Did You Sleep Last Night?

Marj was like no other teacher I had ever met.

For a start, she was 86 and full of energy desire to teach. Even though my first group with her was also with 40 other teachers, I changed more in that week than I seemed to have done over the previous 10 years!

Marj had been a dancer, then trained with Alexander in London for 3 years, then taught some, then went into to running her family business while going deep into her exploration of the work. The result was a kind of Zen-like master, who’s conversation constantly confounded me.

For example, on the first morning of our residential, I walked up to Marj and conversationally said:

“I hope you have a good sleep last night?”

“Well of course I did!” - she rejoined – “That’s why I went to bed!”

(OMG – she doesn’t do small talk, I thought, then spluttered):

“Well, you know… some people go to bed, but… well, they can’t sleep.”

Marj: “Then they should get up and do something!”

Marj was true to her word just one week later. We were staying together in an apartment at Cremorne, Sydney. I woke up at 3am because I heard strange noises. Was that water?

I got up to have a look.

OMG – that crazy old lady was having a shower!

Later at breakfast, I asked:

“Marj, you were having a shower at 3am last night?”

“Why yes I was!” she sang in that American mid-western drawl of hers. “I was awake, so I thought - ‘I may as well have my shower now’ - and I did! Then I went back to sleep.”

The flexibility of her thinking amazed me. 

If that were me, I’d be thinking, “Oh, I can’t sleep; it’s too early to get up and have a shower; oh, I hate this; what do I do?” But not Marj. I realise I could apply this to my teaching. I realised that I had 10 years of teaching habits – and it was time to change them all!

How would I start?

***

The story of meeting Marj – and how she revolutionised my understanding of Alexander’s Discovery – is part of the two ThinkingBody Online Courses I created for my school in Japan. They are originally in English. 

Read more and gain access at this link:

https://bodychance.mykajabi.com/store/TGFBWut4

Make sure you enter the coupon code – JEREMYSURPRISE – to get an impressive discount!