Casual Midterm

a.     Summarize the life of F.M. Alexander

a.     Alexander was born into rural life in Australia in 1869. He was raised on the idea that “if the roof was leaking, fix it”. He was a sickly child, and had private tutoring. He left his rural life to earn money. He had many odd jobs, but his true passions lie in theatre, particularly Shakespeare. He eventually became a full time actor, but he suffered from voice problems. His doctors prescribed rest. Alexander though, felt that no matter how long he rests, his voice still ailed him. He took matters into his own hands. He knew he had no problems in ordinary speech, only when he was acting. He began watching himself in the mirror, and realized that he pulled his throat back which caused other problems in his neck and shoulder area. It also affected his breath. He deduced that these habits where what had caused his voice problems. He identified other harmful habits in his body and set out to reduce them. He realized that there was a connection between the mind and the body. He began observing himself walking, gesturing etc to find the best way to use his mind and body.

b.     He became a recognized actor because of his ease in presence. Soon, word got out of his Use and doctors began sending people to him. Actors came too. Everyone wanted to learn about how to better function. He eventually moved to England and the U.S. where he taught his Use. Usually, it was actors, dancers or artist that came. He opened a school, but was reluctant to authorize people to teach his Use. He believed that in order to teach Use, the teachers must be fully committed to it. As he aged, his Use became even more important. He suffered from a stroke, but did his best to keep up his body. He died in 1955.

b. Summarize the first two operational ideas: Use and Functioning,

The Use is the ability to make the choice to change. It’s all about choosing to better use your mind and body. Alexander said he couldn’t make anyone change and that he couldn’t teach someone who wasn’t receptive. Alexander called the power of choice “Man’s supreme Inheritance”. He says, “the way in which we use it affects our functioning at all levels.”

The Whole Person:

Alexander believed that our society views things separately, but we should view things as a whole instead. He says the body should be thought of as one full mechanism and not separate parts that make a whole. The best way to use The Use is to view the body as whole. This is best viewed through his quote, “the ‘physical’ and ‘mental’ are not separate entities… all training must be based on indivisible unity of the human organism.”