Reading Slump
How are you supposed to read without collapsing in front? Doesn’t the book (you remember them) draw you down into it? Is there a way to read without compressing your spine, or holding it rigidly upright?
Here in NYC a lot of us spend a good deal of time on the subway. We all seem to be carrying bags, briefcases, and packs of all types. Although these can be a pain (literally) to carry around, they can make great book/newspaper/magazine holders.
If you prop up your forearm and hand on one of these bags, you’re bringing the reading closer to your eyes. This helps reduce the angle, requiring you to lean over less. This makes it easier to think about Alexander’s directions.
If you’re reading in your house or apartment, you have even more choices. Now you can lean the book on a table. You might also put pillows on your lap and prop the book up that way.
Whether you choose to use a prop or not, think of the Alexander Technique primary directions. An Alexander teacher will help you understand these, both intellectually and kinesthetically.
Alexander’s primary directions:
I wish to free my neck so that
my head can go forward and up so that
my torso can lengthen and widen
and my legs can move away from my torso
and my shoulders can release out the sides.
When you look down, think of pivoting your head from the top of the spine, which is higher up than we usually imagine. Think of a rod going through your head at the level of you ear holes, and pivot your head down and up from there, without collapsing your neck forward. Don’t forget to use your eyes to look down. Look at the kid in the picture checking out the used motorcycles. He’s showing us why the Alexander Technique is considered a re-education process.
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A very important topic! Is there any way you could add a visual aid?
A photo or drawing of what this looks like?
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Liane. Specifically, do you mean what the atlanto-occipital joints look like, or what it looks like to look up and down without slumping?
Mark
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Alexander Technique »
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Neck Pain »
How To Reduce Neck Pain
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…
Posture »
Alexander Technique Posture Directions
Alexander Technique Directions
I wish to free my neck … so that
My head can move forward and up…so that
My torso can lengthen and widen and…
My legs can move away from my torso and…
My shoulders can release out the sides.
Alexander Technique directions act as verbal, or neuro-linguistc cues. They tell us where we want to go, which is often upward, outward, into expansion. Up, down, and out. Head up, feet or sit bones down, shoulders out, legs away…
Stress »
Over Learning The Alexander Technique
The Alexander Technique has been described as a reeducation technique or psycho-physical reeducation. It is also a technique to be overlearned, and not only because you learn it over other things (bad habits of either movement or stillness), but when it comes to the Alexander Technique we need to be overeducated; we need to overlearn it so that we can use it under duress, much like a musician practices over and over to be able to execute music under stress…
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Why Take Alexander Technique lessons?
2. Get lasting relief for your back pain and neck pain. (reported by The British Medical Journal)
3. Reduce your anxiety and stress by releasing unnecessary tension.
4. Carry yourself with confidence, and present yourself with poise and strength.
5. Breathe easier and have a stronger voice.
6. Why Alexander Technique lessons?
Because we live in New York!
Mark Josefsberg-AmSAT and ACAT Certified Alexander Technique Teacher
Mark@MarkJosefsberg.com
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