LESSONS

Strange things can happen for a new pupil. The first lesson in particular can be a real doosie. It is in the first lesson that I sometimes get to feel like a healer with mystical powers blessed with the hands of God himself as I transform( apparently) some poor stooped, twisted lawyer into the form of a Greek God, upright, broad, balanced and smiling. I should point out that sometimes in the first lesson very little happens. A new pupil may feel a little calmer, or taller, or bent one way or another, or be completely mystified.

The reason that first lessons often yield miraculous results is largely due to the fact that the new student does not bring to that first lesson any expectations of results or feelings of change associated with their own habitual co ordinations. They literally don't know what to do, and therefore do nothing, which from an Alexander teacher's point of view is perfect. They don't know what to feel for, so they don't try to feel; they don't contract, their spines extend, they come up like Lazarus and walk out with their feet not touching the floor, much as I did after my third lesson.

This, of course, would be the perfect moment to whip out the diary and book them in three lessons a week for the next month. I don’t do this. Instead I say “Why don't you go away and get a book on the Technique or look up some websites like www.alexandertechnique.org.au or www.stat.org.uk, find out what it is you're coming for and give me a call in a few days- and they usually do.. They've had an experience of subtle and profound change inside themselves. It feels much more comfortable than what they're used to. It’s also just the beginning. I know, I can help them to improve their lot, but this honeymoon, this new relationship with themselves, will only last as long as honeymoons do. Pretty soon this new relationship with themselves is going to require a bit of work. Not effort, I would hasten to add, but thought, consideration, evaluation and mental application.

Within five or six lessons, especially if they can come three times a week, they will begin to experience new surprises, some pleasant, some not so pleasant. It is quite likely that after six lessons, taken reasonably close together, a new pupil will experience happy relief from some of their nagging pains. They often report great relief from what has been chronic pain in their necks or lower backs. However, no sooner has one pain abated than another may quickly arise. It is very common for new students, especially if they are being assiduous with their homework (the lying down procedure) to report the appearance of a dull ache in the long muscles of the back between the scapula and the sacrum. This, I explain, is those hitherto lazy muscles engaging in the work of supporting them. Prior to these muscles taking up their load they (the pupils) have been compensating by stiffening through the neck, shoulders and chest .As  the long back muscles begin to play their part in the  postural process, the chest and shoulders will soften.

If the new pupil is keen, happy to take regular lessons and apply themselves to their homework, other aches and pains will follow. Sporadic pain may appear between the scapulae across the back as these bones begin to widen and the associated muscle fascia releases and extends. Several other muscle groups subordinate to the coordination of the head and spine may also ache including the legs, particularly the calves and arches of the feet, and the upper arms and forearms.

A really good pupil who applies themselves with dedication and intelligence will eventually experience stabbing pains in the ribs as the intercostal muscles expand and allow the ribs themselves to widen apart from each other. These are quite literally growing pains, such as we experience in adolescence.

I don't suppose this sounds like an awful lot of fun but oddly enough these symptoms, if understood in the context of dynamic change and growth, can be part of an extraordinary exhilaration in physical, mental and emotional development.

The first few lessons may also uncover a Pandora's Box of physical and emotional history. Occasionally a new pupil will start crying in the middle of a lesson. Provided they are not in pain I do not ask them what the matter is because I know it's none of my business. Undoing of muscular tension is a very personal experience. If I did ask what's the matter they would probably reply "I just feel sad" – I had events like this myself as my own back and shoulders got moving again. It passes.

Likewise a pupil may experience the onset of pain from some forgotten injury, or symptoms of a childhood illness, such symptoms having been masked by a cloak or armour of muscular contraction until that release facilitated by the first few Alexander lessons.

The human body can be a very strange place to find oneself.

I must add that many people have very little trouble. They come, they grow taller, and their faces get softer and happier week by week. Friends and relatives who see them only occasionally ask them if they’ve got taller, or have they had a haircut, because they look different. Without wishing to sound like a snake-oil salesman, people often look younger!