We came from Africa. Wherever we were, we had to stay alert: aware of our surroundings from the ground beneath our feet– thorns, snakes, skorpions– to the horizon on all sides including behind, to the sky above. Aware of the scents, the wind and the weather, we had to have our eyes wide and our ears tuned for anything that might be useful or dangerous. But this would be our effortless natural state. We would also be relaxed, yet poised. And with poise comes a better sense of wellbeing and the wellbeing in turn promotes poise!

And what is this sense of wellbeing? I would claim it includes liveliness, clarity, confidence, a natural sense of joy, and the ability to be your full, true, authentic self. Our observation would be practical, non judgemental and in the moment, similar to practical mindfulness or Walking Zen. This would lead to open mindedness and making appropriate practical decisions in the moment.

This, including the state of Zen, is not an artificial, but a natural condition, far closer to animal consciousness than modern western human existence. Our two kittens are a good example: they are observant, fluid, spontaneous and playful. They know where and when food is, and they understand cause and effect, for instance, knowing by its sound, when the automatic cat flap is unlocked, but they show no signs of ruminating or judging. They are just in the moment all the time.

However, if this is natural, how is it that we cannot just easily be that way? It is in fact possible to achieve it with coaching for a short while, but difficult to maintain. Sports people, musicians and other performers often achieve it while they are engaged in their activity: there is no room for everyday mind wandering and they get in the groove, in the flow or in the zone. Meditation and mindfulness practices can get close, but they require taking time out from the world, require great dedication and take a long time. They may reduce background tension to a degree, though it is not specifically recognised or addressed. Yoga, Ti-chi or Chi-gong combine mindfulness with physical fluidity, but were not developed to deal with modern western conditions. I have encountered people with fluidity, openness and joy, who have had no Alexander work, but most have been through significant self development and therapy, resolving childhood and social conflicts, and most have done a fair bit of meditation, and again, it has taken a long, long time.

So what makes it difficult? I claim that it is Brain Fog!

Brain Fog

Age of Bronze by Auguste Rodin
Japan Museum

Many of the mental causes are interlinked. The pressures of modern life require most of us to get a ‘job’ in order to afford somewhere decent to live, feed and clothe ourselves, have a decent lifestyle and be able to support children or loved ones. Few people have the luxury of doing something they love. Even fewer get to choose their own terms or hours. We are obliged to subjugate our lives in order to fulfil our needs. This causes inner conflict and takes up valuable attention.

We have grown up in a society that has a myriad of social rules and expectations, most of which conflict with what we might naturally want to do. It is not that more naturally living societies do not have any of these, but they are usually practical and obvious. I know of some rules in these societies that were based in superstition, yet they were still rooted in practicality, such as the prevention of disease. When you know why you should or shouldn’t do something, it is a lot easier to comply happily with it. Otherwise, these contradictions lead to frustration and uneasiness, again distractions from our valuable attention.

Also, contradictions such as ‘I should or must,’ when I don’t want to, or ‘I shouldn’t or must not,’ while I want to, set up opposing muscular patterns. Whatever we think is reflected in our bodies: If you so much as think of moving a finger, electrical impulses can be measured in the muscles that would move it, even if the finger does not visibly move. So thinking two contradictory thoughts at the same time, causes two opposing muscular patterns, causing tension, which as we will soon see, also causes brain fog.

False expectations also distract us from real life. For a long time, I disliked the Buddhist principle of non attachment. I had many desires and very few attainments of them. I believe that having clear goals and desires is essential to a healthy life, but envy and comparing yourself with others is mentally unhealthy, and again, distracts from appreciating what we have already got.

Introspection is a good thing in moderation, but western society has developed a fetish with identity, knowing who you are or ‘finding yourself.’ Richard Bandler, the originator of NLP™ Tells a story of a leading psychiatrist who went to India to ‘Find himself.’ On the psychiatrist’s return, Bandler asked him if he had found himself, to which he replied that he had not really. “Well– you’re right here!” claimed Bandler. When we are in the present, there is no issue of who we are, we just are. In fact, when people are in the zone, in the flow or in the groove, they report afterwards that it was as if they weren’t actually there, or they became the activity, or often more to the point, not in its way. This is exemplified in the books The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey and Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel.

We do obviously need to think, and we do need to solve problems. Unfortunately, when we can’t find a solution to a problem, we often chase it round and round, or maybe it chases us around our minds, like a dog worrying sheep and chasing them around a field. This distracts us from the outside world. Often we need to look at the situation from another point of view, as if we were a neutral outsider, to see possible solutions. At other times, we need to know when to stop and just accept that we cannot solve it for the moment, as exemplified by the so called Serenity Prayer:

Give me the courage to change those things I can change,

The serenity to accept what I cannot change,

And the wisdom to know the difference!

It is knowing the difference, knowing when to stop trying, that can be the tricky bit. There are times when we could do something, but the effort or cost to us might be too much. And there are times when we know we probably can’t change something, but would not feel good with ourselves if we did not attempt it. Lack of background tension can lead to more inner peace, and that can help to clarify these situations far more easily.

Of course, unresolved problems, impositions and dissatisfaction lead to so called negative emotions. I say so called: our emotions are meant to move us on to find solutions and put them into practice– they are designed to get us to do something– i.e. to get us into ‘motion.’ Depression is actually meant to make us feel bad enough to change something. Anger also gives us energy and motivation to move and deal with things. Again, if we can clearly see that there is no immediate solution, then if we are already calmer in ourselves, it is easier to have that serenity to accept them, at least until a solution becomes possible. Unfortunately, if we have background tension, it is more difficult to asses whether we can resolve a problem, and so not only do we keep going round and round in our minds, but the emotions themselves become more and more distracting and pull us further and further away from being present in the real world. This in turn makes us less and less likely to recognise opportunities to resolve our problems, and so there is a worsening cycle.

In modern life there are also many physical distractions. Smartphones with social apps, the internet in general, TV, and also advertisements on all these and on hoardings all over the place. All these are designed especially to grab your attention, and while some of it is useful, or sometimes nearly essential, there is a strong risk of them diverting our awareness away from the real world.

Rules!

Neck and body contraction can be released to lift a heavy load.

A flying fish taking off.
Only a fish that has been out of water, knows what water is!

Mile High City
The Denver skyline looking towards the Rockies.

Easing out a lady’s head and neck: The first stage of release and relaxation.

Seen one of these recently? Probably not as they have been extinct for over 8000 years! Bronze sculpture of a Sabre-tooth Tiger or Smilodon, by Erich Oehme in the Tierpark, Berlin. Credit cc Lotse, Wikimedia.

Use your Reason

In 1910, Alexander wrote– IN CAPITALS that

“THE CONSCIOUS MIND MUST BE QUICKENED.”

(Man’s Supreme Inheritance Ch 4 Para 10. Quickened here does not mean to make it faster, but it is the old fashioned meaning to ‘Make more alive!’)

Alexander had to stop what he had been doing and work out the causes of his voice problems by himself. His doctors were unable to help him and no one else seemed to know what caused his problems. Having stopped, he then had to analyse what he was doing to cause his problems and eventually realised he was habitually and unwittingly doing something to himself while he was reciting. He then had to reason out ways to get round his habits and avoid his problems. He then had to make sure that he stuck to these new ways, or ‘means whereby’ as he called them, to get round his problems, otherwise he reverted to his old habits which had caused his problems. (Words in italics are Alexander’s own terms.)

Likewise, to make our own lives better, we sometimes need to stop and analyse or work out what we are doing and whether it is best for us or the situation. And if it is not, then to reason out our own new ways or ‘means whereby’ to improve the situation. Then we need to make sure that we stick to the new ways. Like Alexander, we need to be willing to stop, pause, inhibit, or put off our desire to do what we want until we know we can do it appropriately and then stay open to still not doing it, or in that split second, doing something else, especially if it is now more appropriate, or go ahead after all and do what you had first intended.

Also through the Alexander Technique, by pausing before we jump to conclusions about something, we open the possibility to look at situations differently. Then we can work out more thoroughly, what may be going on and reason out better responses to those situations. This goes for our own situations and relationships, other peoples’ points of view and preferences, and broader issues, both in our own countries and throughout the world. 

Beware of anyone who is trying to whip up strong negative emotions– remember, these will drain blood from the logical part of your brain. Stop and step back from what they are saying. There are many powerful vested interests wanting to distract us from what is really happening in the world. By pausing, we give ourselves the opportunity to see beyond their misinformation and misdirection and come to more humane and mature conclusions and see situations for what they really are.

It Gets Easier

All this stopping and delaying, questioning how we are doing things, and working out how to deal with things better, seems like a lot of work. Maybe this is why the editor of “Harper’s New Monthly Magazine” in August 1857 writes:

There are men who will dare death for glory or for country, who could not dare scorn or contumely for the truth; and people generally would rather die than think. (1)

(This is the origin of the phrase normally attributed to Bertrand Russell in 1925. Contumely means criticism or insult.)

For most people, thinking for themselves seems daunting, especially when there are other people more than willing to tell you what to think. However, once you have got rid of background tension, learned that you are safe, so that the blood returns to the logical part of your brain, and you can patiently pause and give yourself time to think, then thinking for yourself becomes almost effortless, so much so that you hardly notice it. Also, rather than concentrating, as mentioned above, if you sit back or mentally stand back and ponder, perhaps with a bit of curiosity, then it is often a lot easier to realise what is or has been going on.

Interestingly, Alexander used mirrors much of the time to observe himself, and this is a similar process to imagining what our more social problems look like to other people. Often we can see solutions to other peoples’ problems when they cannot see them themselves. When we imagine looking back at ourselves from another person’s point of view, we often see solutions that were not obvious from our own perspective.

Mindfulness – Be Alert!

As Alexander teachers, we frequently direct our pupils to be aware of their surroundings with all their senses. We coach our pupils in opening up their peripheral vision and all round awareness, even of what is outside of their visual field. Although this would be normal in our natural state, we are not used to it and so we have to practise directing our awareness outside of ourselves to start with. This is a natural form of mindfulness, exemplified by the book Mindfulness in 3d – Alexander Technique for the 21st Century(2) by Alexander teacher Peter Nobes.(3) One of the best and easiest Alexander Technique books I have come across!

By learning the technique, we naturally become more aware, we naturally direct far more of our attention onto the outside world. And despite becoming far more internally aware and in control of our own bodies, this self awareness takes very little attention and mostly works in the background. In fact, I advise my pupils to give no more than a quarter of a thought to thinking their directions. With practice, once background tension has been eliminated, being in charge of our own condition becomes virtually automatic. Just like a plate spinner, once they have a few plates spinning they can almost forget about them. And I am sure the Maasai people on the Serengeti don’t have to think of their necks being relaxed or their heads being buoyant– they have this naturally from birth.

Additionally, although so much of our awareness is directed outside, it often makes our thinking clearer and easier, almost as if it is quieter and calmer on the inside much of the time. As mentioned, Alexander himself was very opposed to the idea of concentration: he saw it as making an undue effort to exclude the outside world. Also, the tension we often produce to convince ourselves that we are ‘Thinking hard’ gives your brain extra unnecessary work in producing the tension in the first place and in perceiving it. It distracts you from thinking and does not assist your brain in thinking at all! However, once we have eliminated background tension and we know that we are safe and we have a proper blood supply to the logical parts of our brain, our thinking becomes calm and easy and often just happens in the background, without taking much attention away from our outside awareness.

Smile!

As part of an exercise to restore natural breathing, Alexander discovered that he needed to raise his soft palette, i.e. the soft back upper part of his mouth, and he discovered that the best and easiest way to do that was to think of something amusing or pleasant and therefore smile.

Now, my understanding of more naturally living people, is that they smile a lot more than we do, even though their circumstances may often be a lot more challenging than ours! Just like children who more naturally play, laugh and have fun, this is a natural state that we can return to. The main things that make this possible are getting rid of background tension and brain fog. Once we have got rid of these, we feel lighter and we feel clearer and more light hearted. In fact, natural poise makes us feel more confident and happier in ourselves.

However, as we have mostly not been smiling as much as we naturally would have, it is worth practising it deliberately. By deliberately remembering to smile from time to time, we also trick ourselves into feeling better. This happens in two ways: One, because we are smiling, our brains assume there must be something to feel good about, as our brains use circular logic as mentioned before, so they then make us feel good anyway. Secondly, the muscles used for smiling produce a lot of endorphins when they are activated, which automatically makes us feel good. Then obviously, once we feel good, we are far more likely to smile!

Summary

By eliminating background tension and brain fog, and by being mindful and directing our awareness outside, so that we can confirm that we are physically safe in the here and now, we become a lot calmer and our thinking gets easier. And as we trust our natural coordination and buoyancy to stand us up optimally with natural poise, we feel more confident and joyful and more present in the world. 

In other words, all of this is self reinforcing. We know that our state of mind and emotions affect our bodies. What few people realise is how powerfully our bodies affect our clarity, observation and presence in the world, as well as our sense of aliveness and confidence. Also our body language and state of mind affect other people, who are likely to feel more comfortable with us and respect us more.

How to Achieve These Benefits

“How can I achieve all this?” you may ask. The easiest way is to take one to one lessons with a qualified Alexander teacher. However, since qualifying myself, I have developed ways to teach you the Technique, that make it much easier to understand, and much quicker and easier to learn. As I have already made clear, I can teach what took me about five years to learn in around ten lessons over ten weeks. 

All this can cost you as little as £500 for the whole course. This is about the equivalent of just a couple of cups of coffee per day. Incidentally, I have come across one day Mindfulness courses costing nearly £1300 online or £3000 for an in person group class– and there is no way they will facilitate reducing residual background tension. If my classes still seem like a bit of a stretch financially, I am happy to receive regular payments over a timescale that is realistic for you– get the work and improve your life when you want or need it– pay when you can afford it. You can go to my About Lessons page here for fuller details.

Book a Free Lesson

Please feel free to get in touch with me today on 07791 930028 and book your free introductory lesson. This could be the gateway to true natural mindfulness, alertness and aliveness, confidence, charisma and natural joy.

David Owen 07791 930028 

(1) People generally would rather die than think https://quoteinvestigator.com/2018/09/23/think/
(2) Mindfulness in 3d https://www.alexandertech.co.uk/mindfulness-in-3d
(3) Peter Nobes https://www.alexandercentre.co.uk/