What is the Alexander technique?
The Alexander technique involves individual instruction about factors such as posture, breathing, tension, stress and movement. The technique does not provide a cure for specific illness, but has been shown to bring symptomatic relief for some conditions, eg, chronic lower back pain, and may assist in an overall feeling of wellbeing.
History of the Alexander technique
The Alexander technique was developed by Tasmanian-born Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955) who believed that 'every man, woman and child holds the possibility of physical perfection; it rests with each of us to attain it by personal understanding and effort'.
At one time, Alexander was an actor and reciter and during this period he lost his voice regularly. His doctors tried many treatments but were unable to help him. Alexander decided to see if he could help himself and he began to observe himself in a mirror as he recited his lines. He noticed that if he lifted his head vertically and freed his neck, his voice and vocal quality improved.
This new way of standing was uncomfortable but he persevered with it and gradually retrained his body, realising that his posture affected his voice and the general pattern of tension in his body. He found he felt healthier and more self-confident and his voice troubles completely ceased. The experience encouraged him to make a nine-year study of his own posture and how to improve it. This study became the foundation of the Alexander technique.
What does the technique involve?
The Alexander technique is not a therapy as such, but a process of re-education which aims to teach the person to identify and exercise control over physical habits of excess tension, internal stress, posture, breathing and movement. This is combined with teaching changes in the thinking patterns that interfere with natural ease and flow in everyday activity. It is often called posture training, which is not strictly correct, although improved posture and balance is often an obvious benefit.
The technique is taught in lessons where the practitioner is referred to as a teacher, not a therapist, and the person taking the lessons is known as a pupil or student, not a patient or client. Lessons usually take place on a one-to-one basis and start with a discussion about what particular problem you need to resolve.
Each lesson generally involves guidance and verbal instructions to assist you in targeting patterns of misuse and to help you restore your natural reflexes. Often the teacher will ask you to use visualisation techniques and may guide you by touch. Many students leave an Alexander technique lesson feeling taller, lighter and walking with more freedom to their movements.
Lessons and 'homework'
Your lesson may also involve some work on a massage therapy table where the teacher will gently help you to let go of muscle tension, relax your joints and lengthen your spine. Your teacher may also give you some 'homework' to practice regularly. This may be a suggestion to observe how you hold your breath when you are tense, how you brace yourself in a specific activity or how you may stiffen your neck at certain times of concentration.
It takes a series of lessons for students to integrate correctly these new ways of behaving. It also requires practice and self-discipline to remain conscious of your body throughout the day and avoid falling back into old habits.
The technique is useful for tension release and relaxation and has been used to help people with repetitive strain injuries. It has also been used by sports people, athletes, dancers, actors and musicians to improve their breathing and the use of their bodies and to assist in preventing injuries and strains.
How can the technique help?
The Alexander technique is not a cure for any specific condition or illness. However, it has been shown to improve chronic (long-term) lower back pain, and practitioners and students feel the symptoms of many other conditions also improve during sessions. These include:
As for many other complementary and alternative therapies, there are few scientific studies of how much the technique helps in these conditions.
The Alexander technique is also widely believed to help in the recovery from illness or injury and to have an effect on overall wellbeing, from improved sleep and mental alertness to greater emotional balance.
Original material from myDr, October 2009. Edited by everybody, December 2010.
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