Alexander Technique can help you become more comfortable in your body, eliminating stiffness and pain caused by habitual contraction. It is helpful for neck and back pain, hand problems, coordination, walking, balance, bending, reaching, lifting, healing after injury, public speaking, playing music, singing, computer use, posture, poise and more. You can eliminate or decrease neck and shoulder stiffness, back pain, hand problems, hip and leg stiffness. It’s a great help for using a computer, playing music, walking, lifting, healing after injury and breathing. How does one learn the Alexander Technique? Learning takes place in a private lesson or introductory workshops. The teacher uses a combination of very gentle hands-on guidance, verbal instruction and repetition. There are no exercises. Rather, over time, the student incorporates freer ways of moving into his or her everyday life. An individual lesson in the Alexander Technique is 30 minutes in length during which the student's balance and compressive habits are explored. Sitting, standing, walking, reaching, bending, lifting, and using the hands are common starting places for improvement. A series of lessons (weekly or twice-weekly ) is usually needed to counteract many years of habits that interfere with activities. Specific complaints and applications are also addressed, such as eliminating neck pain while at a computer, playing a musical instrument with more freedom, driving a car feeling more relaxed, lifting a baby without hurting your back, being comfortable while working. You may feel lighter and easier just walking down the street. Over the years, people of all ages and types have recognized the effectiveness of the Alexander Technique in improving physical and psychological well-being. Performing artists, computer users, athletes, teachers, doctors, and gardeners say their work is easier after a series of Alexander Technique lessons. Many well-known people have spoken of the Alexander Technique as an integral part of their growth: Paul McCartney, Sting, writer Aldous Huxley, philosopher John Dewey, Nobel prize-winning scientist Nikolaas Tinbergen, George Bernard Shaw, actors Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman, and Kenneth Branaugh. Frederick Matthias Alexander was born in Tasmania in 1869 and made his living as a Shakespearean recitalist. After losing his stage voice, he consulted doctors who found nothing wrong. His personal story is one of keen observation of his own habits and nearly decade-long experimentation, resulting in a discovery that has universal application. He demonstrated that once we learn to stop interfering with our reflexes, our balance improves, pain and stiffness decrease or disappear. Training to become a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique is over 3-years time, 1600 hours.
