Alexander technique,a process that teaches how to properly coordinate body and mind to release harmful tension and to improve posture, coordination and general health. The technique is named for the Australian Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955) who developed it. An actor, Alexander began his career as a Shakespearean orator. He developed chronic laryngitis while performing. Determined to restore the full use of his voice, he carefully watched himself while speaking, and observed that undue muscular tension accounted for his vocal problem. He sought a way to eliminate that restriction. Over time, he discovered and articulated a principle that he believed profoundly influenced health and well-being: when neck tension is reduced, the head no longer compresses the spine and the spine is free to lengthen. Alexander restored his own natural capacity for ease by changing the way he thought while initiating an action. From this work on himself and others, he evolved a hands-on teaching method that encouraged all the body's processes to work more efficiently -- as an integrated, dynamic whole. Today the Alexander technique is usually considered to be within the context of complementary and alternative medicine.
History :
F. Matthias Alexander (1869-1955) was an Australian actor and teacher. He originally developed the Alexander Technique as a method of vocal training for singers and actors in the 1890s. While Alexander was developing his method of voice training, he realized that the basis for all successful vocal education was an efficiently and naturally functioning respiratory mechanism. So, in teaching voice, Alexander focused primarily on helping the breathing mechanism to function more effectively. Because of his focus on "reeducating" the breathing mechanism, some of Alexander's students, who had come to him for vocal training, found that their respiratory difficulties also improved. These improvements were recognized by medical doctors who began referring their patients with respiratory ailments to Alexander for help. In this way, F.M. Alexander's technique of vocal training developed into a technique he termed "respiratory re-education."
Alexander had also made the discovery that breathing and vocalization are part and parcel of how the body functions as a whole. Habitual breathing and vocal patterns are parts of habitual patterns of general coordination. In fact, many problems we see as involving just one particular part of the body, e.g. lower back pain and "RSI," are often symptoms of larger habitual patterns of malcoordination.
The Alexander Technique is an intelligent way to solve body problems. Many people are mystified by their own back pain, excess tension or lack of coordination. They often see problems in their joints or muscles as structural, unchangeable. But as they learn the Technique, they are surprised they really can make lasting changes in the way they walk, their degree of muscular tension, or in the shape of their posture. They learn how dynamic and changeable the body really is. They find that, by learning the Technique, they can improve their overall movement and achieve optimal health for body and mind.
Working :
An Alexander Technique teacher helps you see what in your movement style contributes to your recurring difficulties — whether it's a bad back, neck and shoulder pain, restricted breathing, perpetual exhaustion, or limitations in performing a task or sport. Analyzing your whole movement pattern — not just your symptom — the teacher alerts you to habits of compression in your characteristic way of sitting, standing and walking. He or she then guides you — with words and a gentle, encouraging touch — to move in a freer, more integrated way.
The Technique's basic idea is that, when the neck muscles do not overwork, the head balances lightly at the top of spine. The key to the organization of movement is the relationship between the head and the spine. How we manage that relationship has ramifications throughout the rest of the body.
Our neuromuscular system is designed to work in concert with gravity. Delicate poise of the head sparks the body's anti-gravity response — a natural oppositional force in the torso that easily guides us upward and invites the spine to lengthen, rather than compress, as we move. Instead of slouching or holding ourselves in a rigid posture, we can learn to mobilize this support system and use it wherever we go — in the car, at the computer, in the gym.
Young children have this natural poise. If you watch a toddler in action, you will see an erect spine, free joints and a large head balancing easily on a little neck. A healthy child walks and plays with regal posture. Barring birth defects, we all began that way. But over the years we often lose that spontaneity and ease.
Using the Alexander Technique, you can learn to strip away harmful habits, heighten your self-awareness, and use your thought process to restore your original poise. In a way, you are learning something that, deep down, your body already knows. With the Alexander Technique, you come to understand more about how your body works, and how to make it work for you. You can tap more of your internal resources, and begin on a path to enhancing your comfort and pleasure in all your activities.
Alexander technique is helpful for :
* To improve posture
* To deal with neck or back pain, sciatica, RSI and the full range of muscular and skeletal problems
* To help heal physical injuries or recover from illness
* To learn how to carry out daily activities with ease
* To learn more effective ways to deal with stress
* To deal with voice problems
* To help their asthma or other breathing problems
* To cope with neurological disorders such as stroke, Parkinson's disease and MS
* To improve their ability in a chosen sport - running, horse-riding, golf etc
* For musicians - to play their instruments with ease and without pain
* For performing artists to improve their performances.
