Alexander Technique Saturdays in NYC! In these small, hands-on, experiential Alexander Technique classes you will learn how to improve your posture. We will explore simple everyday acts including sitting, standing and walking. We will look at how to sit at the computer without slumping, or stiffening up…

More than most modalities, the word ‘and’ follows ‘Alexander Technique.’ There are thousands of examples, but I’ll list five:

1. The Alexander Technique and back pain.

2. The Alexander Technique and posture.

3. The Alexander Technique and neck pain.

4. The Alexander Technique and stress.

5. The Alexander Technique and computer use.

I could go on and on. I will…

“A correct position or posture indicates a fixed position, and a person held to a fixed position cannot grow, as we understand growth. The correct position today cannot be the correct position a week later for any person who is advancing in the work of reeducation and coordination.

F.M. Alexander- Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual

During Alexander Technique lessons, people frequently sit up straight or move their head around and ask: is this right?” I answer differently in different situations, but the real answer might be: No. I don’t say that because the…

There have been quite a few articles on the Alexander Technique published in the New York Times. The following Alexander Technique article appeared in the New York Times on June 24th, 2011. This one has a very unfortunate title. If ’sitting up straight’ was all we had to do, we would all be doing it. Sitting up straight is an example of military posture. The problem is that we just add tension by doing this…

The reason most people try to find an Alexander Technique teacher and start Alexander lessons is to improve their posture. Additionally, some may have made a connection between their poor posture and their neck pain or back pain. Having the motivation to fix posture is as good a reason as any to start studying the Alexander Technique. Not too far into the process of learning the Alexander Technique, however…

…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…

“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…

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…