Experience Alexander | Journalist Reviews

Journalists Write about Their Experience

with the Alexander Technique

Could the Alexander Technique

help your back problems?

All About You online 08.10.2010

Re-learning how to use your body could change the way you live your life.

Bernadette Fallon sampled the

Alexander Technique

One hundred years ago an Australian actor called Frederick Matthias Alexander went to the doctor because he was losing his voice. His doctor told him to rest. He did and was fine but as soon as he went back on stage the problem returned. He realised it must be a result of something he was doing to himself and so began his journey to find the cause. And so the Alexander Technique was born. Since then people have used the technique to alleviate back pain, improve posture and reduce stress. In 2008 the British Medical Journal reported that the technique offered long-term benefits for chronic and recurrent back pain.

But there's more. Because the technique encourages us to change the way we think about our bodies, it can also offer emotional growth and healing. As it teaches us about how we move, stay still, breathe and choose our reactions to situations, it can help people become stronger and calmer, think more clearly and cope with stress. Students of the technique often notice an increase in self confidence and general wellbeing; it has been used by actors and performers to manage stage fright, by musicians and dancers to increase poise and mobility and by singers to manage breathing and improve voice quality.

So what is it?

Alexander discovered that in everything he did - speaking, moving and even thinking - he exaggerated the tension in his body. He worked out how to prevent this misuse of himself and his voice problems disappeared. Not only that, his general health dramatically improved. He spent years perfecting a practical way of passing his knowledge on to others - this became the Alexander Technique.

Trying it out

I've suffered with back problems and back pain for the past decade. Partly to do with the fact I sit in front of a computer all day, partly to do with slight scoliosis which means my spine curves to the left, partly to do with complications from other health problems. Anyway, my back hurts most days. And from time to time the Alexander Technique has been mentioned by a variety of people I see for back pain - from osteopaths to acupuncturists - as a possible remedy. So I booked three appointments with an approved teacher from STAT (Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique).

My first visit

Because the technique involves changing how we think about our bodies and unlearning bad habits, it's not a passive treatment like a massage but involves active participation. In lesson one I witness the contortions my body goes through just sitting on a chair. My neck is under pressure as I pull my head and shoulders up, this thrusts my head into a forward position, which in turn forces me to clench my legs to balance my body under the weight of my forward-thrusting head - and I'm only halfway down to the chair!

I realise how heavy my head actually is - the weight of four litres of orange juice and a bottle of water explains Brita, my instructor. No wonder my body goes out of balance when it gets into the wrong position.

In a series of movements, Brita helps me to sit on the chair using my knees to hold my body in balance, all the time talking me through changing the way I am thinking about what I am doing. With her help I can soon do this series of movements in a much more efficient way, placing the least amount of stress on my body.

Next I lie down on a table and am shown how to allow my spine to lengthen and straighten by resting my head on a small stack of paperback books and bending my knees. This creates a situation where no part of my body is putting pressure on any other part. The ultimate aim is to achieve this ease and coordination in a standing position - but it's easier to practise getting it right lying down when the body has more support. Brita also gives me a technique to practise when I am standing upright, mentally directing my head to go up slightly which naturally lets my spine straighten. Try it from time to time, she advises, but do it naturally, easily - the whole point of the technique is not to look like you're trying too hard. Be aware of your surroundings she advises, be aware of your movements.

And after an hour I'm back on the busy streets of Holborn, so aware of my surroundings that the roar of traffic seems louder, the rush of people seems faster, the street seems more frantic. Then I realise that's because I've slowed myself down as I've taken the time out to reconnect with my body. The people aren't faster, the street isn't more frantic - but I'm calmer in the middle of it all. I'm more in control. And it feels good.

Of course after half an hour back in the office I suddenly realise I'm slumping again in my chair. But I do some standing up and sitting down, have a little think about what I'm doing and re-connect. I'm not going to unlearn the bad habits of a lifetime in an hour after all. But I am looking forward to my next session.

My second visit

I'm feeling very pleased with myself when I meet Brita for our second session. Okay so I haven't really got the hang of sitting and standing with total ease yet. In fact most of the time I go back to my same old way of doing it. It takes a long time for the body to unlearn its familiar routines. But I have been much more aware of my posture since my first lesson. And I have been making a conscious effort to sit and stand straighter.

But... ‘Bad use of language,' says Brita when I tell her. ‘If you are consciously thinking ‘stand straighter', you will just contort your body into a new position that is not necessarily any better than the old one. But if you just focus on your body, think about where you are placing your weight, think about setting your head forward and lengthening your spine, you will automatically alter your position into a more natural one.'

We do the sitting and standing movements again, then more lying down, Brita all the time talking me through the motions. Hmmm, not so easy, this.

My third visit

By the time I go back for my final session I've totally lapsed into my old ways of holding myself and in fact totally forgotten to think about what I'm doing at all! What a disaster. It's difficult to unlearn the bad habits I've picked up. No, let me rephrase that. It's not difficult if I think about it. It's forgetting to think about it that has done the damage.

But after half an hour with Brita I'm back on track again. I can see why practitioners recommend having 20 to 30 sessions, just to get comfortable with the technique.

I was given my first sessions free so I could write about it. But now I have just signed up for an extended course of sessions. I can see how this could work for me and help in all areas of my life, not just as a remedy for back-ache. (Interestingly there is a method of swimming instruction based on the Alexander Technique, which could be something to add to my - very basic - swimming knowledge.)

Find out more

There are other aids to help when I'm not working with Brita - there are plenty of books on the subject and STAT also has its own channel on YouTube - you can watch a session in progress here. For more information on Alexander Technique and to find a teacher visit the STAT website at www.stat.org.uk.

The Alexander Technique

Let’s get this straight: Lynda Moyo will not be beaten by bad posture

Date Published: 15/02/2010

Manchester Confidential

Like every other day, I’m sat at my desk typing an article. The only difference is that today I’m a good three inches taller than I was. This is because I’ve just returned from a session with Alexander Technique teacher Patrick Gundry-White.

Patrick worked as a French horn player and had problems moving his head from left to right. He had one Alexander Technique lesson and thought it was great and pain free. He then decided to train to become a teacher. “It changed my life" he said.

“Improved posture, ease of movements, freedom in the joints, longer lasting joints, muscles that are freer and more capable and breathing improvements, are just a few of the changes.”

I personally, owe thanks to Victoria Beckham. I’d heard she adopted the technique after realising that a lifetime tottering around in ridiculous designer heels carrying an extra-large Birkin, is at the expense of your posture, as well as your bank balance.

Preparing to face yet another celebrity fitness fad, upon meeting Patrick I was very pleased to learn that this is an age old technique founded in the 1800’s by a man whose career depended upon it, unlike Posh Spice.

Patrick said: “F M Alexander was an Australian actor who found he had problems with his voice and noticed that when he performed he was doing something with his head and neck to cause this. So he stopped doing it and his voice got better.”

With that I was ready to get up and leave. Surely if it’s as simple as ‘stop slouching’ then that is something I can wean myself off, for free. However, I was about to learn that old habits die hard. As I sat curled up like a Quaver, an extremely poised Patrick explained:

“What most of us do, is use our bodies in a way which is habitual. These things start off early in our lives and we don’t realise we’re doing it.

“I have a man that came to me with back problems and through working with me those back problems have now gone. He’ll go out with his pals and he’ll be sitting very upright and they’ll say ‘come on, relax’ and he’ll say ‘I am relaxed’ because all he’s doing is keeping the length in his neck. It’s teaching people to relearn what they’re doing in their bodies. The main thing is getting people to stop the habit which is making them tighten their neck, because that changes what the rest of the body does.”

He then turned to a chart to show how we’ve evolved as human beings. Looking at the early hunter/gatherers, you could argue that it was in the 1300s that we hit our physical peak. In today’s technology bound society, our physiques suffer. If you’re in an office, take a moment to look around at colleagues. According to the Alexander Technique, what you are seeing is physical human devolution.

“If you think about what human beings did thousands of years ago you had to survive by your wits. Our bodies are designed in such a way that the eyes are high up, we can turn our heads as much as we like to see what’s on the horizon. It makes us more alive” says Patrick.

“The back should have some curve, but many back curves are over pronounced. Hunching and slouching makes us shorter and the body will think that is what you want it to do and therefore keep you in that tightened, limited place. That then means that all the disks between your vertebrae start to get squashed and then all the muscles in your back will get tighter and squash you further.”

I sat up like a meer cat and uncrossed my legs, although as Patrick advised, there was no need to leave my comfort zone completely. It’s about tweaking habits.

He said: “There’s a picture of F M Alexander stroking his dog and reading a newspaper with his legs crossed. It’s fantastic to see. Some people say crossing your legs is really bad for you. It’s only bad if you don’t have tone in your spine.”

Despite only being 26 and standing at a statuesque- if not a bit lanky- 5’10”, I realised that by the time I’m 60, kids could be referring to me as ‘a little old lady’ if I don’t sort my posture out. Yet ironically, we’d be more shocked if we did see very upright, tall old ladies.

“Do we get shorter as we get older? It isn’t necessarily so” says Patrick.

“If you learn to find the length in yourself, you can change things quite a bit. There’s an 87 year-old woman who still teaches the Alexander technique. She doesn’t look 87 and she has lots of energy.”

Patrick demonstrated how to use the technique to perform a simple motion such as getting out of a chair. It didn’t look much different but Patrick’s way was in fact effortless. My turn and Patrick observes that I naturally use my head and neck as the catalyst for momentum to get out of the chair, and again for sitting back down. I could have sworn I had mirrored his technique, but to demonstrate where I was going wrong, Patrick took me by the neck.

“I’m going to put my hand on the back of your neck and you’re going to sit down. What you did before was pull your head back as you sat down. The head threw itself back.”

I tried it again, but this time I had bizzarely become paralysed.

Patrick explained: “I’m stopping your head from pulling back and now you can’t get up. In order to sit down and keep the neck free you have to use other parts of your body differently. Typically you’ll have to use your hips, knees and ankles differently.”

It’s then that I realised that he had a very valid point. Many of us rely too heavily on the head and neck to control bodily movement, when in fact our thighs are much better equipped to provide a control centre for the rest of the body. This time I tilted forward, bent my knees in a squat position and best of all, my head didn’t change at all. My back and neck felt free.

Maintaining length in the back when sitting and standing is something which any of us can put into effect immediately. The problem for most of us will arise when it comes to sitting for long periods of time. It’s common for office workers to request for better back supporting chairs or cushions for support. Patrick says it’s possible to achieve a prolonged upright seated position without the use of support aids.

“The back of the chair is tempting. But that’s because you’ve become habituated to that. With cushions you’re creating dependency on the cushion. I can sit in anything I like. For eight hours? I’d have to get up and move around at intervals, but yes. Come to the front of your seat, find the length in your spine and then let it go. This is the length you were born with.

“What the technique teaches is that you can sit for longer in a chair and be more comfortable. We’re designed first and foremost for movement therefore we should move as we’re sitting- in micro movements, subtly back and forth. This helps to balance the structure of the body. We teach people to use themselves better.”

Despite having taken all of Patrick’s demonstrations and explanations on board and feeling immediately better for it, it can take something as simple as an unexpected knock at the door to make me forget myself. But this is a natural human reaction that not even the Alexander Technique can prevent. What it can do I am told, is teach us how to deal with situations in a more beneficial manner.

“If someone burst through the door what would your reaction be? You’d tense up. When we react we go into a startled position. What we should do is come out of that once the danger has gone, but often we don’t. The Alexander Technique teaches us to find a way to release that tension. We want to respond instead of react” says Patrick.

It was a really eye opening, back loosening experience at the session. From picking up the post to carrying bags, every one of us takes our neck and back for granted at some point each day and this is why so many people suffer from back problems. However, it’s never to late to re-educate is my new mantra. That said, adopting the Alexander Technique into every day life doesn’t come without effort. As I sit here now, aware of the advice I’m feeding through my fingers, I am falling, slowly but surely, back into my old slump. But I will rise again and fall again and so on, no doubt.

The Alexander Technique has taught me that what may seem a constant battle with gravity, is actually just a fight against myself. So on I will battle. Well, if some 87-year-old and Posh Spice can manage it, then so can I. Are you sitting comfortably?