The Differences in Pilates’ and Alexander’s Approaches to Self- Improvement: Part II
Furthermore, because of his observation that most people tend to exaggerate harmful patterns of posture and movement when engaging in strenuous activities, the re-training needed to to improve your overall state of functioning is far more likely to succeed when it takes place under less demanding circumstances.
While this certainly did not rule out physical exercises, his emphasis was always on improving they way one functions in ordinary, daily activities. And, in his view, that always consisted of both a mental and physical component. For him, "thinking" and "doing" were totally interconnected and in a very profound sense, "what you think is what you get." As any competent Alexander Technique teacher can demonstrate, you can learn new ways to think about yourself, at rest or in movement, that immediately improve the quality of your functioning.
The title of Alexander's first book, "Man's Supreme Inheritance" is a reference to our human capacity to think our way out of dysfunctional patterns of behavior. The majority of people go through life on "auto-pilot" most of the time and so they tend to repeat the same patterns of posture and action - whether they are harmful or not. When those patterns are harmful, Alexander believed the solution was to use our innate capacities for self-correction and self-improvement.(1)
In an article to be published next month at Suite101.com, I will explore the strengths and weaknesses of Pilates' and Alexander's approaches, and some of the ways they can complement each other.
(1) It could be argued that Pilates' understanding of mind-body unity went further than is evident in his writings. He certainly understood that whenever you use a muscle, you use it in relation to ALL of your musculature. It seems very likely that he also understood that when you strengthen a muscle, you also strengthen the connection between the mind and that muscle; perhaps this could be seen as uncovering and utilizing the underlying unity between mind and muscle. Looked at from that point of view, Pilates' approach to fitness was to influence the "mind-body unity" via the bodily end of the spectrum while Alexander emphasized using the mental end of that spectrum.
*** Robert Rickover is a teacher of the Alexander Technique living in Lincoln, Nebraska. He also teaches regularly in Toronto, Canada. Robert is the author of "Fitness Without Stress - A Guide to the Alexander Technique" and is the creator of The Complete Guide to the Alexander
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