The stresses and strains of modern living, combined with the ubiquity of the computer, cell phone, blackberry etc., seem to draw us in, collapsing us forward and down and giving us one version of bad posture . (Another version of bad posture would be sitting up rigidly straight. That doesn’t work because it won’t be maintained, and it’s not helpful to add extra tension. Sitting or standing up straight usually means military posture.)
So as not to smash our faces into the screen, desk, or floor…

When you learn to drive you are taught to grip the steering wheel at ten and two, unless you’re thinking of a digital clock; then it gets confusing. If you weren’t taught by an Alexander Technique teacher, you likely weren’t taught how to grip the steering wheel, how little muscular effort is needed, or how to stop gripping in other parts of your body while driving. I observed that for highway driving I could get away with keeping my hands comfortably lower; perhaps around 4:35, give or take a few minutes. I also noticed, whenever I became aware, I could release tension in my hands. Once I released that extra effort I was able to notice tension elsewhere, including my jaw and my neck, and release that unneeded tension too. Moving up and away from my hands…

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…

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…

“The greater the actor’s sensitivity and awareness of his body, the wider the range of choices or responses he can make for himself and his characters.”  Kelly McEvenue-The Actor And The Alexander Technique
Working with …

1.    Head in the clouds; feet on the earth. Think of the opposition of your head moving up, while your feet are releasing down. If you’re sitting, think of your head moving up and your …

Alexander Technique lessons in New York City, 2009, have a lot in common with the Alexander Technique of the early 1900’s. Slumping and slouching are still alive and well…

There have probably been 5000 articles written with the title ‘Your Mother Was Right’, when it comes to posture. The articles imply that mothers tell their children to ‘sit up straight!’ and that’s a good thing…or is it?

Some meditators have told me that one of the challenges to their practice is attempting to sit comfortably for a length of time; whether ten minutes or an hour or more…