{"id":85072,"date":"2025-02-13T03:10:35","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T03:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/alternative-medicine\/sensation-is-an-unreliable-witness-n-brooke-lieb-alexander-technique-crystal-healing\/"},"modified":"2025-02-13T03:10:35","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T03:10:35","slug":"sensation-is-an-unreliable-witness-n-brooke-lieb-alexander-technique-crystal-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=85072","title":{"rendered":"Sensation is an unreliable witness \u2014 N. Brooke Lieb, Alexander Technique & Crystal Healing"},"content":{"rendered":"


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<\/p>\n

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I would guess that if you ask anyone who says they don\u2019t have the best posture, they would tell you they don\u2019t feel whatever it is that allows them to know they don\u2019t have the posture they want. Their posture may be comfortable for them, or they may have discomfort, but the familiar arrangement of their posture itself doesn\u2019t feel wrong, so they don\u2019t know what to change to improve things based on what they feel. More likely, they know their posture doesn\u2019t match their idea of \u201cgood posture\u201d because of something they can see.<\/p>\n

When I began lessons as a student of the Alexander Technique, I came to appreciate that the way things felt was not my best tool for changing my comfort level, gaining coordination and skill at my endeavors or figuring out how to reduce or eliminate aches and pains.<\/p>\n

The challenge is that every activity of living happens alongside constant bodily sensation. You cannot selectively mute bodily sensation the way you can close your eyes, block out sound, or hold your nose. Our other sensory channels can be modulated to a much greater degree than bodily sensation. Even when you receive novocain at the dentist, you still feel pressure in the area, just not pain. <\/p>\n

Consider the role that bodily sensation plays in everything you do and experience, from movement to mental processes (math, reading comprehension, decision making) to experiencing emotional states (we call them feelings, after all!). Throughout your life of learning, the sensory experience of everything is part of how we learn and repeat what we are capable of.<\/p>\n

Teaching inside of this fact of the constancy of sensation is an ongoing puzzle to be solved.<\/em><\/p>\n

Another insight Alexander kept in mind in his work was how oriented we are to being right, which means we are also oriented towards feeling right. That is why some of the bodily sensations of more efficient, poised action (mental and physical) can seem unfamiliar, odd, or even downright wrong.<\/p>\n

So how do we work with the constant presence of bodily sensation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My thinking these days is along these lines: Sensation can be useful in assessing changes along a continuum; but is not static and consistent, so is not as useful in confirming accuracy.<\/p>\n

Rather than looking for the right position, I can find a more efficient position.<\/p>\n

Rather than looking for the right vocal sound, I can look for an improved vocal sound.<\/p>\n

Rather than looking for the correct response, I can look for a more effective response.<\/p>\n

Here are some continuums to use, and you can create your own:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Continuums allow for change. Absolutes have less movement in them, literally and conceptually.<\/p>\n

Applying this to Alexander self- and guided work:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    When you practice Alexander directions, experiment with how long you spend in the active thinking process before you observe what your bodily sensations are.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Observe your bodily sensation before and after you spend time in the active thinking process.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Set a timer for 30 seconds, then 1 minute, then 2 minutes.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. \n

    Make note of what changes you observe after the different time frames. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Alexander is attributed as having said that by the time you can trust your feelings, you won\u2019t want to. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I would guess that if you ask anyone who says they don\u2019t have the best posture, they would tell you they don\u2019t feel whatever it is that allows them to know they don\u2019t have the posture they want. Their posture may be comfortable for them, or they may have discomfort, but the familiar arrangement of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":85073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11764],"tags":[6407,16822,1121,9903,16823,20552,13731,42014,20579],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-85072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alternative-medicine","tag-alexander","tag-brooke","tag-crystal","tag-healing","tag-lieb","tag-sensation","tag-technique","tag-unreliable","tag-witness"],"yoast_head":"\nSensation is an unreliable witness \u2014 N. Brooke Lieb, Alexander Technique & Crystal Healing - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=85072\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sensation is an unreliable witness \u2014 N. Brooke Lieb, Alexander Technique & Crystal Healing - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I would guess that if you ask anyone who says they don\u2019t have the best posture, they would tell you they don\u2019t feel whatever it is that allows them to know they don\u2019t have the posture they want. 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