The One Thing Almost Every Artist Gets Wrong

"The mistake most actors make is that they think about the result instead of about the action that must prepare it."  Konstantin Stanislavski

Not just actors.

Musicians, Yoginis, Dancers, Athletes, Teachers – let's just say human beings.

Like Stanislavski, FM Alexander saw that people carried around this serious misunderstanding of how to use their conscious intelligence to do what they wanted to do. 

FM called it end-gaining – we are all "end-gainers," he said.

To test if you are an "end-gainer" - see if you answer yes or no to this question...

Have you ever reacted to an imagined future as though it had already happened?

Well? 

Think about it.

Imagining our future is something we can all do very well, and there are times when this activity is both constructive and creative to do. However, as one of my teachers often says:

"If you want to be afraid, give your Self a future."

Maybe you imagine a destitute Self on a cold, late night in the rain, pushing a supermarket trolley full of all your possessions. Or you see your partner off frolicking with another person, leaving you alone again.

Severe states of depression can be triggered by fantasies of your mind.

In the artistic world, this mechanism of end-gaining works differently. 

I remember once working with a flautist, and he was complaining about too much pressure in his fingers, so that he could not move them quickly enough to change pitch as he played.

I observed, and started to notice a dreamy, far-away look in his eyes as he played specific passages. Along with his vacant look, he made some muscular effort in his neck and arms – this effort was putting pressure on his fingers.

I kept puzzling as to why he was making this unnecessary action; then I slowly recognised that his tension was choreographed to his music...

OMG! I thought. He's trying to feel the music in his muscles!

A short conversation with him confirmed it - that was precisely what he was doing.

This is "result-orientated" behaviour, just as Stanislavski & FM said.

My flautist wanted his audience to experience a certain kind of emotion or feeling from his playing, and he thought he had to try to make himself feel this same emotion for the audience to feel it too.

That puts no trust in the composer, no trust in the music itself. The musician's job is not to feel the music; it is to play the music. Playing is an action – there are many aspects to it. 

At a primary level, it is a matter of successful coordination.

Successful coordination means you understand and focus on your actions.

To focus on actions – as an artist or in everyday life – it is of unimaginable benefit to know how you are doing what you are doing, how you coordinate your Self. Coordination is first all about bones, joints, and ranges of movement, then second how you are thinking about them.

At BodyChance, one of our most useful tools for this is our study of our human design, a course we call BodyThinking.

BodyThinking Online takes you on a journey of your design, and how you produce specific actions to do all kinds of human activities. At the link below you can read more about BodyThinking Online, and how this course can help you - as both a teacher and a person - in your life.

Until December, I am offering it at almost 50% off:

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