“There is no such thing as a right position, but there is such a thing as a right direction.”
FM Alexander, Teaching Aphorisms #16
One of the biggest myths I meet in people new to Alexander work is the idea that there must be a right position. A correct way to sit, stand, walk or hold yourself. Many people come to lessons hoping I will show them the perfect posture so they can copy it and keep it forever.
But Alexander work is not about holding yourself in a shape. It is not about straightening up, pulling back, lifting the chest or tightening the core. These ideas usually create more tension, not less.
The work is about something far more interesting (to me). It is about how we think, and how our thinking shapes our coordination.
Rather than chasing a perfect posture, we use gentle thought cues to prime the whole system. These cues invite the body to organise itself with more ease, balance and responsiveness. They influence the postural system and the voluntary movement system without force or effort.
When we stop trying to get it right, something natural begins to happen. The body remembers how to coordinate itself. Breathing becomes easier. Movement becomes lighter. We feel more like ourselves.
Alexander’s discoveries were never about posture as a fixed ideal. They are about freeing ourselves from habits that compress us, shrink us or pull us off balance. His work helps us notice the subtle ways we interfere with our own ease, and then gives us a way to choose something different.
So instead of asking, “What is the right position” A more helpful question might be, “How can I think in a way that allows my body to organise itself more freely”. This is what I share in sessions.
This shift in thinking is where the real change begins.
And with that in mind, let’s look at how the myth of the “right position” shows up in everyday life.
There must be a right position
Do any of these sound familiar? There is a right way to sit. A right way to stand. A right head posture. Feet hip‑width apart. Heels down. Chin tucked. Shoulders back and down. A correct shape to get into and keep.
This belief is everywhere. I see it in the way people straighten up the moment they hear I teach the Alexander Technique. They lift their chest, stiffen their shoulders and imagine a golden thread pulling them up. People start to apologise for “slouching”. I have found no evidence that Alexander ever said any such things. And I’m sad these ideas are associated with this subtle and powerful and helpful work I love.
So many of us were told to “sit up straight” as children. Of course these messages stick. Unless we consciously loosen them, like pulling up weeds, there is no space for new ideas to grow.
And the myth of the right position is persistent. Even people who have studied this work for years still find themselves trying to get it right from time to time.
I caught myself doing it this morning, bending over the washing machine at an awkward angle, back rounded and legs a little stiff, and hearing that old internal voice say, “Stop, that’s not right.” My back was simply saying a little “ouch”, but the parental tone arrived instantly. It is not the Alexander way to criticise or judge, yet many of us carry those habits from school, family and culture and then imagine that Alexander is telling us off, rather than holding up a mirror so we can see more clearly what we are actually thinking and doing.
Does it surprise you to learn that this work is not about striving for the right shape? That it is not posture training? And yes it will change how you sit, stand and move. It is not relaxation training, although it often calms the nervous system. It is not a treatment, although it can be deeply therapeutic.
So what is it?
It is a series of thoughts that put you back in charge of your coordination. Not by doing more. Not by holding yourself together. Not by forcing a position.
We work indirectly using the protocol that Alexander discovered over 150 years ago. We choose thoughts that encourage the natural alignment of the spine, the free movement of the joints and the most efficient use of muscle tone for whatever you are doing. We learn to trust the body’s natural wisdom to sort out the details while we offer it reliable, helpful directions.
The myth of the right position shows up in my teaching room almost every day. A student may sit down and immediately pull themselves upright: shoulders repositioned, chest lifted, chin tucked. Or they reposition their feet, or shift their bum back on the chair, or waggle their head to show that it is “free”. They are trying so hard to be good. They are trying to get it right. And I can see the strain in their whole system.
When I ask, “What would it be like to let go of the position” they often look confused, as if letting go might mean collapsing. Often they are not yet conscious that they are ‘doing a position’.
It often appears that the only choices are upright or slumped. This is the myth in action: the belief that posture is a shape rather than a relationship between your structure, your muscles and the world around you.
So in sessions we explore the idea of direction instead. Not “sit up straight”, but “allow your spine to return to its natural easy length”. Not “shoulders back”, but “let your ribs move on the tide of your breath”. Not “hold your head high”, but “let your head release and your spine rise”.
When we work with letting something happen instead of bossing ourselves into a fixed shape, something new emerges. The whole of us can reorganise a little. Something in our musculature becomes available that was not available when we were trying to get it right. We switch from trying to sit correctly with our voluntary moving muscles, and allow our wise postural system to coordinate us.
Why does this myth keep coming back? Because trying hard makes us feel like a good student. Because fixing ourselves feels like control. Because control can feel safe. Because we were praised for “good posture” or criticised for “bad posture”. Because the world tells us to fix ourselves. Because the world rewards effort.
Alexander’s work invites something very different: a shift from position to direction, from holding to allowing, from effort to curiosity.
Instead of trying, we encourage thinking ‘in a certain way’.
When a student experiences this openness in their own body for the first time, the relief is tangible. They sigh. Their digestion moves and tummy gurgles. Their whole system settles. They realise they do not have to hold themselves together with effort. They do not have to get it right. They can move, breathe, think and still be supported.
This is where real change begins.
Direction, not position.
Ease, not effort.
Choices, not habits.
If you notice yourself trying to sit properly or stand correctly today, perhaps pause and say, “Of course you want to get it right.” Acknowledge the systems and cultural ideas you grew up in.
Then see if you can subtly let go of the shape you think you need to be in and invite a small sense of direction instead. A gentle easing toward your natural height, your easy width and a freedom for your breath to move on its own. No try. Just be.
What happens when you stop trying to get it right?