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.