My blog article this time is a review of Penelope Easten's book Twelve Fundamentals of Integrated Movement. The book seems to have had quite a lot of attention among Alexander Technique teachers. I have met people who regard it very favourably. But it has also gotten some harsh criticism. Here I present what I think are the pros and cons of the book.
The actual title of this book is "The Alexander Technique". I'm using the subtitle not to confuse it with all the other books of the same title. I see the author herself using the subtitle in her communications. In the introductory chapter Easten tells about her background and influences, and the aims of the book, which seems to be "grasping the whole elephant" of the Alexander Technique.
As other authors, Easten explains how we end up using ourselves badly. She then presents her "Twelve Fundamentals". I'm sure they make perfect sense in Easten's head, but there are too many to be practically helpful to the reader. Besides, some are derived from other fundamentals and so not fundamentals after all. We are told that the fundamentals don't "resonate with you as true if they are currently outside your experience". Apparently they are not supposed to make sense logically. In the following chapters we are taken through the fundamentals of structure, awareness and thinking.
Easten attempts to give a modernised explanation of how the body works. She draws on, among other things, the tensegrity principle and polyvagal theory. She eagerly refers to scientific research, but criticises at the same time "Western thought". Similar comments about "Eastern thought" would be interpreted as racist. Easten very often uses phrases like "I propose that" or "I suggest that", found in scientific papers, which gives a sciency veneer. Not all ideas are backed by research, and Easten admits some ideas are "highly speculative".
Easten seems to think that awareness of a part of your head activates the corresponding part of the brain. She encourages the use of the right brain hemisphere, albeit saying it is "partly metaphor". She also seems to propagate the myth that we are "only accessing a fraction of our neurology".
Throughout the book there are "Explorations". These are always opportunities for learning, even though some are rather crude, (imagining having a paintbrush on my nose is not my thing). Unfortunately, Easten diminishes their value by generally suggesting what you are going to feel.
Easten stresses the importance of both internal and external awareness, but gets lost in her own jargon. We are told to "think from embodied intelligence and spatial awareness"; and from "mind in the brain". The mind apparently being something that can move around. (Easten herself points out the dichotomy).
The first part ends with a look at walking and breathing. Bouncing is an activity in one of the explorations. I generally appreciate Easten's attempt at bringing in more dynamic activities. Balancing on one leg, and going into the "plank" position are other activities used in the book. Strangely, Easten claims swimming is a two-dimensional activity, so there seems to be limitations to her understanding.
The second part is to a great extent about developing a new and improved alignment of the body. This seems to stem from the "Initial Alexander Technique" method by Jeando Masoero. He claims it to be an early version of the Alexander Technique, heavily influenced by Delsarte. The ideal for alignment appears to be based on interpretations of pictures of FM Alexander. This in itself invalidates the theory. Nobody is perfect and everybody is different.
The means for achieving this improved alignment could be said to be the Alexander Technique, though. You have a set of movements to perform, and directions to give. Here, Easten has a brilliant way of explaining how to give directions in sequence, "all together, one after the other".
Her instructions accompanying the Explorations are a mess, unfortunately. She doesn't differentiate between what to think, what to do, and what you end up feeling. Often she goes into anatomical detail which might dazzle the ignorant, but which isn't necessarily helpful, or even credible. (How do you for instance pull your pubococcygeals [sic] forwards, widen the lower ribs using the inferior posterior serratus muscles, or widen the chest by using the transversus thoracis?)
Easten is a great admirer of Margaret Goldie. Easten claims the increased postural tone necessary to attain the improved alignment is what Goldie sought in her teaching. It is highly unlikely Goldie would have agreed with Easten's direct methods. Micromanaging posture only leads to excess "doing". Try following Easten's instructions and then do something like play a musical instrument or singing! Goldie would most likely have performed Alexander's "hands on the back of the chair" in semiflexion to stimulate dynamic tone. She is known for having left pupils in a "position of mechanical advantage" for prolonged periods of time.
Goldie is often mentioned in the book, and so is something Easten labels 'the modern Alexander technique'. It is not clear what this is. Is it the simplified version teachers present online, or what Easten learned in her training (which had shortcomings according to Easten), or the technique after about 1925 when Alexander came up with the concept of primary control? Some of Easten's critique of the "modern" AT is maybe warranted, but the concept is a strawman.
Easten divides AT history into four periods, and places Goldie conveniently in the third, but Goldie started having lessons in 1927 and so would belong to the fourth and "modern" period. This is just one of numerous inaccuracies in the book relating to the history of the Alexander Technique. She puts forward many claims without backing them up with evidence. She for instance claims that Alexander didn't see "directions" as a fundamental. This is not correct, of course.
The third part begins with a chapter on inhibition. This is possible the most useful material in the book. Easten presents games/explorations throwing a ball. This is not very original as most teachers have probably done something similar. But Easten's variations, the explanations, and the details, are excellent. Thankfully, you are not asked to pull yourself into improved alignment before you start. Then follows a chapter on voice, also with very useful explorations.
The last chapter is about how to approach hands on teaching. Again, there are lots of useful advice. Unfortunately, this chapter is steeped in pseudoscience. Easten seems to believe it is a good idea to mention quantum physics. Easten even presents her own interpretation of the Copenhagen interpretation! In fact, I have never read another Alexander Technique book so full of pseudoscience, and I have read most of them. On the back cover we can read that "[t]he new scientific theories described will help the reader accept these very different physical experiences". The pseudoscience has a purpose, then.
I read Twelve Fundamentals on and off over a period of more than two years. I tried out the "explorations" and watched the accompanying videos (which are well made). But now I wonder if it was worth the effort. Easten has tried to grasp the "whole elephant of the Alexander Technique". But it is her personal species of the AT, with some very weird mutations, and I'm not sure the rest of us should bother. It would have been better if she did like Miss Goldie and kept to the core elements of the Alexander Technique, and left out the speculative rubbish.
Related blog articles
Ancient Wisdom
Alexander Technique and the Centrifugal Force
Literature
Easten, Penelope (2021) The Alexander Technique: Twelve fundamentals of integrated movement. Handspring Publishing Limited.
