When Our Beliefs Are Just Muscle Tension

Luke Ford writes: I heard something hard to swallow from an Alexander Technique teacher — that all of our beliefs are just unnecessary muscle tension, and that when we let go of that unnecessary tension, we let go of our beliefs.

I’ve always had strong beliefs — beliefs that frequently changed but were firmly held at the time and inflicted on others.

I grew up an Australian Seventh-Day Adventist preacher’s kid in love with the civilizing mission of the English-speaking world (in particular the examples of liberty set by England and the United States).

In college, I flirted with Marxism for a couple of years and then converted to Judaism — a return to the best of my values from my childhood.

So now my life is Alexander Technique and the more I study it, the more easily I hold myself neutral in the sturm and drang of life.