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…

‘P‘ words seemp to have have an important and prominent place in the Alexander Technique, precisely why there’ll be a pot-pourri of p’s permeating and peppering this perfunctory post.

It’s plausible to think the Alexander Technique is about particular positions, poses or appearances but more precisely…

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

Is the Alexander Technique a ’series of 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… Exercise doesn’t always mean working out or lifting weights…One of the big difference between many of these Alexander Technique 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…

Got an extra third of a second or so? You could use it by doing nothing. Not doing anything. Not doing the thing you were going to do, and instead doing something different. Or not that either. Your choice. It’s your choice, if you stop your habitual, automatic response and choose. Mind the gap…

…think of the head moving forward as a forward rotation of the head on the spine. Slowly lower your nose as you let the crown of your head move up. Let your head lead your spine into length. When you want to get closer to the computer screen, use your hip joints and leave your spine alone. Don’t force…

So, if you’re tensing your neck, not only will it bring your head back and down, but it will shorten and narrow your torso, giving you a sunken, round-shouldered look. You can try it yourself to see, or maybe you’re trying it right now as you collapse towards the computer screen. Don’t worry…