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’…

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 …

In Man’s Supreme Inheritance by F.M.Alexander, (the ‘Alexander’ in the Alexander Technique) writes…”a human being functions as a whole and can only be functionally changed as a whole.” In my Alexander Technique teaching here in NYC this is illuminated countless times. People get the mistaken impression that their back pain has nothing to do with their neck, their neck pain has nothing to do with their jaw, their hand pain has nothing to do with their overall tension, and their shallow breathing has nothing to do with their job…

The Alexander Technique is a way to reduce back pain. It’s a way to reduce neck pain. A way to have better posture. It’s psychophysical re-education…

Sometimes when we go we go these people we are put in weird positions, and I’m not talking about having to foot the bill.
Which reminds me of one more: Podiatrists.  The weird position I’m talking …

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…

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…

It can get pretty cold in New York City, and the Alexander Technique can help; not with the cold, but how we react to the cold. When we’re cold we tend to shorten our spines, though this is usually an unconscious action. We scrunch our necks in an effort to keep warm. It might or might not it keep us warm, but it certainly doesn’t help our neck…

Can the Alexander Technique and Alexander Technique lessons help us with the stress of the holidays, 2009 style? Absolutely, especially when we remember that the stress isn’t the problem. The real problem is how we handle the stress, and the manifestations of the stress. Stress has symptoms. Our body tells us we’re stressed because our breathing gets shallow, our hearts race and our muscles contract. We tighten our necks, bringing our head back and down which could be a result of our habitual startle response…

The Alexander Technique teaches us how to reduce our stress in a New York minute. In New York City, or any other large city, less stress is welcome and needed. The Alexander Technique helps by giving us more control over ourselves, but this control is not the rigid kind we usually think of. The Alexander Technique type of control leads towards freedom and the lessening of stress and tension…