Page 88 - Total War on PTSD

stage. He sought medical attention and was advised to rest; however, shortly after returning to the stage he would again lose his voice. His determination to continue acting led him to begin a process of self-observation. His doctors agreed with his thinking that he must be “doing” something to cause the loss of his voice yet they were not able to tell him what it was. Using a three-way mirror, he observed himself astutely and noticed several things. When he took a breath, he sucked his air in loudly and lifted his chest. Having been instructed to grasp the floor while acting, he tightened his feet. Until he took the time to see himself in the mirror, he had been unaware that he was creating muscular interference (tension), in his body. But, if he tried to move in the opposite direction from the way he was positioning himself in an attempt to reverse or undo what he was doing it did not provide a solution. He concluded that he needed to “not-do” what he was doing.
“Non-doing” is another basic premise of the Alexander Technique. Alexander realized that he needed to not suck in air, not lift his chest and not tighten his feet to grasp the ground. These interfering activities that he thought would improve his acting were, in fact, contributing to muscular constriction in his neck and around his vocal cords. This muscular tension was interfering with his voice. He later realized these habits were present all the time, not only while acting. These are two of the guiding principals of the Alexander Technique. One, we are unaware of what we do and two, the concept of “non-doing” — we need to “not do” that which is interfering with our natural movement.
Alexander thought he was preventing these interfering habits. He noticed, however, that when he began to speak, his old movement habits would reappear. The act, even the thought of speaking, was a stimulus for his old habits. He had to relearn how to use his voice, so it did not require him to perform his customary interfering movements.
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