This book gets back to the core of the Alexander Technique (AT), much of which is not known even to most teachers. This is because Alexander (1869-1955) changed what he was doing at least three times, around 1912, 1923, and 1930, each time leaving key elements behind, unexplained. These lost elements include natural breathing, his biomechanics to alter the body for ourselves, the real thought processes of his directions, how he used inhibition and quiet attentiveness to discover intrinsic movement patterns, and how he used vision as part of his process. There are snippets of AT history throughout, and a potted history of what really happened in the AT, as it has not been told before, but the emphasis is on AT in the context of integrated movement.
Author(s): Easten, Penelope;
Publisher: Handspring Publishing Limited
Year: 2021
Language: English
Commentary: The Alexander Technique,, Twelve Fundamentals of Integrated Movement
Pages: 372
Tags: The Alexander Technique,, Twelve Fundamentals of Integrated Movement
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I. The Basics of Fundamental Movement
1. Introduction, aims, and a tropical tale
Visions of free movement – a tropical tale
Aims of the book
How this book came about
Evolution of the Alexander technique, and finding the whole elephant
2. What has been lost, and the twelve fundamentals of movement
Integrated movement – WHAT has gone wrong, and WHY
Sitting is the new smoking
The five senses – one of the great myths
Changing our movement habits needs a change in thinking
Top-down vs bottom-up processing
Left hemisphere for the known, right hemisphere for the unknown
An evolutionary perspective puts the body first
Whole-body animal movement, the fulfilment of evolutionary potential
Introducing the twelve fundamentals of integrated movement
Time and space and rhythm
Seven new proposals for integrated movement
3. The fundamentals of structure
Lesson 1 Waking up proprioception
Lesson 2 We are fighting gravity as we move
Lesson 3 Making your first changes towards a more mechanically advantageous structure
Lesson 4 Understanding the different models of body mechanics
Lesson 5 Control mechanisms of body balance and movement – the self-organization of the body
A summary of the engineering of the human body in nine layers
Appendix: Twelve teaching tips, and further reading
4. The fundamentals of awareness and thinking
Lesson 1 Waking up external perception – tracking a visual line
Lesson 2 Clear brain choices and “inhibition” – the key to changing brain patterns of body use
Lesson 3 Interoception – the internal world of a hundred senses, and our reason to move
Lesson 4 Where we think from – mind in the brain, awareness versus feeling
Lesson 5 Whole-body awareness and embodiment – “liquid light
Lesson 6 Finding our spatial awareness – of our surroundings and of ourselves
Lesson 7 Emergent integrated movement – discovering our fundamental bend led by focused vision
Lesson 8 Exploring semi-supine – a position of active rest
5. The autonomic nervous system – why we need to work from quiet presence and awareness
The three states of the autonomic nervous system
The ladder from safety to danger to life threat
Maintaining a balanced life with self-regulation
Bringing the nervous system back to a place of safety
Recovery by climbing down the ladder
6. Finding the innate movements of breathing and walking
The evolution of our movement – finding the buried patterns
Lesson 1 Natural breathing – finding the natural expansion of the torso
Lesson 2 More breathing explorations
Lesson 3 Finding our emergent rhythmic movement – walking and bouncing
Part 2. Linking brain and body with explorations of physical integration
7. The Initial Alexander technique, and a new model of postural alignment
Introduction to Part 2 – exploring Miss Goldie’s model of the structural body
The seven steps to a new body geometry
The five stages to Alexander’s path of discovery
Lesson 1 How well is your body aligned with gravity
Lesson 2 Rebalancing the upper body
Lesson 3 Making an integrated change
Lesson 4 Rebalancing the lower body
Lesson 5 Lengthening the back from top and bottom
Lesson 6 Integrating directions within the expanded field of awareness
8. Single leg balance
Lesson 1 Introduction to balance
Lesson 2 The vestibular organs and the three directions of space
Lesson 3 Finding our secure base – the ball of the foot and the sesamoid bones
Lesson 4 Finding our secure base – the hip stabilizers
Lesson 5 Finding our secure base – tilting the foot – the lower ankle joint
Lesson 6 Placement of the feet – untwisting the leg spirals
Lesson 7 Widening the hips with the breath – opening the femoral triangle
9. Spatial relationships and use of the upper body and arms
Coming into relationship with our world
Lesson 1 The supportive torso
Lesson 2 The shoulders and upper arms – opening the deep back arm line
Lesson 3 How safe do you feel? Opening up the chest and armpits
Lesson 4 Opening the forearm flexors
Lesson 5 Gripping without grabbing – balancing flexors and extensors as we grip
Lesson 6 Delicate movements of the hand
Lesson 7 Spatial relationships in the arms in everyday life
10. Toned sitting – integrating the core muscles
Introduction – why work at sitting and standing
Lesson 1 Keeping the legs switched on while sitting, even at a desk
Lesson 2 Sit to stand using the new alignment of the legs and feet
Lesson 3 The anatomy of integration, finding our core muscles, and active hip folding
Lesson 4 Finding the anatomy of integration by inclining back on a chair
11. Walking as you’ve never walked before
The standard model of walking
Lesson 1 Stability enables mobility
Lesson 2 Stability enables coordination – finding fully active feet
Lesson 3 Stability and mobility enable torque – finding the power in your walk
12. Alexander’s biomechanics for expansion of the upper body
Introduction
Active, integrative stretching versus passive, single muscle stretching
Lesson 1 Finding the supportive torso
Lesson 2 Shoulders and clavicles
Lesson 3 Opening, widening, and deepening the chest
Lesson 4 Straightening the arms from both ends
Lesson 5 Opening the top of the ribcage – the reverse whispered Ah
Lesson 6 Classic Alexander technique procedures for arms
13. Precise, springy alignment in sit to stand and “monkey
Lesson 1 Anatomy and engineering play
Lesson 2 Tilting the torso forwards into “monkey
Lesson 3 Balanced sitting – actively upright without bracing
Lesson 4 Why the knees need to stay back as we tilt forwards to stand
Lesson 5 Squatting and bouncing – testing our elastic resistance and mobility
Lesson 6 Constructive conscious guidance and control – using Initial AT for yourself
14. Freeing the neck, and Alexander’s primary directions
Lesson 1 Why we need to free the neck
Lesson 2 Finding length and adaptive tone in the neck extensors
Lesson 3 Primary control and directions revisited
Part 3. Living in a flow of dynamic balance
15. Catching a ball – inhibition in action
Introduction – discovering the core of Miss Goldie’s work 291
Catching a ball in seven stages
Fully responsive action for optimal coordination
Discussion points
16. New models of coordination and learning
Lesson 1 Coordinating locomotion by using the whole-body intelligence network
Lesson 2 Coordination of reaching and grasping in everyday actions
Lesson 3 New models of learning a complex task
17. Embodied speaking
Introduction
Lesson 1 Being present as you speak
Lesson 2 Embodying the voice
18. Relating and attuning to people for putting hands on others
Introduction – we are not machines but self-integrating systems
How is non-verbal information transmitted
Five key elements to bring about resonance with a pupil
Summary for hands-on work with a pupil or client
References
Index
