A centre of excellence for Alexander Technique, Wales.
What is Alexander Technique?
As a teacher of Alexander Technique I often find people coming to me in discomfort, pain, with conditions they would like rid of, having tried pretty much everything else first.
"My doctor says, I’ve got this and I’ve been seeing this or that practitioner once a fortnight for however many years" - Clearly the treatments are not working well, but why?.
Take a 40-a-day smoker with bronchitis. It would not be unreasonable for his doctor to suggest he quits the habit. However, being a habit it is tough to stop most often.
When it comes to the use of our bodily structures we also have very strong habits, brought on through compensations to injuries, illness, dealing with emotional stress, and life requiring that we get things done, like using a computer, driving, whatever we do for work, and play! We develop a habit about it! A tension habit that begins over time to make things difficult and eventually fail.
The difference between this and the smoking habit is that the smoker knows that they are doing it. Habits of body use, we think of as part of life, our character, assuming we notice them at all. Easy to see in others sometimes, but not in ourselves. We just seem normal to us.
How is a person supposed to stay well when they inflict on themselves in secret, tension holding patterns pulling the body out of line, requiring more muscle tension to stay upright, pressing the joints harder together, pressing on the nerves, pressing smaller the space in the body cavities , restricting blood-flow, breathing, digestion and all sorts more?!
The answer is really easy. "Stop doing it".
The Alexander Technique teaches us to recognise what we are doing with ourselves that colludes with our poorly condition and finds a way to re-educate, how the brain directs the use of our bodily structures.
"When you stop doing the thing that’s wrong, the thing that’s right does itself." ~ F.M.Alexander.
All we need to do is acknowledge the situation, take responsibility for it, and not beat ourselves up about it. No one sets out to cause themselves problems deliberately. Its just a function of living. Best of all, we can do something about it for ourselves!
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Why do it?
As well as back pain and posture issues, the use of Alexander Technique has been found beneficial and has brought relief to so many conditions.
Below is a small sample:~
- Spinal, Muscular & Joint Disorders,(e.g. spinal curvature, painful or frozen joints, arthritis.)
- RSI
- Breathing Disorders, (e.g. Asthma.)
- Digestive Problems, (e.g. IBS)
- Stress, (e.g. poor sleep, low energy, high blood pressure, hyper-tension, migraine.)
- Performance Difficulties, (e.g. Stage fright, tension, voice loss.)
- Pain Management & Coping Skills, (e.g. during long-term illness or disability like MS or Parkinson’s Disease.)
- Performance Development, (e.g. co-ordination & poise, increased stamina, injury prevention, performance consistency in sports and performing arts, greater awareness, independence and self-reliance, greater spontaneity and freedom of movement.)
- Rehabilitation Aid, (e.g. after illness injury or surgery.)
- During Pregnancy, (e.g. to relax, to help the spine and joints.)
- For interest, (e.g. You do not have to be suffering to enjoy this work!)
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How does it work?
Alexander Teachers, although highly trained, are not medical advisors, and do not make clinical diagnoses. So it must seem odd that this work can be so potent in so many situations.
By learning and practising a clear strategy of conscious mental instructions to influence the bodily structures, guided by the teacher’s hands and words, what begins as a curious unexplainable sensation in the body develops into a robust practical tool for life which a pupil develops and uses for themselves.
The work begins by learning to recognise the habit response, inhibiting the habit reaction, and then being able to make a choice to direct movement more freely and easily.
In the beginning, as you would expect the process is a little slow and fragile so we start with simple movements and as lessons progress, we move on to more challenging things. The lessons are important because left to ourselves we would try and make the effort to change using our usual senses to see how we were doing. Alexander himself tried this to begin with and failed. Force of habit and an inaccurate ability to read our tension patterns would bring us back to square one.
The most important part of the work is that which the pupil does for themselves. This is a skill and like any other and requires a level of commitment. Like learning a musical instrument you have to practise between lessons if you want to benefit from them.
Unlike the learning many of us did at school, it is the frequency not the intensity that is important. Stay ‘playful’ with it so that it does not become a chore among all the others.
All sorts of improvements happen as a consequence of the technique. No. it does not make us immortal or bomb proof, but should things go awry for us, I know from personal experience, it is the best self help we could wish for. Once learnt, and with a bit of regular practice, it is there for life.
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About STAT
The Alexander Technique has been taught in the UK since the early 1900s. STAT, the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique, was formed in 1958, to ensure high standards, monitor training, and to promote the technique.
All MSTAT certified teachers have successfully completed a three year full-time training course, and are bound by STATs’ Code of Professional Conduct.
STAT now has many affiliated branches in other countries around the world and is the foremost body overseeing the practise of the
Alexander Technique.
STAT can be contacted at:-
- Tel. 0845 2307828
- Fax. 020 7482 5435
- E - mail at enquiries@stat.org.uk
- Web site at www.stat.org.uk
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At the Natural Harmony Centre this service is delivered by:
Patrick Pearson
Initial Sessions are typically about 1hr in duration and cost £35
Subsequent Sessions are typically 30~40 mins. and cost £30
