1. Pause…Breathe fully…
2. Become aware, and then let go of the muscles in the back of your neck.
3. This will move your head up.
4. Free your neck again, and slightly, slowly, lower your nose.
5. Repeat from the beginning. (1, 2, 3, 4.) Let your sit bones release down in your chair but, in opposition, your torso and head moves up.
6. Let your jaw dangle open, even when your lips are closed. Teeth open, lips gently touching.
7. Let your throat open as if you’re about to whisper ‘ah’.
8. Re-visit 1,2,3, and 4.
9. Let your shoulders rest on your ribcage. See if you’re lifting them up. Smile, and then let them ease down.
10. While sitting, let go of excess tension in your legs, without collapsing your torso.
11. Think of your knees going away from your torso, and away from each other.
12. Notice if you’re squeezing your legs together. Release your thigh muscles. Free your neck of excess tension again.
13. Notice any gripping, anywhere.
14. Go back to 1, 2, 3, 4 anytime. Breathe fully.
15. See if you could do less with your fingers, hands, biceps, and shoulders.
16. Think of something funny or pleasant and smile. Include the muscles in the corners of your eyes.
17. Breathe out through your mouth as you whisper ah. Let the air come back through your nose, silently. Repeat.
18. Bring awareness to your forehead and facial muscles.
19. Notice if you’re looking at these words too intensely, and see if your gaze can be softer.
20. Whisper ah on a long exhale. Breathe in through your nose, silently.
By Mark Josefsberg-Alexander Technique NYC
(917) 709-4648
[…] New Top 20 Tips 2 Release Tension | markjosefsberg.com […]
Thank you for your nice, clear instructions – this really worked!
Thanks, RM. I think we can make the Alexander Technique more simple, especially as people are being introduced to it. I also think that showing Alexander Technique’s benefits is a good idea. It’s such a useful, practical technique. We don’t need to make it unnecessarily mysterious!
“We don’t need to make it unnecessarily mysterious!” Couldn’t agree more! I got a link to this from my friend Amy Ward Brimmer, also my former Alexander Technique teacher. I have to say that after decades of wanting to take Alexander lessons, I found the whole thing unnecessarily mysterious and frustrating! The 20-step meditation/practice here is so clear and practical! Thanks 🙂
Thank you so much, Jane. The Alexander Technique is really quite simple. I’m not sure why we want to make it needlessly complicated!
Thanks for the great tips Mark!
Really nice job with your site btw. Keep up the good work with your articles!
Thanks for all your help, Stefan!
Wasn’t it your idea for me to write a list of 20 ways the Alexander Technique could help with excess tension?
Mark
sir,
i have one doubt.
please clarify me
can we expand the ribcage and lumbar back muscles
thinking rather than doing with primary control?
is it helpful.
thank you.
[…] useful to exaggerate your habit, just to examine what’s going on. Notice if there’s excess tension as you hold a pot, or frying pan, or even as you open a refrigerator door or […]
[…] click here for a practical way to relieve tension and […]
[…] but you can learn to not get what you don’t want. The Alexander Technique helps you not have tension, stiffness, shallow breathing, pain or poor […]
I love these tips! I pull it up several times a day at work when I start getting tense and it really helps. I just starting working with the Alexander technique a few months ago and it seems to be helping me with neck pain that I have been battling for years. What frustrates me is all of the theory and semantics, which is reflected in some of the comments posted. When you start out using the technique it is important to see some immediate results before delving into all of the theory. It seems to me many people make it very complicated. So thanks for keeping it simple for all of us that are focused on pain relief rather than intellectual debate.
.
Hi Jennifer,
I appreciate this comment.
this helped me reduce tension
I’m glad Roy. One of the great aspects of the Alexander Technique is that you get better with practice, and you can practice the Alexander Technique anytime you want!
Briliant! That you, you help me to change the direction I was going this morning 🙂
Thank you Alicia! I appreciate you sending this note. It helps my morning too!
Thanks Mark, for your ongoing tips on the Alexander Technique many of which have helped me…..I am an older man and have tried to follow what I was taught by the 2 teachers I learned from in Sydney, Australia…..there is a problem however…..I have encountered little or no understanding of what ïnhibition”means…..I have recently discovered the teachings of Miss Margaret Goldie who was a first generation teacher with FM Alexander whose main emphasis was on “non doing”as a positive and not a negative approach….I recommend anyone interested to visit her web site “Miss goldie the complete guide to the Alexander Technique”which specialises on this aspect of FM’s teaching which appears to be largely overlooked.
Hi Kenneth,
Thanks for spreading the word about Margaret Goldie. It sounds like you have an idea of what inhibition means from your own studying. I think the main thing about inhibition is developing your own ideas about what it is and, more importantly, how to use it. Every Alexander Technique teacher has their own unique way of thinking about and teaching inhibition. It is one of the first topics I discuss with my students, even via Skype.
Thanks again for sharing your information.
Mark,
I think this newsletter is the most helpful one yet. Thank you so much.
Like Kenneth, I also struggle with understanding “inhibition”. It seems it should be useful in my piano playing where tension sets in as I approach a challenging passage. But I’ve tried it for this with very minimal success.
Hi Bill,
Do you have an Alexander teacher? He/she could explain and demonstrate.
Maybe you could try what F.M. Alexander described in The Use of the Self. It’s how he taught himself inhibition. In this case, play up to the difficult passage, and do one of three options. 1. don’t play, but free your neck etc. 2. Do something else (raise your arm) 3. Go ahead and play.
If you don’t have the book, it would be a good investment, I think. Good luck, and let me know!
Hi Mark,
Thanks for the reply and valuable comments. I’ve bought many books on the Alexander technique but have held off on buying books by Alexander himself. This is because I read where his writings could be hard to follow. However, I will now get this book.
Your 20 tips gave me at least a few insights. Your suggestion to dangle the jaw is proving to be much better than other jaw directions I’ve seen such as “Allow the jaw to release from the ears (or scull)”.
Hi Bill,
The Use of the Self is by far F.M. Alexander’s most accessible book. If you ever want to have a Skype lesson, please let me know. Thanks for commenting!
I appreciate your tips so very much. Where could you direct us to help a six year old girl walk on her feet instead of her toes? Her mother did the same, but stopped at a younger age, yet still does at times without realizing it. The parents of the six year old are concerned about future damage to muscles, etc.
Hope you’re doing well, and received my note offline.
Thanks, Kate!
I have been dealing with tension in by back for many months now. I have tried so many different home remedies but nothing really seems to do the trick for me. A friend of mine suggested seeing a chiropractor about rolfing. If it helps with the tension and pain, I am really open to anything! I will have to try out these tips in the meantime, thanks for sharing!
Hi Jessy,
Chiropractic and Rolfing (Structural Integration) are different. There’s a chance either might help you. If you have tension in your back, there’s a good chance it’s there because you’re tensing your back (and neck) If I were you, I’d look for an Alexander Technique teacher in your area. If you have trouble finding one, let me know and I’ll try to help.
Dear Mr. Josefsberg, I really liked your tips regarding tension which I would like to share with my AT students. Unfortunately when I tried to print a copy for myself I was unable to do so. I asked another AT teacher to try and she was unable to get the tips printed. Is there something I need to do to be able to get a copy for myself? Thanks for your very helpful AT emails. Barbara Casey, AT teacher from Rhode Island
Hi Barbara,
Thanks a lot! As far as I know, there’s no special trick to copy them. But, let me try and I’ll email them to you.