What
has the Alexander Technique got to offer the student of Yoga?
As
you are no doubt aware, Yoga is a complete system, so why would
anyone seek to add something else to it? The answer to that
question is simple. The Alexander Technique doesn't seek to
add anything to Yoga, nor does it attempt to tell the Yoga practitioner
how to perform an asana or any other practice. What the Alexander
Technique does is to meet the Yoga practitioner on common ground.
That commonality is the psycho-physical mechanism - or yourself,
call it what you will.
The
technique works on Universal principles of movement, so that
students who have studied Alexander are in a much better condition
to begin and continue with Yoga and are able to look after themselves
more effectively during their practice. Many westerners have
a little difficulty at first, adapting to a discipline like
Yoga and one of the reasons is often that our habitual poor
'use' of ourselves, has left us in a less than flexible condition.
So not only are they asking their bodies to attempt feats that
they are not adequately prepared for, but in their attempts
to perform asanas and so forth they will be using the very same
habitual poor use that got them into trouble in the first place.
As F.M.Alexander said 'You can't do something you don't know,
if you keep on doing something you do know.' And the thing we
do know is our habit!
Many
of the Yoga asanas have evolved from nature and the student
is practicing to gain the grace and poise we see in animals
and the environment. However we will never attain that poise
if we are using excessive muscular tension to try to achieve
it. In applying the Alexander Technique to Yoga the Alexander
Teacher will work with the student's basic coordination before
they make any attempt at an asana. This is done through the
guiding hands of the Teacher so that the student can start to
experience a different way of moving without the habitual tension
that feels so 'right'. The instruction toward the asana may
be given as the student maintains their basic coordination.
This coordination, or lack of interference of one part with
another, is the primary aim, not the asana. This is the essential
difference when using Alexander to help with our practice. We
are interested in process not the end result, for it is in the
process that we find what we are looking for. F.M.Alexander
said 'The experience you want is in the process of getting it.
If you have something, give it up. Getting it, not having it
is what you want.'
There
is also some interesting parallels between the Alexander Technique
and the Yamas and Niyamas - codes of conduct and personal disciplines.
Yama means restraint, self control, preventing or curbing, particularly
in connection with the mind (MMW). For example Ahimsa means
nonviolence or harmlessness in actions, thought and speech.
This restraining, curbing or preventing is very similar in concept
to "Inhibition" in the Alexander work 'Prevent the
things you have been doing' Alexander said 'and you are halfway
home'. In practice this means stopping the habitual response
-curbing or restraining it, so that a new and more conscious
response can manifest. Alexander's concepts of 'non-doing' and
'giving up' of ends and staying with the process or 'means whereby'
also have familiar Yoga parallels to them. These examples only
go to illustrate how well the Technique and Yoga work together,
as many Yoga Teachers have discovered.
F.M.
Alexander was originally known as "the breathing man"
and working with the breath is a common factor between the Technique
and Yoga. Alexander once berated a student exclaiming 'This
isn't breathing: it's lifting your chest and collapsing'. Learning
to breath again in a natural, easy way is often a necessary
first step before exploring the profundities of more advanced
techniques such as Pranayama. This practice in Yoga helps to
release energy; the dynamic quality of being enlivened is experienced
during appropriate practice under the guidance of a teacher.
The Alexander Technique works a little differently with breath
using procedures to assist the natural process of breathing
to occur, unhindered by unnecessary tension. Working with the
head, neck and spine the Alexander Teacher assists the student
to release constricting tension and allow an easy mobility throughout
the body. This head, neck and spine mobility frees up the Ida
and Pingala, two of the subtle energy channels associated with
the spine. It is this coordination of the head, neck and spine
that will bring about a natural, spontaneous breath rhythm.
Having established this rhythm, different and more advanced
techniques can then be introduced.
By
applying the Alexander Technique to the practice of Yoga, impediments
to progress can be quickly observed and overcome, the student's
practice is enriched and the work toward wholeness of body,
mind and self can be greatly enhanced.
*
* *
Anne
lives in West Ryde, Australia with her family. Her interest
in the Alexander Technique was initiated by her ongoing curiosity
with freeing with freeing habitual movement patterns. She has
been practicing and teaching yoga for many years. Anne’s
teaching room is at West Ryde were she holds group classes and
private lessons. She also works with groups at their work place
and at community centres. Email: atand@bigpond.com
Martin’s interest in the Alexander Technique initially
came about due to his own recurring lower back problem. After
realizing that the Technique was not only a practical and effective
method of self care based upon sound principles, but also a
powerful tool for personal development, he decided to train
as a teacher. He has a long-standing interest in music, martial
arts and philosophy and had lived in the Ryde District of Australia
for the last 12 years with his family. atand@bigpond.com
