Tag Archives: AlexanderTechnique

Learning the Alexander Technique and having lessons

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I have been contacted by a number of people interested in the Alexander Technique. If it’s your New Year resolution to look into or perhaps start lessons then it may be of use to describe the sort of things I experienced when taking my lessons. Having said that, each person’s experience will be different due to the way in which we all use our bodies differently and any inherent weaknesses we may have, so you are in no means necessarily going to experience similar things, but you may! This is a link to the STAT website (The Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique) which gives further information and a directory of your local area teachers. Also to the right of the page are links on the ‘blogroll’ to NHS trials to do with back or neck pain. There are sometimes trials to do with the Alexander Technique so its worth checking out to see if there are any in your area.

Alexander technique

Alexander technique (Photo credit: alanpfitch)

I was recommended the Alexander Technique by my mother-in-law. Having found a teacher in my local area I spoke with her and was told that she could help me with the horrendous muscle spasms I was having and my back pain in general. At that stage I could only hope as I had tried many other things and was naturally sceptical of any claims for solutions to these problems.

My scepticism carried on for some time despite my wonderful teacher. Could something so gentle and relaxing actually do anything? I did however have the advantage of believing in a mind/body link, i.e. your mind can affect what your body experiences. To me this is fairly obvious. If we feel stressed we may get a headache or stiff shoulders or neck or our tummy may feel upset. We haven’t done anything physical to affect our body, its just how we feel has made an effect on our physical state. The Alexander Technique takes this much further as you would go on to experience should you take lessons.

However, you don’t need to believe it can work for it to work! That’s the beauty of it! I put into practice what I was being taught by my Alexander Technique teacher which meant I could then start to see the benefits and that in turn helped me to take further steps and be reconciled to the effectiveness of the technique.

Within the lessons as my posture changed the weight distribution altered on my feet. At the time I didn’t really understand this. I just felt pain in my feet and was fairly miserable about it…I always seemed to be chasing pain. However with encouragement from my teacher I understood it was temporary and took steps to ease the pain which included using a squash ball to roll under my instep and massage.

Another symptom was pain in my hands. Again, with the focus shifting from holding tension in my back, shoulders, arms etc. the tension found its way to my hands on the final way out of my body. With massage I could manage this pain and it was soon gone. It would be easy to be very worried about some of the areas which experience pain maybe for the first time but if you can view it in a way that your body is realigning itself to a more optimum state it is natural for this to happen. The areas/muscles which have been under used are utilised more and a period of readjustment of these muscles etc. will need to be gotten over. The best advice is not to panic! These physical symptoms actually helped me to believe something was happening and changing within my body!

I write about these things in particular as I haven’t seen much mention of this type of experience anywhere else and I know for me it was an important step to get over. These were the only ‘negative’ experiences of learning the technique and they were temporary and paled in comparison with the benefits I soon gained. My muscle spasms stopped (they had gotten to the stage of hospital admission and paralysis) completely and I learnt how to use my body in a more optimum way to reduce stress and strain on damaged areas. A truly life changing experience which continues on and will stay with me forever.

So in summary, learning the Alexander Technique was relaxing, empowering, interesting and most of all life changing. I can unhesitatingly recommend it and give it a full five stars!

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Subtle awareness, is this one of the answers?

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Alexander Technique

Alexander Technique (Photo credit: gordonplant)

How have I managed to move forward my recovery from chronic pain in such a dramatic way after two and a half long decades of pain and frustration. I now have the luxury of analysing the last 3 years and also the more recent past of 6 months using a mind which is clearer due to much less pain. Pain exhausts the mind as well as the body. Its only when you have less pain you can realise  how much your brain was otherwise engaged  However it’s rather difficult to explain. This subtlety is  definitely one for experiencing rather than just being made aware of it. Please bear with me whilst I attempt to explain!

I have explained in previous articles and posts how I used therapeutic massage for many years to cope with significant pain and to try to reduce its severity. I then layered on learning the Alexander Technique which stopped the life draining muscle and whole body spasms. I then was able to start moving my body with well targeted Sarah Key exercises without fear of injury. What thread ties these three techniques together? Was the order of the use of these techniques important?

We constantly use our bodies even when we sleep (how many of us wake up with a stiff neck from sleeping in an awkward position?). I have found its only when you become intricately aware of how your body is at any one time that you can then go on to modify and adapt your bodies state. This is done by addressing any problems you may be experiencing or preferably stop any problems in the first place. In other words, if you know what the problem is you can do something about it before it gets too bad! The trick is how do you get this knowledge, how do you know what the problem is or what contributes to the problem?

In all three techniques we have the opportunity to understand the subtleties of our body and how it reacts when used and at rest. The Alexander Technique however stands out more than the others due to its focus on the intricacies of movement. The person being taught the technique learns how to become aware of things which are so subtle that in ordinary day to day life they wouldn’t normally register in their conscious mind. When learning the techniques developed by Frederick Alexander the client’s mind is busy with all it must consider. When the technique becomes more learnt and ingrained then consideration of this subtle awareness takes no more than a blink of an eye or a random thought.

For example when out walking I may think about keeping my arms through to my finger tips relaxed and heavy by my sides, look at how I am holding my head, assess the tension in my legs and lower back, analyse how I am walking and determine how ‘lightly’ I am moving. Three years after learning the Alexander Technique I can do this with a flutter of my eyelids, no longer and no more effort than that.

I also believe that having become more aware of the subtleties of my own condition it enabled me to have the best outcome possible with a technique such as Physiotherapy (Sarah Key’s) due to my awareness of what my body was doing. It enabled me not to overdo specific exercises and to fully feel the effect of each one. This helped me tailor my own regime of exercise, rest and stretches.

You may call it becoming more body aware, self aware etc. There are no doubt other ways of doing this to a lesser or greater degree. I have found the Alexander Technique worked for me, there may be other ways but however it’s done it can bring rewards which stay with you forever.

Winter’s cold

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Winter morning

Winter morning (Photo credit: blmiers2)

I notice in winter time I turn inwards against the cold. My posture changes, my goal is to reduce the surface area of my body which is exposed to the cold air. My shoulders gravitate forward and in  and I tense various muscles – I guess in the hope of becoming smaller! Living in an old house which has its fair share of icy drafts means sometimes it hard to feel wrapped in a layer of warmth however many clothes I put on. Its at times like these I wish I could hibernate!!

I know at this time of the year I have to be really vigilant keeping my muscles relaxed and warm, not contracted. In the morning its especially hard to leave a warm bed. The warm shower never seems to last long enough. The thought of doing exercises in a cold room does nothing to my good intentions! I have to step up the mental energy required to push forward my recovery.

Countries that make regular use of saunas are places that I wish to be. Either that or winter sun!! But no, I am here and its time to wrap up warm, go for a brisk walk in the few hours of sunlight we have and put into practice all my Alexander Technique tips to keep my body relaxed and moving efficiently on this cold day. How many months have we left until Springtime?