Being Woken Up at 3am With a Slap

Marjorie Barstow loved to ring through from Nebraska at 3am Sydney time…

***

CHANCER: (Stumbling out of bed, gruffly) Yes?

"Why, hallo!"

CHANCER: Is that Marj?

"Did I wake you up?"

CHANCER: Yes!

"Oh good!"

***

And I couldn't help smiling.

Marj was always one for a slap and a wake-up call. I once asked her…

CHANCER: Marj, why do you slap people?

"Oh, sometimes people need a little shock!"

I was slapped by Marj. She whacked me on the chest three times. I was being - what I thought at the time - a "good Alexander" by lifting up my chest, arching my back and "being upright" - when suddenly, out of the air, this massive hand appeared, landing on the front of my chest with a…

THUMP!!! - THUMP!!! - THUMP!!!

Marj asking me: "What are you doing THAT for?"

And when her hand first landed upon my chest, I melted inside, dropped my chest, eased my back, took in new air, and entered a whole new universe which continues to this day.

Yes - I confess - I was 'woken up' by Marj.

Marj loved the metaphor of waking us up. Another time in 1986 - while in Australia at the San Michele Resort in the Snowy Mountains - Marj said:

"I want to wake you people up. I don't mean from bed in the morning, but during the day. To notice your Self, to know what you are doing."

I don't mind following in her footsteps and waking up Alexander teachers. But I don't presume to do that about the use of the self, I do that about how you markeach the work to others.

In a century, have we put ourselves on Main Street yet?

Our Profession is unwell today - numbers are down everywhere. So many teachers struggle to make a living.

And yet there's hope.

The evidence is mounting; the opportunities are increasing - wellness is a movement gaining strength around the world. We need constructive thinking about how we communicate the work, and where.

I believe your focus needs to move towards businesses.

Businesses have the need. They have the money. They respect our results.

Which is why I have rebuilt the ATSuccess 12 Steps to focus on "Getting Alexander Work in Businesses." If you want to do something for your Self - and your Profession - join a fresh group of teachers and me, as we start to find Alexander work for ourselves and others.

https://bodychance.mykajabi.com/p/Getting_Work_in_Businesses

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