The Intellectual Arrogance of My Alexander Profession

Have you ever noticed how often FM’s work is “discovered” in other methods?

Haven’t you ever wondered about that?

Of course (speaking from my own experience) it can be intensely irritating to explain…

“No, AT isn’t really like Yoga. Not at all.”

…because not only is the listener nonplussed by your response, they also become slightly irritated and defensive too.

It’s like two 5 year olds on a playground: “My daddy’s better than your daddy. There!”

This is the arrogance that the title of my blog is referring to. In a vain attempt to validate (what we instinctively feel is unique) we morph into intolerant proselytizers. And we end up alienating the very people whose support we need.

We think we invented “Inhibition”.

We didn’t.

We think the concept of “Direction” is special to us.

It isn’t.

For generations our profession has been intellectually dishonest by mispresenting – even to itself – the significant and lasting contribution FM made to human thought and understanding.

Oh yes, there is something significant that FM discovered. It just wasn’t inhibition.

Walter Carrington was right to put FM up there with Darwin and Einstein. Just as they did, FM used evidence and procedure to postulate a new radical concept that turns everything upside down while changing nothing. (See my previous blog: “How Alexander Changed Everything & Nothing”).

FM discovered that head movements govern vertebral co-ordination.

Barlow got it right. (And I used to scold him for it!)

In his first book - The Alexander Principle - Barlow stated that the Alexander Principle was: “Use Affects Functioning.” (Really! I used sold him mentally, Haven’t you left out some things!?)

However, I have since come to see that Barlow’s description is a handier, more user-friendly construction when compared to FM’s “Primary Control” concept. Of course, FM originated both…

But hey, call it Primary Control, call it Use Affects Function – even call it “The Universal Constant in Living” as FM did in his last book – it all points to the one, simple insight.

But do not, I repeat, DO NOT CLAIM that Alexander originated Inhibition and Direction.

Or Faulty Sensory Perception. Or Psycho-physical unity. Or endgaining. Or means whereby. Get the picture? None of these concepts are particularly new…

Unless people never changed their behaviour until FM came along?

FM did not birth into the world what was already being done.

It is the height of intellectual arrogance to suppose that no-one had come up with these concepts previously. More than arrogant, it is plain dishonest.

Even a cursory investigation will quickly make that evident: it takes an insular, ignorant individual to hold on to this point of view. And insular is one quality of my Alexander Profession. I was once one of the worst, I have to admit. I used to like thinking: “We are special, we are different. No-one does what we do.”

Bollocks.

You have to be a blind believer, a racist of thought, to seriously consider the idea that inhibition and direction (and all the rest of them) as concepts were not knowingly implemented into human behaviour until dear old FM came along.

Really? Alexander invented inhibition? The idea is preposterous.

The only reason I can be so scathing is that I once believed it too. In fact, if you dig into my past writings, I am sure you can find me claiming something like that. No matter.

We all have our past embarrassments. This is one of mine.

I did once write a blog demonstrating how the process of behavioural change that FM advocated is also clearly recognizable in the process that Byron Katie developed to trigger behavioural turnarounds.

I’ve talked with Katie, and she didn’t know FM or the Alexander Technique until we met.

In fact, a lot of Katie’s work echoes many of the precepts and practises also found in the vast body of practical knowledge that the Tibetan Buddhists have recently unleased into the world. And I am sure you can cite many other fine examples where the process we use is reflected in an alternative process. They number in their thousands.

FM’s work is special not because of the process he evolved, but because of the object that his process focuses upon implementing: a healthy relationship between head/spine/self.

Now THAT is an amazing thing – as we all know.

That is why I like to talk about “Alexander’s Discovery” and have become radioactive towards “Alexander’s Technique.” AT comes with too much baggage, too much conflict. Our profession is like a modern day Tower of Babel, spewing out a confused morass of definitions for “The Alexander Technique”.

Instead, pursue creating your own branded process to effectively communicate Alexander's discovery to your chosen niche.

Do You Still Need The Alexander Technique?

Contrarily, I called my new professional movement “ATSuccess”! You must wonder why I would I do that, when I am so actively encouraging teachers to disidentify themselves from The Alexander Technique?

Well, Alexander Technique is a concept that already has market recognition, so I am not about to deny the truth of that. That is even stupider. Work with what you have.

So yes, you can still let people know about your background and training. Alexander Technique still appears in your cv. It just doesn’t sit at the top of your website anymore.

Instead, by realigning your thinking this way, you open up guilt-free possibilities for developing a signature system with your own branding. The guilt is gone because, yes: you are no longer teacher Alexander Technique. You are teaching your own process. Think of Steven Shaw and “The Art of Swimming” or Malcom Balk and “The Art of Running.”

In ATSuccess we have many branded systems being developed by individual teachers.

Part of your process evolution involves inventing – just as FM and many others have done - a vernacular language for your niche; a vocabulary that resonates harmonically with what is pre-existing within your students’ own pattern recognition skills.

This is the responsibility we give you when you join ATSuccess.

Being successful as a teacher is synonymous with being successful as a communicator.

Indeed, you can argue that the only thing that separates marketing from teaching is that when you market, you don’t know who is listening. When you teach, you obviously do.

Both teaching and marketing involve communication, and effective communication requires that you translate Alexander's discovery into a process that makes sense to the market that ATSuccess will steer you towards. This is what happens during our 60 Day Program.

We’ll help you reinvent your teaching/communication skills. As soon as you are able to distinguish between Alexander's discovery (and the process used to implement his discovery), you have tremendous freedom to move in new directions.

You can develop any process you like. Total freedom.

You can adapt methods and technologies that have been developed by others…

Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Marts – currently the largest private employer on earth – was a guy who was curious to see what others were doing in their shops. Anything he saw working, he immediately copied and implemented in his shop.

I am no big fan of Wal-Marts, and I am a big fan of looking for what works, and using it. And Wal-Marts is testimony to how effective a strategy like that can be in building your business.

ATSuccess is about building your business: spreading Alexander's discovery to places where it has never seen the light of day.

Are you ready to deep-dive into what you are thinking and believing, and find out how that can be re-engineered towards your own success? Providing your process is guided by the manner of use of head to spine in the behaviour of the person you are working with – you are ethically, morally and legally true to Alexander's discovery.

ATSuccess is a vibrant, growing community of teachers who fully intend to take Alexander's discovery into mainstream, just as soon as we can.

We’d love to have you on board for the ride.

Click here to read more about what’s on offer…