Old pattern

During my turn with Jenny we worked on the activities sitting and standing. I still do some (useless) things to satisfy my concept of standing, instead of keeping my directions in activity. This reminds me of Duncan's comment about difficult (or hard) things while talked about the limits of attention. We have to deal with a high level of stimuli. Each stimulus potentially triggers a response, yet not like behaviourists assume, a definite and predictable one, more like an avalanche.

We notice the result of the avalanche as holding pattern, we might not know the path it took or which other avalanches might have triggered this one. Undoing one part of wrong doing often fits into a larger pattern of the same misconception, and some parts might resist undoing longer than other. Like with any other field of interest, more time spend in observation enables appreciation and awareness of detail.

The separation and mind and body, Descartes error, exists only as meme. Learning how efficiently the nervous systems uses the body helps undoing useless modes of thinking. The experience of mind-body unity and of the connection of two nervous systems challenges quite some scientific believes.

Introspection opens the gate to consciousness. Consciousness can then connect and communicate. So much for the idea, as I did not connect too well today. My emotional system sends irritating signals, the next system that needs further introspection and understanding.

Group work consisted of further observation of saying ah while lying done. Different breathing and holding pattern emerged. The performance showed an interesting dynamic. Obviously, not only me feels uncomfortable with the idea to sing in front of the others. I have to find out whether stating the obvious helped or harmed.

Revelations

I had the pleasure of doing two turns today, I just have no idea why. The turn with Libby happened nearly like a private lesson. We went to the back room to get in and out of the chair, and I worked to eradicate my funny concept of standing. I still consider it more of a pose than an activity, which stiffens me a lot. Nevertheless, staying aware of my weight traveling through my joints into my feet can replace the idea of standing, although it's hard to inhibit the habitual thought.

I just had time for a bit of semi-supine when I had my turn with Bronwyn, still excited about something new to play with. And after I learned more about my idea of standing, she revealed to me a very comfortable position to sit in. She asked me to sit deep in the chair, sitting bones nearly at the back, so that the back of the chair could support my back slightly. It felt even more comfortable than the position of mechanical advantage, probably because we used an Alexander chair.

The reading for this week dealt with directing and ordering, a differentiation that most Alexander teachers understand idiosyncratic. However, Libby encouraged us to find our wording (and range) of directions - no golden bullet for directing oneself exists, as students differ the teacher have to find the best approach always individually.