On Being a Student (once again): 5 reminders for psychophysical survival and enjoyment

Nearly 10 years after finishing my university degree in theatre in the USA, I am putting myself once again through the 4-year-plus ordeal of acquiring a second degree, in a completely unrelated field, here in Uruguay (physiotherapy).

In that 10 year span I wasn’t idle either. From 2009 to 2011 I put myself through three years of Alexander Technique teacher training and got certified in Pilates Method.

Hence, I know a thing or two about being a student… and what it does to you. I am also prone to forget what I know if I don’t remind myself about it.

With that in mind, I am putting those nuggets of wisdom in writing. These are my 5 key reminders for psychophysical survival and enjoyment as a student. They have carried me through 15 years of studying in different countries and settings (both public and private), through different approaches to learning, in different group sizes and with widely varying resources. They count for both long training courses to short one-hour lessons, and everything in between.

1. Find your “deep why” to channel your energy and drive you on.

Your “deep why” is your dharma, your calling, that thing that sets your soul on fire. Being a student is tough, especially when you also juggle a working-life and family-life. When the going gets really hard it’s tempting to just call it quits. Your “deep why” will carry you through those rough patches.

2. Make peace with how things are to husband your energy and keep you sane.

Learning situations are never ideal; one or several factors are usually not up to standard. Be clear about what you want to get out of this learning situation, why you chose the institution, teacher, venue (or whatever), and use that clarity to separate the chaff from the straw. Once in the learning situation don’t waste energy in pursuits that don’t fulfill your deep why (like complaining that things are not ideal).

3. Know your habitual patterns to avoid wasting energy and losing track of your true goal.

We all have student-personas. Different learning scenarios (study groups, exams, one-on-ones, etc.) will trigger full psychophysical reactions and you might find yourself acting like a high-school adolescent all over again. Know yourself and be prepared to inhibit your desire to “be cool”, or "be perfect", (or whatever) and direct your energy towards actions that truly fulfill your deep why.

4. Empty your glass that you might taste your teacher’s wine.

If you’ve been around for a while you’re probably already full of your own ideas about how things are (or should be). But if you’re so full of your own wine, you’ll never get a taste of your neighbour’s. So, regardless of how much you think you know about the subject, don’t fight the teacher (unless, of course, they are directly attacking you). After all, it’s you who chose to learn from them. So be humble and listen to their point of view. Try to understand what frame of thought they come from, why and how it works when it works, and how it relates to your way of thinking about it.

5. Involve yourself psychophysically that you might make your own synthesis.

Learning is simultaneously a sensual, emotional, social and mental pursuit. To get the most out of your learning bring your whole self into the matter, immerse yourself psychophysically and socially. And after full immersion take time to create your own synthesis, force yourself to elaborate your map of the subject matter. Only then will it become an integral part of you.

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Keys of the Alexander Technique (part 2): THINKING yourself into Movement.

The Alexander Technique deals first with clearing your thinking so that you are able to move in the direction that you wish to move, and not where your unconscious habit would take you.

So, before setting out, you pause to remind yourself to let go of your habitual tension patterns. And then, after the pause, it is a matter of committing to your new direction.

Ultimately, direction is a movement from point A to point B. But, in the Alexander Technique, we’re much more concerned with how we travel that distance.

In bodily terms this “how” is determined by a “primary movement” that comes before any actual step we take in the direction of point B. This “primary movement”, which has its definite physical manifestation in the dynamic relationship between head-spine-ribs-girdles-limbs, is governed by two “mind” aspects.

The first “mind” aspect is body awareness (body map). During lessons we strive to raise our sensory appreciation of our body parts, and their relationships to each other and to the whole.

The second, and most important “mind” aspect, is perhaps unique to the Alexander Technique.

Having determined "how" we want to travel from A to B, the Alexander Technique concerns itself with making sure we start and keep moving in said direction in the manner that we decided. What we don’t want is our habitual tension patterns to sneak in on us the moment we spring into action and undo our “primary movement”.

There are infinite ways of getting from A to B. The “primary movement” ensures that we do so in such a way that we’re not interfering with our natural postural reflexes. Alexander called it “lengthening (and widening) in stature” which is akin to “decompressing your joints for movement” or “creating space for movement to occur.”

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¡Important! Before taking your next lesson or workshop: read this!

You are choosing to read this blog.

Perhaps the topic interests you; or a friend you trust shared it; or you know me and like what I write; or you just want to read something to pass the time and the title caught your attention.

Regardless of why your’re here, the choice to be here and read this is yours.

Are you clear about your purpose? What do you expect to get from this investment of your time and energy? Are you reading by habit or by conscious choice?

Take a few seconds get clear about this. It’s important. You’ll soon see why…

I’ve taken countless lessons and workshops in my life. I didn’t take advantage of some of the good ones all I’d like to have done; nor did I drop the bad ones as soon as I should have done. And all because I wasn’t clear what for and why I was there in the first place.

Why do we go to lessons and workshops (or read blogs for that matter)?

Because some limitation is hindering us from enjoying that which we enjoy doing (dancing, singing, riding horses, taking care of the grand kids), and we want to help the situation.

Why do we choose a particular lesson or workshop?

Because it’s related to our objective (we may be aware of this or not) and it fits our available resources (motivation, time, money, energy, knowledge).

How do we know if we’ve chosen the right lesson or workshop for us?

We can’t know until we’ve tried it. But if we are clear about our objective we can evaluate if the lesson or workshop is helping us go in the direction that we want to go.

Why is it so important to be clear about our objective?

Being clear about your goals makes you an active participant in your learning process. If your ultimate goal isn’t the guide of your actions, you run the risk of losing focus and falling into old habits. So ask yourself, is what I’m doing here getting me closer or pulling me away from my goal?

What if I don’t realize if I’m moving nearer of further away from my goal?

Take a few seconds to analyze if your uncertainty is a product of the content of the lesson, the form and context of the lesson, or both.

1. If the problem is the content of the lesson (it’s not the “take” on the subject that you were looking for, or the workshop is not about what you were expecting, or you’re just not understanding what’s going on) but the form and context is fine, check with yourself to see if you are able to open up to learning something new.

It may even be that you’re actually getting the answer you need, but it’s not coming in the concrete form you were imagining it would come (hence the confusion). If you have an inkling that this might be the case, suspend judgment until later. You’re already there, and as long as you’re comfortable with the proceedings and having a good time, there’s nothing to lose by exploring a new take on your problem. At the end of the process check with yourself once again to find out if you actually gained your original goal, or perhaps some other unexpected goal!

2. If the problema is the form or context in which the lesson is given (you disklike the place, atmosphere or teacher, it’s cold, or whatever) but the content is good, check with yourself to gauge how much you’re able to “stand” the unfortunate circumstances in order to gain your goal. If the situation is not all that bad (or it is easily fixable) ignore the slight discomfort and hold on to what’s good and important for you.

But if you’re uncomfortable to the point that you’re getting angry or scared for your physical, emotional or mental integrity, perhaps it’s high time you get out of there… fast. I’m sure there are other far less traumatic ways of gaining your end than your current choice of lesson.

3. If the problem is the form or context in which the lesson is given and, to top it off, the content is not what you hoped it would be, there’s nothing to think about really, get out of there, go home. Surely there’s far better ways you could be using your time and energy rather than making yourself stick to something you’re neither interested in nor liking how it’s taught.

You’ve reached the end of the blog. This means that the form, context and/or content of it, wasn’t all that bad. J

Now it’s the time to analyze, evaluate and decide if it’s worth your while waiting for our next meeting on the next blog, writing to me with your questions, or sharing this blog with a friend.

See you next time.

Victoria

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Victoria Stanham, Alexander Technique teacher and Pilates instructor.

I study developmental movement, taking great inspiration from the organic and free movement of the animal kingdom.

My goal is to achieve comfort, efficiency, elegance and balance, both in movement and in stillness, according to our physical, mental and emotional design.

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