My Interpretation of F.M. Alexander’s “Evolution of a Technique”

An Interpretation of Chapter 1,
 “EVOLUTION OF A TECHNIQUE”
in F.M. Alexander’s book, “The Use of the Self”

Note: I am using the word “interpret” to mean,
“understand as having a particular meaning or significance”
I am not attempting to enhance F.M’s writings.

Please note also that it is impossible for me to adequately convey the enormity of Alexander’s epic transformation and his account of how he fundamentally changed himself from a subconsciously controlled human being, who was the slave of his harmful habits of “psycho-physical” misuse of the self, to that of a consciously controlled one that created a whole new dynamic way of being for himself, as well as great benefits to his health and welfare.

In this interpretation I will attempt to show how Alexander’s discoveries about the “use of the self,” as he called it, were achieved by a combination of rigorous reasoning using his intellect, and intuitive revelations from the deeper parts of himself.  His studies on a living human being – himself – were carried out in ways that would match the strictest, unbiased, detached, scientific approach to the study of anything from subatomic particles to gargantuan galaxies. He is not regarded as a scientist, because he did not use complicated apparatus and paraphernalia usually associated with scientific research. He did not take notes of muscular reactions, speed of nerve impulses etc. but what he did discover experientially was a sense that very few people know about – the kinesthetic or proprioceptive sense.

At the beginning of his search, Alexander – a professional actor – who had been told by the doctors that they could not help him anymore to cure the throat trouble that was threatening to prematurely end his career – stood in front of a mirror and tried to see if there was anything wrong with the way he was using his vocal physiology – jaw, lips, tongue etc. As the doctors had given up on him, the decision to find out for himself what was wrong was the first of many flashes of intuition he would have during his many years of studying his use of himself.  He had no idea of what he was looking for.  Eventually, however, he discovered by looking in the mirror, that his reaction to a given stimulus was not – kinesthetically – what he felt it to be. He could not feel that in his attempts to recite, or do any other movement, that he was stiffening his neck unduly, shortening his muscles at the back of his neck, causing his head to be pulled back and down, and thus putting excessive pressure on his vocal organs. In addition, he observed that he was breathing inadequately by stiffening his thorax, shortening and narrowing his torso, thus causing excessive pressure on the vital organs in his abdomen.  He saw also that, in standing, he was bracing his knees back, thrusting his pelvis forward and stiffening his hip joints. He thought he was the only person who had these negative habits of misusing the body, but when he looked around at other people, he saw that misuse was universal. He could not see anyone who did not have these harmful ways of misusing themselves.

The now famous account of his discovery of how he was misusing, not only his vocal mechanisms, but the rest of his body as well, is given in the chapter “EVOLUTION OF A TECHNIQUE” in his book, “THE USE OF THE SELF”. To fully appreciate the vital importance of Alexander’s discoveries for the benefit of humankind, the reader is invited to study this chapter. I wish to emphasize that, during his attempts to stop misusing himself and find a new way of being, all he had to work with was his old habitual self. Here indeed is a tale of fundamental change so radical, that I have yet to hear of anyone else who has achieved this feat single-handedly, without the aid of a teacher. All of us who teach Alexander’s constructive conscious control are his descendants, so to speak.

As he observed himself repeatedly in the mirror while reciting, he eventually noticed some potentially harmful movements he was making around the head-neck area that could be causing hoarseness and the loud sucking in of the breath. This was an intuitive moment, a glimpse of another way, perhaps, of using his voice.

He went on for months, adjusting different parts, the relationship of his head to his neck, the use of his lips and jaw etc. and eventually his voice improved. His medical friends confirmed this improvement.

Because of the positive changes he had reasoned out in his use of various parts around the head-neck joint that had improved his performance, he writes at one point, “In this way, it was borne in upon me that the changes in use that I had been able to bring about………………..had produced a marked effect upon the functioning of my vocal and respiratory mechanism.”  The phrase, “borne in upon me”, indicates guidance from his intuition.

After many months of experimenting on his use of the voice, he felt confident enough to dispense with the mirror. He was shocked, however, to discover that he could not maintain the improved use of himself without looking in it. He realised that his kinesthetic sense was still not reliable enough and his old habitual use of his mechanisms was too strong to resist.

F.M continued to experiment patiently month after month, but suffered many setbacks, which made him think that his lack of success in changing his unco-ordinated, habitual use of the mind-body complex was due to some shortcoming in himself. This did not deter him, however, and he persevered in his strict scientific approach of never making the results of his theories fit his preconceived ideas about what the results might be. Again and again he saw that his body was not doing what he felt it was doing and realised his kinesthetic sense was unreliable and could not be trusted.  As he wrote, “This indeed was a blow. If ever anyone was at an impasse, it was I.”  His subconscious habitual behaviour was still dominating his attempts at consciously controlled movement.   He had to find a surefire way of knowing, not only what he was doing during any particular movement, but how he was doing it.

After months and years of disappointing experiences where his theories did not work out, F.M had an intuitive flash. In his experiments he had learned that his reactions to the stimuli of living were unsatisfactory because they were subconscious and harmfully habitual.  He decided that next time he gave himself the stimulus to recite, he would attempt to stop the habits of stiffening his neck, pulling his head back and down, and shortening and narrowing his back etc. When he tried this, however, he was disappointed to discover that his old habitual use was far stronger than he had imagined and he could not prevent it.

It is not necessary here to go into all the nuances of his reasoning powers and inspirational intuitions that came to him in changing himself fundamentally – but suffice to say that F.M eventually discovered the process of inhibition, a vital function of the neuromuscular system that anyone can learn to use consciously if they have the desire to truly change themselves mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

At a certain point Alexander speculated that, in all his experimenting, he may have been end-gaining; that is, giving priority to achieving his end of reciting without enough attention to the conscious means he had reasoned out were required to achieve his end.  He repeatedly failed by resorting back to his old habitual use that had caused the problem in the first place. He then surmised that if he changed his priority so that the conscious means were given prime consideration, he may be able to prevent his habitual misuse.

He went on yet again by giving himself the stimulus to recite and then immediately inhibiting his wish to do so, which was followed by mentally directing:

– his neck to be free, or not to stiffen his neck,
– his head to go forward and up,
– and his back to lengthen and widen.             

This time instead of going on to gain his original end of reciting, he was determined to wait – no matter how long – to see what would happen.  As he waited he kept repeating mentally his directions to his neck, head and back until suddenly, he felt the urge to raise his hand. This he did, and was elated to see that he did not fall back on his old habitual misuse and interfere with the integrity of his head-neck-back relationship. The light was no longer glowing dimly at the end of the tunnel, it was shining like the midday sun: here indeed was a great Eureka moment, a wonderful intuitive revelation that happened in conjunction with his inspired reasoning. Important new discoveries occur at these “Eureka” moments and in this one Alexander realised that the way to make positive change was through the process of inhibition.  This indeed was his crowning glory, his crowning moment. To realise that to change his habitual behaviour, he must STOP his old habitual reactions at source.

This moment occurred, not after a period of weeks or months, but around ten years of meticulous, detached and unbiased study, worthy of any of the great scientists.

But science is not enough. Just as the scientist cannot refute the personal inner revelations that come to the mystic, neither can he refute Alexander’s findings, because the scientist would have to learn how to re-educate his kinesthetic sense, and his misuse of himself.  He would have to take on the discipline of learning the moment-to-moment process of constructive conscious control in the use of the self – for himself. If he merely wired up a subject who was experienced in conscious control and then noted, on a computerized device, certain neuromuscular reactions during certain movements, his “knowledge” would remain at the intellectual level only: it would not be a merger of the kinesthetic sense with the intellectual faculty, which would be authentic experiential knowledge. Einstein showed that the observer must be included in his own observations and calculations; that ultimately complete objectivity is not possible.  Alexander showed that the findings of science may be positively influenced if the individual scientist were to include the quality of his use of the mind-body complex in his observations. The individual and the environment are one. We exist in a unified field of perception and awareness.

Alexander had arrived at the point where his old habitual use of himself was no longer dominating his movements and reactions to the stimuli of everyday life.  He was no longer the slave of these habits, but had transformed himself into a consciously co-ordinated human being with real freedom of choice in all his actions.  He had truly discovered a new way of being. Referring back to the beginning of his search, as he looked in the mirror to find this new way of being, he had nothing else to work with apart from his old, subconscious, habitually misused way of being. His old way felt “right,” felt familiar. Only after his discovery of conscious inhibition and direction was he able to make that remarkable switch from subconscious misuse of the self to constructive conscious control. This achievement is even more remarkable when we consider that his new way of being and doing made him feel “wrong” kinesthetically: it was unfamiliar. Reason told him repeatedly that, after he consciously adjusted the relationship of his head to his neck into a balanced situation, what he could see in the mirror was correct, and he should ignore his kinesthetic sense that was telling him it was “wrong.” The adjustment of his whole body in this conscious way was a process of deep thinking that he used for the rest of his life.

There is no substitute for the continuous moment-to-moment discipline of using constructive conscious control in every act of living.  This practice is essential if a truly spiritual way of being is to be rounded out, made complete.  Unless the individual puts the theoretical principles of constructive conscious control into the concrete, practical acts of daily life, and unless his guiding thoughts to the body and mind are reflected in his most “trivial” movements, his efforts to achieve balance in the self will be in vain.  This theoretical knowledge must show itself in practical, dynamic action in his “mundane” existence. This moment-to-moment practice will free him from the negative thought-grooves that habitually dominate his life. If he persists, however, in living a life immersed only in the five senses of touch, sight, hearing, taste and smell, he does not live it to its full capacity. These five senses must be augmented and rounded out by the cultivation of the awareness of the sixth sense: that is the kinesthetic, which will, in time, make him conscious of every movement he makes in the daily round, and he will no longer be the slave of his negative, unco-ordinated “psycho-physical” habits.

John Dewey said that F.M’s work rounded out all the sciences, because it deals with the fundamental element that is at the centre of all scientific observation – the observer himself: but the work has a huge influence on four other significant areas – education, including re-education, health, spirituality, and evolution. The practice of constructive conscious control is a huge, vital part of the evolutionary process, where the conscious mind teaches everything to the subconscious mind. The modern conscious mind must wake up and resume this role of being the teacher. As F.M wrote, “the conscious mind must be quickened.”

This whole description of the evolution of his technique, given in his book “THE USE OF THE SELF,” is an inspiring account of a pioneering individual taking, not one, but many steps into the unknown.  Significantly, his discovery of misuse in himself led him to realise that such misuse exists in the vast majority of the human race. This disturbing deterioration in most of humankind today can be halted by the adoption of constructive conscious control and the cultivation of an accurate kinesthetic sense – the neglected sense.

The cultivation of accurate kinesthesia will not only enable him to distinguish between the truth and falsity of the relationship of one part of the body to another, but also what he actually does with the body in movement.  If he is willing to combine the intellect with the kinesthetic sense, he has a chance to become master of his own body and mind.  The intellect and the kinesthetic sense – thinking and feeling – must be balanced.  

Inhibition and Direction

The importance of inhibition as the gateway to real change could not be emphasized enough, and its close relation to direction is a fascinating one.  At first glance, the former appears to be passive, the latter active: but they are both activities of thinking, activities of the neuromuscular system.

To prevent – at the onset of a stimulus – the instant, subconscious response of the old neuromuscular patterns that constitute habitual movement as the individual knows it, he must actively inhibit these impulses in the tiny tick of time between stimulus and response. In this time-gap he has the chance to prevent the old habitual response and create the possibility of reacting in a new co-ordinated way. Inhibition is a dynamic function that has nothing to do with suppression. It is the platform from which new directions spring, particularly to the primary control of the body, that is, the head-neck-back relationship.

After inhibiting his habitual reaction – STOP – he must energise and move forward – GO – into real change by thinking the neck free, the head to go forward and up and the back to lengthen and widen.  Because the body is a thought-form, the repetition of this dynamic process of stopping (inhibition) and going (direction) will undoubtedly produce the desired results of co-ordination, grace, poise and balance in the use of the self.  The individual can fundamentally transform himself through this twin process of inhibition and direction.

This article was first published in The Power of How by Daniel McGowan. You can download the PDF of this book for free here:  FREE DOWNLOAD