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“It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it.”  “The Alexander Technique is the how of how you do anything.”

Those phrases have been spoken countless times by Alexander Technique teachers at Alexander Technique lessons. The Alexander Technique is the how of everything you do. It’s how you sit at the computer, more than just that you’re sitting at the computer, that might lead to bad posture, neck pain, back pain, or shoulder pain. As an Alexander Technique teacher I help people sit at the computer, stand, and walk, with more ease and less tension. This results in improved posture, pain relief, and an overall sense of well-being.

There is also another angle, however, regarding how you use the Alexander Technique; it’s what you don’t do, as much as what you do, that helps with your posture, pain relief, and general ease.  In other words, to really get the benefits of the Alexander Technique, we need to stop doing all the things that are not the Alexander Technique. We need to stop not doing the Alexander Technique!

A relatively new Alexander Technique student told me she had made some interesting discoveries during the week. Not only did she notice the frequency, intensity, and duration of her slumping, but she became aware of other habits which were exacerbating her neck pain. For instance, when she was folding clothes, she noticed her habit of holding clothes and pillowcases between her chin and upper chest. Prior to Alexander Technique lessons, she just labeled this action as ‘folding clothes’. She now noticed that what she was doing was severely compressing her spine. Tucking your chin in this way compresses your cervical spine and, I’ve noticed, the longer your neck the more exaggerated the compression.

She also noticed that she habitually held her phone between her neck and shoulder as she multi-tasked. This also results in damaging compression. This particularly common habit is more well-known. It is often seen on ‘Ten Ways To Relieve Neck Pain’ or, ‘Fifteen Ways To Improve Your Posture lists. The ‘don’t hold the phone with your neck’ admonition also makes an appearance in the countless ‘Your Mother Was Right’, or Sit Up Straight!’ articles. Do this; do that.

Again, instead of doing the Alexander Technique this student became painfully aware of when she was not doing the Alexander Technique. F.M. Alexander said: If you stop doing the wrong things, the right things do themselves. The list of ‘wrong things’ is almost infinite. The “Don’t” list is endless.

The Alexander Technique teaches you about you, and you begin to notice things you might have previously been unaware. You apply the simple Alexander Technique principles to whatever you do.

You then might say: “I never noticed that I…’ or ‘I never noticed how much I…’

Awareness is the first step, and we can’t change things of which we are unaware. Noticing one’s habits and changing the one’s that are not beneficial has a profound effect on people’s physical, mental and emotional lives.

Join the conversation!

Are you aware of  habits you would like to change?

How can you use the Alexander Technique to help improve your posture or decrease pain?

What is one simple way to improve posture, or decrease chronic neck or back pain?

Mark Josefsberg-Alexander Technique NYC

Mark@MarkJosefsberg.com

(917) 709-4648