Curiosity Recaptured - Exploring Ways We Think and Move (hardcover)

The technique has played an important part in my life, not only as a guide to physical management and health, but because I am by temperament disposed to examine and probe its psychological aspects. What Alexander called "inhibition", abandonment of bodily effort and conscious management which some other techniques call "non-doing", has helped me through many a difficult situation. A writer is tempted to do his work by wholly inappropriate physical means: he may sit in a contorted posture, his neck awry, his leggs wrapped around each other, and his face a mask of tension; or he may slump in despair, when the work will not go forward.

There are many ways in which he may yield to what Alexander called "end-gaining"; he sees the end, however dimly and imperfectly, and he struggles toward it, instead of considering the means by which it may be attained. End-gaining, I think, must be one of the things that brings about the conditions called Writer's Block.

Whether you are interested in the performing arts, problem-solving, the field of health, or simply a more satisfying way to live, this book can open the door to a new world. It can change what you notice and how you move through your daily life. Curiosity Recaptured is a practical introduction to the Alexander Technique, an educational method that uncovers the ways specific tension patterns cause chronic pain and interfere with our balance and breathing. These tension patterns also affect what are thought of as our "mental" faculties: our ability to make a decision and then follow through on it, our level of confidence in learning something new, and our overall awareness of our surroundings. When we learn to stop these tension patterns, the resulting change can be dramatic. The essays chronicle this process of self-discovery in subjects ranging from dance, acting, and the pleasures of playing a flute to childbirth, cycling, and overcoming the fear of falling while walking. No matter what the activity, these essays demonstrate our ability to change ingrained patterns of movement and thought. A greater sense of freedom and curiosity in the world awaits us.