Small Things Move Big Things

Without bees, where would pollination be?

Bees are little, but they drive big things. 

No-one is really sure how important they are. Still, a 2007 study published in the Royal Society’s flagship biological research journal indicated that 87 large scale crops worldwide require animal pollinators, of which the bee is the most important. 

Small bees, big world movements.

Posture is not immune to this flow – small movements bring about big changes. George Benard Shaw is quoted as commenting about his lessons with FM Alexander…

“Alexander calls us to witness a change so small and so subtle, that only he can see it.”

I remember the first workshops I had with my precious teacher Marjorie Barstow. Although I knew that her student’s movement looked entirely different after a lesson - I was at a loss to explain what I saw. Marj once helped me on this puzzle by commenting…

“All you get is the absence of what you have.”

I was looking for something new, but what had happened was that something had gone away.

This is what makes Alexander's Discovery so different from every other kind of Postural system. Most people are familiar with conventional postural methods – where you pull your body around trying to make it look different.

From the Alexander perspective – horrible.

Instead of aiming to do big things with large muscle groups, start off by aiming for small movements with deeper muscle groups.

Because it is these small movements that matter most.

It come down to three joints that regulate many others:

1. Atlanto-occipital joint  where the head meets the top of the spine;
2. Sterno-clavicular joint  where your arms join the main torso just below the neck;
3. Acetabulofemoral joint  more commonly known as the hip joint.

At 1. You want a head forward, neck backward movement at this joint.
At 2. You want the entire arm sliding around towards the front from these joints.
At 3. You want your upper torse to be tilting forward around these joints.

All together, one after the other.

When you collectively practice these three small movements – they bring big changes.

Within these three movements is an ocean of understanding, and you build it bit by bit over time. Alexander’s Discovery is not a technique; it is a way of understanding movement.

The technique is necessary when you want to implement your new understanding.