Best Alexander Technique Advice Ever

Today, while swimming, I recalled the best piece of advice I have ever had from an Alexander Technique teacher. It came from Walter Carrington, who took over Alexander's teacher training course, when Alexander died in 1955. I took a small number of lessons with Walter over the years between qualifying in 1994 and when he died in 2005. In a good year, I would go down to London two or three times for lessons with Walter and other first generation teachers, most notably Peggy Williams. Both were remarkable teachers, from whom I had lessons that I remember and am still understanding to this day.

One such lesson was my very first lesson with Walter, when in the first five minutes, I learned more from his hands, about how things were supposed to work, than I had in my three-year training course. Of course, I needed those three years to understand what it was he wanted to me to know and was teaching me. 

On one visit, shortly before I was due to get married, I explained to Walter that with finances being tight, I did not expect to be in London again for eighteen months. Walter told me not worry and then told me that:

1. If I understood hands on the back of the chair, then I would learn and know pretty much everything I need to know about human mechanics and functioning.

2. That if I understood the whispered ‘ah’, I would learn and know pretty much all I would ever need to know about breathing. 

3. Finally, Walter added that I should read the books, meaning the four books Alexander wrote, and I would have all I need to know about the Alexander Technique and Conscious Control. 

At the time, being of a sceptical frame of mind, I doubted the truth of what Walter said; I thought he might just be exaggerating. Scepticism though has to be tempered with experimentation, so I followed Walter’s advice and come to see the truth of it. So now, if I was asked for advice, I would repeat what Walter told  me, namely that if you learn the set procedures which are 'hands on the back of the chair' and the whispered 'ah' and, more importantly, if you understand them, you have pretty much all you need for whatever physical activity you might be undertaking. 

Returning to the reason I recalled all this today in the swimming pool, well I have been working again with hands on the back of the chair and today I was applying it in the pool. My swimming was easier, faster and more powerful than usual, as I was using myself better than normal. As I still want to improve, I'll be standing putting my hands on the back of the chair again, not just to improve my swimming but to understand the needs of my pupils and help them improve the use of themselves in whatever daily round of activities they undertake and whatever outside pastimes they enjoy.