Mark Josefsberg~
AmSAT, ACAT Certified Alexander Technique teacher.
Alexander Technique-Improve your posture, stop your lower back pain, upper back pain, neck pain, stress and tension. The Alexander Technique is simple, proven, practical and effective for back posture, neck posture, headaches, breathing problems and more. I’m a full-time Alexander Technique teacher offering Alexander Technique lessons and Alexander Technique classes in New York City, New York.
Next Alexander Technique Group Class: Monday, January 30th. 7:00-8:30PM
See GROUP CLASSES page for more info.
Next Alexander Technique private lesson: Anytime you want!
“With good humor, specificity, and charm, Mark makes a challenging technique accessible and fun!” Kyra Sedgwick, Emmy-winning actress. (”The Closer”)
“I really enjoyed our Alexander Technique lessons, learned a lot, felt lighter, more balanced and my neck pain is better. You have a true healing presence and great knowledge and skill.”
-Martin Ehrlich M.D., M.P.H. Medical Director, Beth Israel Continuum Center for Health and Healing.
Find more Alexander Technique NYC endorsements on my TESTIMONIALS page.
To schedule your Alexander Technique lesson, or to find out more about my Alexander teaching:
Call Mark: (917) 709-4648 or
(269) P-O-S-T-U-R-E
Email: Mark@MarkJosefsberg.com
Mark Josefsberg-Alexander Technique Teacher NYC
Join my free Enewsletter to receive Alexander Technique tips,
and info about my next Alexander Technique Group Classes.
Also visit: www.DiabetesSupportGroupsNYC.com and,
www.PersonalDiabetesSupport.com
Alexander Technique Tips
1. Pause…Breathe fully…
2. Become aware, and then let go of the muscles in the back of your neck.
3. Think of your head moving up… and then let it.
4. Slightly, slowly lower your nose.
5. Take it from the beginning. (1,2,3,4.) Let your sit bones release down in your chair but, in opposition, your torso and head moves up.
6. See what happens when you let your jaw dangle open, even when you’re lips are closed.
7. Let your throat open as if you’re about to whisper ‘ah’.
8. Re -visit 1,2,3, and 4 often.
9. Let your shoulders rest on your ribcage. See if you’re lifting them up. Smile, and then let them ease down.
10. While sitting, let go of excess tension in your legs without collapsing your torso.
11. Think of your knees going away from your torso, and away from each other.
12. Notice if you’re squeezing your legs together. Release your thigh muscles. Free your neck of excess tension again.
13. Let your toes widen out. Notice any gripping.
14. Go back to 1,2,3,4 anytime you like. Breathe fully.
15. See if you could do less with your fingers, hands, biceps and shoulders.
16. Think of something funny or pleasant and smile, even a faint smile from behind the eyes.
17. Let yourself breathe out fully, then let the air come in gently and fully.
18. Bring awareness to your forehead and let those muscles go.
19. Notice if you’re looking at these words too intensely, and see if your gaze can be softer.
20. Breathe fully letting your entire torso contract as you exhale, and expand as you inhale. Are you less tense for the moment? Repeat as often as you wish.
Mark Josefsberg-Alexander Technique NYC
Call Mark@ 269- POSTURE
or 917.709.4648
Here is a post from Psych Central. This is something Alexander Technique teachers have known for years (about 115 years)
It concerns posture and it’s effects on pain. While it doesn’t address the how of achieving good posture, it does speak to the effects of poor posture on pain. There is also another element: poor posture can cause pain. I see it every day when giving Alexander Technique lessons. One of the big culprits for back pain and neck pain is the computer…
In these hands-on, experiential Alexander Technique classes you will learn how to improve your posture. We will explore simple everyday acts including sitting, standing and walking. We will look at how to sit at the computer without slumping, or stiffening up.
Can the Alexander Technique and Alexander Technique lessons help us with the stress of the holidays, 2011 style? Absolutely, especially when we remember that the stress isn’t the problem. The real problem is how we handle the stress, and the manifestations of the stress. Stress has symptoms. Our body tells us we’re stressed because our breathing gets shallow, our hearts race and our muscles contract. We tighten our necks, bringing our head back and down which could be a result of our habitual startle response…
More than most modalities, the word ‘and’ follows ‘Alexander Technique.’ There are thousands of examples, but I’ll list five:
1. The Alexander Technique and back pain.
2. The Alexander Technique and posture.
3. The Alexander Technique and neck pain.
4. The Alexander Technique and stress.
5. The Alexander Technique and computer use.
I could go on and on. I will…
“A correct position or posture indicates a fixed position, and a person held to a fixed position cannot grow, as we understand growth. The correct position today cannot be the correct position a week later for any person who is advancing in the work of reeducation and coordination.
F.M. Alexander- Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual
During Alexander Technique lessons, people frequently sit up straight or move their head around and ask: is this right?” I answer differently in different situations, but the real answer might be: No. I don’t say that because the…
There have been quite a few articles on the Alexander Technique published in the New York Times. The following Alexander Technique article appeared in the New York Times on June 24th, 2011. This one has a very unfortunate title. If ’sitting up straight’ was all we had to do, we would all be doing it. Sitting up straight is an example of military posture. The problem is that we just add tension by doing this…
“We look at what you are doing that causes that problem in the first place, so how you sit at the computer or how you pick up you child or what you do when you’re driving,” says Gray. “I look at ways of changing your postural habits so you don’t get into pain.”
These aren’t static postures, though. Those who promote the technique say its more about how you move…
The reason most people try to find an Alexander Technique teacher and start Alexander lessons is to improve their posture. Additionally, some may have made a connection between their poor posture and their neck pain or back pain. Having the motivation to fix posture is as good a reason as any to start studying the Alexander Technique. Not too far into the process of learning the Alexander Technique, however…
“The Alexander Technique remains the best of the self-care strategies to prevent the sequel of poor posture and poor breathing.”-Harold wise, MD.,PC, New York, NY
“The Alexander Technique stresses unification in an era of greater and greater medical specialization. Its educational system teaches people how to…
…I just did it amping up the principles of the Alexander Technique. I used the principles of the Alexander Technique by letting go of the extra, un-needed tension in my neck, allowing my head to rotate forward, and up. My head led my spine into length and I thought upwards as I went down to the kitchen bags, but just by bending my knees and letting my hip joints move backwards.
I don’t know if I made the process more fun, but the Alexander Technique (or, the Alexandra Technique) changed it. The first thing I noticed was that I was noticing…
I have a stiff neck. We say we have a stiff or sore neck, as if someone gave it to us and now it’s ours. In Alexander Technique terms it might be more accurate to say “I’m stiffening my neck.” Of course if you say it that way you sound insane…
“How can I incorporate the Alexander Technique into my life?” I hear this question, and versions of it, frequently at Alexander Technique lessons. It’s really a great question and gets to the heart of the matter of the benefits of the Alexander Technique.
The Alexander Technique is done as you think about it. If you’re thinking about the principles of the Alexander Technique, you’re doing the technique, or you’re practicing the technique, or you’re performing the technique, or you’re applying the technique, or you’re incorporating the Alexander Technique into your life.
As an Alexander Technique teacher I emphasize awareness of initiating movement; how you start actions like moving your hands, initiating walking, so…
The Alexander Technique is great when you miss the F train, here in NYC…just letting go of extra muscular effort in your neck…
