| Expanding our awareness – reaction or response? |
| In this age of individuality and consciousness, how much do we really know about what we are up to? A stimulus comes to us – either from the outside world, or from our own thoughts or bodily needs – and before we know it we have begun reacting to it. We feel thirsty, and we find ourselves reaching out for a drink. Recent brain research indicates that there is up to a second between the physiological system moving into reaction and the mind becoming conscious of the stimulus (if indeed it does become aware of it). There is then a tiny window of opportunity where we can choose whether or not to proceed, and if so, in what manner. All of this takes place many thousands of times a day – we make split-second choices about whether to let the pattern run according to habit or do something different or nothing at all. |
| Particularly if the stimulus is unpleasant (invoking fear, anger, shock, discomfort), the reaction will probably involve much tightening of the muscular system, not to mention release of ‘stress hormones’. This is a natural process – animals also flinch or start – but the difference is that they quickly return to neutral, whereas we have the mental capacity to hold onto a situation, thus prolonging the tension and its effects. In fact it could be said that the habit of tension becomes ingrained; we find it harder and harder to recover our equilibrium, and thus live on a kind of constant “red alert”. But even a pleasant or neutral stimulus usually brings about superfluous muscular tension – watch what happens when you next pick up a cup of tea. |
| Many of our actions and reactions are totally habitual and this is of course necessary – otherwise we’d have to re-learn how to walk every time. Most of our bodily systems function perfectly well without our intereference (if we can get ourselves out of their way) and of course we need appropriate muscular tension to be able to stand and move. But our automatic patterns of reaction often use too much effort, bringing about pain and strain, and leading to constriction of breathing, circulation and other bodily functions. We also feel trapped in our own mental habits – “I just couldn’t stop myself”. |
| The key is to use that tiny moment of awareness to challenge those habits. As we have seen, once we are aware of the stimulus, the reaction is already under way. So we must first seize on that moment when we become conscious of it – this is what “being in the present” truly means. At that point our choice is very simple – “yes” or “no” (volition or inhibition, in neurological terms). Have you ever tried to change gear in a car without passing through neutral? It’s equally impossible to impose a different behaviour choice on top of what’s already set in motion. The first reaction has to be put on “hold” while we consider our options. One is to stop and do nothing. One is to proceed, but without (or with less of) the usual pattern of muscular tension. One is to do something different. Or we can just go ahead with what we had begun, if we wish. |
| The point is that in this way a “reaction” becomes instead a measured, conscious “response”, a choice rather than an inevitability. I know it seems that if we put this into operation all the time we’d end up frozen in inaction, but help is at hand. The Alexander Technique, I believe, is the tool with which we can become more quickly aware of our reaction and more in control of our response. |
| How does this work? Isn’t the Alexander Technique simply about standing up straighter? Or about relaxing? Well, I return to my first question – how much do we know about what we are up to? And the answer, sadly, is not a lot. We have let our habits take us over, and in the process our whole sensory system has become dulled and corrupted. We may think we are “standing up straight” but a quick glance in the mirror may show otherwise – our proprioceptive sense (which tells us where we are in space) is malfunctioning. Remember that cup of tea? How much tension was there in your hand, wrist, arm, neck as you reached for it? Did you gulp, toss your head backwards, hold your breath as you drank? Did you really need to use that much effort? What about when you have an uncomfortable feeling, do you hold your breath in order to suppress or manage it (most of us do)? What does holding your breath do to your balance? |
| Working with an Alexander Technique teacher to untangle our physical and mental habits is a fascinating process of self-discovery. The gentle touch and guidance of the teacher works to calm the nervous system and make it less reactive, thus allowing us a bigger “window of choice”. If you like, it helps us establish better habits, which don’t involve so much tension and pain – but also not to get ourselves too comfortably fixed into those new habits. Because there is always room for change. |
| There may or may not have been a distant time when human beings functioned in perfect balance and co-ordination, but it is certain that our current pressured way of life makes it very difficult to be either. I believe that our consciousness is at once our greatest tool and our greatest enemy. It is what made us change the world in the way we have, because we were able to imagine that things could be different, better, and think of ways of bringing that about. But the ability to think in the future, the past, the alternate present, took us gradually further and further away from what was happening right now, under our noses, in our own bodies and minds. We can’t go back to some imagined former paradise, but we can use consciousness to wake up to the present, to expand our awareness of both our inner and outer worlds. To ask ourselves continually, what’s going on? |
| © Maddy Paxman 2008 |
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