The
following are some of my favourite quotes from the writings
of F.M. Alexander.
"Mr. Cox has spoken of posture. I don't like
the word posture."
(St. Dunstan's Lecture 1949)
"I must admit that when I began my investigation, I,
in common with most people, conceived of 'body' and 'mind'
as separate parts of the same organism, and consequently
believed that human ills, difficulties and shortcomings
could be classified as either 'mental' or 'physical' and
dealt with on specifically 'mental' or specifically
'physical' lines. My practical experiences, however, led me
to abandon this point of view and readers of my books will
be aware the technique described in them is based on the
opposite conception, namely, that it is impossible
to separate 'mental' and 'physical' processes in any form of
human activity."
(The Use of the Self, chapter 1,
italics Alexander's)
"I do not claim to have discovered any new method of
breathing, but to understand the only true one -
Nature's;"
(Introduction to a New Method of
Respiratory Vocal Re-Education 1906)
" . . . . .for Nature does not work in parts; she
treats everything as a whole."
(Introduction to a New Method of
Respiratory Vocal Re-Education 1906)
"In a word, what we have to do is to learn to think
in activity."
(Bedford Physical Training
College Lecture 03/08/1934)
"You cannot change something by repeating that which
you have."
(St. Dunstan's Lecture 1949)
