The book is extremely
well-structured and copiously illustrated, with some
stunning colour pictures and photographs. The text is
somewhat repetitive, but clear and illustrated with some
interesting and moving case histories told in her
pupils’ own words. These stories illustrate the varied
conditions ameliorated by the Technique and give a taste
of its many wide-ranging aspects.
The book falls into three
sections. Body,
which considers the musculo-skeletal system, introduces
the concepts of Use and Misuse and the pitfalls that
occur through inaccurate sensory appreciation. At the
end of each chapter the author gives various exercises
in self-observation and recommends lying down in a
semi-supine position.
The second section concerns
Breathing.
Breathing mechanisms are described in simple terms and
readers are encouraged to try out the use of breath in
acting and singing, hissing, whispering and playing
musical instruments. In further chapters the author
considers various techniques of singing, speaking and
making music while maintaining a lengthening back.
Fascinating stuff!
The section on
Being describes
most Alexandrian activities in detail, such as standing,
sitting, going into ‘monkey’ and putting hands on the
back rail of a chair. There are some excellent examples
of how we can apply the Technique to swimming, riding
and climbing, and the author emphasises that it is “not
what you are doing, but the way you set about doing it”.
She then describes in great detail how to go about these
activities. Finally, she posits that valuing the “here
and now” can lead to greater mindfulness and creativity.
Although throughout the book the tenure of the workshops
and practice seems to be “what you can do to help
yourself” she does emphasise time after time that
actions grow out of an inner stillness.
For whom is this book
intended? Perhaps not for a new pupil, or someone who is
only vaguely “interested in the Alexander Technique”, as
it is specific to Carolyn Nicholls’ way of teaching. Its
great value would be for discussion in a teacher
training class, especially if read in conjunction with
F.M. Alexander’s The
Use of the Self.
I do question the statement
in Chapter One that “the Alexander Technique is about
balance.” Certainly its practice includes balance, but
balance is not the Alexander Technique. And F.M. hardly
ever uses the word …
There are some irritating
mis-spellings and small grammatical errors (split
infinitives abound!) that should have been corrected in
the editing. Mostly the text is easy to read, though the
experiments with different font colours make some of it
hard to decipher. The book comes with a CD
(unfortunately broken in transit) and a half-price
lesson voucher.
