{"id":35760,"date":"2011-08-09T09:25:25","date_gmt":"2011-08-09T17:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=35760"},"modified":"2011-08-09T09:25:25","modified_gmt":"2011-08-09T17:25:25","slug":"alexander-technique-teacher-michael-ostrow-profiled-in-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=35760","title":{"rendered":"Alexander Technique Teacher Michael Ostrow Profiled In The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the New York Times<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Improvements: My posture improved. And my piano playing. I trained as a classical pianist when I was younger; my shoulders were always killing me. When I get out of bed in the morning now, at age 55, I don\u2019t have aches and pains.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t relax! In general I find that the word \u201crelax\u201d leads people to collapse and deaden themselves. My rap is that people interfere with their bodies and start gripping up muscles that were designed for movement and using them for support.<\/p>\n

The unfurled spine: I put my hands on a student\u2019s head and say things like: \u201cThink of your whole spine, from the base to the top, and let your skull unlock from your spine. Imagine that your neck is your spine. Imagine a stream of water flowing up your spine and supporting your head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Technique, not treatment: I see office workers with neck and shoulder pain. Performers with voice issues. Musicians in pain from the way they hold their instruments. Equestrians. Sometimes I can help people get better at something I can\u2019t even do \u2014 though as part of my training, I took riding lessons twice a week. I\u2019ve had success with people with asthma \u2014 not that we heal people. We\u2019re giving lessons, not treatment. Our students are not our patients.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the New York Times: Improvements: My posture improved. And my piano playing. I trained as a classical pianist when I was younger; my shoulders were always killing me. When I get out of bed in the morning now, at … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10268],"tags":[16394,27402,27404,27401,29894,27403],"class_list":["post-35760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alexander-technique","tag-alexander-technique-teacher","tag-classical-pianist","tag-equestrians","tag-neck-and-shoulder-pain","tag-new-york-times","tag-voice-issues"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t