We did a warm up walk like yesterday, with Cathy 'pinging' us when passing. I spend my time observing, and only suggested another observation game. Attention seeking interfered with progress, but I still enjoyed the ride.
Thinking of my jaw as a limb still needs to find the way into my thoughts. Together with the roundness it can change my way of talking. I think I need to simplify my AT thinking even more. The head moves so that the body can follow, together with a shortcut to access this idea. Brilliant.
Wednesday, June 11
Tuesday, June 10
Change of habit
This week we have to deal with a change in our school routine - Cathy Madden is our visiting teacher. Instead of slotting her into the regular routine, she runs kind of a workshop with us. She has a very gentle approach, and uses a language bereft of most Alexander lingo.
I like her idea to simplify Alexanders wonderful work even more, down to head leads and body follows, having a very easy way to demonstrate this relation. She started off by asking each of us about our goals for the time with her, and managed to teach already by making us clarify what we want.
I tried to explain my goal, to layer more directions into any activity, which she clarified to the desire to integrate the technique into my life. I volunteered to work on speaking in public, and discovered that I had connected the sensation of arousal with negative attitudes. Instead of using the extra energy to enhance my activity, I tried to block it off, reflected in my use.
I need more work to play with this idea, and the experience of succeeding in the friendly environment of the school will certainly help. Time flew, and after a contemplative lunch break I had a short private lesson (30 min).
I didn't notice too much change during the lesson, but I received useful information about the way I speak, and the different sound characteristic of German and English. I became aware of the different 'roundness' of these languages, and can focus on using more facial muscles to produce the sound (or rather, stop the idea to use just the visible part of mouth and lips).
I like her idea to simplify Alexanders wonderful work even more, down to head leads and body follows, having a very easy way to demonstrate this relation. She started off by asking each of us about our goals for the time with her, and managed to teach already by making us clarify what we want.
I tried to explain my goal, to layer more directions into any activity, which she clarified to the desire to integrate the technique into my life. I volunteered to work on speaking in public, and discovered that I had connected the sensation of arousal with negative attitudes. Instead of using the extra energy to enhance my activity, I tried to block it off, reflected in my use.
I need more work to play with this idea, and the experience of succeeding in the friendly environment of the school will certainly help. Time flew, and after a contemplative lunch break I had a short private lesson (30 min).
I didn't notice too much change during the lesson, but I received useful information about the way I speak, and the different sound characteristic of German and English. I became aware of the different 'roundness' of these languages, and can focus on using more facial muscles to produce the sound (or rather, stop the idea to use just the visible part of mouth and lips).
Friday, June 6
The third mind
I had my second turn with Duncan this week, and we started off with a bit of a confrontation. Instead of simply playing his game, I described in detail how the third mind stands in the way of progress. This little clash at the beginning seemed to help the rest of it - I managed to integrate back and front of my body better, and the focus on my feet leaving the ground while walking provided me with a nice up.
In the group, we played with walking backwards in a monkey, and leaning slowly against the wall.
In the group, we played with walking backwards in a monkey, and leaning slowly against the wall.
More performance
I had a good turn with David today, noticing some of my bad habits while working with him. The group session crept slowly, mainly because nobody expected a book session on thursday, even though an email was send beforehand.
I managed to piss off Jane with talking about the government while waiting for the group work to start. We played with making sounds again, and a lot of my tension pattern connect to too much effort around my jaw.
Margaret worked with us on our performances, and her simple idea to rehearse the song mentally helped me heaps.
I managed to piss off Jane with talking about the government while waiting for the group work to start. We played with making sounds again, and a lot of my tension pattern connect to too much effort around my jaw.
Margaret worked with us on our performances, and her simple idea to rehearse the song mentally helped me heaps.
Wednesday, June 4
Taking it easy
While the first days at school felt quite odd, without Mum & Dad, David's presence took the edge away. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy my turn with Ann, I think I learned some bits as well.
The group with Duncan fitted into the category of criticism that came up in the group meeting, it seemed a bit random. However, using eating as activity unveiled to me that the time spend using a habit makes it more and more 'invisible'.
The second group with Ann worked out much better, even though she had the tough job of dealing with a really large group. However, it seems like she uses more of the Psychosynthesis approach, starting from the positive aspects. Unlike more paradigmatic Alexander teachers, she's using what works in a given situation, and thereby representing the mental clarity and flexibility promised by the technique.
The group with Duncan fitted into the category of criticism that came up in the group meeting, it seemed a bit random. However, using eating as activity unveiled to me that the time spend using a habit makes it more and more 'invisible'.
The second group with Ann worked out much better, even though she had the tough job of dealing with a really large group. However, it seems like she uses more of the Psychosynthesis approach, starting from the positive aspects. Unlike more paradigmatic Alexander teachers, she's using what works in a given situation, and thereby representing the mental clarity and flexibility promised by the technique.
Tuesday, June 3
the Conscious control
I had the first real turn with Margaret, and enjoyed her calm way of informing my body. The group with her was about crawling, which turned much more difficult than it sounded initially.
Matt conducted the book session in a school like setting, yet after a while the atmosphere felt quite nice. However, something seems happening, and I wonder whether I will find out.
Matt conducted the book session in a school like setting, yet after a while the atmosphere felt quite nice. However, something seems happening, and I wonder whether I will find out.
Monday, June 2
Starting over
David is still in Europe, and Jenny went to NZ to attend the funeral of her father, so Duncan, Matt and John tried to run the show.
I got a bit upset when it looked like I wasnt gonna get a turn, yet Duncan did some last minute session with me. I made some interesting observations about my rising anger, and the attempts to stay content.
Yoga, like the turn, proved to be a bit on the literal side. Not to mention the group work with Matt. On the good side, Robert worked well on my shoulders so I had at least some hands on experiences on the first day back.
I got a bit upset when it looked like I wasnt gonna get a turn, yet Duncan did some last minute session with me. I made some interesting observations about my rising anger, and the attempts to stay content.
Yoga, like the turn, proved to be a bit on the literal side. Not to mention the group work with Matt. On the good side, Robert worked well on my shoulders so I had at least some hands on experiences on the first day back.
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