Flounderlust

Receiving personal services from someone in training is cheaper than paying a pro. Sometimes it’s even free. What trainees lack in experience they make up for with enthusiasm. In the ‘80s I got interested in the Alexander technique, a way of moving and breathing developed by an actor named Frederick Matthias Alexander. Basically, it involves someone holding your head in his hands just so and repeatedly guiding you from standing to sitting and sitting to standing. For a fraction of what it would have cost to pay a certified Alexander coach, I was a guinea pig for a student in a class supervised by a seasoned professional. I know I wasn’t getting the deluxe version of the experience because every once in a while the master would step in and show his protégé what to do. What a difference it made having the sure grip and confident guidance of someone who knew what he was doing.

Has that training stuck with me? As I slump in my chair and type this with just the worst hand/wrist/elbow configuration ever, I’d be lying if I said I’m a model of perfect posture, but knowing about the Alexander technique and having been involved in it ever so briefly and every so long ago, I’d like to think has raised my level of consciousness about good posture and recalling that time as I am now my body subtly shifts into a little better balance.