Recent research shows that dynamic regulation of postural tone is increased by learning the Alexander Technique. This results in lower levels of axial stiffness which translates as more flexibility in your back, hips, arms and legs. (Human Movement Science, Vol. 30; Issue 1: 2/2011)
Full text available at; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167945710001569
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Welcome to the Alexander Technique.
Stop Press! Major companies including Google in the USA and Victorinox in Switzerland use Alexander Technique programs to cut absenteeism. Victorinox reduced absenteeism by 42% between 2002 and 2007.
For Victorinox story go to http://alexandertechnik-schwyz.ch/pdf/Congress%20Paper%20English%20Version.pdf
Stop Press. Major study published in British Medical Journal highlights Alexander Technique benefits for people with back pain. Full text available at; http://www.bmj.com/content/337/bmj.a884.full
For more research publications about the technique see the references section for Alexander Technique at Wikipedia.
The Alexander Technique is an educational process that gives us improved sensory information about ourselves. It helps us become more aware of the underlying patterns we have developed that lead to inefficient movement. These patterns may be experienced as stiffness, pain or injury or just lack of natural vitality.
F.M.Alexander(1869-1955), discovered the underlying unity of movement that is common to all vertebrates but which humans unconsciously interfere with. The Alexander Technique teaches us to undo/release this interference with our body's innate natural organisation and we find we can move and breathe with much more ease and flexibility. Most people will feel lighter and taller within a few lessons and it gets better the longer you learn it. It also can positively affect mood and general wellbeing and is a fantastic and lasting release for locked in stress patterns.
Movement researcher Professor George Coghill put it thus:
"It is my opinion that habitual use of improper reflex mechanism in sitting, standing and walking introduces conflict in the nervous system, and that this conflict is the cause of fatigue and nervous strain which bring many ills in their train. Mr Alexander, by relieving this conflict between the total pattern which is hereditary and innate, and the reflex mechanisms which are individually cultivated, conserves the energies of the nervous system and by so doing corrects not only postural difficulties but also many other pathological conditions that are not ordinarily recognized as postural.
Mr Alexander's method lays hold of the individual as a whole, as a self-vitalizing agent. He reconditions and re-educates the reflex mechanisms and brings their habits into normal relation with the functions of organisms as a whole. I regard his methods as thoroughly scientific and educationally sound".
Pxxviii, F.M.Alexander, The Universal Constant in Living, Centreline Press, 1986.
The Alexander Technique can appeal to many people with different requirements.
It can benefit age-related stiffness or poor balance conditions, or educate younger people so that they may not be as prone to developing these. It can help office workers with work related postural conditions including stiff necks, shoulders and back, eye strain, repetitive movement problems, and general tiredness by the end of the week.
It has always been popular with musicians and actors and those that use their voice professionally.
For the athlete or anyone who likes to keep fit, the technique improves your postural tone and gives you greater bouyancy and sping. It can reduce the effort to achieve the same result, improve recovery times after training or competing and can extend the competition time frame due to less wear and tear on the body.
On the psychological side it can greatly reduce our response to stress in that we learn not to store the stress in our muscles. It can also help us identify and therefore free us from unconscious patterns which we may not even be aware that we have. Students generally report feeling lighter both physically and mentally.
As Alexander pointed out "We translate everything, physical, mental and spiritual into muscle tension".
About Alex Nicolson
I trained in the Alexander Technique in Sydney at an internationally approved school from 1983 to 1985. I have been involved in postgraduate training in the Technique since then.
I have trained extensively in Yoga, Aikido and Kung Fu since 1989 as a means of staying mentally and physically healthy.
I completed two years at the Drama Action Centre Theatre of Movement (1986/87) and then four years of Social Ecology at the University of Western Sydney graduating MAppSc in 2001.
I taught Alexander Technique to the Opera Singing students at the Conservatorium of Music (University of Sydney) for three years (2002 -2004)
My other hobbies include bushwalking, studying native plants and playing music.
QUALIFICATION DETAILS
Member AUSTAT; The Australian Society of Teachers of The Alexander Technique.
MAppSc, (Social Ecology) UWS, 2001.
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