Présence d’EspritCorps

These days we tend to be overstimulated and to spread ourselves thin. Many of us find it challenging to keep our balance in the face of the many daily demands and to remain focused on what we are doing at any one time; and this often brings about excessive mental and physical tension, and stress.

At the junction between Eastern and Western practices, the psychophysical method devised by the Australian FM Alexander (1869-1955) teaches us to change unhelpful modes of reaction by consciously coordinating mind and body at all times.

In order to reconnect with yourself you could start by taking a short break and ask yourself how you are tackling this particular gesture, movement, or activity: in a bit of rush, and by tightening or pulling yourself down unnecessarily? Or in an effortless, light, and expanding way?

And rather than trying to put any of it right, is there anything superfluous you could simply stop doing, here and now? It is, in fact, from this non-doing state that a field of possibilities can open up, beyond the constraining limits of our mental and physical habits, and that we can redirect mind and body towards more freedom and expansion.

Our presence of mind and body depends upon finding our centre, both mentally and physically. For our physical structure is also organized around the central relationship between the head, the spine, and the rest of the organism. When this central axis is weak or otherwise disturbed, the rest of the body must compensate in a number of ways. When it is solid we are able to reconnect with a flexible and dynamic verticality and act from a point of stability and balance, with the right amount of tension. Coming back to ourselves and learning how not to allow external and internal stimuli to unhinge us helps us to step back and respond more appropriately.

The Lessons


In the beginning, changing our habits without guidance is difficult, for our sensations give us feedback that is more or less reliable, and what we think we are doing (or not doing) does not always correspond to what we are really doing. That is why this new way of redirecting mind and body needs to be acquired in the course of individual lessons.

In a lesson, our field of exploration is that of everyday activities such as walking, sitting, standing, speaking, etc. By encouraging you to approach these activities as if for the first time, my role, through words and touch, is to teach you to identify your habits and explore other possibilities. This skill which you will gradually make your own applies in the same way to the more complex activities which we can then also explore together (playing a musical instrument, singing, reading or presenting material out loud, writing at the computer or by hand, drawing, refining yoga or meditative postures, etc.).

A series of 10 lessons will enable us to review how you apply the principles in  your personal and/or professional life. The Alexander work being educational, one usually recommends thirty or so lessons to acquire a basic autonomy.

For more information about and around FM Alexander:

www.stat.org.uk
www.alexandertechnique.com
www.bodylearningcast.com
and in French
www.techniquealexander.info
www.ecole-alexander.fr

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