tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059777836566981880.post2742728646386924220..comments2023-04-07T07:14:25.719-04:00Comments on Balance & Harmony Alexander Technique Blog: First, Do NothingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059777836566981880.post-49917620347663443602012-02-20T12:40:02.202-05:002012-02-20T12:40:02.202-05:00Yes, I agree...'non-doing' combined with &...Yes, I agree...'non-doing' combined with 'doing', or 'thinking in activity' is like making a quantum leap away from the habitual world of effortful doing, and it is a real challenge to communicate this to a student! F.M. called 'doing' a "terrible habit", and he said that, "...it is to this principle of non-doing that we have to look in the future for the real change that is to take place in human behavior" (Articles & Lectures, p. 147). He goes on to explain that, when he teaches a student, he first needs to get the student to the point where he is willing to "do nothing" (in the sense of refraining from the activity of sitting down, by saying "no" and refusing to do anything at all); and THEN he teaches the students to THINK the guiding orders/directions for himself which will coordinate the movement when he decides to move. Then, movement can occur by thinking in activity, just as you say, not by "doing" in the usual sense. Thanks so much for your input!Jennifer Roig-Francolíhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09083872662883717203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059777836566981880.post-91221111701349138432012-02-20T08:01:14.909-05:002012-02-20T08:01:14.909-05:00You are, of course, right.
The problem with "...You are, of course, right.<br /><br />The problem with "doing nothing" does, however, come with an inherent problem, and it's precisely the problem Alexander identified in The Use of the Self when he attempted to combine "doing nothing" with "doing" - ie that all of us do have to do "something".<br /><br />As Alexander teachers it's very difficult for us to disabuse pupils of the idea that the solution lies merely in doing nothing before they then go on to do something, as if the inhibitory directions were some kind of set-up for doing what they were going to do anyway, only better.<br /><br />"Thinking in activity" is, in that sense, something of a quantum leap in a world where all activity, from merely lifting a finger (and on up), requires effort, requires doing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059777836566981880.post-63895270366691973592012-02-19T18:13:32.346-05:002012-02-19T18:13:32.346-05:00Lovely!Lovely!Jennifer Roig-Francolíhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09083872662883717203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7059777836566981880.post-43310374910196302672012-02-18T21:59:56.991-05:002012-02-18T21:59:56.991-05:00In Guitar Craft we have an aphorism - Do Nothing a...In Guitar Craft we have an aphorism - Do Nothing as much as possible.Patrick Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11932466748852157863noreply@blogger.com