TENSION

/Tag:TENSION

Alexander Technique And Driving

When you learn to drive you are taught to grip the steering wheel at ten and two, unless you're thinking of a digital clock; then it gets confusing. If you weren't taught by an Alexander Technique teacher, you likely weren't taught how to grip the steering wheel, how little muscular effort is needed, or how to stop gripping in other parts of your body while driving. I observed that for highway driving I could get away with keeping my hands comfortably lower; perhaps around 4:35, give or take a few minutes. I also noticed, whenever I became aware, I could release tension in my hands. Once I released that extra effort I was able to notice tension elsewhere, including my jaw and my neck, and release that unneeded tension too. Moving up and away from my hands...

How Does The Alexander Technique Work?

Yesterday a student told me that he thought it 'took energy' to sit or stand using the principles of the Alexander Technique. If he just sat the way he always sat, he said, it took very little effort and felt comfortable. I can't disagree that it is comfortable to sit, stand, move and walk in our habitual way. A lot of our habits, though comfortable, aren't beneficial for us. Slumping is one of those habits, and slumping also takes energy because...

Alexander Technique And The Nobel Prize

In 1973, Nicholas Tinbergen and two others won the Nobel prize for Physiology-Medicine. He dedicated a good portion of his acceptance speech to F.M. Alexander, the Alexander Technique and it's benefits. He was an Alexander Technique student, as was his wife and daughter. They all took Alexander Technique lessons with different Alexander Technique teachers. What follows is the beginning of the portion of the speech relating to the Alexander Technique: …My second example of the usefulness of an ethological approach to Medicine has quite a different history. It concerns the work of a very remarkable man, the late F. M. Alexander. His research started some fifty years before the revival of Ethology for which we are now being honoured, yet his procedure was very similar to modern observational methods, and we believe that his achievements and those of his pupils deserve close attention...

Alexander Technique NYC

It's hard to know how fast and crazy everything around a large city can be, until you leave it. I think it's comparable to people at the beginning of Alexander Technique lessons not realizing how much they're tensing themselves, until they release that tension... It also made me realize that I want to take some of that calm energy back with me as I teach my Alexander Technique lessons in NYC.

Load More Posts
"With good humor, specificity, and charm, Mark makes a challenging technique accessible and fun!"
Kyra Sedgwick, Emmy Award Winning Actress
" Mark showed me how to move the natural way with ease and simplicity, avoiding unwanted stress on my body."
Juliette Bennett, Actress
"I really enjoyed our Alexander Technique lessons, learned a lot, felt lighter, more balanced and my neck pain is better. You have a true healing presence and great knowledge and skill."
Dr. Martin Ehrlich, Medical Director, Beth Israel Hospital CHH
"From the very 1st lesson, I was impressed with Mark’s acute awareness of the body and compassionate teaching philosophy."
Scott Kacenga, Musician
Alexander Technique in Manhattan, NYC.

Mark Josefsberg teaches one-to-one lessons and group classes in Manhattan, and everywhere on Zoom.

Mark is an associate faculty member of ACAT's teacher training program.

Mark Josefsberg is AmSAT and ACAT Certified, 2003. ACAT—The American Center for the Alexander Technique AmSAT—The American Society for the Alexander Technique