The Kings Speech

I simply can't help blogging about this film. I'm not sure if it is because the work of good old lionel was so relevant to my own work or that perhaps because working with people in this way is so inspirational. We can't all expect to work with such haughty types as the King, but in many ways it doesn't matter who you work with. What really stands out as important is the element of transformation. When somebody turns up on the doorstep with a genuine need, a real problem it becomes so personal. Working one-to-one with no-one else around we can really get down to some very deep and meaningful work. Work that really matters. In most peoples lives there is one thing (or more) that really gets in the way of living life to the full. In the Kings case it is the stutter. When people watch this film it isn't really the stutter that resonates but the way in which something hinders our lives. The question becomes about what we can do to change that ball and chain we all know we have. And there lies the really interesting thing about the Kings speech. What is available to us that will really work. The scene with the marbles in his mouth both shocked and appalled because this man was obviously earning his living using not only antiquated methods, but ones that don't really work. In my line of business as an Alexander Teacher I meet many people who have 'tried everything', much like the King in this film. I meet an awful lot of people who turn up really not expecting any results and they say things like, 'I'll try anything really'. Which leaves you with a feeling of being really put on the spot. A sort of well sorry about that I'll see what I can do.

As the Alexander Technique is so powerful and reaches such a broad cross section of problems, including stuttering, we soon have better responses; 'I think this is working, I haven't had a migraine for so long now' or 'I am sleeping so well these days'. So there really is that feeling so beautifully conveyed in 'The Kings Speech' of genuinely helping people. And I think this is really the most important aspect of our work and 'The Kings Speech' that makes it such a great job and such a great film, really helping people to get over their problems and transform their lives.

Human development wordgame

There are many ways to describe a person who has reached a certain level of maturity. As a person develops there are many ways in which we can mature. What is the ultimate way? When a student passes their degree, they become a graduate. When a yogi reaches a certain level of meditative harmony, he is said to reach Samadi. A Buddhist reaches Nirvana or enlightenment. A company executive reaches director level or becomes the CEO. What is interesting is that if we want to grow as human beings we need to define our objectives. What is it to grow? How do we do it? As we have discussed in many different ways, but there has to be a word to describe reaching a level of perfect harmony in body and mind that is free of the doctrine of a particular school of thought. This is because as people outside a particular discipline we are not isolated from the possibility of reaching these evolved states.

The point is that with so many people now pursuing so much personal development, so called enlightenment is more available to the wider population than ever before in the history of the world. This is very exciting and we need a word to describe what it is to reach a certain level of personal balance. As an Alexander Teacher my perception of what this means has to include the psycho-physical. Having said that I have also experienced Buddhism and yoga and various meditations and all of these acknowledge the need for a psycho-physical experience towards an improved state. Even many schools of contemporary psychology now practise a certain physiological approach to their patients well being and it is even noted by some therapists that with the mental improvements there are also enhanced postural effects.

With human development we cannot get away from mind and body. So what can we call the new 21st century aspiration to enlightenment? The word enlightenment is so last century and inextricably linked to very defined cultural parameters.

Why should we define this concept? It is necessary because so many people want to improve themselves. So many people are so good and their struggle is a moral one. Everybody worries about everyone else. Should I have said that? Done that? Am I too materialistic? Am I too spiritual? Lazy? Stupid? The list goes on. We need a single word to sum up where we are going. What it is we should be aiming for in life. If you look at the content on any face book page it will trace back to this eternal question. How should we behave?

The problem is we are not Christians, Buddhists, Yogis, Atheists, Jews, etc. We cannot be labelled with these outdated pre 21st century titles that limit our perspective on the world. We are human beings with the best opportunity to grow the world has ever seen. It is so exciting there cannot be a single person who is missing this wonderful trick. So how do we define it.? Who can find this perfect expression of this wonderful human potential? Who can leave their own doctrine behind and say clearly what it is we achieve when mind and body are truly free?

I think the Yogis are winning so far with the word liberation. To achieve liberation. But it still implies too much mind. We are very much body as well. Please join me in my search and lets keep posting suggestions. If we think about such things more people become aware of the concept and join the process. And that really is exciting!

F.M. Alexander (1869-1955) was an Australian actor who began to experience a complete loss of voice whenever he performed.His doctor said there was nothing wrong with him. He realised it was something he was doing. Alexander solved the problem entirely on his own. He had not been aware that stress and tension in his neck and body were causing his problems, and developed new ways to speak and move with greater ease.

As his health improved, he realised he could also help his friends and several of the doctors he had consulted earlier persuaded him to teach others what he had learned. Over a career of more than fifty years, he refined his method of instruction. After teaching for over 35 years, he began to train teachers of what has now become known as the Alexander Technique.

More info www.alexandertechnique.tv

It Gave Me Me Back!

Recently there was a party to celebrate three new graduate teachers and fifty years of Alexander Technique at Lansdowne road in Holland Park. I trained there and as you can imagine quite a few others. It had been a long time since I had offered myself the luxury of a visit and although I knew quite a few people there, there was an awful lot of new students and teachers I had never met.

The party always starts with the giving out of the certificates for the new teachers. Nowadays this is done by the new head teacher, Ruth Murray. It was Walter Carrington, but all things must change and with Walters passing away, a new head. So Ruth said of one student, Sabeha, that she had found it very tough to get through the Alexander Technique training (I can vouch for that).

Once all the certificates had been given out a Swedish chap, Peter, rather humorously, chatted for ages and cracked jokes about the teachers and the A.T and it was all very nice and funny and long. Another Graduate played a wonderful piece of Brahms on the piano, however, the student who had apparently struggled so much, said the least, but most profound thing anyone has said in the Alexander world for some time and I was deeply moved. She said, 'The Alexander Technique gave me me back.'

And I too can vouch for that. So what do we mean? What does it mean to get your life back?Where does it go? The answer should ultimately resonate with everyone. None of us are really truly in touch with ourselves. There are so many external influences that disrupt our personal space, suppress our natural inclinations and take us somewhere other than where we want to go. Examples are many, a mother who wants to pursue her own creativity, an artist tied to the need to pay bills, a would be architect forced into law by his parents, a women abused by her husband, a pushy wife, a pushy husband, a busy career, the list goes on. We are all capable of losing ourselves in life.

So how can the Alexander Technique help?

In order to understand this we must first understand what happens both mentally and physically when we lose ourselves in external matters. Without a doubt the mind becomes very separate from the body. As we concern ourselves more and more with stuff that is not actually what we want to concern ourselves with, we become tense. As the tension increases our mind tries harder and harder to avoid awareness of the body. Obviously-it feels uncomfortable. As we drift further away from our body mentally, the mind becomes more stressed. Before we know it mind and body are as far apart as one side of an ocean to another.

With this separation comes the big shut down. We no longer know ourselves. We are drifting through life trying to avoid thinking about our lives. We will do anything we can to avoid facing the truth. The mother throws herself even more into the children's life, the would be architect, becomes the best lawyer in town, the abused women blames herself, the busy career becomes the complete centre of our world and before we know it we are living in a trance someone else put us in.

So the Alexander Technique slowly brings us back to a mind/body harmony, gently coaxing us out of the trance. Guiding us away from all the stuff we have to do tomorrow, later on, yesterday. Into the most powerful moment never experienced, NOW.

We are no longer allowed to drift off in our mind to avoid how tense the body feels. On the contrary we are taught how to come back to our bodies (ourselves) find that tension, release it and at that moment of release we find ourselves again. We are home. Now, after some time practising in this way we find our true selves again. The selves, ambitions, desires, aspirations that have been hiding under all that tension and could not be acknowledged by that mind that was in a trance and wandering as far as it could away from an awareness of that painful body.

So all the false everyday masks that have been put there to benefit everyone but ourselves drop to the floor. And what we find there, because we have found it gently, slowly, under highly sensitive Alexander Technique hands, is something we begin to love and appreciate in a true and honest fashion. The me that got lost a long long time ago.

Nicholas Chapman July 2010

Insomnia-The Cure

Insomnia, the cure.

Many people suffer from insomnia and all of us do so at some point in our lives. When people complain to me of insomnia it is almost without exception to do with some worry or another. Although when I said this to one sufferer the other day she did point out that she could not sleep because she was too excited and happy, lucky her. So perhaps it would be better to describe insomnia as not being able to sleep due to an agitated state of one kind or another. There are a number of possible causes for insomnia, such as anxiety, a disrupted sleeping environment, or an underlying physical condition or mental health problem. Indeed there does seem to be some kind of epidemic at the moment. The recession has left most of us either worse off or worried about being so. And perhaps too excited about that new job!

Insomnia is difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep for long enough to feel refreshed the next morning. The most common problem in young people with insomnia is difficulty falling asleep (sleep-onset insomnia). An insomniac may also experience:

• Waking in the night (most common in older people).
• Not feeling refreshed after sleep and not being able to function normally during the day, feeling irritable and tired and finding it difficult to concentrate.
• Waking when you have been disturbed from sleep by pain or noise.
• Waking early in the morning (the least common type of sleep disturbance).

Nearly everyone has problems sleeping at some point in their life and it is thought that a third of people in the UK have bouts of insomnia. Insomnia appears to be more common in women and more likely to occur with age.

How long does insomnia last?

Insomnia can last for days, months or even years. It can be split into three categories:

• transient insomnia lasts for two to three days,
• short-term insomnia lasts for more than a few days but less than three weeks, and
• chronic insomnia occurs most nights for three weeks or longer, and can lead to mental health problems such as depression or misuse of alcohol in order to gain sleep.

There are many different approaches to insomnia, whether it is medicinal, taking tablets or perhaps some way of thinking or an exercise. One chap twittered the other day that he improved his insomnia just by giving up milk before bed. Though a much later twitter said, ‘I know why I couldn’t sleep last night.’ Not a cure then. I myself suffered insomnia so badly for so many years that I really did struggle to get through most days. There are different types of insomnia; I do remember enjoying the thinking process, hours on into the small hours. Though I always thought I should be able to think like this in the day, when I am fully awake. Then of course there is the inability to let go of present day anxieties. A night of worry. Just what you need when life is putting you through its challenging paces.

The problem with most modern medical approaches and not just with insomnia is that it struggles with the effects or symptoms. The cause is more or less always overlooked. You want to sleep, you take a pill. My approach has always been a more holistic approach. We have to ask ourselves, what is the fundamental and universal element of insomnia that underlies all cases? We must take the person into consideration and people in general. The single element that prevents people from sleeping, which is an integral part of staying alive, is a lack of relaxation. Not just during the night in question, not just now or later on, but in general. As an Alexander Technique practitioner, I do many different workshops that on average have around twelve people in them and most of the time there is not a single person who has ever practised relaxation. When asked what do you do to relax? The response is to say that they watch television or read a book, play golf or even go for a run. So not only do people not relax, they don’t know what it is. Relaxation is something that must happen on the mental and physical level at the same time. Furthermore it must happen regularly. If people cultivate relaxation it is very unlikely they will suffer the problem of insomnia.

So what can we do to relax? There are three types of relaxation that are both practical and directly applicable to insomnia. Firstly and the most simple is what is called seven/eleven breathing. It is a basic scientific fact that if you inhale more air than you exhale you will become more and more excited, eventually leading to a hyper-ventilation and quite a lot of people also suffer panic attacks. So the opposite of that is seven/eleven breathing. So here’s what you do:

1. You must breath in for seven and out for a count of eleven.(the important thing is to breath out for longer)

2. Do this for several minutes.

3. Do this every day for ten minutes.

Any problems just give me a call and I will explain further but it is basically as simple as that. If you are suffering from insomnia use this breathing technique to calm down. You should fall asleep very soon if you persist.

The next technique is extremely good for calming down in order to sleep. This is based on a meditation many of you will know called the mindfulness of breathing. But remember we are not meditation we are relaxing with a view to sleeping. You are lying down and meditation is always done in an upright position. This is relaxation.

1. Close your eyes and start to become aware of your breathing.

2. Quickly scan your whole body and just relax all the parts you think of.

3. Now start to count your breaths. You can start the count as soon as you start your knew breath.

4. Do not count to more than ten (this could keep you awake as you possibly get to a high number demanding too much thinking!).

5. If your mind wanders just smile and come gently back to the breathing. After a short while the level of relaxation deepening in your mind and body you should drift off.

Remember none of these techniques involve any medicine or pills or dietary requirements. So practise them with no fear of side effects.

Finally, and especially if you have not been able to use the above techniques to sleep we come on to what is effectively the best insomnia cure ever, a course in the Alexander Technique. Using the Alexander Technique we can control mind and body to do better and more effectively whatever we want to do. And that includes sleeping. You cannot read how to do the Alexander Technique so I will just say that a course of six lessons will teach you enough, to apply my Alexander Technique insomnia cure. This technique is what cured my insomnia. So I will leave you with a funny anecdote told to me by a brilliant teacher at the school where I trained. A lady came to see John Brown saying she had heard the Alexander Technique helped with insomnia. Stoic and a man of few words John invited her for lessons. About six months later (she obviously enjoyed the technique), John asked her about her insomnia. ‘Insomnia!’ she cried, ‘I don’t suffer from insomnia.’

www.alexandertechnique.tv

© Copyright Nick Chapman 2009

A touching Story

Sometimes we just don't know how important we are to eachother.

But we must never forget how we need eachother and here's a sweet little story

that reminds us what we can mean to eachother.

THE OLD PHONE (A great story)

When I was just a young boy, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it.

Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person. Her name was "Information Please" and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anyone's number and the correct time.

My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer, the pain was terrible, but there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy.

I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway. The telephone! Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to my ear. "Information, please" I said into the mouthpiece just above my head.

A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear: "Information."

"I hurt my finger..." I wailed into the phone, the tears came readily enough now that I had an audience.

"Isn't your mother home?" came the question.

"Nobody's home but me," I blubbered.

"Are you bleeding?" the voice asked.

"No," I replied. "I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts."

"Can you open the icebox?" she asked.

I said I could.

"Then chip off a little bit of ice and hold it to your finger," said the voice.

After that, I called Information Please for everything. I asked her for help with my geography, and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math. She told me my pet chipmunk that I had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts.

Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary, died. I called Information Please and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But I was not consoled. I asked her, "Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?"

She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, "Wayne always remember that there are other worlds to sing in."

Somehow I felt better.

Another day I was on the telephone, "Information Please."

"Information, "she said in the now familiar voice.

"How do I spell fix?" I asked.

All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my friend very much. Information Please belonged in that old wooden box back home and I somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall. As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me.

Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.

I spent five minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, "Information Please."

Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well. "Information."

I hadn't planned this, but I heard myself saying, "Could you please tell me how to spell fix?"

There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, "I guess your finger must have healed by now."

I laughed. "So it's really you," I said. "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time?"

I wonder," she said, "if you know how much your call meant to me. I never had any children and I used to look forward to your calls."

I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister.

"Please do", she said. "Just ask for Sally."

Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered, "Information." I asked for Sally.

"Are you a friend?" she said.

"Yes, a very old friend," I answered.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this," she said. "Sally had been working part-time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago."

Before I could hang up she said, "Wait a minute, did you say your name was Wayne?"

"Yes," I answered.

"Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you."

The note said, "Tell him there are other worlds to sing in. He'll know what I mean."

I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant.

Never underestimate the impression you may make on others.

Whose life have you touched today?

Why not pass this on? I just did.... more stories here

Fan assisted Alexander Technique

The only way to keep working in this weather, which is gorgeous, is to have a fan. A big one. I think people are enjoying the air conditioned Alexander Technique room.

I simply could not work without it!

www.alexandertechnique.tv