We all know about the desirability of good
posture, of flexibility, relaxation, and the absence of tension.
Yet, despite the considerable attention given to the externals,
ergonomic chairs, stretching exercises, "correct" posture, stress
management techniques, etc., we are still tense and uncomfortable
in our bodies, susceptible to stress, and often suffer miscellaneous
aches and pains. The statistics make very clear that the "externally
applied" measures do not work for everybody.
How much is strain costing you?
What is needed is a method of self-management
which gives us the self-knowledge we need in order to implement
our good intentions. The Alexander Technique is such a method. It
is simple, effective and it is used all over the world. The Alexander
Technique allows you to optimise the way that you perform or function.
It provides ground rules for reducing the risk of injury or stress-related
problems. About 100 years ago, Alexander introduced the idea that
the way you use yourself affects the way that you function - Use
affects Functioning . He demonstrated that there are basically
two ways of using yourself; either your tendency over time is to
contract, shortening and tightening; or, it is to release and expand.
Some of us have occasional glimpses of the latter as when, for example,
everything goes right on the tennis court, always being seemingly
in the right place and with plenty of time to hit the ball; or that
perfectly balanced, flowing ski run; or doing the perfect interview.
Yet how often do we experience this "on form" quality in everyday
life?
Most of us are more familiar with the weight,
effort and discomfort of the "contracting" tendency. In sitting,
for example, we all know the daily yo-yo between slouching and "sitting
up straight". The endless attempts to get the posture "right" need
to go on because they don't change the underlying conditions. Our
co-ordination, that pattern of muscular pulls which is peculiarly
ours, is in place whether slouching or "holding ourselves up", driving
a car or driving a computer. It is what we use to support ourselves
against the ever present pull of gravity. It forms the basis of
the "How" of everything that we do, including "sitting up straight"
or the performance of exercises or even relaxing. Our pattern of
muscular pulls provides our posture and our overall orientation
in the way that we respond to our world. It is a suit of clothes
which we never take off; it is there all the time and if we are
aware of it at all, we tend to take it for granted, as a fixed given,
even when it hurts or malfunctions in some other way.
Simply knowing just what your co-ordination
consists of, why it is, for example, that you are not falling over
as you read these words, can be a tremendous tool in the on-going
business of taking care of yourself and avoiding problems.
The rule of habit
If somebody suggested that you should daily
practice tightening your neck and shoulders, say, 200 times, you
would think their advice misguided. Yet half an hour with an Alexander
teacher may reveal that this may be almost exactly what you do,
albeit unconsciously. The teacher's role is to make you aware of
the subtle, and sometimes not-so-subtle, habits of contraction whose
effects, multiplied by days and months and years, make themselves
felt sooner or later. Tightening up, slouching down or any of a
thousand variations on a theme of compression and distortion, predispose
us to a host of musculo-skeletal ailments. They also constitute
a "pre-stressing" of yourself, so that margins for coping with the
day-to-day external stresses are narrower. They are almost always
implicated in any sort of overuse injury. Becoming aware of what
your familiar "norm" consists of, discovering previously unnoticed
"holding patterns", provides a choice and a way out of the monkey-trap
of habit.
A desk-bound worker is highly likely to be
placing demands on their arms and shoulders. But how much are they
tightening elsewhere at the same time? Are they, for example, tightening
their legs in such a way that their lower back is obliged to clench,
thus affecting support and strength for the arms and shoulders?
Might they be tightening around the ribcage, constricting the breathing
and similarly unintentionally withdrawing support and strength from
the shoulders and arms? Are they holding their head off-balance
and then requiring compensatory tension elsewhere, or even using
some muscles to pull it down whilst trying to "sit up straight"?
Exhausting stuff! Sound silly? It is silly. It is also a tremendous
waste of effort and a virtually guaranteed route to injury.
The Alexander Technique can add another dimension
to our understanding of how we work. By paying attention to the
small but significant things which you can influence right now,
you bring the bigger picture and the longer-term picture under control.
Learning greater control of that inner, muscular environment provides
an on-going tool for life. Improving your use of yourself, raising
the standard of your "norm", your pattern of muscular pulls, can
allow injuries a chance to heal and prevent their recurrence.
