at the point of a stimulus and direct (think) the natural directions of the body.
This new and improved integration indirectly cured him of his voice problems.