He Drove a Nail Through His Boot – OUCH !

A carpenter is screaming in pain…

“I’ve nailed my boot to the floor.”

Rushed to the hospital in extreme pain. Except…

On removing the boot & nail, it was discovered that the nail had been driven between his toes. There was no damage to his foot. 

Where did the carpenter’s pain come from?

Welcome to the world of pain management and research.

I’m here because I am peeking in on a VIDEO conversation I set up between Alexscovery teachers Mari Hodges in Montana and Greg Holdaway in Sydney. Mari has been accepted in a two year Masters Course at Australia’s premier Sydney University. She is asking Greg – a Graduate and at one time a researcher at the Uni – about her Master’s Preliminary Feasibility Study, which poses three questions:

1. Can online Alexander Technique group classes reduce chronic pain?
2. Can online Alexander Technique group classes reduce pain-related disability?
3. ----

Before Mari gets to point 3. Greg interrupts…

“I’ve already got something to say about that.”

Mari waits…

Greg suggests she reverse their order. Make the study about improving function, not reducing pain. Pain is subjective, with complex causes which the nail-through-the-boot story demonstrates. Greg elaborates…

“It is easier to show that AT can improve function rather than reduce pain. A person may be able to function better while still having pain.”

Mari is intrigued, and so am I. 

As we both discovered from teaching a lot – a person’s focus on their pain can cause it to flourish. Pain is delegated into the background when our students focus instead on the functionality of what they are doing. FM called it “meanswhereby”. 

Greg continues…

“And take ‘Alexander Technique’ out of your title. Science doesn’t care about Alexander Technique; it cares about things like ‘how perception influences coordination.’”

Greg – while politely refusing to identify the culprits – adds that Mari must still reference Alexander…

“Not like some studies which piss me off. The studies themselves are intriguing and insightful, yet they make no reference to the source material of the Alexander Technique. That’s unethical in my opinion.”

***

It was a privilege to gain insights into the challenges facing Alexander researchers.

“The hard thing about science is being simple” Greg comments, “being complex is easy.”

It was an hour-long conversation brimming with rich insights and advice for Mari’s budding science career. Mari has discovered that “chronic pain” is a good niche…

“Even though you told me it was not a good niche,” Mari happily tells her coach. 

I smiled. Yes, I did say that.

It has its problems, but pain is still a functional niche. 

Mari studied with me in ATSuccess for a long time and struggled to find her “niche”. I am happy to see her Alexander career blossoming, and it is igniting my urge again to help others. If I am past doing it myself, maybe I can live vicariously through others? I have started to wonder these days…

So encourage me!

Please write back and tell me your life vision for Alexander’s Discovery…

Here are some of the courses I produced during my ATSuccess years with TVF Peter Jacobson, and later on my own…

https://bodychance.mykajabi.com/