Cornflakes – don’t let them get the better of you! Conscious Guidance and Control revisited

Some years ago I was standing at the back of the main teaching room in Lansdowne Road, West London, watching Walter Carrington, a very singular and revered teacher of the Alexander Technique, introduce one of the daily ‘games’ to the assembled training course students and visiting teachers. ‘Games’ was the name given to the isolation – if that’s the best way to describe such a procedure – with which to explore inhibition and direction in some activity from the Alexander Technique lexicon or,  just an everyday movement, a chance, really, to unpack and give time to all the ‘psychophysical aspects’ of what we might call a ‘movement’. ‘Skilled movement’, as the anthropologist Raymond Dart noted, ‘connotes skilled living’. Many others have said similar. This partial movement might not really represent a complete act in the sense that we might, for example, take a step, or go for a walk, (heaven forbid) but be an exploration of just a small part of it – just letting your foot, for example, start on it’s  journey to lift and then (separate decision), replace the heel on the ground and so on, and explore what it might feel like to move without the habitual tightening or other less than useful preconceptions that accompany such seeming ‘straightforwardnesses’.

Many of us brought up in such a ‘traditional’ training school were aware, gradually, that such thoughtful attention to small, discrete actions was not meant to replace the ongoing flow of real life  (just imagine such exploratory slowness at the front of the queue for the stairs at Tottenham Court Tube on a Monday morning, and where that might land you) and turn it into some kind of directed activity (that kind of attitude is clearly not healthy), but hopefully, over time, might inform the habitualities of life with an easy going mindful quality.

Anyhow, on this particular day, as it happens, I was standing next to a woman who seemed just a touch frustrated by the proceedings. She said to me half way through Mr Carrington’s languorous, hypnotic, prosodical and almost  incantatory explanations, that exploring this sort of small action was ‘of very little relevance to most peoples’ lives’. ‘Old fashioned’ she said, smiling, in the hushed tones of one who clearly wanted to be overheard, yet was aware that this was not quite the right context in which to be heard. The procedure being explained on this day was that of the apparently simple act of leaning forward on the sit bones (like a door on its hinges) whilst seated in a chair. Moving the trunk, that is, from the hips. ‘Wow’, I said, exaggeratedly, by way of an attempt at gentle, deliberate irritation to my colleague. I wanted to say to her there and then that I disagreed with her view, though realised that this was probably a more effective way of saying it under the present circumstances.

As I sit in the hotel breakfast room, today, some years later….. I’m on a very short concert tour, I am reminded, for some peculiar reason of that day in London – it is strange how, on a rather ordinary day, like recalling a person from the landscape of memories made long ago,  their claims on your attention come at the most unlikely of times and for strange reasons…..I’m aware, as I look around at my fellow breakfasters, with a (comedic and inappropriate) sense of urgency, that the act of  ‘coming forward from the hips’, is, in fact, not only very pertinent and useful, but it also provides a blueprint for  the lack of  proper ‘guidance and control’ that we seem to have in our culture. I’ll say it again, because it’s worth reiterating: ‘skilled movement denotes skilled living’. A nice précis if ever there was.

Our ability, to offer another translation, to access freedom in thought rather than just freedom of thought. It (the act of leaning) provides a fascinating, small, but highly significant convex lens through which to observe and explore our ‘use’ and functioning’ in all sorts of everyday (and fortnightly) situations. Though we are, as a ‘profession’ (though I’d prefer the title ‘body of teachers of psychophysical explorations’) not allowed to make health claims about our work unless statistically- significant -gains -in- measurable- health -indices-that- can- be- shown- as -a -result- of randomised- control- trials (that are not undermined by Mr. Placebo and his jazz band) I’d be very happy to claim with the confidence that St. Paul had in his visions on the road to Damascus, that Alexander Technique can help you come forward from the hips whilst seated, in such a way as to prevent shortening in stature – losing length if you prefer; or narrowing the back; or collapsing at the front of our trunk ;or reducing our capacity to have a freely moving rib cage (note that I do not make the obvious claim that our breathing might be less restricted on such an incline, because that would be subject to testing and yet another control group to muster up.)

Still, I would claim that the ability to keep length and width in such an act is enjoyable in itself and who knows might be good for you – you know, perhaps even get you out of your morass ………I’ll also stick my neck out (but not drop it forward….) and suggest, tentatively that it looks better, too.

I am not proposing to offer ‘the way to come forward from the hips properly,’ in any specific activity here – this would of course be absolutely contrary to the whole principle of ‘meeting a change’  or the proper growth and development of our skill in the diverse acts of living……….. but I’d like to tease out some of the ingredients that define the important context  and conditions in which this and other seemingly mundane activities exist and that then become powerful narratives for skill, generally, or lack thereof. Before continuing with such an analysis, however, let’s start by listing some discrete activities where this activity – to ‘come forward from the hips, whilst seated in a chair’, is necessary as a primary act.

Eating, of course, is dependent on this forward tilt. One can, obviously, eat a sandwich sitting bolt upright, – depending on the filling – mayonnaise, perhaps being more difficult than hard cheese; soup, however is a very different kettle of fish……. sea creatures probably lying somewhere between the two in their potential to keep the dry cleaners in business.  You can, of course, still eat soup whilst keeping the upper trunk vertical, the consequences in polite society, though may amount to a loss of face – and a definite visit to the laundry. Apart from the breakfast and dinner table, there are of course many other everyday activities that utilise the forward sitting ‘bend’. Washing- up is another and so too, is ironing – ok, perhaps this is easier done standing, but sitting on a high stool can make this daily chore doable and, with a measure of ‘weight’ thus available (a kind of sitting monkey / mechanical advantage) easy to smooth out the most stubborn creases.

I must not forget to mention the act of page turning for musicians – if you happen to play in an orchestra or chamber music group, sitting, as you  usually will be. It is well nigh impossible to turn a page without gaining essential advantage (reach) by moving your trunk forward to facilitate this repetitive act; and repetitive acts really will condition creative acts, for unless we are very careful not to let this be the case the ’rounder we go the samer we’ll get’.

There are many other professions that require forward leaning. My wife’s profession, which demands that she gives close inspection to canvases and other painted surfaces – she is a restorer of fine paintings, is one job that almost invites the forward bend as soon as the word ‘restorer’ is uttered: she needs to lean-in and follow her attention, literally. Just imaging for moment, and for surreal effect, that there might be a connection between eating your morning cornflakes and working on, lets say, a priceless Rembrandt! Or, eating ones porridge and (the act of turning page after page of the score of ) a Wagner opera. Then, after the performance, eating your dinner, again – soup, perhaps??

I’d like, if I may, unpack, to some degree at least, this act of leaning forward, tilting forward or, gaining some spatial advantage in the process of taking your trunk out of the vertical and into an angle roughly defined as less than 90 degrees. The situation could be said to be acute in more than one regard!

I’ll start with a description of a forward tilt beautifully performed: please be patient.

Firstly, there is length in the trunk of the body. A long back, with length informing the curves, a primary curve in evidence, perhaps, and a head nicely balanced atop the neck, neither too far forward or too far back. Balanced. Width, too, through the rib cage, leading to unimpeded breathing. Ribs in fact that move with and encourage the breath, along with a sense of space and the much desired panoramic view (for it’s a good idea to make sure that no one steals a cornflake). There is, in short, a nice  tensional balance between front and back, the dorsal and ventral surfaces. Easy uprightness on the ‘ischials’ and also a good sense of the feet opposing the floor, perhaps not too far back thus inhibiting the reflex to go into standing, perhaps. The hips are free and the back is supporting the arms, by virtue of its length and width. Simple; the primary relationship is in fact working to support whatever it is you want to accomplish – the page turn or the mouthful. You choose.

So far, so good. Now, in readiness for movement, and to stay with the act of forward tilting well performed, we also have a good sense of the head leading – like the front, the business end, of a train, the whole trunk flowing in an upward direction, ready for the (internal) signal to move, to be released –  into movement, upwards, so as to ensure non- doing movement that facilitates (rather than denigrates) our capacity for fine manual skill. The breath working freely – there being no excess downward pressure through and into the stomach or pushing into the pelvic bowl. That’s also to say that there is no ‘pelvic takeover’ or annexing by the pelvis of the top of the legs…… Fundamentally then, there is ease and length throughout the whole mechanism. No pulling, no try.

There is also a nice sense of ‘opposition’ between  front and back, head gently releasing forward and up and the back pointing up and back. Perhaps also, depending on your habit, the arms, not getting ready – knowing their place – to lead the  trunk into action. A nice sense of your reach not exceeding your grasp. Finally, there is the act of consent, to come forward. Voila! Simplice!

It would not be an exaggeration to say that such an act beautifully executed is symbolic of much more than a mere closing of a right angle. It is an act of care and love, an embrace of our wonderful capacities to extend and support, to create good conditions from which good outcomes may follow. I will make a claim here: that this act requires not a little skill and will mark you out from the crowd, who, it seems like to cower when faced with the tyranny of the table.

I will paint the opposite picture briefly, just for completeness sake. Less patience required:

There is no length, just heaviness, the whole rib cage resting on a pelvis that has long since invaded the legs. There is no primary curve in the back and the ribs do not respond to the breath by way of movement. The head drags back onto the spine and the neck is thrust forward accordingly. The legs are…………..somewhere!  The head and arms lead the body, but in a manner that renders the back an accessory, a passenger on a train without a proper driver. It is a catastrophe in short and I can’t bring myself to go on. I make no claims that this cannot be good in simple engineering terms – why would nature create so many hinges close together for a start? The  hinge of the hips so close to  one at the top of the pelvis? Surely not? Perhaps we should test the hypothesis ‘that our structure would be better if nature had been so kind as to put two such hinges close together?

One of my habits, is the desire to see much in every situation, to read, as far as I’m able, deeply into the human condition by observing small  actions that, perhaps some would consider rather trivial. In any case, I never fully succeed, at least in my extrapolation to ‘higher’ meaning by way of metaphor, let’s say, of this ‘forward leaning act’.  However, don’t worry, the Alexander police are still active in a neighbourhood near you…. so beware that existential battle with the cornflake or, if you feel that your guidance and control of basic actions is not quite what it could be, stick to solid food bars that can be eaten without so much as a crumb. Or enlist the help of an understanding Alexander teacher who might be able to wean you onto a more varied diet.