Mark Josefsberg- Nationally Certified Alexander Technique Teacher offering Alexander Technique lessons in New York City. Fix your posture, reduce your back pain, neck pain, stress and more with the Alexander Technique.
For locations and fees please see the ‘FAQ’s’ page (on top.)
“With good humor, specificity, and charm, Mark makes a challenging technique accessible and fun!” -Kyra Sedgwick
“I really enjoyed our Alexander Technique sessions, 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.
To schedule a session call Mark: (917) 709-4648 or email: Mark@MarkJosefsberg.com
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…The Alexander Technique is the good news. I teach, show, and coach almost everyone who comes to me how to use the computer without injury. If people are in pain already I teach them how to stop injuring themselves, and the steps to take to allow the body to heal. You could try it right now. See if you can notice any neck tension. It’s there, though you may not be able to sense it at this point. You can learn to let these muscles go. If you release your neck muscles, your head will rotate forward, and move up. You could think this way: I want my neck to be free so that my head will move forward and up. This ‘forward’ business doesn’t mean forward as in your face moving towards the screen…
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…
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…
I would recommend any patient try the technique before more invasive interventions; that is, patients with chronic or recurrent functional back pain…Dr. Paul Little, Professor of Primary Care Research.
1. Become aware, and then let go of the muscles in the back of your neck.
2. Think of your head moving up. (The crown of your head)
3. Slightly, slowly lower your nose.
4. Continue 1,2,3, and let your sit bones release down in your chair, but your torso moves up.
5. If you’re standing, let your feet release down while the rest of you moves up.
6. Let your jaw dangle open, even when you’re lips are closed. (Give it a try)…
The Alexander Technique is great when you miss the F train, here in NYC…just letting go of extra muscular effort in your neck…
Oprah Story Sparks Interest in Alexander Technique for Back Pain Relief
It’s a nagging health problem that affects nearly every adult in Western society at least once in his or her lifetime. It ranks near the …
“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 …
In some ways the Alexander Technique helps us get better at doing less. Doing less? This goes against the general vibe of New York City; the City that never sleeps, or even takes a nap. The Alexander Technique challenges the general vibe of NYC and other large cities in many ways.
Many of us have been taught to ‘do more’, ‘push yourself’, ‘no pain no gain’, and ‘always try harder’…
I have a stiff neck. We say we have a stiff or sore neck, as if someone gave it to us and now it’s ours. In Alexander Technique terms it might be more accurate to say “I’m stiffening my neck.” Of course if you say it that way you sound insane…
“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…
The Alexander Technique has been described as a reeducation technique or psycho-physical reeducation. It is also a technique to be overlearned, and not only because you learn it over other things (bad habits of either movement or stillness), but when it comes to the Alexander Technique we need to be overeducated; we need to overlearn it so that we can use it under duress, much like a musician practices over and over to be able to execute music under stress…
