Inhibition is a central concept of the Alexander Technique.  It is also somewhat controversial in that not all teachers agree on how to define it.   Hopefully the podcasts below will be helpful in clarifying the concept. One thing that is agreed upon by all Alexander Technique teachers is that it has nothing to do with Sigmond Freud’s use of that word, which he defined as: the expression of a restriction of an ego-function.  Alexander Technique inhibition is not at all about restriction or repression.

The short excerpt below from Alexander Technique Thinking: Inhibition and Direction is good place to start:

Habitual muscular tension can be a cause for fatigue or discomfort. When we are stressed or in discomfort, we often seek out something we need ‘to do’ or ‘to fix’ in order to relieve the stress. In actuality, it is a moment of not doing that can be very beneficial in providing a pathway to change.  At times it is useful to take the opportunity to slow down and ‘press pause’.

The Alexander Technique is a movement re-education practice in which our thinking facilitates a change in the body’s habitual manner of performing an action to facilitate greater ease and a reduction in tension and stress. Alexander Technique teaches a specific practice to pause from habitual response. It is a moment of nondoing. This principle FM Alexander called inhibition. – Nancy Romita, an Alexander Technique teacher in Baltimore, Maryland.

Here are 3 other excellent articles about inhibition:

The Science of Inhibition and End-gaining by Patrick Johnson, an Alexander Technique teacher in Amsterdam, Holland

Alexander Technique: Thinking, Inhibition an Direction by Jeremy Woolhouse, an Alexander Technique teacher in Melbourne, Australia

Inhibition by Hilary King, an Alexander Technique teacher in London, England

 

Alexander Technique – How Can We Learn to Inhibit?
(This podcast is primarily for Alexander Technique teachers, trainees and students.) Robert Rickover and Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware, have a wide-ranging conversation about some ways we can use to help us learn how to inhibit. Imogen’s website: ImogenRagone.com Robert teaches in Omaha, Nebraska and Toronto Canada. Website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com More information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com You can learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at PosturePage.com/support

Watch the original video version of this talk here: https://youtu.be/5-u8sJQ91DE

Alexander Technique: How Can We Learn To Inhibit? Part 2
(This podcast is primarily for Alexander Technique teachers, trainees and students.) Robert Rickover and Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware, have a follow up talk about an inhibitory self direction that, among other advantages, addresses a major pitfall of self-directing itself. Imogen’s website: https://ImogenRagone.com Robert teaches in Omaha, Nebraska and Toronto Canada. Website: https://AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com More information about the Alexander Technique: https://AlexanderTechnique.com You can learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at https://posturepage.com/support

More information about a challenge of self-directing: https://www.bodylearningblog.com/not-even-a-teeny-weany-bit/

Alexander Technique: How can we learn to inhibit? – Part 3
(This podcast is primarily for Alexander Technique teachers, trainees and students.) Robert Rickover and Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware, have a third follow up talk about an inhibitory self directions and how they show just how significant and complex our unconscious response to those directions. There is also a preliminary discussion of the link between inhibition and outsourcing. Imogen’s website: https://ImogenRagone.com Robert teaches in Omaha, Nebraska and Toronto Canada. Website: https://AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com More information about the Alexander Technique: https://AlexanderTechnique.com You can learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at https://posturepage.com/support

Alexander Technique Directions, Inhibition and a new way of thinking about Body Wisdom
(This podcast is primarily for Alexander Technique teachers, trainees and students.) Robert Rickover talks with Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware, about the implications of Inhibition, Alexander Technique directions for our understanding of our innate Body Wisdom. More information about Alexander Technique directions: bodylearningcast.com/teachers/directions Imogen’s website:ImogenRagone.com Robert teaches in Omaha, Nebraska and Toronto Canada. Website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com More information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com You can learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at posturepage.com/support

Original video version of this conversation: https://youtu.be/5aHNESdviiA 

Alexander Technique Inhibition: An Efficient and Practical Form of Outsourcing
(This podcast is primarily for Alexander Technique teachers, trainees and students.) Robert Rickover and Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware, talk about Alexander Technique Inhibition and how it can be thought of as “inner outsourcing.” The importance of this was recognized by F. M. Alexander and many first-generation Alexander Technique teachers: BodyLearningBlog.com/not-even-a-teeny-weany-bit Imogen’s website: ImogenRagone.com Robert teaches in Omaha, Nebraska and Toronto Canada. Website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com Both Imogen and Robert also teach online. More information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com You can learn how to support this and other Alexander Technique websites at posturepage.com/support

The original video version of this podcast can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMgmGTGFzTg

Margaret Goldie’s approach to Alexander Technique Inhibition
Penelope Easten, an Alexander Technique teacher in County Clare, Ireland, talks with Robert Rickover about why Miss Goldie viewed inhibition as primary to directing. She emphasized the importance of stopping as it allows a moment of true choice. Penelope also discusses how the autonomic system (which regulates safety, danger, life threat) fits with this view of inhibition. The video version of this interview: youtu.be/rgwQUfIi5Y8 Penelope’s book, “The Alexander Technique: 12 Fundamentals of Integrated Movement” is based on her work with Miss Goldie.  Penelope’s website: AlexanderTechniqueInfo.org Robert teaches in Lincoln, Nebraska, Toronto, Canada and online. Robert’s website: AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com More general information about the Alexander Technique: AlexanderTechnique.com