- Hai fatto eseguire al tuo amico qualche esercizio in particolare?
- Cosa intendi con "modelli abitudinari" (gli errori che faceva di solito?)?
- No, quello che studio non è una "compilation" di esercizi... piuttosto una rieducazione psico-fisica (o riprogrammazione), "far fare" esercizi comporta appunto un fare che verrà eseguito mediante "un modo" abituale... il lavoro di rieducazione comporta un cambiamento di questo "modo abituale". Inizialmente si traduce in un "non fare"... a parole ci ho provato in altri 3d anche in questo forum, ma difficilmente sii può spiegare (già nella pratica, inizialmente, è qualcosa di difficile da far capire)
- qui faccio un copia incolla
Habit as defined by the Oxford Dictionary of Psychology is defined in several different ways but the two most relevant here are: 'Generally a learned act...' and 'A pattern of activity that has, through repetition, become automatized, fixed and easily and effortlessly carried out'.
The poet John Dryden (1631 - 1700) said something that F M Alexander would have appreciated when he stated that 'We first make our habits, and then our habits make us'.
Eminent psychologist William James urged us to be aware of habits before they get fixed - "Could the young but realize how soon they will become mere walking bundles of habits, they would give more heed to their conduct while in the plastic state".
We all have habits and many of them tend to be unconscious once fixed, so we are unaware of them and they are indeed 'unseen' by us as Dryden pointed out. It is these unconscious habits that often mean that we mis-use ourselves and our bodies, so that we end up performing tasks in an unthinking habitual manner, that results in our developing aches and pains, for instance. These patterns of mis-use can be addressed in Alexander lessons, where we can learn to loosen the bond between a stimulus and our habitual response to it.
As Alexander discovered when he was developing his eponymous Technique, it is very hard to let go of our habits, even if they don't serve us, because as soon as people have the idea of performing an act, they begin 'to do the act in the habitual way'.... because the ' faulty habits of use feel right' . He realised that the only way to change the manner in which the act is performed 'means giving up the lifelong habits of use that go with it, and employing in its stead a new use which feels wrong'.
In order to be able to do this, Alexander developed the method which teachers still use in lessons today, of giving people the experience
1) 'of receiving a stimulus to gain a certain end and refusing to react to it, thereby inhibiting the unsatisfactory habits of use associated with his habitual reactions'.
2) 'of projecting the directions for the new and more satisfactory use in their proper sequence... whilst the teacher at the same time with his hands makes him familiar with the new sensory experiences associated with this new use'. The Use of the Self ~ F M Alexander
This process starts off with aiming to change the way we use ourselves during simple activities such as sitting and standing. As the pupil begins to be more able to inhibit and give directions, more complicated actions can be explored in lessons, such as picking things up from the floor, or using a mouse.
'We can throw away the habits of a lifetime in a few minutes if we use our brains' F M Alexander ~ Aphorisms
When we say 'no' to getting into the old habits and these changes of use are incorporated into our daily life, we not only lose many of our aches and pains but we become freer to act through choice - and not just out of our old habits that have been, to an extent, running our lives. Alexander talked of our mental habits as being 'mind grooves' and says that once the mind 'is lifted out of the groove' we can 'use the old path if we choose (but) we are no longer bound to it'