Alexander Technique in New York City is a challenge. Applying the Alexander Technique to bike riding in New York City is a bigger challenge! For my first bike (bicycle) ride I chose to be near NYC. This was my first ride in quite a few years. It’s funny how once you’ve learned this skill, it stays with you forever. It’s kind of like riding a bike…anyway it was great to be riding again; supplying my own power, the wind rustling through where my hair used to be…

Yesterday a student told me that he thought it ‘took energy’ to sit or stand using the principles of the Alexander Technique. If he just sat the way he always sat, he said, it took very little effort and felt comfortable. I can’t disagree that it is comfortable to sit, stand, move and walk in our habitual way. A lot of our habits, though comfortable, aren’t beneficial for us. Slumping is one of those habits, and slumping also takes energy because…

It’s hard to know how fast and crazy everything around a large city can be, until you leave it. I think it’s comparable to people at the beginning of Alexander Technique lessons not realizing how much they’re tensing themselves, until they release that tension… It also made me realize that I want to take some of that calm energy back with me as I teach my Alexander Technique lessons in NYC.

Force of habit is an interesting expression, and for some reason I’ve been hearing it a lot lately. The ‘habit’ part is something Alexander Technique teachers deal with every day. One of the 5000 descriptions of the Alexander Technique is that it helps you break unwanted habits. The ‘force’ part makes it seem like we’re powerless to resist; or that we have to resist at all…
With the Alexander Technique we form new and more beneficial habits while sitting at the computer, standing, walking, bending… Pretty soon these new ways become second nature to us…

…Alexander Technique is something new to learn, and Alexander Technique lessons help you do your morning routine or any other routine in an un-routine way. Alexander Technique teachers… if you have back pain or you have bad posture, take some Alexander Technique lessons. One day it might help you remember…

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…