Viewpoints Reflection

1) I thought the viewpoints exercise was very interesting and fun at times. I liked when we played music while doing the exercise because it made me loosen up a little and grasp the exercise a lot better. I enjoyed using the props, it made the exercise more entertaining and it created more things to act upon with impulse. 2) Moments that felt alive were mainly when the music was on and I could just loosen up and become in touch with how I was feeling and how I wanted to respond to how I was feeling. At the time knowing that it was absolutely Okay to respond to how I was feeling made me feel alive. Because in reality you may not always respond to how you are feeling right then and there without getting judged or looked at kind of crazy. 3) Yes. Most times in the beginning of the exercise when it was quiet. I think because when were first starting the exercise were just walking around in silence with not much impulse to do anything.

Body Learning 2

Primary control refers to the way our head, neck, and back relationship is a primary influence and dynamic organizer for the coordination of our whole body mechanism and our movements. Primary control is only useful when we are not interfering with it by tightening our neck muscles. Instead we must allow the head to balance freely on the atlanto-occipital joint at the top of the spine. FM Alexander referring to the use of his head as forward and up in relation to his neck and torso. Primary control can best be seen in the movements of animals, infants,and a few outstanding adults. Unreliable sensory appreciation occurs when we do not receive accurate sensory feedback about our physical condition and use. For example if a person is habitually slouched over this position feels right to them even though if they were to look in the mirror it would be bad posture. But if this same person were to come to an Alexander technique class and get assistance re-aligning their back the new position would be difficult to maintain because the body finds the new position uncomfortable because they are not in their comfort zone. Inhibition refers to a learned process that a person chooses to stop or inhibit an habitual action to a stimulus. This allows a the individual a moments pause to choose whether or not to respond to the stimulus and how to perform an action in response. Directions are the mental instructions we learn to give ourselves before and during an action. FM Alexander mastered this technique by taking care to inhibit the translation of these directions into habitual muscular action. In the technique of ends and mean FM Alexander realized that it was important to keep his options open right through the critical moment. He had three options to choose from, which were to do nothing about it, do something else, or fulfill his original aim. Instead of focusing primarily on the goal wish to attain and forcing ourselves towards it at any cost. I found it interesting that all of these techniques fall in an order one after another. Its just like math, one thing builds on from the thing before it. I did like reading about primary control because this is where success with the Alexander technique begins. This is also something I can take into consideration and learn how to do it more in depth.

Body Learning

F. Matthias Alexander was born in Tasmania in 1869. Education was not a priority, but his mother was determined that her children should be educated. Alexander first attended a Sunday school, and later the government school. He had a very strong relationship with his mother but not so much with is Father. However, his teacher, a Scotsman named Robert Robertson was sympathetic and acted as a father figure. He would excuse Alexander from daily school attendance and instead gave him lessons in the evening. Robertson gave Alexander a lifelong love of Shakespeare, theatre, and poetry along with a basic education. Alexander later took a full blown interest in the Arts after moving from Tasmania and following his aunt and uncle to Melbourne. He later became ill and was advised to leave Melbourne, three months on the sea helped him recover his health. He then went on to participate in amateur dramatic recitals. He began to witness hoarseness by the end of his scenes. The doctors were not able to diagnose the problem and some of his fellow actors thought he was taking in too much air when he recited his lines. After taking time off and having no improvements of his condition he then decided to do a self examination of himself. With time, he found that by using "conscious control" of actions, by inhibiting wrong movements rather than trying to "do" correct ones, and by focussing on the "means whereby" rather than "the end to be gained", his vocal problems and longstanding respiratory problems disappeared. He then quit his job and became a reciting coach and voice teacher. He began traveling and healing patients going to the same things he went thru. Later creating what we know of today as the Alexander Technique. When it comes to Operational Idea and Use and functioning, Alexander realized that he had always done what felt right and never questioned is unreasoned use. “He realized that the choices he made about the Use of his organism were fundamental since they directly affected his functioning and therefore influenced all his other choices.” Use is necessary to complete the picture. Bad Use does not have immediately observable serious consequences. For example the continuous dripping of water on stone that will eventually wear it away. The way we react and use ourselves as a whole affects the quality and way that we function in our daily lives. The second operational idea is The Whole Persons. “We often behave as though we are not one system but a compilation of different little personalities. A person is not a mind in a body, but a psychophysical unity. We cannot have a perception or thought without movement or vice versa. In order to make a decision we need wholeness. If we do not make the decision in wholeness of our entire body we may witness consequences from the decision we made.