Reviews: Carrington: Thinking Aloud

The twenty-five short texts in this book have been selected and edited by Jerry Sontag from transcriptions of Walter Carrington’s talks on the Alexander Technique between 1966 and 1990. The talks are not arranged chronologically, but they have a thematic coherence and may be read consecutively, although one can also dip into the book, or select a topic of particular relevance to oneself. However it is used, this is a book to return to, and savour.

In his preface Walter Carrington writes that “Colloquial speech is very different from the written word.” Nevertheless, the clarity and simplicity of his style, and “the calm, even rhythm” of his voice (as John Nicholls describes it in his Introduction) have been captured here, though his characteristic use of repetitions and variations when speaking has necessarily been curtailed. Thinking Aloud provides straightforward advice without being a “how-to” book. Walter Carrington suggests that teachers should apply the recommended procedures and find out for themselves what actually happens. There is nothing dogmatic in his approach. When he says, “That is about the best way I can describe it to you at the moment”, he is acknowledging that, despite his experience, he too is in the process of learning and developing.

Likewise, despite his great reputation, Walter Carrington is not frightened to admit that he doesn’t know the answer to a particular question. “What’s the best way of getting people to think?” he asks, and replies, “I’m afraid I don’t know what the best way is.” Even though he admits that he doesn’t know, and may never know the answer, this doesn’t prevent him from thinking intelligently and constructively about the relevant issues. One of the purposes of Thinking Aloud is to help teachers and students to think to some purpose about what they think they know, as well as about what they think they don’t know. There is plenty of food for thought here. Most teachers have been in the saddle, although not necessarily with a real live horse underneath them, but Walter Carrington shows how riding is analagous to hands on work, and even non-equestrians will benefit from his lucid exposition.

A good way to think about the Technique must surely be to go back to FM’s own words, as Walter Carrington has always done. One example here is this thought-provoking quote from FM: “You,think that the Alexander Technique is a physical thing; I tell you that it is the most mental thing that’s ever been discovered.” In these talks Walter Carrington encourages one’s mental use, “the persistency and the continuity” of thought which is necessary after inhibition and direction in order to achieve “the getting going, and the continuing to go, that is the real problem in the Alexander Technique, as in life.” He relates this quality of thinking to “the drive, the force, the energy” which is required in order to actually go somewhere, and he describes conscious direction as “a thinking process to direct energy.” However, this “energetic process” can only happen if we give ourselves time. Walter Carrington continually reminds us to “remember about time”, “to take the time it takes” and to realize that “time is a personal thing ... an individual possession.”

Just as when we do “whispered ahs,” we benefit from thinking of something which makes us smile, so Walter Carrington in his teaching has been able to balance the “damned hard struggle” with humour and grace. There is always a lesson to be learned from his amusing anecdotes. For example, giving lessons to a pupil who is convinced that the Technique is ‘pure Dialectical Materialism’ and that Alexander was “God’s gift to Marxism”(!) Walter Carrington turns his attention - and thus ours - to the pupil’s head and neck.

This book shows that there is no fixed blueprint, rather a number of key concepts and principles, the value of which depends entirely upon the individual’s own awareness and use. Walter Carrington has continually encouraged his students and other teachers to think on their feet, rather than just in their heads. Hopefully, readers of this delightful book will spend time thinking about what he has said - and then put their own thoughts into action. When speaking from his own experience, Walter Carrington uses the personal pronoun “I”, but, significantly, when talking about the present application of the Technique, he employs the plural “we”, placing himself as one teacher among others. The future development of the Technique depends upon all of us - we must continue to learn, and continue to learn to think about the Technique. This book is an invaluable aid in that process.

2. Review by Malcolm Williamson

First published in STATNews vol. 4, no. 10, September 1994.

At last, someone has done what I suspect many have meant to do when they had the time. I am sure that most of us who have been lucky enough to pass through the doors of Lansdowne Road (The Constructive Teaching Centre) will have a collection of tape recordings of Walter Carrington’s midday talks. These talks create a focus and play a pivotal role in the course timetable when moming and afternoon classes overlap. The author says with characteristic self-effacement that they were “given in a casual, spontaneous manner without forethought or preparation” yet, as John Nicholls points out in the introduction, they often attain the form and structure of a piece of music.

The scene is set beautifully by John Nicholls’ attention to details - though the worn carpets were replaced during the time of my training - bringing back memories of halcyon days. The twenty-five talks ranging from 1966 to 1990 and deal with all aspects of the Technique, including, not surprisingly, one on riding. They have a clarity and ease that appears so simple yet, as we can all appreciate, it can only come from the distillation of working and re-working ideas over a lifetime. Jerry Sontag has done us all a great service and I look forward (hopefully) to Volume 2.

3. Review by Laura Klein

First published in NASTAT News no. 26, Autumn 1994.

This newly published collection of talks by Walter Carrington is full of thought provoking and original perspectives on learning and teaching the Alexander Technique. The book is in handsome hard-cover format and consists of numerous short chapters, each organized around a central idea. Every one of these chapters contains fresh insights on familiar subjects. Although the original audience for these lectures was composed of trainees and teachers, there are certainly pupils who can benefit by reading this book.

Several themes appear and reappear throughout. The paramount importance of a teacher’s use is discussed in many of the talks. Mr. Carrington emphasizes that the purpose of the teacher’s hands is to gather information about what is going on in the pupil. If the teacher directly attempts to make a change, she will only expend great effort, thereby causing both herself and her pupil to “pull down.” While giving a lesson, the author says, you should be “thinking about yourself and feeling about the pupil” [italics mine]. The teacher’s direction can then be transmitted through her hands in an effortless manner, and in the process, the teacher takes the student “up.”

One of the most interesting and compelling themes of the talks is the necessity of clear intention, or what Mr. Carrington calls “wishing.” “If you have the strong flame of wishing in yourself, so that above all . . . and regardless of anything else, you want to be free, then when you put your hands on the pupil you automatically know what to do.” It is this constant desire to “go up,” to free up, that will lead us towards real conscious control. In the talk entitled, “Wishing, Willing and Fairy Tales,” the author suggests that studying anatomy and physiology can be detrimental, because it takes us away from the focus of our work: inhibition and direction. There will certainly be readers who strongly disagree with this view. However, the main point seems to me to be that an extensive knowledge of anatomy does not, in itself, lead to an inner, working understanding of the Alexander Technique.

Mr. Carrington has a profound understanding, not only of the Technique, but of all the reasons people find it hard to learn. A pupil’s preconceived ideas can be significant obstacles to his progress. Getting the pupil to let go of these ideas is a formidable, yet crucial part of the teacher’s job. The author addresses many of the fears and anxieties that can arise during lessons, both in the teacher and the pupil. The tone of these talks is compassionate and kindly, yet Mr. Carrington never glosses over the enormous difficulty of the work.

The author is quite clear on the subject of “non-doing.” Far from being a vague, mysterious concept, it is a skill that one learns, like any other skill, with time and practice. This “non-doing” is an essential step in developing awareness. This awareness can then be carried into any activity.

Some of the talks concern the practical aspects of teaching: giving a first lesson, teaching hands on the back of the chair, ethics, and giving a pupil his last lesson. There are many helpful suggestions that teachers can use to further their own teaching skills. There is a wealth of information here, and, for this reviewer, a great deal of inspiration as well.