The Alexander Technique is an educational method that penetrates to the heart of our everyday movement. It shows you how to undo habitual patterns of tension that interfere with your body’s inherent design. It is a powerful tool that can be used in anything you do, whether you are sitting at your desk, walking down the street, practicing yoga or playing golf. Most people begin their lives moving with ease and grace. Yet as we get older, we tend to override our inherent freedom of movement with physical habits that confine and compress our bodies. Negative influences such as stress, poor role models, and difficult school and work environments also contribute to habits of tension and misalignment in the body. These harmful habits may result in common problems such as neck or back pain, muscle tension, or unnecessary stress in the body. The Alexander Technique addresses the cause of these problems by teaching you to become aware of your harmful habits, thus opening the way for you to make more conscious and intelligent choices in the way you use your body. The Alexander Technique is not a treatment or a series of assigned exercises, but rather an education with a foundation of principles that is used to bring more awareness to everyday activities.Lessons are taught on a one-on-one basis and are typically 50 to 55 minutes in length. An Alexander Technique lesson consists of learning a new way of approaching daily activities that allows for more efficiency and freedom in all movements. The teacher will help you to recognize what in your movement style contributes to your recurring difficulties, whether it is back or neck pain, restricted breathing, muscle fatigue or overall physical/ psychological stress. By analyzing the whole movement pattern, not just the symptoms, the teacher brings your awareness to your harmful physical habits and guides you towards a more integrated way of moving.
Lessons
Lessons are taught on a one-on-one basis and are typically 50 to 55 minutes in length. An Alexander Technique lesson consists of learning a new way of approaching daily activities that allows for more efficiency and freedom in all movements. The teacher will help the student to see what in their movement style contributes to their recurring difficulties, whether it is back or neck pain, restricted breathing, muscle fatigue or overall physical/ psychological stress. By analyzing the whole movement pattern, not just the symptoms, the teacher brings the student’s awareness to their harmful physical habits and guides them towards a more integrated way of moving.
During a lesson, the focus will be on simple movements such as sitting, standing, and walking since they are familiar and habitual and can tell us a great deal about our overall movement patterns. During the lesson, the teacher will use highly skilled, hands-on guidance and verbal feedback to assist the student in the learning process. In addition, students are encouraged to bring anything with them to the lesson that they use often to receive guidance and as to how they can increase their effectiveness in its use. Musicians, for example, can bring in their instruments to work on their use and coordination while they are actually playing.
Applying The Alexander Technique
Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is the most common condition that brings people to the Alexander Technique. Whatever the cause of your condition – herniated disc, muscle tension, arthritis, carpal tunnel – the discomfort you feel is directly affected by the way you use your body. If you compress your spine when you walk, work at your computer, or engage in your favorite exercise, you aggravate your condition on a regular basis and perpetuate the pain cycle.
Pain is your body’s signal that an illness, injury or tension needs your attention. Although chiropractic adjustment, massage, or pain relieving drugs can be helpful in reducing the symptoms of your pain, unless you change the movement habits at the source of the pain, the benefits of these other therapies will be temporary.
The Alexander Technique can teach you how to bring lifelong awareness and education to your physical habits in daily activities that are contributing to your pain. For example, if you slump, strain your neck as you look at your computer screen, or compress your back while typing, the discomfort you experience will continue unless awareness and education are brought to the situation. The pain and discomfort does not have to be there, but you must first learn what is causing the pain to know how to remedy the situation. When you get right to the source of the problem and a greater understanding of the way to use your body is achieved, there is relief from pain and an ease and comfort that is brought back into your movement.
Aging Gracefully
We are constantly told that pain, lack of mobility, and a decrease in overall functioning are to be expected as we age. The list of age related problems seem endless and includes difficulties with movement, breathing, coordination, circulation, lack of energy, and on and on. The truth is that most of these problems are not a result of aging. They are a result of years of misusing our bodies and living with harmful habits that, when accumulated, cause serious problems. All too often, harmful habits of coordination and movement that may have been an inconvenience in one’s 30s and 40s become serious impediments to physical functioning in later years. The good news is that we have a choice in how we age. The Alexander Technique addresses these harmful habits and teaches the skills and awareness needed to change them. A habit that has been present for years will not change overnight. However, it will change within time if you are taught how to identify the cause of the problem and make better choices in the way you move. Aging does not have to mean a steady decline in the way our bodies function. When living your life with the ideas of the Alexander Technique, aging can be an opportunity to grow, learn and improve yourself every single day.
Corporate Workshops and Workshops for Yoga Teachers are available.
Please contact me to set one up at Heather@thegracefulbody.com