What is the Alexander Technique?
For over a hundred years, the Alexander Technique has helped people to improve their coordination, balance, posture, performance and health. The Alexander Technique was developed by F.M. Alexander. He called it ‘psychophysical reeducation’. He was convinced that the mind and body are one: The human organism functions and responds to situations as one. He believed that we 'translate everything, whether physical, mental or spiritual, into muscular tension’. We are born with an ability to move with a natural, perfect coordination. If you look at little children, you can see how beautifully they sit, stand a walk. They haven’t yet developed bad habits like slumping down or tensing their shoulders, for example. Unfortunately, through out life, people get in the way of their once innate and perfect coordination by developing harmful movement habits.
An Alexander Technique teacher makes you aware of your habits of compression which cause the pain, injury or stress you may experience. Once you are aware of your habits, you can learn to stop these; Simply by allowing yourself a moment to pause and make a new choice; A healthier choice. Your Alexander Teacher will guide you in this process. You will experience an improvement of your whole health and not just the symptoms you wanted to see relieved, because you will work on the improvement of your whole system.
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
HOW THE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE CAN HELP YOU:
Improve posture and movement
have more energy at the end of the day
reduce performance anxiety
ease pregnancy and birth
reduce stress
help recovery after injury
relieve back, shoulders and neck pain, RSI
improve breath and use of voice
What happens in a lesson?
We all have unconscious movement habits. I will teach you how to identify your bad habits that contribute to your recurring difficulties—whether it’s a bad back, neck and shoulder pain, restricted breathing, perpetual exhaustions or limitations in performing a task or sport.
I will be working with you while you perform normal activities such as sitting down, standing, walking, bending, working at your computer, or other specialized activities that you may request. In this way I will be analyzing your whole movement pattern, not just your symptoms. I will alert you to habits of compression in your characteristic way of moving andguide you with words and a gentle, encouraging touch, to move in a more free and integrated way. You will learn to let go of excess tension, giving you more energy for all your activities.
Another part of the lesson will be ‘table work’. During this portion of the lesson you will lie on your back on a table. With gentle touch and verbal instructions, I will show you how to release restrictive muscular tension.