Basil is a remarkable BodyChance teacher, famous throughout Japan in the classical music world (“It’s very small.” Basil assures me) yet virtually unknown to the wider Alexander community. Totally fluent in English, Basil is an American citizen born in Hong Kong, who grew up in Japan from the age of one.

Basil is a delightful experience here: American on the outside, Japanese on the inside.

He has now published 7 books, appeared on national TV and travels widely around Japan giving workshops small and large – upwards of 1,000 people at a recent Master class – to mostly younger musicians at High Schools. Basil founded BodyChance’s Music ProCourse three years ago. By itself, Basil’s school is the largest, single Alexander training facility in the world, with 50 trainees in Tokyo – all musicians. And more in Osaka.

Basil trained at BodyChance, and now he leads the way…

He has thousands of young high school students following him on Twitter, and he hit the 5,000 Friends limit on Facebook a while ago now. These youngsters represent a new generation of musicians growing up knowing and using Alexander's discovery. In “Basil’s Coaching Room” Basil shares their emails, questions, twitter queries and his advice on: stage fright; how to make an effective embouchure; the usual physical concerns; their breathing challenges. Basil publishes materials on these issues 10 to 20 times a month, getting an average of 30,000 page views per week.

Basil is a BodyChance star. And Basil invented “The Basil Test”.

The Basil Test is simple: it’s to know if you want to do something or not. However, you need a fairly sophisticated system of sensory registration for it to work. It’s similar to those arm moving techniques used to test for food allergies.

The Basil Test is used to help you know what you want.

Often the results can shock you, as happened to me this week…   

  I Got a Letter...

More than a letter, it was an invitation.

I was invited to be a Continuing Education Teacher at the next Chicago Conference in 2018. I was happy to be included again – it was my first invitation since the Lugano Congress in 2008. I thought: “That’s nice. I appreciate the invitation.”

However, something wasn’t right. Since I couldn’t explain it logically, I realized I needed to do The Basil Test. Here’s how you do it…

First, you imagine your Self doing the thing you are considering.

I did that. I visualized my Self teaching the Continuing Education classes for six mornings in Chicago. It was easy enough, as I had done that in Lugano in 2008.

Second, you note how that contemplated action affects your system.

I noticed what was happening in my physiology as I considered teaching these Master classes. I was tightening, shrinking my Self. The idea of going to the Congress was not congruent with my deepest wish. Humph.

I was so surprised!

Going to Chicago in 2018 seems an obvious choice: accept the honour and be there for the teachers of our wonderful work. This appears to fit with my life mission and purpose. And yet, my physiology is telling me different. “Nope,” it is saying, “that is not your path.”

The Basil Test puts you in touch with your non-logical self.

This is a deeper part of your being that shapes a great amount of your moods, abilities and functionality. Ignore it at your own peril.

Sarah Barker is staying with me now in Tokyo – she is here teaching the ProCourse – and she immediately understood my response. As we sat talking in my apartment…

“Oh, it’s a trauma response,” she explained. “You've been attacked many times, so of course your physiology would tighten at the prospect of going to a place where many people would prefer you didn’t come.”

If that was entirely true, I would go: I will not be cowered by criticism or ridicule.

And Sarah is right – I have traumatized my Self over the years by expressing opinions that are swimming against my own profession. Other people are upset by my ideas, it’s true. That is a natural result of challenging the status quo. My kind of opinion comes with a lot of baggage.

Is that it then? Am I having a simple trauma response?

If so, well - I can work with that, change my response and decide to go. Right?

And so it goes on, back and forth, yes and no - until you wonder: what is the right thing to do?

That’s why The Basil Test is so helpful. It doesn’t say if something is good thing or not – it just helps you understand if you want it. In that way it’s definitive, even if you don’t understand the answer. As Alice Miller put it: “The body doesn’t lie.”

Another of my teachers offers an alternative to The Basil Test, so I tried that too.

Byron Katie suggests you listen to a quiet voice inside.

When you listen, you hear simple things like “Go clean the dishes” or “Get out of bed now” or “Call her up.”  When you follow that voice, life flows harmoniously. I listen for that voice within me. And every now and again, the instructions I receive surprise me. Then I remember Katie’s advice:

“A no to them is a yes to you.”

***

BTW Although I won’t be at the Congress in 2018, I am teaching in London during February 2017 – join my mailing list at the link below to get more details. Or you can come to my annual residential in Japan during Golden Week in May. Watch the video (Basil is in it)

I am also putting the finishing touches to my online BodyThinking (Alexander mapping) course for teachers. And there is ATSuccess: my 12 step program for designing your practise strategically over a year long program. Join up below to find out more.

You don’t need to wait to 2018 to interact with me!