The child in this picture is using her body elegantly and effortlessly, as we all did when we were young. She could be snow skiing, water skiing, playing baseball, beginning to sit or, something we all do all the time, grabbing a dog’s snout.
This is the way we were meant to carry ourselves even now, which is why learning the Alexander Technique is sometimes called a RE-education process. It’s never too late to relearn how we used to be.
Sometimes we need to make ourselves shorter; leaning over a sink, picking something up, sitting down, or playing a sport. The girl in the picture is shortening herself for leverage, but not by shortening her spine. She is lowering herself by letting her knees go forward, while her hip joints move back. Knees forward, hips back. So when we sit down, or pick up something from the floor, we want to do three things:
1. Knees forward
2. Hip joints back
3. Nothing else
Number three is the challenging part. Most of us usually tense our necks, arch our backs, shorten and compress our spines, restrict our breathing, tense our jaw and on and on. We even do this ‘just’ sitting at the computer.
Join the conversation.
How’s your posture right now?
How do you, or people you observe, bend down?
Mark Josefsberg-Alexander Technique NYC
(917) 709-4648
Leave A Comment