The Dodman Blog

My main quibble with the traditional approach to teaching the Alexander Technique, which is predominantly hands on, is the dependence it appears to foster in students, which can make for a lengthy and problematic learning process. At least, it did with me; although not everyone responds in this way.

My overriding impression from the initial course of lessons I had - and from subsequent ‘turns’ - was one of ‘being put right’. I don’t mean to imply I was handled roughly, or moved against my will, or anything like that; but I would say the (more…)

I’ve often wondered how to distinguish between ‘feeling things out’, an activity that bedevils Alexander enthusiasts, making them look, and probably feel, stiff and awkward, and ‘feeling the way to a better place’ which , I believe, represents the best available way of learning the Technique.

The danger is of confusing misguided attempts to recreate a kinesthetic experience directly with attempts to recreate the kinesthetic conditions which led to it. Both involve a kinesthetic appraisal of our current state, and both are motivated by the desire to change our use for the better; but whereas one tries to do this by emphasising the ‘good’, the other does it by (more…)

In spring 2007, I went surfing. The weather was wild, the water was cold, and although it was exhilarating being thrown about in the waves, it was also chastening to feel so helpless pitting my relatively puny body against the churning tide.

At a certain point, turning one way but being propelled in the opposite direction by the sea, I felt a stab of pain in my left hip. I thought little of it then, though the next day I noticed a dragging sensation whenever I took a step. I shrugged this off as a minor injury, expecting it to settle down over time. (more…)

I recently visited India. Most of our time was spent in Goa, must of it on the beaches. Some were empty, others crowded. It was interesting to watch how differently people walked. Nationality seemed to have more of a bearing than age. There were a lot of hawkers, selling everything from fruit, to lengths of cloth, to jewelry. The fruit sellers carried large containers that must have weighed ten or more kilos on their heads. Many of the cloth sellers had their wares bundled up on their heads too. I even saw a couple of jewellery merchants whose small pouches were perched on their heads. (more…)

This is a copy of a letter I received some time ago:

“I want to thank you very much for the information posted on your website, but specially for the “Self-help dialogue 2″

http://www.dodman.org/index.php/Writing/Alexander/Self-help

I got a very valuable insight by reading it. (more…)

I’ve always been intrigued by what this means, and how useful it and its derivatives actually are for normal activities. What I mean by ‘normal’ is obviously dependant on lifestyle. Personally, I do a fair amount of sitting around but also a fair amount of physical activity. I’ve always found ‘monkey’, from its shallowest form, where the knees and hips and ankles barely bend, to its deepest, as in a full squat, invaluable. Also, the ‘lunge’.

However, last year I spent several months working part time (more…)

I used to believe that to have any chance of stopping harmful habits it was necessary for us to first become aware of what we were doing, for which an accurate bodymap would seem to be a prerequisite. I’m no longer sure this is the case. (more…)

Hello,

At www.forwardandup.com, under the heading “Narrowmindedness”, Maaike talks about receiving the latest quota of emails from AlexTech and how:

“The AT teachers on the list are so absorbed in defending their views that everything that is not AT is seen as heretical. Or at least, that’s what some contributors fear. (more…)

Last summer I was in France with my wife’s sister’s family for a wedding. Her mother was visiting, too, from further afield. She was suffering from numerous ailments. She was taken to the doctor, who pronounced most of the problems were psychological. Depression was seen as the cause. (more…)

I’m puzzled by the implication that the Technique instructs us to not interfere (with the right employment of the Primary Control), but not to stop current interference; largely because stopping something we are already doing smacks of releasing, which isn’t considered a valid part of Alexander work. (more…)