Debi Adams, Alexander Technique

What’s First?

March 4, 2012 at 6:48 pm Leave a comment

I am always asking my students to find their integration first and movement next.  I find this to be true whether you are playing an instrument, are involved in any activity or contacting your AT students with your hands.  It’s an aspect of “endgaining’ to first bring your hands to your students.  Do I think you actually need to stop to do this?  Not really.  But the process of learning this inhibitive act can often be aided by waiting. (Please note that waiting is not freezing.) It’s amazing how much can happen when you do nothing! What usually becomes clearer is how much you were heading toward your student or your activity.

Movement is multi-directional.  Balancing these directions is an interesting process. If I am moving toward my activity without acknowledging the movement in other directions as well, I am limiting the possibilities of what might occur. I don’t think it’s an issue of “coming back to yourself.”  If you do that, you may have taken directional movement away from your activity.  That’s no fun!  I seek my movements to be inclusive of all directions.  New possibilities emerge.  That’s fun.

So what do I mean by Integration First, Movement Next? Integration is, after all. movement! But it is the balancing of the movement within with the movement with-out. It’s in the waiting, or in the absence of committment to the activity that integration will occur.  It’s really that simple.  If I am equally committed to not following through with my original intention I learn so much about myself. “What if I don’t…?” is a game I play.  I only do this to recognize what I thought I needed to do if I did. Ha! The language is great, isn’t it?

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