Every Alexander Technique teacher has their own favourite descriptions of the Technique’s core concepts. Sometimes I come across an elegant new definition; here’s an example:
Endgaining means ‘the downsides of over-focusing on our goals’.
David Anderson
Two further concepts – ‘Inhibition’ and ‘Non-Doing’ – are in a sense the antidote to endgaining, and I’ve recently come across two creative definitions of them. The explanations made me pause and reflect on my own understanding which I take to be a really good sign! Here are the definitions below.
What is ‘Inhibition’?
Saying “No.” Stopping your self from engaging in an habitual pattern. Inhibition is the atmosphere, the state of being, in which we learn the Alexander Technique. Inhibition is to the Alexander Technique what water is to swimming. You learn to swim in the water, and you learn the Alexander Technique inside “the state of inhibition.” You are either “in reaction” or you are inhibiting. Once you are inhibiting, you can get deeper into that state, in the same way as you can be just inside a room, or in the middle of a room. Inhibition can be applied to reactions to external stimuli, thought patterns, emotional patterns, behaviour patterns and physical patterns.
From Guided Lessons for Students of the Alexander Technique 2nd ed by Nancy Dawley, Neil Schapera and Vivien Schapera. 2010. Cincinnati: Four Winds.
And ‘Non-Doing‘?
At the heart of the Alexander Technique is Alexander’s insight that if we want to change, we must stop doing what we habitually do. In modern culture we try to solve our problems by “doing something.” We may attempt to do something differently, or even try to do “the opposite.” In this scenario we are limited to what we already know.
The solution however lies in “not doing” the habit or pattern which is, directly or indirectly, causing or feeding the problem. “Not doing the pattern” opens the door to an entirely new possibility, one you may not even have been able to imagine.
From Guided Lessons for Students of the Alexander Technique 2nd ed by Nancy Dawley, Neil Schapera and Vivien Schapera. 2010. Cincinnati: Four Winds.
