The Alexander technique is a method of improving the way we use ourselves in everyday activity. It is also a simple and practical approach for self improvement and self help.
We live in a world that seems to flee from silence. It seems that busy-ness, more than anything else, is the ‘dis-ease’ that separates us not only from ourselves, but also from each other. Slowing down and stopping is often seen as a ‘fruitless inactivity’ rather than a creative event out of which a deep and authentic contemplative experience can emerge. Slowing down and being still is where the Alexander technique begins, and from this starting point the skills learnt enable the pupil to live and move more mindfully.
The teachers’ role is to help raise the pupils’ awareness of acquired habits in movements such as standing, sitting down and walking. In a lesson Alexander teachers use their hands and gentle presence to make the pupils aware of the excessive muscular tension in their bodies which compromises their wellbeing. This gives the pupils a new and greater sense of direction along the spine, in which the relationship of the head, the neck and the back is of great importance. This enables people not only to improve their posture and general use of themselves, but also helps people to achieve a greater quality of presence and inner wellbeing.
There is no doubt that Alexander technique lessons can benefit people who suffer from backache and neck and shoulder pain and other disorders associated with poor use and bad posture. In research on treatments for back problems reported in the British Medical Journal, the Alexander technique proved to be the most effective form of treatment. It can also help people suffering from stress, anxiety and depression, and various neuromuscular disorders, and also syndromes including chronic fatigue syndrome (ME)
Alexander work is also a very useful tool in meditation, for although there are no maps or perfect techniques to help us, inherent within the Alexander principles are tools that can help us to create the right conditions for both surrender and better posture, enabling us to be more at home in our bones as well as our being.
Lessons last for 50 minutes. Learning the Alexander technique involves having the willingness to change longstanding habits, so improvement relies in part on active participation by the pupils. For this reason Alexander teachers will recommend a course of around 15-20 lessons, but even one or two lessons can be of great benefit. If you would like to find out more about the Alexander technique, I would be pleased to answer any questions that you may have.
I am a fully qualified teacher of the Alexander technique, having completed in 1997 the recognised three year full-time training course run by the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique.