What Alexander Technique Is and Is Not
A discipline, such as the Alexander Technique, that derives from the non-verbal part of the brain is consequently difficult to describe in words. A sense of what it entails may best be obtained by analogy, comparing it to things more common to our experience. To that end, here follows a listing of things that it is and is not:
The Alexander Technique
| IS | IS NOT |
|---|---|
| cumulative | a quick fix |
| participatory | passive |
| process-oriented | product-oriented |
| about undoing | about doing |
| indirect | direct |
| a profound approach to poise and presence | superficial |
| simple | easy |
| neurological reprogramming | manipulation |
| gentle | effortful |
| best conveyed by kinesthetically-interactive individual lessons | adequately taught in a group or by a book, video or recording |
| integrative | "Integrative Medicine" |
| about releasing excess tension, muscular and emotional | about relaxation |
| practical | magical |
| a teachable skill for living | psychotherapy |
| an aid in managing pain and disability | a panacea |
| epistemologically sound | based on "loose logic" |
| subtle | obvious |
| a way to evoke fluidity, grace and ease of movement | a series of excercises or procedures |
| a mindful meditative practice | mysterious |
| a means of fostering resilience and invoking springiness | physical therapy, osteopathy, chiropractic, or massage |
| about altering muscle tone | about biomechanics |
| anotomically and physiologically-based applied neuroendocrinology | a cosmology |
| about allowing | about trying |
| a mental workout | a physical workout |
| complimentary | a Holistic New Age practice |
| about setting up the conditions to permit it to happen | about making it happen |
| embodied cognition | about position or alignment |
| about thought / focus / awareness / attention | about acting |