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.