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1/ Your sense of self and how you hold yourself physically are the same thing. They change with each other. If you're like most people, you're holding in your belly right now. What happens if you let go? How are you different, now? Let's play with this. (thread)
2/ At some point in our childhoods, we formed a deep association between how we look and who we are. We tried to look cool as we stood and walked. We sat up straight to look obedient and impress teachers. We furrowed our brows to convey concentration.
3/ As adults it's the same. We stand at the bar nonchalantly to look/feel relaxed. We puff out our chests to look/feel imposing and important. We hold in our bellies to look/feel slim and desirable. Those habits become who we are. But what if we stop?
4/ Well, how's your belly? Holding it in again? Let go. It's not easy. It can feel vulnerable, unsettling and unfamiliar. When you let go of the physical holding, you literally become someone different. You become someone who doesn't hold their belly in. https://t.co/b3CIvJ8ZAR
5/ The mind and body are the same system. It's all one psychophysical thing - there's no such thing as a purely mental action and there's no such thing as a purely physical action. When I teach Alexander Technique, I don't just reorganise bodies, I invite deep identity change.
6/ Alan Watts identified this phenomenon. He said that the ego, the self, the sense of 'I' is a distinct pattern of muscular tension. When you allow the muscular tension, the holding, to stop, you also let go of your sense of I. It's the same process. https://t.co/cya1nAXvVd
18/ I have a theory here inspired by Alan Watts. "It's a chronic habitual sense of muscular strain which we were taught in the whole process of doing spontaneous things to order." [6:30] The video is worth listening to in full. Alan gets it. https://t.co/7FrKx3a6g3
7/ I've seen people burst into tears, laugh deeply, and suddenly see solutions to major life problems. All I did was help them stop doing all the habits, all the effort, all the holding, all the trying to be someone that defined who they thought they were all their lives.
8/ Who is the man who always puffs out his chest if he stops doing it? Who is the woman who holds in her belly to look slim if she stops doing it? That's moment of "uh oh, this is new and scary" is the point at which real change can happen.
9/ This is why Alexander Technique is so powerful. It's not about posture. It's a mechanism for deep personal transformation by releasing a lifetime of held structures. It allows the natural and authentic expression of who you are when you aren't trying. How's your belly?
10/ Don't believe me? Just look at Superman. Which of these feels more natural and authentic? Superman grips our attention more than Kent because he's being himself in a totally effortless way. https://t.co/Ds1ia7HJzJ
This clip of Christopher Reeve transforming from Clark Kent into Superman is an amazing example of Alexander Technique and non-doing. Seriously, watch it. He doesn't haul himself up, he floats up to his full height effortlessly. How? https://t.co/zyWcITJnzg 1/
11/ Interested in learning more? Here you go. https://t.co/8pbuK6cI8e
Meta] Also, if you want to dive much deeper into this stuff, I have built what I believe is the only asynchronous online course that explores Alexander Technique from a first principles perspective. You can find out more and stay up to date by going here: https://t.co/GHzsyr4ILq