Where would I be without the Alexander Technique?
Over fifteen years ago, hand and neck pain was dominating my life.
The pain came on quickly, and persisted. Once it began, hardly a minute went by where I wasn’t thinking about pain, numbness, and tingling in my right hand, and severe pain in my neck.
I was a full-time musician, and all current and future jobs had to come to a close. For the first time, I was turning down all work, and much-needed money. To make a very long story extremely short, the Alexander Technique saved my ass.
What would have happened if I never tried the Alexander Technique?
No one can say for sure, but I can guess.
After seeing my doctor who ordered an X-ray and an MRI, I tried physical therapy, massage therapy, acupuncture, acupressure, Rolfing, drugs, and chiropractic. I saw hand surgeons, neck surgeons, and neurosurgeons.
I had run out of options, so surgery was the last option, or so I thought.
How successful would surgery had been? Would there have been any complications? Would I have needed a second operation on a different level (C4-C5 for instance?) Would I have eventually needed another operation to “remove scar tissue”? Who knows.
What I do know is that pain hardly plays a role in my life now.
And I know that with the Alexander Technique I have tools to let go of excess tension anytime, anywhere.
And I know how well this technique works for my students, and my colleagues’ students.
The Alexander technique is within me, even without me.
Even when I’m not thinking about the Alexander Technique directly, I’m still applying it because I have formed new habits. I’m applying the Alexander Technique even while sleeping, because of all the time I’ve practiced it while awake.
My students apply the Alexander Technique without me, because it’s within them.
Mark Josefsberg-Alexander Technique NYC
(917) 709-4648
Image courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net-“Input” by Idea Go
YES!!! Great blog, Mark, and very well stated. And, to use your phrase, “the Alexander Technique saved my ass” too 🙂
Thanks Imogen!I think the Alexander Technique saves many, many asses!
Yeah – it “saved my ass” without me ever realizing how messed up my ass really was or could rapidly become!
I proved that to myself in my mid-forties when I got hit from behind while stationary by a drunk driver in an auto accident. Somehow I got the hair-brained idea to stop doing Alexander Technique for a couple of weeks before being “accessed” as to how “injured” I had really been in this accident that wasn’t my fault. Bad, bad idea.
Excellent blog!
Thank you, Wendy!
I’d like to hear more about how you managed to absorb enough Alexander Technique that you were able to use its benefits while sleeping.
I think you do it as well, Franis. If you’re freeing your jaw many hours per day, you’ll tense it much less while sleeping.