Life on AutoPilot

Introduction

Here at Aiimi, we’re serious about the physical well-being and mental health of our employees. 

To look after our physical health, we have a gym and pool in our office building. When it comes to our mental health, the senior management team actively encourage us to raise any concerns regarding work-related stress, so that the appropriate support mechanisms can be put in place.

As someone who studies the Alexander Technique, both of these things interest me as well. 

So, what is the Alexander Technique?

Whilst it is often associated with correcting posture, for me, it’s about becoming more aware of my thoughts, noticing the present moment, paying less attention to my “inner monologue” and experiencing the world around me with a greater level of awareness.

Why do I study this technique?

I’m learning to choose this new awareness instead of my habitual thoughts. All of which leads to me making new decisions in my everyday life. I aim to apply the Alexander Technique every day and my goal is to embody it in all aspects of my life because I’ve seen what a positive difference it makes to my stress levels and overall mental health. 

But how do you “do” the Alexander Technique?

It’s not a set of exercises, it’s not about holding my back straight and it’s not meditation!  It’s not even something you can learn by reading about. It’s something you experience with an Alexander Technique teacher. In time, you learn to apply it for yourself. 

This purpose of this article

In this article, I’ll look at how we tend to approach everyday activities and suggest that by becoming more aware of our thoughts, we can choose a new way of thinking about them leading to an improvement in the quality of life.

Life on Auto Pilot

So, do we ever think about the way that we stand up or sit down? No... of course not! Why would we? It's something we do every day without a moment's thought. We do it on autopilot.

We do a lot of everyday things on autopilot like taking the tube, driving and queuing, never paying attention to these mundane activities while we're doing them.

What’s wrong with that?

Many of us prefer this autopilot until we're where we want to be or until we've finished what we are doing:

Who wants to be alert on the tube?

Who wants to notice a long car journey?

Who wants to experience waiting in a queue? 

But what happens when our autopilot stops?

That moment on a long car journey when our autopilot suddenly turns off; we look up, only to realise we’ve almost arrived at our destination. It’s a great feeling, right? Followed by massive guilt that we’ve been driving for hours yet we have absolutely no idea how we got there!

So, what are we thinking about when we’re on autopilot?

On the tube: We’re busy thinking about how long the journey is taking, worrying about being late, willing the tube to get us there quicker.

In the car: We’re busy kicking ourselves for taking the wrong turn, working out how we can make up for lost time, complaining to ourselves about the traffic.

Stuck in a queue: We’re busy getting frustrated at how long the queue is taking, glaring at the person behind the till, competing with total strangers in the next queue over who will be served first. 

Is it really the activity that we don’t like or is it this stream of unconscious thoughts (our autopilot) that turns these activities into chores?

What if we could choose not to be on autopilot?

Would our lives be less busy if we didn’t spend so much time going over things ‘in our heads’?

Would commuting be more enjoyable if we weren’t giving ourselves and others such a hard time?

Would we be happier choosing to be where we are rather than wanting to be somewhere else?

Would we be happier choosing to do what we are doing rather than always wanting to be doing something else?

How do we turn off our autopilot?

Surely, we just stop thinking about things when we want and concentrate when we need to? We just need to try harder, right? Maybe, or does ‘trying harder’ just involve more thinking, more judgement, more pressure? 

Okay, so what do we do?

First, we can have to learn to be aware when we’re on autopilot. Only when we’re conscious of our thoughts, judgements and worries can we make new choices about how we react to them.

But how?

We can learn to notice the world around us – even when we’re on the tube! 

We can choose to pay less attention to our unconscious thoughts.

We can choose to notice the present moment; where we’re standing, what we’re doing, the world around us.

We can choose to keep renewing our attention whenever we’ve noticed that we’ve drifted back onto autopilot.

Why bother with the Alexander Technique?

Like most self-help books, I’ve mentioned many things to change. Normally, we end up trying to make changes, but we use the same old, habitual thinking, leading to very little difference. However, through working with an Alexander teacher, I’ve learnt to notice the present moment and in that moment I’m free of my autopilot. In each present moment I can choose a new approach, make a new decision or make changes to improve the quality of my life. For example, when sitting and standing, I learn to move and think differently instead of being on autopilot and it has even fixed my backache!

I’m learning choose not to act in the same way that I’ve always done and choosing to respond differently to everyday situations. My problems, concerns, stresses and anxieties don’t magically disappear, but I can choose to include a wider awareness so that these thoughts don’t have to be all-consuming. I can choose to change habits by making unconscious thoughts conscious. 

Of course, I still switch onto autopilot when I visit my parents and turn into a stroppy teenager… Some habits are harder to break than others!