Alexander Technique lessons teach how to cultivate a state of neutral mindfulness that allows for greater freedom of choice in movement and in daily life. Learning to release excess muscular tension quiets both the mind and the body. Students learn the specific skill of pausing in response to a stimulus, and thereby free themselves from the endless cycle of habit and automatic reactions. Once able to pause, people can choose a response that constructively modifies their situation. Internally generated stress is diminished by replacing self-criticism and self-consciousness with compassionate self-observation.