Last week, Robert Rickover of The Complete Guide to the Alexander Technique interviewed me for a podcast about a centering exercise I like which helps us to stay present to ourselves and balanced in the present moment. Here is the link: Living with Ease at the Center of Everything.
This is a wonderful tool to bring poise, calm, and peace to your being – especially for people who are chronic “end-gainers” (see below). I highly recommend that you listen and try out the exercise, particularly if you:
- tend to rush around a lot, in a constant hurry
- feel like you have too much to do and not enough time
- suffer from performance anxiety
- frequently worry about the future
- have difficulty relaxing and letting go into the present moment
- have a meditation practice, but would like to learn how to embody the peace it brings you
- don’t have a meditation practice, but would like to learn how to feel centered and calm in mind and body
- would like to know how to stay balanced while playing your instrument
End-gaining: There’s a concept in the Alexander Technique called “end-gaining”, which is the “universal habit we have to keep our mind and actions focused on an end result whilst losing sight of, and frequently at the expense of, the means-whereby the result is achieved” (F. M. Alexander ~ The Use of the Self) .
This is related to society’s love of instant gratification and the excessive ambition of the individual; this attitude causes us to rush through life with a lack of mindful awareness, without fully enjoying and relaxing into the present moment.
Alexander noticed that when we have a goal (“end”) in mind, we tend to want to achieve it quickly; our habitual tendency is to over-focus on the goal and under-focus on what he called the “means-whereby” we need in order to achieve it.
This over-focusing on our future desires tends to throw us off balance, and introduces quite a bit of unnecessary tension in us, as we literally lean forward into the future (or pull back away from it if thoughts of the future creates a startle response – or performance anxiety – in us, which also creates excess tension and imbalance). When we “end-gain”, we are not centered and balanced in mind-body-self.
I’d love to hear what you think of the podcast exercise. I’d love your feedback!
***
You can help a musician by sharing this post! 🙂
And if you enjoy reading this blog, please consider joining my MAILING LIST to receive my monthly newsletter with all blog updates and other news for musicians (you’ll be added automatically if you request my free article on performance anxiety,
found in the box on the right).