{"id":87591,"date":"2016-02-10T16:59:22","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T00:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=87591"},"modified":"2016-02-10T16:59:22","modified_gmt":"2016-02-11T00:59:22","slug":"what-happens-in-an-alexander-technique-lesson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=87591","title":{"rendered":"What Happens In An Alexander Technique Lesson?"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the ABC<\/a>:<\/p>\n

‘Generally we start by just having a look at your general pattern of use, basically how you use yourself in everyday activities,’ says Robert Schubert, an Alexander Technique instructor.<\/p>\n

‘If you’re hurting yourself in some even minimal way in those activities, [if] you do that for years you could end up in trouble.’<\/p>\n

One common problem that occurs with sitting, Schubert notes, is tightening of the neck and back muscles.<\/p>\n

‘You actually don’t need to do that to sit down, that’s just a habit you’ve developed.’<\/p>\n

Alexander called these problems ‘misuses of ourselves’.<\/p>\n

‘A lot of this back tightening goes on for years and years and years and then people get a sore back and they don’t know why.’<\/p>\n

In an example Alexander lesson, Schubert asks me to think about letting my neck release as I sit down\u2014it’s a simple instruction and it’s not hard to do, but how readily does it become habitual?<\/p>\n

‘That depends on how much you practise,’ says Schubert.<\/p>\n

Musicians and performing artists, Schubert says, make for good Alexander practitioners\u2014they’re used to being aware of their body.<\/p>\n

For the rest of us, it can be more challenging, says Schubert. ‘It can feel a little laborious for some people. That’s quite normal, while your body recalibrates along the lines of an improved movement.’<\/p>\n

Schubert says that the difficulty with Alexander Technique is not the technique itself, it’s remembering to employ it.<\/p>\n

Who is the Alexander Technique for?<\/p>\n

Instructors reckon almost everyone can benefit from the Alexander Technique, not just sportspeople and performing artists.<\/p>\n

Lucia Walker, a senior instructor, says her clients include a knitting group and a convent. ‘The sisters want help with how they look after themselves, both serving dinner and kneeling to pray and bowing.’<\/p>\n

Another instructor, Kazimirs Krasovskis, has worked with belly dancers\u2014which he says was lots of fun\u2014but also people in the course of their everyday jobs. ‘There was a lady who was a funeral director, she was having problems carrying coffins down the stairs.’<\/p>\n

Krasovskis himself uses the technique for his own gym sessions, and sees many people exercising in potentially harmful ways.<\/p>\n

‘I was amazed at how much people misuse their bodies through straining to lift weights that are possibly too heavy for them.’<\/p>\n

If he’s doing shoulder exercises by lifting dumb-bells, Krasovskis has learnt what his bad habits are. ‘I know that I can arch my back unnecessarily, so through knowing that that’s my habit I can do that exercise more efficiently.’<\/p>\n

Rosslyn McLeod summarises the basis of the Alexander Technique as ‘use affects function’.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the ABC: ‘Generally we start by just having a look at your general pattern of use, basically how you use yourself in everyday activities,’ says Robert Schubert, an Alexander Technique instructor. ‘If you’re hurting yourself in some even minimal … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","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":[],"class_list":["post-87591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alexander-technique"],"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