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…

The Many Moods of Trip
Great picture, right? We Alexander Technique Teachers go on and on about good use, poise, ease, but you know what? These kids’ habits haven’t been formed, and they’re having a blast. …

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…

Here are a few of my favorite Alexander Technique related books, in no particular order:

Is the Alexander Technique a ’series of posture exercises?’ Yes. And no. What might be implied with the word ’series’ is that there are exercises one does in a certain order, and they’re the same for everybody… however, exercise doesn’t always mean working out or lifting weights…One of the big difference between many of these Alexander Tech posture exercises and what we might usually think of as exercise is that that you don’t have to spend any extra time ‘doing’ the Alexander Technique. You incorporate…

A useful component in learning the Alexander Technique is the idea of oppositions. A few Alexander Technique oppositions include: head and torso opposing each other, arms and torso, legs and torso, sit bones down; torso and head up, shoulders opposing each other and more… We probably aren’t going to learn the Alexander Technique purely through observation but being aware combined with lessons…