Excerpts from Journals

"Given that the Alexander Technique enhances the capability for self-observation, we sometimes find it useful to have students keep a journal to write down things that they notice. The following excerpts are from journals kept by students in Alexander Technique classes:

"The most significant and astounding change is the sense of calmness and lightness."

"I am happy to see the gradual change that is being effected in myself. I do enjoy feeling myself light."

"I don´t think I have ever been so in harmony with my whole being in time-space in my life. Walking down the street is such a beautiful joy now as lightness and space infuse my being."

"I wish it weren´t so hard to keep this 'conscious awareness'. It seems to exit the moment I take my attention from the moment. Too bad there can´t be 'automatic conscious awareness', but then it would lose its essence."

"It has helped me in relating to others as well as in being aware of myself."

"The Alexander Technique is amazingly helpful in daily experiences which knot up my consciousness. It takes my mind off the problem for a moment, which gives me a better perspective when I return to it. ... And by keeping me aware of my physical position in space I can be aware of myself in relation to others."

"Because I am aware of myself as a whole, I am more sensitive to how the environment affects me and what I can do to control its manipulation of me. ... For instance, I used to get very uptight in cities. The noise, the rush, the crowds always made me tense physically. In that tensed state I was less able to handle the stimuli and could never enjoy myself. The Alexander Technique helped me to get out of that vicious circle. I can take in all the noises, etc. without responding to them almost unconsciously by constricting my whole body. Consequently I can act on the pleasurable stimuli and inhibit responses to the unpleasant ones that used to actually rule me."

..."

(Richard A. Brown, The Alexander Technique: Therapy for the Whole Person, in: Somatics. Magazine-Journal of the Bodily Arts and Sciences, Volume 3, Number 1, 1980)

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