the means whereby: more on the alexander technique

"We must stop even thinking of standing up straight. To think of it commits us to the operation of an established habit of standing wrong. Instead we find an act within our power which is disconnected from any thought of standing. In performing this other act we inhibit our habit of falling into the customary bad posture (inhibition) and, at the same time, begin a series of acts which may lead to the correct posture (direction).

Until we take such intermediate acts seriously enough to treat them as ends, we waste our time in any effort to change our habits. Of the intermediate acts, the most important is the next one."

-- John Dewey, Human Nature and Conduct