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Return To ShopThere is a fundamental paradox about feeling in the Alexander technique. Throughout his books Alexander emphasises the unreliability of it i.e. that a habitual use feels right, and that changing the habit will feel wrong. As one small girl said in a lesson with FM: “Oh, I see! If I feel at all, I must feel wrong. If I don’t feel wrong, I mustn’t feel.”[1] And yet he also tells us we are to refine our kinaesthetic sense; “Sensory appreciation can be restored by individual training.”[2] But to do this, don’t we have to use some form of proprioceptive awareness?
This paradox needs more clarification. A clue to solving it lies in the fact that there are many different ways of feeling and proprioception (some of them even reliable!) In this workshop we will explore feeling and awareness in different forms, to distinguish feeling that is safe and helpful from feeling that is counter-productive. We will do this by bringing you to an embodied place where you can allow yourself to experience bodily feelings safely and productively in order to enhance your sensory appreciation, even while letting something new happen by itself.
[1] Alexander, F.M. (1984) CCC Integral Press, 8th edition p.84
[2] Ibid p xvi
The ATI annual conference runs online from Friday 14th October to Wednesday 19th October 2022. Find details at www.alexandertechniqueinternational.com
My workshop will be on Saturday 15th Oct, 10.30am – 12pm UK time.
