Walk This Way

Last night, I attended the first of two Alexander Technique workshops at the VSO School of Music.  I enrolled a couple of months ago even though I had no idea what Alexander Technique was--I just knew that I wouldn't be singing as much as I wanted to this year due to work commitments and travel plans, so any new lesson would be welcome.

There were about twelve of us in the class, and the content and exercises ended up being quite illuminating.  We were introduced to the idea of psycho-physical unity (both thought and movement are connected), reminded that we always have more breath than we think we do when singing (15-30% more!), and shown the importance of posture.  When standing, we should be putting equal weight on our heels, pinky toes, and big toes.  We were then asked to walk around and pay attention to the sounds we heard, and later shown to walk by putting our weight in the following order: heel, pinky toe, big toe.  The difference was amazing--by walking in the suggested way, I felt more weightless and my steps were quieter. 

I spent today trying out this new, more efficient walk, and wondered whether it looked as strange as it felt.  Having to concentrate on doing something differently somehow took me out of my head.  Heel, pinky toe, big toe.  Heel, pinky toe, big toe.  It was like being in a yoga class and told to focus on the breath.  It removes all the emails and checklists, bringing you to now.

One thing the instructor said last night has stuck with me--everything feels strange when you're not doing it the way you're used to.  It applies to vocal technique as much as it applies to anything in life.  It's also why old habits die hard.

Here's to doing something strange every day.