Articles by Mark Josefsberg
…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…
…the Alexander Technique, however, works differently. Though with Alexander Technique lessons back pain is sometimes quickly and dramatically decreased, Alexander’s simple method gets more to the root of the problem. And the root of the problem, quite often, is us and how we misuse our body. Back pain (and neck pain) is exacerbated by compressing our spines all day and all night long. We slump at out computers (like now?)…
“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…
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.
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“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.
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Mark Josefsberg-Alexander Technique Teacher NYC
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In teaching the Alexander Technique here in NYC, I often use the words ‘let’ and ‘allow’, as in ‘allow’ your neck to be free or ‘let’ your head lead your spine into length. During Alexander Technique lessons I might say ‘allow’ your entire ribcage to contract and expand as you breathe and ‘allow’ your sit bones to release down into the chair. ‘Let’ your torso gently spiral as you walk, ‘allow’ your jaw to release, and countless other examples of allowing… letting…
If we need to allow things to happen, it stands to reason that we unconsciously disallow them from happening…
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…
On my subway ride to teach some Alexander Technique lessons at the American Center for the Alexander Technique in Mahattan, I noticed a man who could not have been more stooped over. As an Alexander Technique teacher I was particularly aware of how he was seated, reading the paper, his head not very far from his knees. His face was quite tense, and had a scowl I suspected was habitual. He seemed to ‘have the weight of the world on his shoulders…
…the Alexander Technique ‘inhabits’ your body through the cultivation of awareness. We realize, through Alexander Technique lessons, that we have control over this tension. I didn’t know that I had control over my overly-tensed painful neck until I started working with an Alexander Technique teacher. I just thought: my neck is tense and it hurts. I didn’t know…
New York Magazine asked 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!
For those of you who don’t live near an Alexander Technique teacher, Skype is an excellent way of learning the Alexander Technique. Now you can study the Alexander Technique with Mark Josefsberg, an experienced Alexander teacher, from the convenience of your home. While hands-on lessons are of course optimal…

