Every time I use my Kyocera mandoline, I think "I have to do a post about this."

"The Devil's Lawnchair" is my half-sister's nickname for the formidable kitchen tool also known as a mandoline. The perfectly uniform slices produced by this baby are a sight to see. The quick, deep and finger-altering cuts it can produce in a cook are similarly well-known. Here I will present an approach to the mandoline according to the principles of the Alexander Technique.

Downward Compression

Downward pressure in this activity is problematic in a couple respects: it can actually make the slicing less fluid and more difficult; and of course, if you're pressing in the direction of the mandoline, and if the food between you and it misbehaves (which it is likely to do with too much pressure) you and the mandoline blade will meet precipitously, and with finality. Excess downward pressure, or compression throughout one's whole self can result in things getting sort of half-way stuck under the blade, slippage, or one's finger careening toward the blade with so much force there's no way to reverse it.

The more control and consistency required in an activity, the less room there is for superfluous tension and unconscious holding.

Upward direction

In Alexander Technique, this what we call a sense of buoyancy and lightness in your whole body. It is how we are naturally oriented in gravity, when we are not collapsing or pulling ourselves down. Often the inclination when slicing or cutting is to think "down" and "stabilize." This leads to rigidity in the joints and tightening to balance in gravity rather that allowing for dynamic movement and subtle changes in balance. A good way to check this is to see if your shoulder is coming up toward your ear- if so, it will be much harder to allow your elbow and wrist to move delicately and efficiently, which can lead to less control and increased chance of injury.

Making contact between the guard and the food, let your wrist and elbow move in a released manner, so that you are not hunkered over the blade, and if you were to slip, you would release your arm up away from the mandoline. Instead of compressing downward, your whole body is oriented in an upward and buoyant manner, so your hand doesn't press down harder and harder, but only maintains enough contact to keep the food in place.

Directions:

Bring your attention to your hip, knee and ankle joints, to see if there is excess holding or locking.

Make sure you are breathing- holding in the torso will limit balance and mobility, and can indicate a downward compression or an overly forced uprightness.

Let your hand be in contact with the guard while directing your back gently away from it.

Check your grip on the guard- whiteness in the knuckles indicates gripping to tightly. Holding the guard with your fingers and allowing the rest of your arm to be mobile is key to moving smoothly, efficiently, and being able to adjust.

Think of a sense of lengthening from wrist to elbow.

A couple of ground rules:

These are rules I made for myself, because it seems, I need them. I am only sharing them as a point of interest, others may not need such child-proofing. They each correspond with the cuts on my right hand.

1. No television when using the mandoline. Because apparently I can't "just listen."

2. No using the mandoline on an empty stomach. Urgency and slicing= no bueno.
(Plus, this will inevitably worsen the hunger problem when, due to a sudden onset of bleeding, I won't be able to finish preparing what was probably going to be dinner.)

3. If you have a round object, you can simply cut it in half, and slice the two halves on the mandoline, so that you are starting with a flat, even surface.
(I experience intense wonderment when I reflect on how long it took for this to occur to me. I'm including it on the off-chance there are more like me, who thought having a mandoline meant knives were obsolete, or cheating somehow.)