Use with Changing Conditions
Using oneself well in all activities does not require anything like perfection in structure or functioning. Structure, function and use all influence one another, like a fluidly connected trinity. Use is the aspect where we have dynamic choice.
Use, in Alexander terms, could be defined as a distribution of tone throughout the entire self, especially in response to stimulus. Dynamic non-interference and directed thinking with the whole self change use, which affects functioning, which to some degree can affect structure. Structure and function may well challenge use, yet use remains a dynamic choice.
I had learned in the past two weeks, with determination and creativity, to use myself as well as possible with a leg length splint. Both my structure and functioning were very far from perfect, but I could make the best possible use of myself in the conditions at hand. My use could not heal the shattered patella, but my use could assist how I was accomplishing activities with a shattered patella.
Today, the splint was exchanged for a brace device which takes my leg into even more vigorous extension. The sensations are strange and disturbing, balance and mobility are unfamiliar in a whole new way, and my structure is clearly challenged. The use of myself is the place where I can make a difference. So, with these changed and challenging conditions of self, I have to renew dynamic non-interference and directed thinking in order to have the best possible balance of tone with the structure and function available to me.
Here are my intentions, directed in a continuous and circular fashion:
*Allow the ground to support me as I spring up
*Allow widening so that arms and legs undo from the torso, thus giving more connection to the ground
*Send my head up and forward with the elastic support of my whole self
There, that’s better!