ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE IN PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH: HABITUAL USE
The way we use ourselves is largely a matter of habit, part of the programming that began the moment we were born, or perhaps even in the womb.
In order to acquire the necessary skills of life we learn by repeating an action many times until it becomes a habit, and we are then able to perform the action without having to think about it. With over six hundred muscles in our bodies and an infinite number of options and combinations of how to utilize them, our lives would come to a standstill if we had consciously to consider every movement we make. The great advantage here is that habit enables us to perform tasks more or less automatically while at the same time being able to give conscious thought and attention to other things.
The way we learn to drive is a good example. We all know how impossible driving seems to the beginner, with so many operations to perform at the same time. Yet with practice these functions become sufficiently automatic for us to be able to keep a watch on the traffic with ease. But, as every driver knows, we can learn bad habits of driving such as slamming in the gears or taking the corners too sharply. Just as with driving, we can also learn bad habits in our use, learning how to 'operate' ourselves inefficiently and potentially harmfully to our health and the proper functioning of ourselves.
The way in which we develop these habits is dependent on a variety of factors. As children we learn through imitation, copying people around us. Unfortunately if our peers, parents, and other role models have poor use, as well as imitating 'good' habits we will imitate the 'bad' habits. And as most people are not set good examples by parents, poor use can begin at a very early age. In addition, we incorporate not only the physical movements but also the psychological attitudes of people around us. The intricate relationship of mind and body means that responses to mental concentration, emotional stress, anxiety and anger also become part and parcel of our habitual movement patterns.
Bad habits of movement and co-ordination can also develop because of physical disabilities or as a result of injury or illness. For example, the stress of coping with pain or the fear of tearing open a wound after an operation can make us produce tension which pulls the body out of shape and restricts normal movement. When someone has injured a leg or ankle they compensate by limping. Although strange at first, it soon becomes a habit which, because it has become the norm for them, they carry with them long after the injury has healed.
Very often someone's posture reflects an attitude they had about themself which is no longer appropriate. The woman who shot up in height quickly as a girl may now be of average height but she may still slouch because of that habitual misuse when she felt she was towering above her friends. These habits, accumulated over years, eventually become fixed patterns of tension in our bodies, which are reflected in our posture and the way we do things.
To give yourself a practical experience of how powerful the force of habit can be, as you sit here reading try folding your arms across your chest, in your usual way. Take a moment to 'feel' it and then look to see which arm is on top. Now unfold your arms and cross them again, this time with the other arm uppermost. What does that feel like? Was it easy to do? You probably found that, first, it was quite difficult to recross your arms the other way, and, second, it feels unfamiliar or even uncomfortable. Not only are we not aware of how automatically we do things like crossing arms, but we seem to have no choice but to do it our habitual way.
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