It has been fashionable over the years to pose the question, “What is the Alexander Technique?” in the hope of providing a definitive answer.  It was always clear to me that if it took Alexander four books (and some) to answer the question, I was unlikely to  be successful in creating a simple and succinct answer.  From time to time there have been competitions and the like in the search of the best answer.  Now, from the perspective of the twenty-first century, I suspect that all the simple answers have been used up without anything really satisfactory emerging.

So where do we go from here?  Having observed the scene over the years it strikes me that the Technique has undergone a number of changes.  Mainly, it has become more diffuse and the number of variations has increased, to the extent that nowadays more appropriate questions would be, “How many Alexander Techniques are there?” and “What does each of them consist of?”.

For example, at one extreme the simple process of stopping to consider how to carry out one’s next action could be considered a use of the Alexander Technique.  At another extreme the employment of a particular ostensively definable relationship of head, neck, back and limbs could be the defining feature.  And then there are variations on each of these two.

A question then arises as to which variations and combinations of these two fall within the defining features of the Alexander Technique.  This is germane to the question of who can call themselves an Alexander Technique Teacher.  For example, a particular set of criteria defines who falls within the acceptable limits for STAT.

My experience from attending conferences and giving workshops all over the world has taught me there are a variety of activities which go under the name of the Alexander Technique.  This has from time to time posed a problem for me.  But the reasons for this have changed over time.  At first there was no problem because I was trained in one particular way and had very little exposure to anything else.  Difficulty arose when I started to explore further, at conferences and congresses.  I realised that the variations were so extreme that I began to wonder how they could all fall under the same umbrella.  I resolved the issue for myself by continuing my own development along the lines set down by my initial training but at the same time recognising that others who taught very differently had also received their training from a first generation teacher.  I  don’t want to go into which training was the genuine article.  We could not possibly resolve that issue some fifty plus years later.  So I came to accept that there was an Alexander “community” who practised and taught the Technique, but in a variety of different ways.

Were there points in common between these?  In a pretty rough way I decided that if individuals were engaged in some way with Patrick Macdonald’s list of distinguishing features (recognition of the force of habit, unreliable sensory appreciation, inhibition, direction and the primary control), that would be enough to make them members of the Alexander Community.  This is different from being teachers or being a member of a professional Alexander society.  That was my position in 2004 when I co-organised the Oxford Congress.

At the same time I was becoming clearer and clearer about my own development as an Alexander Teacher.  Indeed,  problems arose when “my way” clashed with someone else’s way.   Should I confront or act like a chameleon?  Or something in between.  Personal development requires some personal assurance.  And on what can that be based except persistence, which in turn requires a bit of resilience in the face of negative feedback?!

There are so many dimensions to this psycho-physical technique – one can start with the psycho- and the physical- with variations on each, not to mention the different lenses through which it can be viewed,  the internal or first-person lens, the third-person or “objective” lens and so on.

I am  rapidly coming to the conclusion that there are good teachers (I may not always agree with them!) both inside and outside the Affiliated Societies and that what is important is the possibility of some kind of dialogue between them.  Anything less will lead to factionalism.

It is inevitable that there will always be this distinction between the “Alexander Technique” as a generic entity,  “brand name” or community and the “Alexander Technique” which is practised and taught by individuals.  It has become a broad church.

I went to the launch of Sue Laurie’s new book, “Touching Lives” last Wednesday and was impressed by the simplicity and economy of her presentation. I know the science of the Technique is complex but the human mind seems to prefer simplicity over complication for everyday purposes. That includes the Alexander teaching situation. Sue’s presentation was both simple and economical and left me refreshed and uplifted after a busy day. I hope the experience will continue to influence my own teaching. Stopping, directing oneself and being imaginative in the way one applies the work goes a long way.

Another topic – when to lengthen and when to compress (see FM film footage for the latter)? Are there guidelines? The only one I know is the case of rotator cuff problems where it’s important the at the upper arm is snugly seated in the socket of the shoulder joint before attempting to move it. This seems to enable movement which would otherwise be impossible. It’s important that everything is nicely lined up though….. Rather like FM makes sure of with his hand on top of the head in the brief footage we have of him.

And yet another topic, which came up in our Training Course this morning. What is the relationship between a well functioning primary control (pc) and good use of the self? First of all, if as FM says in UCL the primary control is a mechanism consisting of the relationship of head, neck and back and their interrelations, then a well-functioning pc is part and parcel of good use of the self. Is it really as simple as that? However it’s not clear to me after very careful scrutiny whether (the) primary control is as Dennis says a noun or a gerund. Does it refer to a physiological mechanism or a means of controlling that mechanism? If the pc mechanism is disturbed in some way is that the same as saying that the use of the self is disturbed? Etc.

Then a student asked whether the pc was limited to the head, neck and back. “What about the hips?”, he asked. I have a particular take on this which is not completely orthodox, namely, that the pc is a substrate of deep musculature, importantly in the head, neck and back but not limited to these, supporting the entire body including the limbs. The hips would then not be excluded from the pc and the role of the pc in relation to the use of the self becomes much clearer. It would be nice to hear if this version of the pc is comprehensible to others, indeed if they agree with it.

Finally, where does consciousness come in?

It’s been a while….

The subject was getting psychophysical ideas across verbally as well as examining the thought processes necessary for improving one’s own use. Alexander recognised the difficulties with words notably in the preface to CCCI. Many people have attempted by means of alternative wordings to overcome these difficulties and in everyday teaching most teachers strive to find forms of words to achieve the right effect. The phrase “secondary directions” comes to mind. There are at least three versions of what this means. The first simply means the same as the primary directions but in different words – “neck back and up” instead of “head forward and up”. The second refers to subsidiary directions subsequent to the primary directions – “to allow the elbows to go away from the shoulders and the wrists away from the elbows”. The third refers to the giving of consent to a movement subsequent to the establishment of the primary directions. I am referring now to meanings in common usage in the Alexander world rather than anything precise stated by Alexander.

Why the interest in these directions? Simply because they describe the explorations possible for the individual. Which directions work? We cannot know in advance, just as Alexander did not know in advance that he needed to “let the neck be free to let the head go forward and up to let the back lengthen and widen etc” until he had verified this. Likewise each of us needs to check out which horse to back on our own behalf and to give the best instruction to our pupils.