In her book The Healing of America Marianne Williamson says “…lack of conscious awareness is the cause of our problems, and conscious awareness is the source of our healing.” I think F. M. Alexander would agree wholeheartedly with her.

Human beings have the opportunity to be conscious of “how we do, what we do, when we do it” as many Alexander Technique teachers have stated. To be conscious of ourselves in a way that is beneficial to ourselves and others means we must become aware of our deeper habits of thought and movement. (Alexander said his work was psycho-physical in nature, with no division between the mind and body.) We most likely know a lot about ourselves, but when we meet a deeply held habit we often think it is the “truth” rather than a habit, when the truth of who we are is so much more and in a way also so much less.

Our deepest most profoundly held habits often seem unchangeable. This is because our habits are so ingrained in us. However, Alexander found that with patience we have the ability to stop a habit and move in a different and fuller way. We can connect to our primary coordination, the coordination with which we are born.

With lessons in the Alexander Technique we can become more aware of our habits and learn a simple and practical way of lessening their power over us. It is not a quick fix, but over time we can improve our overall coordination and freedom of movement, lessen or eliminate pain and regain clarity in our thinking.

Christine Lidvall
Internationally certified Alexander Technique Teacher