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ARTICLES INDEX

 

• Posture And Pain: Does Your Back Hurt?
• Occupational Overuse Injuries
• Sitting Without Strain
• Stress Management
• Ergonomics - A Lateral View
• Effective Stretching
• A Gift For Sports People
• The Art Of Skiing
• Playing with Ease - A Musician's Tale
  

In the Right Direction

Case Study - Voice

Dennis is in his 50’s and in his work life he has to give presentations and be involved in many meetings. He has long struggled with a soft and fairly expressionless voice.
We started by looking at what he was doing that may interfere with his voice coming out more strongly. As children most of us have no problem with either volume or hoarseness. What was hindering Dennis?
Looking at how Dennis balanced his head on his spine, It became clear that Dennis places much downward pressure through his chest, in a way that both drags on his throat, affecting his larynx (voicebox), and also hinders the free movement of his ribs, affecting his breathing. Further, he had acquired a habit of speaking with a depressed soft palate which led to a flat tone.
Dennis worked on improving the freedom of his neck, which allowed his ribs to move in a way that was much more responsive to vocal demand. He found that he could breathe much more freely and that getting enough air ceased to be a problem. It also led to more resonance. Playing with the expression on his face, and the feeling behind what he had to say (influencing his soft palate) started to give his words a more modulated and interesting quality.
As he cultivates his awareness of how he produces his voice in ordinary situations, eg normal conversation, or on the telephone etc, he is developing a sensitivity to how he uses his vocal apparatus which is making a very positive difference to his communication skills. His presentations have become clearer and livelier.

International News

A British publication had the following to say recently:
“You’ve probably heard the news that the Alexander Technique is great for reducing chronic back pain (unless, of course, it’s old news to you– in which case you may already have thought about having some AT lessons yourself!)

From the UK, to India, to the USA, to Canada, to New Zealand; STAT has been busy telling the world about recent research published in the British Medical Journal, which showed Alexander Technique lessons give patients with chronic lower back pain important improvements in function, quality of life and reduce the number of days in pain. In fact, 24 Alexander Technique lessons reduce back pain by a colossal 85% - making it more effective than classical massage and normal GP care, or GP prescribed exercises alone.

STAT has always known the Alexander Technique is effective for alleviating many different conditions, but now the rest of the world has cottoned on to its clinically-proven effect on back pain.

The media has been raving about the research, with hundreds of pieces of media coverage worldwide. In the UK national papers alone there have been nine large articles.

The Daily Mail announced: “An old cure for a modern malaise: Alexander Technique can beat chronic back pain”.

The Daily Telegraph told its readers to “Sit up and take note of the best way to beat back pain”.

And The Guardian proclaimed the “Alexander Technique does ease back pain”.

So with the Alexander Technique a hot topic at the moment, what’s next for STAT? Keep yourself updated with news and events by visiting www.stat.org.uk and discover what the whole world is talking about.

Don’t forget to pass this email on to all of your friends and family!”

Workshops/Classes

"Alexander Technique - A Skill for Life"
Workshops can provide an alternative to the one-on-one introduction. A small group (max size 8) has 4 group sessions plus one-on-one work as an introduction to the Alexander Technique. 4 Wed's. Sept 16, 23, 30, Oct 7  09, 5.45 - 7.45pm,
contact the Centre for Continuing Education, ANU, 6125 3891

Voice and Alexander Technique
The Alexander Technique has been helping singers, actors and orators for 100 years with breathing, relaxation, strain-free projection, resonance and posture. This is a brief introduction to unlocking your voice.
next in Feb 2010
contact the Centre for Continuing Education, ANU, 6125 3891

The Art of Exercise
Learn how to exercise with good body-use, minimising the risk of injury.
next in Feb 2010
contact the Centre for Continuing Education, ANU, 6125 3891

Other News:
International Alexander Technique Congress

in Lugano Switzerland, August 2008

British Medical Journal reports very positive results from major randomised controlled trial of Alexander Technique for low back-pain sufferers. more

Persistent Primitive Reflexes

An long-time interest in the influence of Persistent Primitive (or Early) Reflexes on our Use of ourselves as adults, led Michael to undertake a Grad. Dip. in Education (Learning Difficulties), which is based on the work of Rudolf Steiner. A component of this three-year course involves work on Primitive Reflexes. An early observation has been that many adults with overuse-type problems also appear to retain neck reflexes. Aberrant neck reflexes also often appear to accompany whiplash injuries. This is consistent with the sort of neck and shoulder tensions that these individuals typically suffer. There are ways of working through these problems which we have been developing into our teaching programs. More

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