Developing awareness as a tool to change habits, according to the Alexander method

The Alexander method helps us identify and prevent habits of posture, movement and behavior that we have accumulated over the years, which disrupt the natural functioning of the body through the development of awareness. But why is it actually so important, especially in the Western world?   Like any living creature, we are born with the natural ability to act, move and behave in the most efficient and economical way. Every moment we live, even when it seems to us that we are not performing any action (sitting on the sofa and watching TV, sleeping), a certain tension is required in every part of the body, in order for the system to function as a whole in the best way. What is the best way? The same way that uses minimal energy, does not harm itself, and does not leave tension after the action is over. This optimal way also affects the quality of the operation we perform. We will run faster if the run is done in an efficient way, we will jump higher if the jump is done in an efficient way, and so on. Frederick Mathias Alexander, the developer of the Alexander Method, simply stated that “use affects function”. This principle may sound trivial and obvious to you when it comes to a machine or any product we purchase. We know that there is a certain way to use the product (the way written in the “instructions for use”), and that this way will affect the function of the product. If we do not use according to the instructions, the device will not function optimally and there is a chance that it will also be destroyed faster. When it comes to humans, the principle is the same. But in modern life, especially in the western world, all this gets complicated. In the beginning there is a system of reflexes that works on its own and basically makes us “use” ourselves right according to the manufacturer’s instructions. We can see good examples of this in animals and small children. A cat, for example, is known as an animal with extremely fast reflexes. In an instant he goes from a state of rest to an emergency state of fast and efficient movement. After the danger has passed, the cat immediately returns to the muscular balance that characterized its state of rest. If you observe children in a playground, you will notice that they also exercise themselves in a very efficient way. Walking, running, playing in the sand, are all effortless actions for them. The only effort that is applied is only when it is necessary: ​​climbing, lifting heavy weight. Not surprisingly, even on a mental level children demonstrate exactly the same principle. If you are a parent, you must have been amazed by the ability of children to have a particularly dramatic fight, and in one moment of distraction to go back to laughing and enjoying together as if nothing had happened. More efficient and economical than continuing to be angry all day, isn’t it? From the age of 5 or so, we start to live a more modern and less natural life. Sitting on the floor is replaced by sitting on a chair. Spontaneous action, thinking and behavior alternate with passivity in front of the teacher, or in front of screens. In addition, we learn a lot from the way our parents behave by imitating. As a result of all this, the natural and efficient reflex system goes wrong. It developed over millions of years of evolution, but the rate of technological development of the world outside it is much faster. Certainly in the last 200 years. It becomes essentially a system of compensation. A system whose entire energy is directed to dealing with stimuli it is not adapted to. Let’s take a common example: staring at the smartphone screen while standing or sitting. If I hold it in the stomach area and lower my head towards it, the system must take emergency measures so that my head does not fall forward, followed by the whole body. The muscles of the neck are called to help and get tense in order to achieve this goal. This imbalance of the neck muscles will be followed by a domino reaction with one goal: to keep us from falling. forward or backward. The shoulders, shoulder blades, lower back, and basically every muscle in the body goes out of balance and aims for two goals: that I will be able to stare at the phone and that I will not fall. Remember I talked about our innate ability to conduct ourselves efficiently. So it is exactly that: only ability. When the appropriate means are not found, this ability is abandoned in favor of the two goals I mentioned: achieving the goal of the action (staring at the screen) and keeping myself (that I don’t fall). This ineffective use of ourselves develops into habits of use. So that in a short time, the tension in the various muscles when I lower my head to the smartphone is no longer noticeable to me. Moreover, it has become the situation that feels most natural to me. Not because it is really natural, but because I got used to it. The Alexander method came to help us correct this disruption in a system that should work naturally and automatically, and efficiently. The system always works, just not always efficiently. Through the method, we regain this innate ability by improving awareness of ineffective habits. We develop the ability to identify and prevent these automatic habits in real time, and thus act and live in a more efficient, healthy and balanced way.  Reporter: Ilan chose a qualified teacher in the Alexander method