By Jane Brody It would come as no surprise to teachers of the Alexander technique, a method of adjusting body postures to relieve damaging stresses, to hear that my neck is plagued by perpetual tension, occasional pain and even crippling spasms. Alexander teachers say the demands of modern life have fostered a virtual epidemic of [...]
Soft focus. A wider view. The big picture. Draw back. Back off. Hold up. Pause, wait, stop, relax, ease up, chill. Lengthen. Widen. Take a step back and see the whole rather than just the parts. Alexander Technique, especially in NY. Sometimes too much involvement can draw us in, and down, collapsing into ourselves. Too much involvement; too much riding on it. Even our jaw muscles tighten and shorten. Too important, as if it's life or death. It makes us want to lean in, anyway we know how; usually by shrinking, compressing. Breathing shallows. We get tense, and then we stay tense. It happens to us someplace, then anyplace, then everyplace. Some times to almost all the time. Then it becomes "that's the way I am", or, "I'm a tense person"...
"It's not what you do, it's how you do it. The Alexander Technique is the how of how you do anything." Those phrases have been spoken countless times by Alexander Technique teachers at Alexander Technique lessons. The Alexander Technique is the how of everything you do. It's how you sit at the computer, more than just that you're sitting at the computer, that might lead to bad posture, neck pain, back pain, or shoulder pain. As an Alexander Technique teacher I help people sit at the computer, stand, and walk, with more ease and less tension. This results in improved posture, pain relief, and an overall sense of well-being. There is also another angle, however, regarding how you use the Alexander Technique; it's what you don't do...
It can get pretty cold in New York City, and the Alexander Technique can help; not with the cold, but how we react to the cold. When we’re cold we tend to shorten our spines, though this is usually an unconscious action. We scrunch our necks in an effort to keep warm. It might or might not it keep us warm, but it certainly doesn't help our neck...
