For context: I am going to start writing again. I’m sort of at a loss about how much to write, or how polished, or for whom, or about what. My interests lately feel like they span how people learn, how people work, the human body, and spirituality. I’m not quite sure how to draw a clear thread … aaaand … I’m not going to attempt to at first! I am starting with the simple observation, personally, that I really miss writing. So I’m just going to play with writing on my own daily, see how often I want to blog, and at some point, I imagine some themes will emerge.
onward!
—-
In rehabilitating my neck, I spent a good, grand, very pleasurable three weeks with Esther Gokhale in her studio in Palo Alto, CA. Periodically in her classes, she would talk a little bit about the Alexander Technique — how its founder, F.M. Alexander — a stage actor who has losing his voice immediately before going on stage — solved his own medical problem through self-observation. Specifically, he put up lots of mirrors and watched himself talk and use his body, and found that he had unconscious muscular tension which, among other things, prevented him from physically producing sound before performing. This key idea of unconscious muscular use became the central idea of the Alexander Technique.
I wondered a little bit about why Esther mentioned this story periodically, but I figured it just made sense in the context of her work – which also focuses on healthy use of the body. It wasn’t until I talked to her on the phone last December, nine months after working with her, that I got it.
The two months after working with her, last April and May, I read up a storm. The neck pain used to be quite severe when reading (I unconsciousally pulled my head forward for books or computers, aggravating the strain), and so being free of neck pain, and able to read again, I sincerely indulged. However that summer, I started developing lots of facial pain around the eyes — what I figured was eyestrain.
I talked to Esther briefly in December, and mentioned this to her, and in her reply she mentioned the story about Alexander. About how he used mirrors to observe himself and figure out his own medical mystery. In this context, the suggestion was that maybe I simply have some unknown habits when reading or using the computer – be they of muscular use or otherwise – that used to manifest as neck strain, and now manifest as pain around the eyes.
What excited me about this was to remember Alexander’s narrative of self-care through meticulous observation. And that in hearing this narrative, the idea somehow becomes accessible to engage with: it becomes something I can think about and consider for myself. This conversation pointed out to me that the value of this narrative – of sorting one’s body out through meticulous observation — is one that I don’t hear culturally as far as ways to take care of your body go. If you’ve got a body problem, you may hear that you should exercise more, eat right (however you interpret that), quit smoking and drinking, sleep more, or see the doctor. But there aren’t many other general wellness strategies I know of culturally and certainly none around self-observation, as powerful as it can be.
body narratives — on the alexander technique
For context: I am going to start writing again. I’m sort of at a loss about how much to write, or how polished, or for whom, or about what. My interests lately feel like they span how people learn, how people work, the human body, and spirituality. I’m not quite sure how to draw a clear thread … aaaand … I’m not going to attempt to at first! I am starting with the simple observation, personally, that I really miss writing. So I’m just going to play with writing on my own daily, see how often I want to blog, and at some point, I imagine some themes will emerge.
onward!
—-
In rehabilitating my neck, I spent a good, grand, very pleasurable three weeks with Esther Gokhale in her studio in Palo Alto, CA. Periodically in her classes, she would talk a little bit about the Alexander Technique — how its founder, F.M. Alexander — a stage actor who has losing his voice immediately before going on stage — solved his own medical problem through self-observation. Specifically, he put up lots of mirrors and watched himself talk and use his body, and found that he had unconscious muscular tension which, among other things, prevented him from physically producing sound before performing. This key idea of unconscious muscular use became the central idea of the Alexander Technique.
I wondered a little bit about why Esther mentioned this story periodically, but I figured it just made sense in the context of her work – which also focuses on healthy use of the body. It wasn’t until I talked to her on the phone last December, nine months after working with her, that I got it.
The two months after working with her, last April and May, I read up a storm. The neck pain used to be quite severe when reading (I unconsciousally pulled my head forward for books or computers, aggravating the strain), and so being free of neck pain, and able to read again, I sincerely indulged. However that summer, I started developing lots of facial pain around the eyes — what I figured was eyestrain.
I talked to Esther briefly in December, and mentioned this to her, and in her reply she mentioned the story about Alexander. About how he used mirrors to observe himself and figure out his own medical mystery. In this context, the suggestion was that maybe I simply have some unknown habits when reading or using the computer – be they of muscular use or otherwise – that used to manifest as neck strain, and now manifest as pain around the eyes.
What excited me about this was to remember Alexander’s narrative of self-care through meticulous observation. And that in hearing this narrative, the idea somehow becomes accessible to engage with: it becomes something I can think about and consider for myself. This conversation pointed out to me that the value of this narrative – of sorting one’s body out through meticulous observation — is one that I don’t hear culturally as far as ways to take care of your body go. If you’ve got a body problem, you may hear that you should exercise more, eat right (however you interpret that), quit smoking and drinking, sleep more, or see the doctor. But there aren’t many other general wellness strategies I know of culturally and certainly none around self-observation, as powerful as it can be.