Alexander Technique teachers have to coach during Alexander Technique lessons. It is not enough to know and be able to teach Alexander Technique principles; you want to know both how to apply them yourself and show students how to apply them. In addition, encouragement is vital because the student may be changing lifetime habits. This takes energy and dedication from the student, and an empathetic…
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New York Magazine a
sked me to write a few sentences on the Alexander Technique for the January 18, 2010 issue. The article is entitled: ‘50 Steps To Simple Happiness.’ Included in the few sentences I was to give instructions about the Alexander Technique, and when to ‘do’ the Alexander Technique. Yikes… When to do the Alexander Technique? When not to do the Alexander Technique would save words!
They changed one word. I actually wrote “Allow your neck to free”, but they changed it to : “Allow your neck to relax.” Interesting.
Anyway, it’s tip #49 (just made it!), and the link is HERE.
Here is the post as it appeared:
49. “Pause. Allow your neck to relax, your nose to slowly lower, and the crown of your head to rise. Release your whole spine into length. Notice extra tension and release it. Breathe fully and slowly; smile. Begin your morning with this, end with it, use it as many times during the day as possible.” Mark Josefsberg, Alexander Technique Teacher
(269) POSTURE
or (917) 709-4648
“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…
…The Alexander Technique is the good news. I teach, show, and coach almost everyone who comes to me how to use the computer without injury. If people are in pain already I teach them how to stop injuring themselves, and the steps to take to allow the body to heal. You could try it right now. See if you can notice any neck tension. It’s there, though you may not be able to sense it at this point. You can learn to let these muscles go. If you release your neck muscles, your head will rotate forward, and move up. You could think this way: I want my neck to be free so that my head will move forward and up. This ‘forward’ business doesn’t mean forward as in your face moving towards the screen…
1. Head in the clouds; feet on the earth. Think of the opposition of your head moving up, while your feet are releasing down. If you’re sitting, think of your head moving up and your …
The stresses and strains of modern living, combined with the ubiquity of the computer, cell phone, blackberry etc., seem to draw us in, collapsing us forward and down and giving us one version of bad posture . (Another version of bad posture would be sitting up rigidly straight. That doesn’t work because it won’t be maintained, and it’s not helpful to add extra tension. Sitting or standing up straight usually means military posture.)
So as not to smash our faces into the screen, desk, or floor…
The Alexander Technique teaches us how to reduce our stress in a New York minute. In New York City, or any other large city, less stress is welcome and needed. The Alexander Technique helps by giving us more control over ourselves, but this control is not the rigid kind we usually think of. The Alexander Technique type of control leads towards freedom and the lessening of stress and tension…
When you learn to drive you are taught to grip the steering wheel at ten and two, unless you’re thinking of a digital clock; then it gets confusing. If you weren’t taught by an Alexander Technique teacher, you likely weren’t taught how to grip the steering wheel, how little muscular effort is needed, or how to stop gripping in other parts of your body while driving. I observed that for highway driving I could get away with keeping my hands comfortably lower; perhaps around 4:35, give or take a few minutes. I also noticed, whenever I became aware, I could release tension in my hands. Once I released that extra effort I was able to notice tension elsewhere, including my jaw and my neck, and release that unneeded tension too. Moving up and away from my hands…
What are you doing right now as you’re sitting and reading this? I’ll assume you’re sitting and reading right now.
If you are sitting, where is your face? I mean, is it poking towards the computer screen? A clearer way to think about this is that you’re poking your neck towards the screen; your face is going along for the ride. We tend to poke our necks forward and down; compressing. The muscles in our necks are working harder than necessary. It would be better…
One area people ask me about most concerns computer posture. We tend to collapse down in front, poking our necks, faces and upper chest towards the screen. Sound familiar? Feel familiar? How about right now?… What we want is for our necks to be free of excess tension, so that our head can move up. Tension shortens our neck, bringing the head back and down. We want the head to move forward (rotationally) and up. A simple way to achieve this forward rotation is to slightly, slowly lower your nose, while the crown of your head moves up. At the same time…
I would recommend any patient try the technique before more invasive interventions; that is, patients with chronic or recurrent functional back pain…Dr. Paul Little, Professor of Primary Care Research.
1. Become aware, and then let go of the muscles in the back of your neck.
2. Think of your head moving up. (The crown of your head)
3. Slightly, slowly lower your nose.
4. Continue 1,2,3, and let your sit bones release down in your chair, but your torso moves up.
5. If you’re standing, let your feet release down while the rest of you moves up.
6. Let your jaw dangle open, even when you’re lips are closed. (Give it a try)…
It can get pretty cold in New York City, and the Alexander Technique can help; not with the cold, but how we react to the cold. When we’re cold we tend to shorten our spines, though this is usually an unconscious action. We scrunch our necks in an effort to keep warm. It might or might not it keep us warm, but it certainly doesn’t help our neck…
The Alexander Technique offers a different kind of posture training, a different kind of posture.You can apply the Alexander Technique to any situation. You can be more easeful, with less tension and compression. You will look like you have better posture.
The Alexander Technique is great when you miss the F train, here in NYC…just letting go of extra muscular effort in your neck…
