Sometimes, when we see dentists, doctors etc., we are put in weird positions and I’m not talking about having to foot the bill.
Which reminds me of one more: Podiatrists. The weird position I’m talking about has to do with what we have to do with our body, and specifically our neck, so that these professionals can do their jobs. (You might eventually notice what they’re doing with their neck!)
Dental hygienists, hairdressers, and doctors, are generally not taught about the Alexander Technique in their training. If they did have some experience with the Alexander Technique, their own postural habits might be a lot different.
Sometimes people actually ask us to put our heads ‘back and down’, something not desirable. Even when they ask us to be in this potentially harmful position, we still have a choice. We can put our heads back (a backward rotation as we might do when we look up), but it doesn’t have to be pressing down on the spine. Looking up or down without compressing is a classic example of how the Alexander Technique helps us in our everyday lives.
Back in the day when I had hair, I remember the discomfort of having to tilt my head far back as I got my hair washed. Now that we’re on computers so much of the time, I notice that people put their head in a similar position, though not as severe. We poke our neck towards the computer monitor, and our head rotates backwards and down. If we rotated the whole picture 90 degrees we would be in a similar position as when we get our hair washed. We similarly get in this position in the dentist’s office.
The Alexander Technique helps us by giving us more control over our positions, and teaches us to lessen the tension no matter the position.
Mark Josefsberg-Alexander Technique NYC
(917) 709-4648
Ha! I’m a hairdresser! I never thought of that. It is always such an uncomfortable ordeal when I get my hair washed… I always try to be as gentle as possible with my clients. But even my neck and shoulders ache. Thanks ever so much for this post I’m extremely interested in the Alexander Technique!