Working to principle in learning to do in using the self

What is this article?

This article is a synopsis I wrote for a workshop I am going to give in Galway, Ireland, the 11th and 12th of November 2017. The original title of the workshop was “Thinking in Activity“ and ”Learning to Feel Wrong”, a Delsartean practical approach on the Alexander technique by Jeando Masoero, Initial Alexander technique teacher.

I have changed the title for a more encompassing one, because this text will also be of interest to the teachers and pupils currently having Skype lessons with me – and who cannot travel half of the world to join a workshop in Ireland.

A word of caution: this is a workshop about working to principle in learning-to-do in using the self

Any teacher with some marketing sense will tell you to write simple, short presentations that people want to hear about, about things they already know and already accept (and maybe understand). Therefore, the sentence “working to principle in learning-to-do in using the self” should be banned from the start as a subject of a workshop.

If you take heed of such advice, do not read this synopsis, throw it away! There is every chance that this paper will not tell you anything you want to hear, and its drawbacks are many: it is not simple, it touches a controversial subject and it asks difficult questions.

At best, it would be better not to read the synopsis and to join the workshop, because, due to its nature, the workshop is more down-to-earth than an article and the principles are possibly easier to understand when made practical. An alternative good idea would be to read the synopsis AFTER having taken part of the workshop.

When was it that working-to-principle was explained to you?

Why then would one starts a Workshop with such a subject? The simple answer is: “because the sentence is not clear at first sight, nor is its meaning (if you ask yourself such a question) a subject of consensus” and because quite a lot of work (to be experimented in the workshop) is necessary to make it reveal how central and helpful the meaning of the sentence could be in your work on yourself and/or in your teaching.

Not that you have heard a lot about this sentence prior to reading this article (I guess, but you can prove me wrong): in books or websites about the Alexander technique, you will read what the teacher exposing the ‘work’ does or think, how he personally understands the identified keywords of the Technique, but never will he try to explain Alexander’s sentences in their complexities, especially the ones that are not in keeping with the so-called accepted opinion about what the Technique is and is not. This is clearly such a sentence.

It is possible that such a synopsis with its direct call for reflective thinking may alienate many teachers and students, but I am taking the off-chance that some would find their curiosity aroused, not only to join the workshop, but also to start their own method of reflective thought regarding the link between Alexander’s written ideas and the practice of the Alexander technique.

“The problem of method in forming habits of reflective thought is the problem of establishing conditions that will arouse and guide curiosity; of setting up the connections in things experienced that will on later occasions promote the flow of suggestions, create problems and purposes that will favor consecutiveness in the succession of ideas.” (Dewey, J., “How We Think” (New York: Heath, 1933), pp. 56–7)

For me, writing down a workshop synopsis is not an exercise to round up and please as many participants as possible. It is rather the occasion to turn the ever-growing brew of Alexander principles into something more coherent and systematic, thus more useful to create procedures and controlled conditions of experiment in the work.

Our attitude toward doing and learning to do

It is a fact that Alexander repeatedly encourages his reader to “work to principle in applying the technique to their activities in learning-to-do in the use of the self” (Alexander, ucl, p. 74, p. 169). It is interesting to note that the origin of the particular sentence I choose is not in the early writings of the young Alexander, but in his last book. This tends to show that the modern idea that “non-doing” was a late culmination of his life-work might well be erroneous. Learning-to-do in the use of the self is still very much alive at the end of his work.

The teachers of the modern Alexander technique have rejected the idea of any ‘Correct Doing’ and with it the idea of learning-to-do in using the self, i.e. learning to DO a new relationship between the parts of the whole anatomical structure.

In the modern Technique, Doing is to be avoided at all cost as it is construed as the very problem of ‘end-gainers’. Many are very close to equaling doing with end-gaining. Nobody nowadays talks about Alexander’s early idea of “doing according to the means-whereby principle¹”.

We are told that there is no reason to bother with doing as a lot of hands-on lessons coupled with a belief in Non-doing is supposed to lead the teacher and later his pupils to a condition of good use which will soon happens by itself.

Pointing to the difficulties and set-backs of learning-to-do, many modern AT teachers are posing as innateness supporters, convinced that complex skills are best left to the reflex reactions evolved during four million years. “Just be clear about your intentions, and your body will provide the perfect solution!” (I cannot quote better than this because I forgot where I read that²).

The reasoned technique of self-help has disappeared, engulfed in the power of touch and its trance-like effect in the mind of the pupil. Working to principle and appeal to reason are railed against and more and more teachers of the modern Alexander technique are searching to put the flexible working of the true consciousness out of action in order to reach the subconsciousness (Alexander, ccci, p. 31)³.

In this workshop, I take a different view, which I call the view of the young Alexander, even though he came back to it from time to time in his late books. The young Alexander never learned his technique by rejecting doing: he only rejected doing according to the end-gaining principle, i.e. doing according to what you feel is best for you.

The grip of the new-age Alexander technique is so strong that a workshop is necessary to open our conception of the ‘work’ (this is how Alexander used to call his technique) to the implications inherent in the sentence ‘working to principle’.

This workshop is about trying to make sense in a systematic way of the words:working to principle in learning-to-do in using the self. This may sound preposterous, purposely shocking, but it is only singling out Alexander’s aim as presented in his last book, just a few years before his death:

Learning to “do” by this procedure is not learning to “do” exercises on a trial-and-error plan, but learning to work to a principle, not only in using the self but in the application of the technique outside the self. A person who learns to work to a principle in doing one exercise will have learned to do all exercises, but the person who learns just to “do an exercise” will most assuredly have to go on learning to “do exercises” ad infinitum. (Alexander, F.M., “The universal constant in living, Chaterson L.t.d., 1942, third edition 1947, p. 177)

If you read the first sentence of the quote, you will see that Alexander mentions clearly learning-to-do not only in using the self. I think he says ‘not only’ in using the self, because he takes for granted that learning-to-do in using the self is the first unavoidable step of the process.

Learning-to-do to a reasoned principle is not doing according to the end-gaining procedure (no one needs to learn that!). This workshop is going to be a living experiment of what it could mean, i.e. “working to means-whereby principle in learning-to-do in using the self”.

Working to principle is one thing, but which principles are we talking about?
What are the principles most forgotten in the teaching of the Alexander technique? What are the principles most in need of study?

To answer these questions, we must wait a bit and establish a common use of the meaning of a few words. This is what I will expose in the next chapter.

Introduction: what has form to do with the principle concerning the true poise of the body?

A question which I am often asked is: “What has ‘form’ to do with Alexander’s principles concerning the true poise of the body?” (Alexander, MSI, p. 52)

Form is the outcome of what we do

To start the synopsis, you will need first a series of definitions which describe how I envision the system of concepts of the Alexander technique, as set in the four books of F.M. Alexander.

The use of the self, i.e. the choices we make when reacting to life, determines, among many other things, our form-as-a-whole in Gestures (dynamic Form) and Postures (static Form).

Form is the position at a given time of the head in relation to the neck, and of the head and neck in relation to the torso and limbs. It is easy to demonstrate in practice that the integrated working of the postural mechanism depends on Form at any given time⁴ This demonstration of the dependence of the postural mechanism on Form will be a great part of the procedures presented in the workshop.

Form (form-as-a-whole) is what we DO with the anatomical structure and the exact counterpart of the manner in which we guide what we do it in every activity. Every single activity (apart from lying down) involves the postural mechanism in the background of what we intend to do. In this sense, Posture are doings as well as Gestures.

Learning to Do the Form of the torso

As children, we are taught to consciously direct the simple movements (sequential) of the extremities (head, hands, feet, arms and legs because they are necessary to use tools) whilst the coordinated movements (simultaneous) of the different parts of the torso are left to subconscious guidance and control⁵. Untrained, we do what we feel as right to us with the different parts of the torso. It is possible to learn-to-do different Forms, different from what is habitual to us.

New reasoned coordinated movements of the different parts of the torso are the means whereby of the early Alexander technique. They constitute the ‘true primary movement in each and every act’⁶

We do not need to touch the specific use at all

Defects in the use of the self are not primarily due to any local defects [they are not due to defects in the use of the head-neck relationship for example], but are indirect results of defect(s) in the general use of the self (Alexander, ucl, introduction, p. xxxvi⁷).

Any defect in the general use of the self has its cause in a defective guidance of the general use impacting the torso. This is the core of the indirect technique stipulated by Alexander and it revolves around the use of the mechanism of the torso: even after starting his training course, he was still advocating this indirect technique⁸

This workshop is a practical introduction at learning a proper guidance in the general use of the self, a proper guidance of our form-as-a-whole (Form) through the guidance of the antagonistic movements of the mechanism of the torso.

Learning-to-do is self-regulation at its best

Working from the whole to the part is only possible in practice if you consider Form, and if you define Form as a global coordination of the movements of all its parts.

Form in turn affects Function (overall functioning) provided Time is allowed for the geometry of the structure to modify the functioning processes of the body (“Remember that time is of the essence of the contract”, (Alexander, uos, p. ix, “Preface of the New Edition”, Sept 19, 1945). It is in his last book that Alexander consents to give an explanation for the enigmatic sentence⁹.

This late reminder of the essence of the contract means that a new Form, to affect functioning, must be created at will by the student and integrated in his/her habitual use, day by day. Only if the new guidance of the general use is active in time continuously (as a constant, Alexander, ucl, p. 6¹⁰), leading to the development and persistence of the new Form day after day, will the change in functioning be effective.
Therefore, the only person with authority to fundamentally influence the use and functioning of the self is the student and not the teacher, for the simple reason that the student spends all day with herself/himself and is the only one able to react to the stimuli of life with a new Form.

Form is a consequence of concerted movements of the parts of the anatomical structure

Form is a physical manifestation, a consequence and not a primary cause. Form is the outcome of our guidance of simultaneous movements¹¹ or ’concerted activity¹² of the parts of the anatomical structure that we do, consciously or not.

Seeing your Form does not mean that you can analyze it in its composite movements: when Alexander first started to analyze his use in the mirror, he failed to notice anything wrong in the way he used himself (Alexander, uos, p. 6). A great part of this workshop will be to understand and practice a new way of seeing Form as a concerted activity of movements.

Form can be subjected to conscious guidance and conscious control

Contrary to Feelings (the subjective or “first person” perspective) which “cannot be conveyed by the written or spoken word”, Form is objective and can be analyzed, decomposed, and planned with language instructions of movement of the parts of the whole structure: this is part of the process of “giving conscious directions”.

The performance of a series of definite movement instructions combined with definite inhibition of unwanted movements¹³ (the true means-whereby thinking in activity) is an unfamiliar procedure producing gestural Forms which are not in keeping with habitual use (and therefore do not feel “right”): this is the process of “projecting directions” in learning-to-do in using the self.

Viewing objectively the transformation of Form, from the habitual use guided by feeling to the new use guided by rational instructions can be easily evaluated in space (with the language of geometry) and time by using a video recording: this is the process of “consciously controlling the directions” of the actual use of the self. Learning-to-see and learning-to-describe the transition piloted by instructions of movements leads to the capacity to reason the guidance of a series of several movements concerted together and to adjust the “conscious guidance”, refining then by reasoning:

1. the series of definite orders of performance and definite orders of inhibition, and,
2. how the subject “do” the movements together.

The outcome of such teaching is a learning-to-do in the use of the self according to the means whereby principle. In this manner, the will, directed in a rational way, can effect the desired change.

I then explain to him that his own will (not mine or some higher will) is to effect the desired change, but that it must first be directed in a rational way to bring about a physical manifestation, and must be aided by a simple mechanical principle and a proper manipulation. In this way a reasoned and permanent confidence is built up in the pupil instead of a spurious hysterical one which is apt to fail as suddenly as it arose. (Alexander, F.M., “Man’s supreme inheritance”, Chaterson Ltd 1910, reprinted 1946, p. 129)

Directing in a rational way: Clarity, coherence and linguistic precision

In this practical workshop I propose to study two central pedagogical principles pertaining to the young Alexander’s concept of “working to principle in learning-to-do in using the self”: “means-whereby in activity” and “creating conditions to feel wrong”.

Again, it is interesting to note the date of this quote from Alexander’s “the use of the self”:

They will not be following me unless they recognise … that they will need to depend on new “means-whereby” for the gaining of their ends, and that they will “feel wrong” at first in carrying out the procedures because these will be unfamiliar; (3) that the attempt to bring about change involving growth, development, and progressive improvement in the use and functioning of the human organism calls necessarily for the acceptance, yes, the welcoming, of the unknown in sensory experience, and this “unknown” cannot be associated with the sensory experiences that have hitherto “felt right.” (4) that to “try and get it right” by direct “doing” is to try and reproduce what is known, and cannot lead to the “right,” the as yet “unknown.” (Alexander, F.M., “The use of the self”, Integral Press 1932, reprinted 1955, second Introduction 1945, p. viii)

To try and reproduce what has been felt during a lesson of manipulations cannot lead to the right, the as yet unknown. The movements of the parts of the torso which produce our actual Form have to be definitely stated, the unwanted subconscious movements which are associated with our habitual reaction to a stimulus of movement have to be described clearly so as to be inhibited, and the Work of merging (combining prevention and doing in one activity –Alexander, uos, p. 10¹⁴) has to be passed along to the real actor of change: the individual, the reasoning self.

Who is this workshop open for?

This workshop is for teachers, students and pupils alike. It is designed:

1. to help building the trust in the development of your pupil’s reasoning processes (starting with yourself as your first pupil),
2. to help teaching conscious unfamiliar procedures based on precise instructions of movement of the parts of the organism, and,
3. to help pupils learn to feel wrong with ease and great accuracy in order to improve their use of the self.

A teacher of the initial Alexander technique may introduce you to ‘conscious guidance and control’, but when all is said and explained, you’ll still have to teach the technique to yourself in order to apply it.

This workshop is a demonstration of the concept of “Thinking in activity”:

This workshop proposes to answer this question: How do you subject the processes directing your general use to a new experience –the experience of being dominated by reasoning instead of by feeling?

If I was ever to succeed in making the changes in use I desired, I must subject the processes directing my use to a new experience –the experience that is of being dominated by reasoning instead of by feeling, particularly at the critical moment when the giving of directions merged into “doing” for the gaining of the end I had decided upon. This meant that I must be prepared to carry on with any procedure I had reasoned out as best for my purpose, even though that procedure might feel wrong. In other words, my trust in my reasoning processes to bring me safely to my “end” must be a genuine trust, not a half-trust needing the assurance of feeling right as well. (Alexander, F.M., “The use of the self”, Integral Press 1932, reprinted 1955, p. 36)

The workshop is about teaching yourself or others “reasoned self-work”, how to self-improve progressively your own active guidance of the use of the different parts of your organism as a whole to change your Form and introduce poise in all your activities.

This is working to principle in learning-to-do in the use of the self:

• by giving and obeying a concerted series of orders of movement of the different [bony] parts of the anatomical structure,
• by learning to accept to feel wrong as a result, and
• by trusting to your own reasoning when consciously controlling the result of your own doing (your doing-according-to-the-means-whereby-principle) in order to improve your guidance.

We will explore how to discover and teach (to oneself or others) the forgotten “new principle” alluded by Alexander in his first and last books¹⁵, i.e. how a new concerted use of a series of spoken intentions of movements of the different parts of the torso (i.e. ‘thinking in activity’) can give credence to the hypothesis that each and every movement can be consciously directed and controlled ¹⁶. In this sentence, ‘consciously directed and controlled’ means that the guidance of the different parts of the torso is the result of accurately described movements (one after the other) merged into one intention (all together) during the performance of the act.

Every procedure you are going to experiment will be a proof of the fact that DoinG precise coordinated Forms –contrary to habits of poor use– can be learned and performed with sureness and confidence without any prior sensory experience, as long as we can verbalize a clear conception¹⁷ of what is required for the successful performance of an act (Alexander, CCCI, p. 134) to influence your own mind.

Thinking such a ‘conception’ is nothing else than to have a complete and accurate apprehension of all the concerted movements concerned by the correct use of the ‘primary control’ of the general use of the self. As strange as this may sound to you, we are going to describe these means-whereby movements with language and, then, control whether you are able or not to let your mind change your general use because of such verbal stimuli. This is the question: “if you form a complete and accurate apprehension of all the movements concerned, will it change your manner of combining Doing & Prevention?”

My next effort must be to give X a correct and conscious guidance and control of all the parts concerned, and in order to obtain this control, he must have a complete and accurate apprehension of all the movements concerned. And this apprehension must precede and be preparatory to any conception of “speaking,” [the doing for which the means-whereby orders are indispensable] during the application of all the guiding orders involved. (Alexander, F.M., “Man’s supreme inheritance”, Chaterson Ltd 1910, reprinted 1946, p. 32)

We will practice the application of a simultaneous direction of several movements of the parts of the torso as well as several definite inhibition of unwanted movements to perform the ‘concerted conditions’ or ‘ends’ necessary to let the neck be free, to let the head go forward and up, and the back to lengthen and widen with the minimum of effort and with a mathematical precision (Alexander, ccci, p. 127).

In all this, you will experiment what Alexander meant by “feeling wrong”¹⁸.

The Delsartean mathematical precision

“The use of an organism determines its form.” (Delsarte, F. 1853).

Talking about mathematical precision, Alex Murray reminds us that “the Delsarte system was taught and advertised briefly by Alexander in 1900 as ”an aesthetic science with the same precision as mathematical science.” (Murray, Alexander. “Grabbing the Bird by the Tale: A Flutist’s History of Learning to Play.” Alexander Technique for Musicians, 1986).

In this workshop, I will present the pedagogy of the “laboratory method of instruction” taught by Delsarte as well as the geometrical language without which there can be no mathematical accuracy¹⁹. You will see that Alexander reference to “mathematical precision²⁰” is not a mere metaphor when we deal with faulty habits of mind and of body and work according to the principles concerning the true poise of the body.

“Fortunately for us there is not a single one of these habits of mind, with their resultant habits of body, which may not be altered by the inculcation of those principles concerning the true poise of the body which I have called the principles of mechanical advantage, used in co-operation with an understanding of the inhibitory and volitional powers of the objective mind, by which means these deterrent habits can be raised to conscious control (Alexander, F.M., ”Man’s supreme inheritance”, Chaterson Ltd 1910, reprinted 1946, p. 52).

A workshop as a laboratory experimental demonstration

Each lesson [given by Alexander] was a laboratory experimental demonstration. Statements made in advance of consequences to follow and the means by which they would be reached were met with implicit scepticism —a fact which is practically inevitable, since, as Mr. Alexander points out, one uses the very conditions that need re-education as one’s standard of judgment. Each lesson carries the process somewhat farther and confirms in the most intimate and convincing fashion the claims that are made. As one goes on, new areas are opened, new possibilities are seen and then realized; one finds himself continually growing, and realizes that there is an endless process of growth initiated. (Dewey, J., “Introduction to the Use of the self” by F.M. Alexander, p. xix)

I will give the workshop as a Delsarte ‘laboratory lesson’ to all participants and, by taking in the lesson, you will be able to understand –through experimenting directly reasoned procedures– how Alexander reasoned his technique of conscious guidance and changed his own use –learned-to-do in the use of the self– in everyday activities: in the rational process of actively self-guiding the movements of the parts of your anatomical structure without any outside manipulation (in the gestures of standing, sitting, moving from sit to stand and stand-to-sit) you will feel absolutely ‘wrong’ but you will also see objectively (on video and at a later time) how you have directed your own Form in space and time despite the limitations of your feeling sense.

This workshop is not a theoretical study, but on the opposite a practical approach at teaching Freedom, Liberation, and Detachment of thinking²¹ from the old usurper²², i.e. the feeling-sense, the ‘subjective habit’, concrete perceptions, sensory appreciation and other illusory ‘consciousness’ or ‘mindfulness’.

Learning to feel wrong with accuracy and self-initiative

Scientific advance manifestly depends upon the discovery of conditions for making new observations, and upon the re-making of old observations under different conditions; in other words, upon methods of discovering why, as in the case of the scientific man, we have had and relied upon observations that have led into error. (Dewey, J., “Introduction to CCCI, p. xxvi”)

Faced with the fact that the individual has had and relied upon observations that have led into error, there are two different, opposite course of action:

1. the culturally acceptable solution of the modern AT is to create new conditions by proxy, to have a teacher do the muscular acts for the subject vicariously²³, from outside of the individual, so that he will feel the ‘correct feeling’ associated with the new Form . This scheme presupposes that the individual cannot learn-to-do it if left to himself, so that he must give the authority to someone else to guide him and DO the Form for him. How this is teaching the conscious mind to guide the general use of the self (or its form) is difficult to comprehend as the function of guidance is performed by a substituted agency²⁴, and the subject of manipulations is left with the consequence of guidance and not the means.
2. the revolutionary proposition of the young Alexander²⁵ that all that is necessary to discover conditions for making new observations is learning-to-do according to the means whereby principle, i.e. Working to principle in learning-to-do in the use of the self. The subject of the lesson is not guided from the outside and made to feel what is ‘right’. The subject is entrusted with the problem of guiding a new coordination of various acts (movements) and asked to judge if her/his performance is according to plan or not. The teacher is only there to help the pupil acquire different strategies to understand the situation, plan new performances and refine the solution of guidance and control the pupil can propose.

How could we help ourselves and our pupils create conditions for making new observations when our habit of mind is to reproduce feelings of rightness obtained through vicarious expert manipulations? Alexander himself proposes the solution to this riddle. We must learn to feel wrong, not because we have been manipulated into a new form, but because we have learned-to-do the new form according to principle.

It is possible that many will re-discover the central need to explore daily wrong feelings associated with conscious self-guidance in order to improve the use of the self. Not only will I will point where Alexander elaborates in his four books on this cornerstone of his technique, but I will most of all indicate how the carrying out of verbal orders can lead to the employment of a new (general) use of the self.

I, like everyone else, with my ingrained habit of judging whether experiences of use were “right” or not by the way they felt, would almost inevitably balk at employing the new use. Obviously, any new use must feel different from the old, and if the old use felt right, the new use was bound to feel wrong.

I now had to face the fact that in all my attempts during these past months I had been trying to employ a new use of myself which was bound to feel wrong, at the same time trusting to my feeling of what was right to tell me whether I was employing it or not. This meant that all my efforts up till now had resolved themselves into an attempt to employ a reasoning direction of my use at the moment of speaking, while for the purpose of this attempt I was actually bringing into play my old habitual use and so reverting to my instinctive misdirection. Small wonder that this attempt had proved futile! (Alexander, F.M., “The use of the self”, Integral Press 1932, reprinted 1955, p. 36).

The procedures presented in this workshop are all conducive to ‘experimentally controlled acts’, i.e. physical acts performed consciously as an effect of the conscious conception and the conscious direction of the mind, so that you will discover how your rational mind can transform your physical use and produce new sensory observations which feel wrong.

Developing the authority in the student: A non-elitist approach

The delsartean Alexander technique (iAt) is a reasoned approach which offers ordinary citizens to participate in and self-influence their own mental and physical use for the better. People certainly need a teacher to learn the fundamentals of “thinking in activity” and “learning to feel wrong” but when all is said and explained, they’ll still have to teach the technique to themselves in order to apply it…

Self-coordinated corrective DOING is based on the clarity of the process of change advocated: each individual can influence his own use with clear concerted orders of movements of the parts of the torso, rules of definite inhibition and rational instructions of movements, as long as he/she understands that there is no magic involved: it is only by learning to OBEY these simultaneous instructions despite our habit of sensory credulity that we can perform reasoned acts of poise. Each workshop game, will be an occasion to challenge and refute the following comment:

“It can be demonstrated that the one thing we can be certain that such a pupil will not try to do is to employ the right use of himself in carrying out the instructions, for the simple reason that to him the right use would feel wrong. People don’t do what they feel to be wrong when they are trying to be right. That the myth implied in the belief I am here condemning has obtained credence for so long is proof that we do not really think as often as we feel we do. Sorry, but it is only too true!” (Alexander, F.M., “The universal constant in living, Chaterson L.t.d., 1942, third edition 1947, p. 89).

Of course, the whole workshop will also expand on the differences between corrective doing-according-to-the-end-gaining-principle and corrective doing-according-to-the-means-whereby-principle. The differences will be clearly analyzed all along the workshop in practice and in relation to the theoretical writings of F.M. Alexander.

Learning to see geometrical Form

At the end of this workshop, you will understand :

1. how to develop a language which improves your capacity to see²⁶, how to apprehend the defects in a human body and,
2. how any individual can use reasoned instructions based on the same language of geometrical relationships to change the pulls between all the parts of the organism as a whole.

I recommend every participant to bring a video recorder or at least an audio recorder to tape the whole workshop for future work and criticism.

After the workshop, it will be possible to continue exploring the “work” in Skype Lessons with Jeando Masoero.

1. I judge from the numerous queries received from readers of Man’s Supreme Inheritance that many people are not quite clear as to what is meant by the expressions “means-whereby” and “end-gaining.” In the endeavour to make my meaning clear, I would point out that whenever a person sets out to achieve a particular “end” (whether this “end” is the development of potentialities or the eradication of defects, peculiarities, or misuse) his procedure will be based on one of two principles which I have called the “end-gaining” and the “means-whereby” principles (Alexander, F.M., ”Constructive conscious control of the individual“, Integral Press 1923, reprinted 1955, note p. 5).
2. I think it is something that David Gorman wrote on FaceBook about learning Whispered Ah.
3. Yesterday I found such comment on Facebook: Cecile Raynor-Alexander Technique, Thai Yoga & Reiki. “Many instructions are heard in yoga classes that have been spread over time without a valid foundation. “No Knees Past Toes” is one that is overused to a fault although accurate in some cases.
   I could go through the poses for which it is true and the poses for which it is not and that would be promoting **the very approach to yoga that is not serving you, namely letting your mind decide what is right for your body instead of trusting that your innate whole-body intelligence knows best**.
   So how do you know when it is a good thing or not? It is simple because your innate whole body intelligence always knows what is appropriate for you in each moment..
4. Unfortunately, the influence of misdirection of the central (primary) control upon the working of the psycho-physical mechanisms has not been recognized, and therefore there has not been due recognition of the harmful influence of this misdirection upon the working of the mechanisms responsible for the normal position at a given time of the head in relation to the neck, and of the head and neck in relation to the torso, etc., upon which the integrated (normal) working of the postural mechanisms depends. (Alexander, F.M., “The universal constant in living, Chaterson L.t.d., 1942, third edition 1947, p. 114) .
5. For instance, the conscious controlling of the movements of a particular muscle or limb, as practised by athletes and others, is of little practical value in the science of living.
   The specific control of a finger, of the neck, or of the legs should primarily be the result of the conscious guidance and control of the mechanism of the torso, particularly of the antagonistic muscular actions which bring about those correct and greater co-ordinations intended to control the movements of the limbs, neck, respiratory mechanism, and the general activity of the internal organs (Alexander, F.M., msi, p. 126).
6. At the outset let me point out that respiratory education or respiratory re-education will not prove successful unless the mind of the pupil is thoroughly imbued with the true principles which apply to atmospheric pressure, the equilibrium of the body, the centre of gravity, and to positions of mechanical advantage where the alternate expansions and contractions of the thorax are concerned. In other words, it is essential to have a proper mental attitude towards respiratory education or re-education, and the specific acts which constitute the exercises embodied in it, together with a proper knowledge and practical employment of the true primary movement in each and every act. (Alexander, F.M., “Man’s supreme inheritance”, Chaterson Ltd 1910, reprinted 1946, p. 194).
7. But the time came when I saw that the defects in my reaction at a given point, which I and my advisers had tried to change by direct method and treatment, were not primarily due to defects in the use and associated functioning of the parts of the mechanism seemingly most immediately concerned (in my case the vocal organs [in the head and neck]), but were the indirect result of defects in my general use of myself which were constantly lowering the standard of my general functioning and harmfully influencing the working of the musculature of the whole organism.
   The processes of use and functioning, and which worked as I saw from the whole to the part, was sound evidence to me of an integrated working of the organism (FM Alexander, “The universal constant in living”, Chaterson LTD, reprinted 1947, page xxxvi).
8. I cannot get any direction from my brain through to my arm until it comes through my torso, and the movement of the arm will be affected by whatever sensory and other conditions are present in my torso when the direction is sent through to my hands. So much so that if we have a person with some trouble with the use of the arms or fingers, we do not need to touch the use of the arms or fingers. This we can demonstrate.
   All we have to do is to restore the use of the primary control [control of the torso] and the use of the arms or fingers will come right in the process. If it is the use of the leg that is wrong, flatfoot for instance, the same thing holds good. We do not need to touch the specific use at all. (Alexander, “the Bedford Lecture”, 1934, in Fisher, J.M. O., “Articles and Lectures”, p. 170).
9. In estimating the extent of this influence of use upon functioning and reaction, the vital point to consider is whether it is spasmodic or constant. If by chance it is spasmodic, it will have a comparatively slight effect upon the nature of the functioning, but if, as is usually the case, it is constant, its effect upon functioning will tend as time goes on to grow stronger and stronger. (Alexander, F.M., “The universal constant in living, Chaterson L.t.d., 1942, third edition 1947, p. 5).
10. We all know that constant attention to what we are doing in the daily round of life makes for success, that constant energizing in a given direction is the most effective way to produce a given result… (Alexander, F.M., “The universal constant in living, 1943, Chaterson L.t.d., 1942, third edition 1947, p. 6).
11. “On broad lines it is evident that the misuses must be diagnosed by the instructor, who may be called upon to use considerable ingenuity and patience in correcting the faults, and substituting the correct mental orders for the one general order which starts the old train of vicious habitual movements”. (Alexander, F.M., “Man’s supreme inheritance”, Chaterson Ltd 1910, reprinted 1946, p. 128).
12. I wish to make it clear that when I employ the word “use,” it is not in that limited sense of the use of any specific part, as, for instance, when we speak of the use of an arm or the use of a leg, but in a much wider and more comprehensive sense applying to the working of the organism in general. For I recognize that the use of any specific part such as the arm or leg involves of necessity bringing into action the different psycho-physical mechanisms of the organism, this concerted activity bringing about the use of the specific part. (Alexander, F.M., “The use of the self”, Integral Press 1932, reprinted 1955, Note p. 2).
13. That the orders to be dictated by the teacher and mentally rehearsed by the pupil are of two kinds: (a) Concerning definite inhibition, (b) Concerning definite performance.I may briefly explain (a) by stating that the teacher will have to deal with incorrect movements unconsciously performed. These movements, occurring at the moment when he dictates the orders necessary to bring about co-ordination of the different parts of the mechanism, assert themselves and become primary and hinder the performance of the correct and co-ordinated movements as ordered. It is, therefore, as necessary to order the inhibition of incorrect and unconsciously performed acts as to give orders which will secure the co-ordinated use of the mechanisms involved. Therefore, when the teacher has discovered the errors unconsciously committed by the pupil when beginning to rehearse the correct orders, he will draw attention to them, and give a definite order concerning what is not to be done, e.g., the peculiar bad habit, perhaps, of a lifetime. This negative order must precede all positive commands. In other words, the order or orders concerning what is not to he done are to be considered as primary, and those concerning what is to be done as secondary (Alexander, ‘Man’s supreme inheritance’, Original Edition, Paul R. Reynolds, 1910, p. 197).
14. Having got so far, I considered I should now be justified in attempting to put these findings into practice. To this end I proceeded in my vocal work to try to prevent my old habit of pulling my head back and down and lifting the chest (shortening the stature), and to combine this act of prevention with an attempt to put the head forward and up (lengthening the stature) and widen the back. This was my first attempt to combine “ prevention ” and “ doing ” in one activity, and I never for a moment doubted that I should be able to do this, but I found that although I was now able to put the head forward and up and widen the back as acts in themselves, I could not maintain these conditions in speaking or reciting. This made me suspicious that I was not doing what I thought I was doing, and I decided once more to bring the mirror to my aid. Later on I took into use two additional mirrors, one on each side of the central one, and with their aid I found that my suspicions were justified. For there I saw that at the critical moment when I tried to combine the prevention of shortening with a positive attempt to maintain a lengthening and speak at the same time, I did not put my head forward and up as I intended, but actually put it back. Here, then, was startling proof that I was doing the opposite of what I believed I was doing and of what I had decided I ought to do. (Alexander, F., M., uos, “Evolution of a Technique”, p. 10).
15. The ‘power of the word’ is a literal scientific fact. Through the operation of our thought forces we have creative power. The spoken word is nothing more or less than the outward expression of the workings of these interior forces. The spoken word is then, in a sense, the means whereby the thought forces are focused and directed along any particular line, and this concentration, this giving them direction, is necessary before any outward or material manifestation of their power can become evident. Much is said in regard to building castles in the air, and one who is given to this building is not always looked upon with favor. But castles in the air are always necessary before we can have castles on the ground, before we can have castles in which to live. The trouble with the one who gives himself to building castles in the air is not that he builds them in the air, but that he does not go farther and actualize in life, in character, in material form, the castles he thus builds. He does a part of the work, a very necessary part, but another equally necessary part remains still undone. (Trine, R. W., « In tune with the infinite, Fullness of peace, power and plenty », 1897, p. 7) .
16. “The method is based firstly on the understanding of the co-ordinated uses of the muscular mechanisms, and secondly, on the complete acceptance of the hypothesis that each and every movement can be consciously directed and controlled. In re-educating the individual, therefore, the first effort must be directed to the education of the conscious mind. The words “re-educating” and “re-education” have a specific meaning. In the individual the normal processes of education in the use of the anatomical structure are conducted subconsciously, certain instincts commanding certain functions, whilst other functions are conducted deliberately. The effects of this haphazard process have either to be elaborated or broken down, according to the defects established by misuse of the mechanisms, and the first step in re-education is that of establishing in the pupil’s mind the connection which exists between cause and effect in every function of the human body”. (Alexander, F.M., “Man’s supreme inheritance”, Chaterson Ltd 1910, reprinted 1946, p. 120) .
17. “*It is only by having a clear conception of what is required for the successful performance of a certain stroke or other act, combined with a knowledge of the psycho-physical means whereby those requirements can be met, that there is any reasonable possibility of their attaining sureness and confidence during performance”*. (Alexander, F.M., “Constructive conscious control of the individual”, Integral Press 1923, reprinted 1955, p. 134).
18. I can assure my readers that anyone who will follow me through the experiences I have set down, especially with regard to “non-doing,” cannot fail to benefit; but I must emphasize that they will not be following me unless they recognize : (1) that knowledge concerned with sensory experience cannot be conveyed by the written or spoken word, so that it means to the recipient what it means to the person who is trying to convey it; (2) that they will need to depend on new “means-whereby” for the gaining of their ends, and that they will “feel wrong” at first in carrying out the procedures because these will be unfamiliar; (3) that the attempt to bring about change involving growth, development, and progressive improvement in the use and functioning of the human organism calls necessarily for the acceptance, yes, the welcoming, of the unknown in sensory experience, and this “unknown” cannot be associated with the sensory experiences that have hitherto “felt right.” (4) that to “try and get it right” by direct “doing” is to try and reproduce what is known, and cannot lead to the “right,” the as yet “unknown.” (Alexander, F.M., “The use of the self”, Integral Press 1932, reprinted 1955, second Introduction 1945, p. viii) .
19. “All art presupposes rules, procedures, a mechanism, a method which must be known. Do not rely upon the fire of momentary inspiration. Nothing is more deceptive. The great Garrick said: ”I do not depend upon that inspiration which idle mediocrity awaits.“ Talma declared that he absolutely calculated all effects, leaving nothing to chance. While he recited the scene between Augustus and Cinna, he was also performing an arithmetical operation. When he said: ”Take a chair, Cinna, and in everything Closely observe the law I bid you heed“he made his audience shudder.The orator should not even think of what he is doing. The thing should have been so much studied, that all would seem to flow of itself from the fountain. But where find this square, this intellectual compass, that traces for us with mathematical precision, that line of gestures beyond which the orator must not pass?” (Delaumosne, « Delsarte System of Oratory », first English ed. 1882, p. 11).
    .
20. Repetition of these correct experiences [readjustment and coordination of the parts of the torso] is all that is required to establish a satisfactory use of the co-ordinated psychophysical mechanisms concerned, when an increase or decrease in the intra-thoracic (chest) capacity can be secured at will, with the minimum of effort and with a mathematical precision. (Alexander, F.M., ”Constructive conscious control of the individual“, Integral Press 1923, reprinted 1955, p. 127).
21. The crux of the matter is that change demands the use of procedures which are unfamiliar, and in my long experience I have never met a person who, in attempting to carry out a decision to make a given change, was sufficiently endowed with the ability —which the mystics choose to call “detachment”— to keep to that decision, however well-considered, if the procedures decided upon as necessary to make the change were not in keeping with habitual use [and felt ‘wrong’]. We have heard much of the word “detachment,” which has long since been a watchword of the mystics. Hence I here suggest that only those who become capable of translating into practice what is involved in the procedure [thinking in activity] just described can justly claim to have experienced detachment in the basic sense. (Alexander, F.M., “The universal constant in living, Chaterson L.t.d., 1942, third edition 1947, p. xxxi, « preface to the new edition »).
22. “Sensation has usurped the throne so feebly defended by reason, and sense, once it has obtained power, is the most pitiless of autocrats. If we are to maintain the succession that is our supreme inheritance –conscious guidance and control–, we must first break the power of the usurper, and then re-establish our sovereign [reasoned guidance], no longer dull and indifferent to the welfare of his kingdom, but active, vigilant, and open-eyed to the evils which result from his old policy of laissez-faire” [laissez-faire could be translated as ‘non-doing’ in English]. (Alexander, F.M., « Man’s supreme inheritance », “Notes and Instances”, p. 174).
23. This sentence did not exist in the first edition of Man’s supreme Inheritance. It was added much later: “These preconceptions and habits of thought, therefore, must be broken down, and since the reactions of mind on body and body on mind are so intimate, it is often necessary to break down these preconceptions of mind by performing muscular acts for the subject vicariously; that is to say, the instructor must move the parts in question while the subject attends to the inhibition of all muscular movements.
    (Alexander, F.M., msi, 1923, ”The Processes of Conscious Guidance and Control“, p. 128).
24. ” Each faculty acquires fitness for its function by performing its function; and if its function is performed for it by a substituted agency, none of the required adjustment of nature takes place; but the nature becomes deformed to fit the artificial arrangements instead of the natural arrangements.“—HERBERT SPENCER. (Alexander, F.M., ”Man’s supreme inheritance”, Chaterson Ltd 1910, reprinted 1946, p. 194).
25. Briefly, all three methods seek to reach the subjective mind by deadening the objective or conscious mind, and the centre and backbone of my theory and practice, which I feel I cannot insist upon too strongly, is that THE CONSCIOUS MIND MUST BE QUICKENED.
    It will be seen from this statement that my theory is in some ways a revolutionary one, since all earlier methods have in some form or another sought to put the flexible working of the true consciousness out of action in order to reach the sub-consciousness. (Alexander, F.M., msi, First Edition, Paul Reynolds, 1910, p. 59).
26. The eye of an artist is needed to apprehend the faults in a painting or in a work of sculpture, and, above all, the defects in a human body. To the aptitudes and intuitions of an artist, however, something more must be added before it is possible to become an efficient teacher of my principles. It is necessary to have special training in dealing with men and women and to possess that keen eye for character needed to detect and to eradicate the mental difficulties, and the vocal, respiratory and other physiological delusions which almost invariably accompany physical defects (Alexander, F.M., “A protest against certain assumptions…”, 1908, in J.M.O. Fisher, “Articles and Lectures”, p. 115).