When a person takes private lessons in Alexander Technique he learns the art of “the use of the self”, which is how Alexander described his technique. In short, we can say that this use of the self is adversely affected by habitual patterns, which limits its functioning and causes many problems, both physically and mentally. Learning about the use of the self helps us to deal with patterns which are no longer relevant.
When someone then joins a training course to become a teacher of the Alexander Technique he not only deepens this art of the use of the self, but also learns another skill, which we could call “the art of meeting”.
The moment we touch another person, like our pupil, it awakes a strong drive in us to do something to them, to manipulate them in order to influence, to convince, to help or to impress etc. This throws us back to our overdoing habits, which disturb our coming into a non-doing dialogue with the other person, something which is necessary in order to guide them in finding their free use and the freedom to choose for themselves.
The art of meeting enables us to recognize the true and exposed being of the other, to respect it, and then turn ourselves, through applying the art of the use of the self, into a reflection of that being, like a mirror, in which the pupils can then observe themselves while learning how to find freedom from habitual overdoing, thereby becoming skilled themselves in the art of the use of the self.