Body Learning

One of the most basic and widely recommended first books to read about the Alexander Technique is Body Learning by Michael J.Gelb

I have read it for the first time about 5 years ago. It's easy to say I have read it before, so there's no need to come back to it, but is it really so?

Well, I have read it at a certain point in my process of learning, after having several private lessons and after having an established daily practice of AT lie-downs (several months). Body Learning is simple and straightforward, and this makes it very suitable for newcomers to the Technique.

8 years after coming across the AT for the first time, I still feel like a newcomer. I wish to begin again and to cultivate the beginner's mind, and I'm very happy to dig into this book again.

Here's the cover of my first copy of this book - its old edition:

Obviously, the lady on the cover is very excited about embarking on the AT Journey.

Some time ago Monika bought a second hand copy for £1.25 at one of the local charity shops - nice bargain, isn't it?

I'm as excited about this new edition as the person on the cover:

I found author's operational ideas a very useful framework for looking at the Alexander Technique. These ideas form the essence of AT work:

I. Use and functioning
II. The whole person
III. Primary control
IV. Unreliable sensory appreciation
V. Direction
VI. Inhibition
VII. Means and ends

The new edition has some extras included in it. I particularly appreciate checkpoints at the end chapters dedicated to each operational ideas.