Awareness, Mechanics, Process, Thought

These four words summarize my teaching of the Alexander Technique. Of course, it’s much more complicated once we get into the details!

As we begin with non-judgmental awareness, we look at how the body actually moves. What are the habits? We look at posture, standing, sitting, bending, reaching, walking. What we look at first depends on the reason someone comes for a lesson. Sometimes it’s looking at how a musician plays. Other times it’s how an athlete moves. Most often there is pain involved.

After that we look at how the body would like to work. How do the muscles work across the joints involved? Since everything is connected, how are the connections actually working? What kinds of patterns can we see? What accommodations have developed either because of automatic movement patterns or in response to pain?

Then we start exploring possibilities. How could the part of the body in focus move more easily and efficiently? How does that part of the body integrate with the rest of the body? Can we find a way to let movement flow easily through the body? What muscles are too tight? What muscles are too slack? How can we find balance?

From there we do a bit of practice in the studio and I make suggestions about where in daily life this process can be implemented. That’s where the thinking comes in. We tend to depend on habits as we move through the tasks of our day. Taking time to stop and think about how to use the new process instead of moving automatically is how we make changes in our movement patterns. That alleviates pain and trains the body to move without the pain. Then when the next pain comes along, you have some ideas for dealing with it so it doesn’t have to run your life.

That’s the Alexander Technique in a nutshell. If it sounds interesting, join our fall

Balance, Coordination, Ease class on Mondays at 9:30 am or noon. Bring a friend and learn together. Register here

If you’re interested in learning more, come to Find Your UP, a free introduction to the Alexander Technique on Tuesday, September 9 at 7 pm or Thursday, September 10 at 2 pm.  Reserve a spot