I have been reading “Lessons from the Art of Juggling” by Michael J. Gelb. Gelb wrote the popular “How to think like Leonardo Da Vinci” and he is an interesting think and a modern renaissance man. He is an accomplished juggler, aikido master, corporate motivational speaker and Alexander Technique teacher. I enjoy his perspective on juggling because it brings form to many of the things I have felt are important about learning to juggle.

One of the lessons that really rings true to me now that I have done a few months of Alexander Technique training is the idea of efficient learning or “appropriate effort” as Gelb describes it:

“As you learn to juggle you will soon discover that the best results are achieved by using the right amount of effort in the right place at the right time. And this right amount is usually less than we think we need.
[snip]
Most of us are used to getting results by trying harder, but with some things trying harder does not work.
[snip]
Greater effort can exacerbate faulty patterns of action. Doing the wrong thing with more intensity rarely improves the situation. Learning something new often requires us to unlearn something old.”

I actually don’t think that juggling inherently teaches balance or poise it certainly did not have that effect on me. But these ideas are fundamental to the practice of the Alexander Technique and I am beginning to see how I much effort I have wasted in my juggling as well as in other parts of my life. Finding the patterns that make you inefficient, whether in movement, decision making or spirituality is the key to living in the flow. The Buddhist principle of Non-Doing is related; the concept of taking out what does not work leads to economy of action.

Although I have learned a ton about how to learn through my juggling practice, it really is only through Alexander Technique that I have been able to consciously examine this process of non-doing. I am truly a devotee of this principle now I don’t believe that you can truly give 110% – or if you attempt to you are simply wasting (at least) 10%. Finding and eliminating that wasted effort is surprisingly difficult to do I have taken 30 Alexander Technique lessons and I feel I am only just beginning to apply the basic principles of the techniqueto anything beyond sitting, standing and walking. Fortunately I have a lifetime to practice (perhaps several if I ascribe to Buddhist philosophies).