The Alexander Technique: A Skill for Life – Fully Revised, 2nd Edition

To live is to face problems and to find solutions for them. We do so consciously or unconsciously, using intuition, reason, imagination, and many other faculties. We notice a situation, we draw conclusions from what we see, hear and feel, and we act on our conclusions in a constant process of observation, analysis, and remedy. “My shoulders are tight because I am under a lot of stress, I need a good massage.” We observe a problem (tight shoulders), analyze the cause (stress), and seek a remedy for it (the massage). But what if we have misunderstood the problem? What if our description of the problem is based on false perceptions, or our analysis on false assumptions? What if the solution aggravates the problem? This book is about our suppositions, habits, and behaviors. It is about posture and attitude, tension and relaxation, movement and rest. It is about interpersonal relationships, sports, and performing arts. Above all, it is about embodied emotions and the body that thinks and feels. In this fully revised new edition, Pedro de Alcantara invites you to redefine the meaning of health and wellbeing, using the insights and tools developed by a man of genius: F.M Alexander.