Jann McMichael is a Pro member of ATSuccess.

She does not identify her Self as a writer, yet she recently wrote a captivating email. I was impressed enough to take the time to let her know. Here's her reply…

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"Thanks Jeremy.....it was like it came from somewhere else! I wrote it in an hour; no planning. Just started, and it flowed. It doesn’t often work like that though!"

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But it will Jann; and it will work for anyone who takes the time to practice INCLUDING YOU.

Suddenly my phone is screaming at me…

(Who is calling at this late hour!?)

"Hallo, BodyChance Studio.

I'm sorry, but now we are close—"

"Please can you help me!?"

(I think: shouldn't we at least do names first?)

"Who is this speaking?"

"Oh I'm sorry, my name is Harry."

(I guess he needs to have this conversation now…)

"What's the problem Harry?"

"I am in a lot of pain. I can't stand it."

An unpleasant experience when leading a group, is to have a participant strongly opposing and contradicting you. Leading a charge against you.

I used to think that! Now I look forward to it…

Because whatever you think they are doing, THAT flows from your perception.

What if they are not doing that?

What if what they want is understanding, clarity and completion? Wouldn't you "listen differently" if you perceived them that way?

You can develop the space in your mind to see them however you wish.

Years ago, a Journalist from a popular “alternative cool” magazine called “Kokoro” – which means “Heart” in Japanese – came along to BodyChance’s studio in Meguro to do a feature on our work.

I suggested she come and watch “the Chancer” - thanks to Carol Ervine for my new nickname! - running a Basic Course class. Basic Course is the program we offer in Japan to the Public.

***SIDE BAR ***

BTW: the name of your group is important, even critical.

Calling our public offering “Basic Course” immediately suggests a higher level…

People have asked me:

“Why do you insist on calling our work ‘Alexander's discovery’?”

It’s a valid question, and one I continue to ask my Self. The simplist answer I have is this:

Alexander's discovery is just that, a discovery. It is not a technique or method.

It’s like the realization that the earth revolves around the sun. Knowing it doesn’t change it, but it changes you. It changes your ideas, your beleifs, your choices.

Alexander's discovery can be expressed in several different ways:

I am finally launching ThinkingBody this month.

I won't give you all the details via this blog, I do it separately, so sign up here. I've already gathered an audience of listeners, maybe you are one of them…

The content of this course is unique and unseen in the AT world before.

Part of my work involves getting up at 3.30am to coach clients scattered around the world.

At first I reacted with horror; now I get up at 3.30am anyway.

In Tokyo, the light is already peeping through the clouds by 4am.

The streets are deserted, the traffic lights aimlessly changing in vacant stupidity. It's quiet, and there you see a tall, erect-looking man, thumping along the side of the river alone, wondering why he would want anyone to love him?

Desmond Morris, in his 1971 book Intimate Behaviour writes:

"If the monkey is a male, it will never again, as an adult, know the total intimacy of a loving bond. Until the day it dies, it will continue to exist in a loveless world of rivalries and partnerships, of competition and co-operation."

Isn't that the life of an increasing number of people today?

Reflecting on an end of intimacy I experienced recently, I wrote to a dear friend that I was mourning the loss of

It's teaching a person who doesn't want to be taught.

There are many situations where this might be confronted:

• A music student doing Alexander as part of their degree
• A High School class that being presented with your talk
• Little Tommy dragged along by his Education Mum
• The 2nd friend in BodyChance's "Two For One" workshop
• A corporate gig where the company has mandated attendance

What do you do?

Three things:

I’ve boiled it down to this.

FM discovered a universal truth for creatures that move:

Use – through your head's influence on spinal co-ordination – affects Functioning.

FM's discovery resulted in 2 mind-bending applications:

1. How to use this discovery to adapt your neuromuscular system to changing environments;
2. How human touch can recalibrate a neuromuscular system that has become dysfunctional.

As time passes, I am sure we will add to this list of consequences. Maybe you have another?