There is growing acceptance that being more present is generally good for our health and wellbeing, albeit it can remain elusive in increasingly busy lives. Over recent years, mindfulness has become extremely popular but other practices such as T’ai Chi and yoga have always been routes in to becoming more present. Perhaps less well known as a means of becoming present is the Alexander Technique – even though FM Alexander (1869–1955) was described as Zen for the Western world.

I’m sure that anyone who does a mindful practice, such as meditation or T’ai Chi, wants to be able to take their calmer state of mind into all of daily life, rather than it being something confined to say a weekly class or once a day session. For most people though, this ability can take a long time to achieve.

There is a different emphasis with the Alexander Technique because it is not an activity to do but is instead a way of thinking and being. I think this is what makes it easier to put into practice in daily life. So, you can be writing emails or making dinner while at the same time using your Alexander thinking to become more present and in balance, as well making less effort to do what you’re doing.

During an Alexander lesson, people often have the experience of being fully present and at one with themselves. Similarly, if you choose to meditate, the ultimate aim is usually to stay present throughout. I wonder, however, if there is something about the aspiration to ‘be present’ that encourages us to set unrealistic goals for ourselves? No human can be fully present the whole time. If so, it would be impossible to plan ahead or reflect on one’s past. Of course, hardly anything in life is either / or, and the same applies to being present. We can be more or less present.

With the Alexander Technique we are practising being more present more of the time. Key here is the embodied way in which we use our attention and awareness. We practice paying attention with a light, kind, gentle quality rather than it being fixed and concentrated. Moreover, wherever, our attention is at any moment in time, we maintain an awareness of our whole mind-body self and our surroundings (‘expansive awareness’). As such, it is perfectly possible to have one’s attention on the future or the past, while retaining expansive awareness in that moment. So, Alexander Technique differs from some meditation practices in which you are encouraged to focus on one thing e.g. your breath. Instead, we aspire to always being interested in (aware of) our whole self and what is around us.

With the Alexander Technique you can be more present, more of the time and everyday for all your life.