What a really good Alexander Technique lesson!
I have been teaching this morning and the discussion between my student and I was great. She learnt lots and so did I. One of things I love about teaching is when this happens. The key ideas that caught our attention were very simple but really effective.
We were talking about how when we want to go from A to B we can often end up going via C, D and E even without realising it. And actually one of the great ideas is that rather than learning how to go A to B what we really need to learn is to stop going via C, D and E. Improvement happens when we stop going via E, more improvement happens when we stop going via D and things get even better when we stop going via C and actually just go A to B.
If you don't like analogies much or the concept isn't clear I think an example would be better. For instance, you need to go shopping to buy some food (so it is important!). You also need to ring a friend, do some housework and have a cup of tea. So you could plan to do the following: I'll just ring my friend quickly before I go out shopping, I'll then come home, do the housework and then sit down for the cup of tea.
What is the most important thing to do on this list?
It is going to depend but I would either say ringing your friend or getting some food in. But to be honest, I wouldn't want to have to rush through ringing my friend so the simple option going A to B idea was just ring my friend with a cup of tea and enjoy the time you spend chatting together. You can fit the food shopping in later that and the housework you can do over the weekend. Does it really all have to be done now, and can you only do the things that matter?
But the concept that happened next was even better. We got to the stage of questioning whether we need to go to B at all. What could we achieve if we just stayed at A. Rather than ringing your friend for a chat, can you invite them round for a cup of tea? (Or if they like shopping, take them shopping for a chat!)
Keep things at their simplest level to achieve what is needed. Do no more and do no less, and enjoy every minute of it! I am definitely going to be applying this, I am already mentally challenging myself with my current projects on how I can do this.
We were talking about how when we want to go from A to B we can often end up going via C, D and E even without realising it. And actually one of the great ideas is that rather than learning how to go A to B what we really need to learn is to stop going via C, D and E. Improvement happens when we stop going via E, more improvement happens when we stop going via D and things get even better when we stop going via C and actually just go A to B.
If you don't like analogies much or the concept isn't clear I think an example would be better. For instance, you need to go shopping to buy some food (so it is important!). You also need to ring a friend, do some housework and have a cup of tea. So you could plan to do the following: I'll just ring my friend quickly before I go out shopping, I'll then come home, do the housework and then sit down for the cup of tea.
What is the most important thing to do on this list?
It is going to depend but I would either say ringing your friend or getting some food in. But to be honest, I wouldn't want to have to rush through ringing my friend so the simple option going A to B idea was just ring my friend with a cup of tea and enjoy the time you spend chatting together. You can fit the food shopping in later that and the housework you can do over the weekend. Does it really all have to be done now, and can you only do the things that matter?
But the concept that happened next was even better. We got to the stage of questioning whether we need to go to B at all. What could we achieve if we just stayed at A. Rather than ringing your friend for a chat, can you invite them round for a cup of tea? (Or if they like shopping, take them shopping for a chat!)
Keep things at their simplest level to achieve what is needed. Do no more and do no less, and enjoy every minute of it! I am definitely going to be applying this, I am already mentally challenging myself with my current projects on how I can do this.
posted by Barbara @ 11:17 am
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