Here’s actor Hugh Jackman describing the benefits he got from learning Alexander Technique. He describes the mix of ‘incredibly good posture with incredible relaxation’, and says what he learned was ‘beautiful, an art…it was about being still and relaxed in order to 100% listen to someone, to be present’.
Of course, this isn’t just good stuff for actors. It’s good stuff for anyone.
Here’s one of my favourite videos. It’s psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist explaining his research into our divided brains. It’s densely packed with information and deserves watching a couple of times.
How does this relate to Alexander Technique? In two ways.
Firstly I believe that the Technique is a way to reconnect with the broader quality of attention that McGilchrist describes as associated with the right hemisphere of the brain.
Secondly, he says at one point that for the left hemisphere, the body is ‘an assemblage of parts’. In Alexander Technique, working with the body as a whole is fundamental. In fact, once we fall into the trap of thinking of our bodies as collections of parts, we get into all sorts of trouble.
When I was training to be an Alexander Technique teacher, I was made aware that one of my habits was to hold my head tilted over to the right. I’d been doing it for years and was completely unaware of it. Many people have similar habits. But why does it matter? (more…)
Stefanie Buller, an Alexander Technique teacher in the German town of Bremen, contacted me saying she had translated my blog post Alexander Technique and Pain Part One into German to share with readers of her blog (click here to have a look). So I thought you might like to read it here too. Thank you Stefanie. (more…)
In Part One we discussed how pain, despite being unpleasant, is in fact a defender, a protective function. In Part Two, we saw that persistent or chronic pain does not indicate persistent damage. Chronic pain is less structural, more about the sensitivity of the nervous system. (more…)
In Part One, we looked at a new way of understanding pain: as a protective mechanism, a defender. In this post, we’ll look at what that means for chronic or persistent pain. Technically, that’s pain which persists for more than 3 months. (more…)
I cut my finger. My nervous system sends pain messages up my nerves back to my brain to tell it that I have injured myself, and the pain centre in my brain registers that the pain is happening.
Right?
Wrong.
Pain is not what we think it is. Understanding the truth about pain can help you manage it. Here are three key points you need to know. (more…)
Prepare to have your beliefs challenged. Here’s a fantastic 5 minute video from Australia that gives you the main points of a modern understanding of pain – and no, it’s probably not what you think!
Alexander Technique fits beautifully as part of a plan to get you out of pain, it would be under item five on the ‘Pain Plan’ list they suggest, at around 4 minutes on the video.
Bonza!
“Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Have you ever caught sight of yourself in a shop window and thought ‘Oh my God, I look terrible’?
A couple of people have mentioned this to me recently in relation to posture. They’ll be walking along, suddenly catch sight of their reflection in a shop window and be horrified at how stooped and hunched they look. It’s tempting to look away.
A shop window might not be the best place, but a mirror can be a good friend if you want to work with your postural habits. F.M. Alexander, the originator of the Alexander Technique, worked extensively with mirrors when he was developing his ideas. Most Alexander Technique teaching rooms have large mirrors in them.
We get feedback from our ‘internal’ senses of kinaesthesia and proprioception to tell us where the various parts of us are in space, but surprisingly those senses aren’t very reliable. We can think we are standing up straight when in fact we are hunched over. So when we suddenly see ourselves, it’s a surprise. Hence the shop window horrors.
In fact, our visual sense is a far better guide. So take a look at your self. I’d recommend a full-length mirror in a flattering light otherwise you’ll spend all your time looking at your hair or your tummy – or whatever body part you have it in for at the moment.
Ask yourself a few questions. Do you have your head tilted to one side? One shoulder higher than the other? Are you standing with all your weight on one leg, or in the balls of your feet? All these things are a great source of information that you can work with. In an Alexander Technique lesson you learn the specific points for you to look out for.
But don’t try it in a shop window. I’ve come to the conclusion that they are particularly unflattering reflective surfaces and best ignored. After all, you wouldn’t pay too much attention to your reflection in the back of a spoon would you? I’ve put shop windows in the same category.
