Inhibition

The words inhibition - to say no and direction - to give yourself orders comes early on in the process of taking lessons in the Alexander Technique.

What is it that need to be inhibited, stopped?

Those that I work with first notice that they must stop the already established patterns of movement when they "do what they always do" when they carry out an every day movement. The pause is necessary to find the time to notice what happened - actually.

The second step is trickier to get and involves your own thoughts about what "needs to be happening" in order to go from sitting to standing, for example. - Yes, but I have to xxx, yyy, this or that to be able to...
There is a pre concieved idea of ​​the force needed to bring the body in motion. All such preconceptions need to be inhibited.

An additional level in which inhibition is necessary concernes distrust, selfdoubt in your own ability and what you reckon is possible.

The first, superficial level is easy to see and therefore to understand. I might for example show with my own body what is happening with my students and also show how it can be done in a different way.

Level two is slightly harder to reach. Most people I meet are active, enterprising and energetic people. They take responsibility for and initiates most of what happens in their lives. Vigorous efforts is a living for them! It is a journey in itself for them to realize that their own body can "give them what they want" if they'd only leave themselves alone.
Which almost seamlessly brings us into the last level - the confidence that what we have practised through the lessons and dealth with above really is an ability of their own.

To me it's really a magical moment when those I work with really realize that inhibition, to say no (how paradoxical it may sound) is the key ... and now I have no handy way to describe what I perceive ... allows them to be fully living in their lives. And we're not talking about a fluffypuffy life, many have been troubled by pain for years and will have to live with it for years to come but inhibition can help them live a fulfilling life together with the pain. For those who are free from pain, there might be other burdens that they have to carry with them in their lives.

The magic is that they feel they can live adequately and fully in their process, they know they have the ability to say no and, from there take a more desirable direction, for me it is a privilege to be present at the very moment they realise that all they need is to be found within themselves.

"When you look at fairy tales, it must strike you that one thing that nobody ever worries about at all is how the wish is going to be carried out."
Walter Carrington