Concentration: Powerful Skill or Harmful Habit? - Introduction

12/09/2025 12 min
Concentration: Powerful Skill or Harmful Habit? - Introduction

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Episode Synopsis

Send us a textRobert Rickover, an Alexander Technique teacher in Omaha, Nebraska talks with Imogen Ragone, an Alexander Technique teacher in Wilmington, Delaware in which we introduce our four conversations about the two types of concentration, why it is important to distinguish one from the other, and what F. M. Alexander had to say about them in his second book, "Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual". We discuss how this topic brings out aspects of F. M. Alexander's thinking - sometimes very good, and sometimes problematical - that have huge implications for how the Technique is taught today. We also discuss how potential Alexander Technique students may find that their concentration improves as a sort of "side-effect" of taking lessons for the usual reasons - back pain, stress, improving skill for performers and the like. Imogen's website: https://ImogenRagone.com Robert's website: https://AlexanderTechniqueNebraska.com More information about the Alexander Technique: https://AlexanderTechnique.com Below are the links to all four of our video conversations: Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1loMyHGPU-w Part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-kO3UA6s7s Part 3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB1Ed4F3N1E Part 4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5kZtkvZFp0Below are the audio podcast versions of our conversation:Introduction: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833486-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-introductionPart 1: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17834255-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-1Part 2: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833661-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-2Part 3: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833713-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-3Part 4: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/382/episodes/17833731-concentration-powerful-skill-or-harmful-habit-part-4

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