The Alexander Technique : Twelve Fundamentals of Integrated Movement.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Easten, Penelope.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Alexander technique.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (372 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London : Handspring Publishing Limited, 2021.

Summary:

This book gets back to the core of the Alexander Technique (AT), much of which is not known even to most teachers. This is because Alexander (1869-1955) changed what he was doing at least three times, around 1912, 1923, and 1930, each time leaving key elements behind, unexplained. These lost elements include natural breathing, his biomechanics to alter the body for ourselves, the real thought processes of his directions, how he used inhibition and quiet attentiveness to discover intrinsic movement patterns, and how he used vision as part of his process. There are snippets of AT history throughout, and a potted history of what really happened in the AT, as it has not been told before, but the emphasis is on AT in the context of integrated movement.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Part I. The Basics of Fundamental Movement

1. Introduction, aims, and a tropical tale

Visions of free movement - a tropical tale

Aims of the book

How this book came about

Evolution of the Alexander technique, and finding the whole elephant

2. What has been lost, and the twelve fundamentals of movement

Integrated movement - WHAT has gone wrong, and WHY

Sitting is the new smoking

The five senses - one of the great myths

Changing our movement habits needs a change in thinking

Top-down vs bottom-up processing

Left hemisphere for the known, right hemisphere for the unknown

An evolutionary perspective puts the body first

Whole-body animal movement, the fulfilment of evolutionary potential

Introducing the twelve fundamentals of integrated movement

Time and space and rhythm

Seven new proposals for integrated movement

3. The fundamentals of structure

Lesson 1 Waking up proprioception

Lesson 2 We are fighting gravity as we move

Lesson 3 Making your first changes towards a more mechanically advantageous structure

Lesson 4 Understanding the different models of body mechanics

Lesson 5 Control mechanisms of body balance and movement - the self-organization of the body

A summary of the engineering of the human body in nine layers

Appendix: Twelve teaching tips, and further reading

4. The fundamentals of awareness and thinking

Lesson 1 Waking up external perception - tracking a visual line

Lesson 2 Clear brain choices and "inhibition" - the key to changing brain patterns of body use

Lesson 3 Interoception - the internal world of a hundred senses, and our reason to move

Lesson 4 Where we think from - mind in the brain, awareness versus feeling.

Lesson 5 Whole-body awareness and embodiment - "liquid light

Lesson 6 Finding our spatial awareness - of our surroundings and of ourselves

Lesson 7 Emergent integrated movement - discovering our fundamental bend led by focused vision

Lesson 8 Exploring semi-supine - a position of active rest

5. The autonomic nervous system - why we need to work from quiet presence and awareness

The three states of the autonomic nervous system

The ladder from safety to danger to life threat

Maintaining a balanced life with self-regulation

Bringing the nervous system back to a place of safety

Recovery by climbing down the ladder

6. Finding the innate movements of breathing and walking

The evolution of our movement - finding the buried patterns

Lesson 1 Natural breathing - finding the natural expansion of the torso

Lesson 2 More breathing explorations

Lesson 3 Finding our emergent rhythmic movement - walking and bouncing

Part 2. Linking brain and body with explorations of physical integration

7. The Initial Alexander technique, and a new model of postural alignment

Introduction to Part 2 - exploring Miss Goldie's model of the structural body

The seven steps to a new body geometry

The five stages to Alexander's path of discovery

Lesson 1 How well is your body aligned with gravity

Lesson 2 Rebalancing the upper body

Lesson 3 Making an integrated change

Lesson 4 Rebalancing the lower body

Lesson 5 Lengthening the back from top and bottom

Lesson 6 Integrating directions within the expanded field of awareness

8. Single leg balance

Lesson 1 Introduction to balance

Lesson 2 The vestibular organs and the three directions of space

Lesson 3 Finding our secure base - the ball of the foot and the sesamoid bones

Lesson 4 Finding our secure base - the hip stabilizers.

Lesson 5 Finding our secure base - tilting the foot - the lower ankle joint

Lesson 6 Placement of the feet - untwisting the leg spirals

Lesson 7 Widening the hips with the breath - opening the femoral triangle

9. Spatial relationships and use of the upper body and arms

Coming into relationship with our world

Lesson 1 The supportive torso

Lesson 2 The shoulders and upper arms - opening the deep back arm line

Lesson 3 How safe do you feel? Opening up the chest and armpits

Lesson 4 Opening the forearm flexors

Lesson 5 Gripping without grabbing - balancing flexors and extensors as we grip

Lesson 6 Delicate movements of the hand

Lesson 7 Spatial relationships in the arms in everyday life

10. Toned sitting - integrating the core muscles

Introduction - why work at sitting and standing

Lesson 1 Keeping the legs switched on while sitting, even at a desk

Lesson 2 Sit to stand using the new alignment of the legs and feet

Lesson 3 The anatomy of integration, finding our core muscles, and active hip folding

Lesson 4 Finding the anatomy of integration by inclining back on a chair

11. Walking as you've never walked before

The standard model of walking

Lesson 1 Stability enables mobility

Lesson 2 Stability enables coordination - finding fully active feet

Lesson 3 Stability and mobility enable torque - finding the power in your walk

12. Alexander's biomechanics for expansion of the upper body

Introduction

Active, integrative stretching versus passive, single muscle stretching

Lesson 1 Finding the supportive torso

Lesson 2 Shoulders and clavicles

Lesson 3 Opening, widening, and deepening the chest

Lesson 4 Straightening the arms from both ends

Lesson 5 Opening the top of the ribcage - the reverse whispered Ah

Lesson 6 Classic Alexander technique procedures for arms.

13. Precise, springy alignment in sit to stand and "monkey

Lesson 1 Anatomy and engineering play

Lesson 2 Tilting the torso forwards into "monkey

Lesson 3 Balanced sitting - actively upright without bracing

Lesson 4 Why the knees need to stay back as we tilt forwards to stand

Lesson 5 Squatting and bouncing - testing our elastic resistance and mobility

Lesson 6 Constructive conscious guidance and control - using Initial AT for yourself

14. Freeing the neck, and Alexander's primary directions

Lesson 1 Why we need to free the neck

Lesson 2 Finding length and adaptive tone in the neck extensors

Lesson 3 Primary control and directions revisited

Part 3. Living in a flow of dynamic balance

15. Catching a ball - inhibition in action

Introduction - discovering the core of Miss Goldie's work 291

Catching a ball in seven stages

Fully responsive action for optimal coordination

Discussion points

16. New models of coordination and learning

Lesson 1 Coordinating locomotion by using the whole-body intelligence network

Lesson 2 Coordination of reaching and grasping in everyday actions

Lesson 3 New models of learning a complex task

17. Embodied speaking

Lesson 1 Being present as you speak

Lesson 2 Embodying the voice

18. Relating and attuning to people for putting hands on others

Introduction - we are not machines but self-integrating systems

How is non-verbal information transmitted

Five key elements to bring about resonance with a pupil

Summary for hands-on work with a pupil or client

References

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-912085-86-0

OCLC:

1248685688