The child in this picture is using her body elegantly and effortlessly whether she was snow skiing, water skiing, playing baseball, beginning to sit or, something we all do all the time, grabbing a dog’s snout. We were all her age once and this is the way we used to move. This is the way we were meant to carry ourselves now, which is why the Alexander Technique is sometimes called a RE-education process. It’s never too late to relearn how we used to be. 

Sometimes we need to make ourselves shorter; leaning over a sink, picking something up, sitting down, or playing a sport. The girl in the picture is shortening herself for leverage, but not by shortening her spine. She is lowering herself by letting her knees go forward, while her hip joints move back. Knees forward, hips back. So when we sit down, or pick up something from the floor, we want to do three things:

1. Knees forward

2. Hip joints back

3. Nothing else

Number three is the challenging part. Most of us usually tense our necks, arch our backs, shorten and compress our spines, lessen our breathing capacity, tense our jaws and on and on. We even do this ‘just’ sitting at the computer. How’s you posture right now?

Mark Josefsberg-Alexander Technique NYC

Mark@MarkJosefsberg.com

Related posts:

1. Incorporating The Alexander Technique
2. Alexander Technique Lessons. #1-Computer Posture
3. Alexander Technique Posture Exercises
4. Alexander Technique Lessons. #2 Head Forward and Up
5. Alexander Technique Lessons. #3