The Alexander Technique

Every action we perform in our daily lives involves patterns of movement and thought. Whether sitting at your computer, walking, cycling, playing an instrument, singing, doing dishes, cleaning house or driving; all these activities involve the body/mind. We are often unaware of these habitual patterns and their long-term affect on our health, well-being and performance level. If incorrect patterns are established, over time, these patterns interfere with the ability to function at optimal levels and are associated with dis-ease, discomfort, deterioration, and pain, which hinder our ability to perform daily tasks with ease and pain free. Learning better patterns can eradicate these unnecessary obstacles, and free us to experience a sense of ease, comfort, and joy in daily living. Our body/mind can change no matter how old we are, or no matter the challenges we face.

Many bodily issues/problems can be a result of misalignment in the body. Some parts overwork, others underwork. Over time, these established patterns can cause parts of our body to degenerate more quickly and cause long term health issues such as back pain, joint issues and degeneration, headaches, neck pain, foot issues, breathing problems. If our body operates from a place of balance, ease, and poise, this will reflect throughout our daily life and activities and our overall health and well-being. The Alexander Technique is a more than 100 year old discipline that addresses habitual patterns of movement and thought through working on the postural/alignment mechanism in the body. The postural system is the system which adapts constantly to support our intentions and responses to the world around us. Good posture is not right positioning but is actually movement; a constant adjustment of balance and the ever-changing relationship between muscles. 

The Alexander Technique teaches how to bring unconscious habits into consciousness and bring a more practical intelligence into how we move in our bodies; doing the things we need and want to do with more freedom, ease, and comfort. The Alexander Technique is a gentle hands-on instruction that works on the neuro-muscular system, facilitating the recognition of holding and habitual patterns in the body and in movement, while concurrently learning how to release and teach the body/mind healthier patterns, which lead to more ease, freedom and release in the body. This is an often overlooked area of health and wellness but an essential one. As the body operates more in alignment, people report more ease and comfort in movement, less or no pain, and a heightened level of performance. Awareness, presence, listening to our body, and responding accordingly, have broad applications in our health and wellbeing.

The skills and tools learned can be applied to all activities in our lives. It is not about WHAT one does but HOW one does it. It leaves you free to choose your own goal but gives you a better use of yourself while you work toward it.