Our Christmas Message

Although materialism and consumerism have hijacked Christmas for the time being, the message and spirit of Christmas still holds. Amidst the powerful stimulus to buy, buy, buy, there are fleeting moments of quietness and stillness when we can hear the gentle voice of consciousness whispering to us. In these brief moments we remember that this is a time to reflect - how can WE as individuals bring peace on earth and goodwill to all our fellow beings?

As Alexander Technique teachers working the iPAC way, we believe we have the how - The Technique - to help you achieve this vital goal of peace and quiet - first inside yourself and then in your actions in the outside world.

Our work, ‘Education for Living’, is all about developing individual potential. Each individual must be developed so that it is “as difficult to fire us as it is to fire a piece of stone.” Peace is not possible without the effective use of that transcending power of our conscious mind - it is “Man’s Supreme Inheritance”.

Recognising and understanding the need to QUICKEN and develop our conscious mind takes time. But we have no choice: either we make the transition or we are going to destroy ourselves and our planet.

Here at Alexander Technique Atlantic you learn how you can think and act differently: you learn how to overcome your powerful negative feelings; you learn how to let go of your fear; your preconceived ideas; your fixed ideas and prejudices; you learn how to prevent your too quick reactions to others; you learn how to develop patience instead of impatience; and you learn how to overcome your compulsion to “do” “do” “do”. Choosing to live differently - to live a more conscious and constructive life style - involves leaving behind your unwanted habitual ways of being and behaving. Often these unwanted habits have their roots in the legacy of our instincts - which once served us well but are no longer a satisfactory means of guiding and controlling our behaviour in the modern world.

Our work involves no exercises; no rituals or complicated procedures; no effort or strain; no esoteric or mystical doctrine. It involves using your reasoning and intelligence to gain the necessary practical knowledge and skill (which can be verified and demonstrated) to understand how to organise yourself into a coherent psychophysical system in order to achieve POISE in living.

We invite you to work with us and put your Christmas wishes and New Years resolutions into positive action in building a healthier and happier future for you, your children, and their children’s children.

Season’s Greetings,
Tasha & David

Thanksgiving: a toast to F.M.

Conscious guidance and control in relation to human evolution in civilization: Still pioneering this work after nearly 30 years – what has kept me at it? From time to time (more often than I would like to admit) I have wanted to quit - throw it all up – give up on people and withdraw into a life of a recluse; do something where I could avoid people because they made me so sad and mad but something in me couldn’t. Each time I met this moment it was triggered by people who seemed so crippled inside and yet seemed so polished and sophisticated on the outside – perfectly socially constructed - identities thin and hollow with starvation on the inside – perfect magazine lookalikes. Each time I glimpsed a fleeting peep into these people’s empty cruel eyes and saw their utter cold disdain projected outward at those of us who refused to conform to this social construction it cut deep into my soul – my soul literally teetered on a knife edge. I would go to Alexander’s book Man’s Supreme Inheritance and read the following quote by Herbert Spencer:

“Whoever hesitates to utter that which he thinks the highest truth, lest it should be too much in advance of the time, may reassure himself by looking at his acts from an impersonal point of view….It is not for nothing that he has in him these sympathies with some principles and repugnance to others. He with all his capacities, and aspirations, and beliefs, is not an accident, but a product of the time. He must remember that while he is a descendant of the past he is a parent of the future; and that his thoughts are as children born to him, which he may not carelessly let die”.

I need to read it today even more as I now live in Canada or North America which is as close as one can get to the capital of Capitalism or the culture of gluttony. All this materialism, be it materialism of matter or spirit, is overwhelming at times – everything has a price. People here know the price of everything but do they know the value of anything? So, having bumped into many socially constructed perfect personalities whilst out shopping for groceries for Thanksgiving and feeling the old “why bother” feelings coming over me I sat down to read an old fashioned book which is the best chicken soup for the soul. And happily I made a new insight on the matter of why do I keep at it? This time the revelation was made whilst reading another book. I can’t remember the title of the book, but I wrote the quote into my note book it goes like this:

“When we encounter the rare individual whose conduct is inspired by a moral ideal, we cannot help noticing his aspect. Moral beauty is an exceptional and striking phenomenon – one never forgets it. This form of beauty is far more impressive than the beauty of nature. It gives to those who possess its divine gifts a strange and inexplicable power. It increases the strength of the intellect, much more than science, art and religious rites, moral beauty is the basis of civilization.” - Alexis Carrel

I finally understood why I keep at it: Alexander’s work is the only system that gives me the necessary tool for the development of moral beauty. It is the hardest challenge for us all to face and get on with. We are all trying to pretend and cover up our ugliness inside but the key to our deliverance lies within. We need to meet our darkness and to transform it into the light of conscious constructive guidance and control in the use of ourselves in living a healthier and happier life. There is so much work to do on ourselves and time is of the essence. I continue on this most difficult journey of my own choosing even more enlightened and uplifted than before.

Beating Winter's Blues

Winter is hard for everyone: back problems arise with all the shoveling that has to be done. Those with money to spare flee the country to sunnier worlds blaming the weather for their problems. Others bring out their remedies to give them some comfort and relief from stiff muscles and aching joints. The common cold and the pesty flu abound; this time the poor old bugs get the blame. Could there be a way out of this yearly chronic state of affairs?

At ages 54 and 44 we can confidently say yes to this. Without exercise regimes, special diets, pills, potions, rubs or remedies we have met the challenges of the winter months. We too have shoveled snow, but without complaint. Now, with April here, the sun out, and the ground reasonably dry, we decided to go out for a lovely walk. Our movements felt light and effortless. We flowed along enjoying the outdoors again. There is nothing more satisfying than improvement, especially as one ages. Moments like these affirm us in our dedication to share this great work with others.

“When an investigation comes to be made, it will be found that every single thing we are doing in this work is exactly what is being done in Nature where the conditions are right, the difference being that we are learning to do it consciously.” -F.M.Alexander

Earth Hour 2008

On the weekend we had some friends over for dinner and participated in ‘Earth Hour’ by turning out the lights at 8:00pm. For those who don’t know, Earth Hour is a symbolic gesture where people all over the world turn off their lights for an hour to raise awareness of the issues of profligate energy usage and its environmental consequences. It was a special moment, sitting around by candlelight, eating our baked apples and sharing some good conversation.

Looking out our back window at the little town of Sambro, however, it was difficult to discern any difference. The lights of the town blazed into the night sky as usual. Were any of our neighbours participating? Did Earth Hour 2008 make any impact? On a practical level, of course, it didn’t. The steps that are required to address global environmental issues are enormous, much bigger than the turning out your lights for an hour.

The difficulty in getting people to participate, even in a small gesture like this, raises a much bigger problem: people don’t like to change; and this problem of human behaviour is the point where every movement stalls. Sitting in the dark by candlelight the thought came that the 21^st Century was ripe for a new Enlightenment: this time not about the external world, but about ourselves.

“…before man can make the changes necessary in the outside world, he must learn to know the kind of doing he should prevent in himself, and the how of preventing it. Change must begin in his own behaviour.” - F.M Alexander