Category Archives: The Alexander Technique

Exercise, The Alexander Technique

Exercise and the Alexander Technique

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There are a plethora of studies out now about how important exercise is to one’s health and longevity. Many gyms count on people signing up and then dropping out. This usually happens in January, (new year’s resolutions) and early spring, when we want to look good for the summer. To stay with an exercise program, it’s really important to find what you enjoy doing the most, what brings the most pleasure in your body. For many it’s running, walking, dance, tennis, or swimming. Whatever you choose, how you begin and end is important for obtaining the most benefit from your exercise.

Before you start your exercise, pause and check in with your alignment. Many of us get caught up in keeping our minds busy/entertained while exercising. As a culture we seem to multi-task. It’s actually better for your body/mind to just be with the movement, to be aware of the changes in your body as you move. So stand against a wall and tune into your posture. Make note where you feel tight, how even is the weight distribution is in your feet, how your back is touching the surface, if both sides of your hips are touching. Do your shoulder blades touch? Take a minute to feel your feet, do a few foot rolls. Lengthen your spine, let your head move in the opposite direction from your sacrum. Roll your shoulders back and let your body take up more space. Widen as well as lengthen.

Now start with whatever exercise you have planned. When you are done, do the same thing; stand against a wall and notice what has changed. Is your posture giving your brain the message that it’s more relaxed, more aligned? Taking the time to notice will give you more information about your body and how the exercise is impacting you.

I will be offering classes combining Alexander and Cantienica this fall. Cantienica, a fitness work-out, is very popular in Europe and is now being presented here in the Bay Area. The founder/originator, Benita Cantieni is presenting a training here at the end of October. Cantieni describes her system as a “logical anatomy” for laypeople, an instruction for self-healing, or as viviatomy, the science of the living body. I find the work extremely helpful for feeling connected to and directing from my core. One way it differs from other workouts is its focus and understanding of activating the pelvic floor. This is something most people have very little understanding of in any activity. Knowing how to engage the pelvic floor will improve your posture and strengthen your core, as well as prevent many problems that can come with aging. Ms. Cantieni’s web site is www.cantienica-method.com. Her book Tiger Feeling is available in English as an e-book. I highly recommend it.

Please contact me if you want more information or to take the class. 415-948-8523

All the Best,

Habits, Posture, Shoulders, The Alexander Technique

Shoulders

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Have you ever noticed your shoulders inching up towards your ears and felt the tension it creates in your whole boy? This unconscious habit can make you feel upset even when there is nothing to be upset about. Here is a TED Talk video about how body language shapes who you are. Here is a TED Talk video about how body language shapes who you are.

MJS_Posture10p1When my shoulders are tight or raised it usually means I’ve shortened the distance between my head and sacrum. This leads to compression along the spine as well as the shoulders taking over and trying to carry me around. Since the relationship of the head to the spine is called ‘primary control’ in Alexander terms, you know if this relationship is off then the entire structure is going to have trouble. Thus starting with bringing the head/spine in proper relationship is the first step in bringing your shoulders to a relaxed position.

shoulder_jointAnother unconscious habit that can contribute to shoulder problems is lifting and pulling up and in at the shoulder joint. The shoulder joint is made up of the clavicle and shoulder blade coming together to form a round socket. The arm bone, the humerus, fits into this socket and too often we think of the head of the humerus as part of the joint. This thinking may be what causes us to pull up and in with the arm, creating more tension in our shoulders. Learning to recognize this habit is a step towards reducing the stress and tension we are putting on this joint. Learning to let the elbows drop will give more space to the joint. This action will also reduce wear and tear on the shoulder.

 

Rowing is a popular sport with a great opportunity to either learn how use your shoulders properly, or really abuse them and end up with rounded shoulders and poor posture. Most rowers pull in at the shoulder joint and round their torso; they forget or don’t know about the importance of lengthening up along the front as well as the back of the spine while using the oars. And ideally letting the elbows drop instead of pulling the head of the humerus into the shoulder joint. This is also helpful when you are at the gym using a rowing or weight lifting machine. Exercising your body with good alignment and use will make a huge difference in your posture, as well as give you a better sense of awareness of when you are going out of alignment.

 

One of my favorite exercises for releasing the stress on the shoulder joint is an egoscue exercise. Here is the link to it. If your shoulders are not limber enough for this you can lie in conscious constructive rest position and slowly open your arms wide initiating the movement from the finger tips not the joint. Learning to think the movement by connecting your thought to your bones and muscles without forcing allows ease and comfort throughout your entire being.

All the Best,
Elaine

Past Newsletters, The Alexander Technique

The Voice

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“For the Alexander Technique doesn’t teach you something new to do. It teaches you how to bring more practiced intelligence into what you are already doing; how to eliminate the stereotyped responses; how to deal with change. It leaves you free to choose your own goal but gives you a better use of yourself while you work towards it.” —Frank Pierce Jones.

I wanted to start this month with this quote by Frank Pierce Jones because even though I want to focus on voice this time, this quote so accurately reminds us that the Alexander Technique is useful with any activity.

Alexander came to his technique via the voice. He became very frustrated with losing his voice while performing on stage. Many doctors tried to help but no one was able to alleviate the problem. At a certain point he realized no one could help him and he took matters into his own hands. Being a scientific minded person her decided that since he only lost his voice while he was performing he knew it must be something he himself was doing. His own actions were causing his difficulty with his voice.

He spent many years using mirrors and studying himself to uncover the problem he was causing himself. He realized that when he went to speak, especially when he was trying to project this voice out into an audience, he would take a large breath, sucking it in through his mouth, and pulling his head back down. This was causing pressure on his larynx. When he allowed his head to be balanced on the end of his spine he was able to continue speaking with our loosing his voice. He realized how clear and calm his body could remanin as he maintained that openness and support with the balanced relationship of his head to spine. He became a master in the understanding and maintaining alignment, in the use of good posture.

It made such a profound difference in his presence and stance on and off stage that others sought him out to learn how he made this change. He soon had a following from many walks of life. Doctors would send their most difficult cases, and consistently he was able to offer them help when nothing else would. He became very popular with the great thinkers of that time. John Dewey, Aldous Huxley, George Ellett Coghill, the Earl of Lyton to mention a few, as well as many doctors and philosophers.

When one understands his/her psycho/physical structure there is a deeper sense of integration of the organism as a whole functioning unit. One’s proprioceptive sensitivity is heightened thus improving posture and alignment.

Unfortunately most doctors are not trained in the knowledge of how to direct the use of the human musculature and skeleton and do not recognize the relationship between mis-direction (poor posture) and general function of the body. Changing your posture and the way you move can have huge impact on ones health. Many people, especially with increased use of computers, cell phones, TV’s, technology equipment in general, are not even aware of their posture, or their body until something starts to hurt. The pain is really trying to tell you there is something you are doing wrong, something needs exploring. But usually this gets “fixed’ with surgery, pain killers, not with common sense or understanding the body.

Now back to voice and suggestions. The following is an exercise from Glynn McDonald’s book, Alexander Technique: A practical Program for Health Poise, and Fitness. It will give you a better sense of your posture and how to support your body for more awareness as you speak. The exercise will give you more information about what you do when you are speaking and how to have more support in your body in general.

(Click Here to view the exericse)

Enjoy finding the support and ease within.

I appreciate any questions or responses.

Elaine

 

The Alexander Technique, Trialign

Back To Work

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Hi Everyone, Greetings and Happy New Year.

I thought I would start the New Year off by sharing some helpful tips on getting to know and understand your body, some useful exercises and hints for staying aligned and out of pain.

Having spent so many years studying and working in the field of body awareness and then working with the limitations of personal illness, I have often been frustrated with not being able to share knowledge and insights. So I decided to send out a monthly newsletter with simple exercises and ideas to explore.

As many of you may know I am finally back to work and would appreciate referrals. So please forward this to anyone you think would enjoy this and/or be interested in my work.

As we all know getting older presents many more physical challenges. Since we are looking for ways to age gracefully I thought I would add to your list of helpful hints.

Having awareness of your posture and use of your body will help this process of aging gracefully..

The good news is the bodymind is often very responsive. I say bodymind because body and mind work well when you use them together. Learning to think with your whole body helps regenerate the whole being.

The most difficult part is making the time and finding the discipline to make change a reality.

There several techniques, ways of understanding our bodies available to us at this time. My favorite is the Alexander Technique.

The Egoscue method can also be useful It is a collection of exercises that help remind your muscles and skeletal system how to be in alignment. There are different sets of excises depending upon your trouble areas. My favorite Egoscue teacher is Leslie Mullier. Check out her web site for more information: www.trialign.com. These exercises are even more affective if you apply them with Alexander principals. Actually anything is easier and more effective with Alexander Technique.

So finding a form of movement that you enjoy and will commit to doing is a very important first step. Doing any activity with awareness, not just exercise, will help your posture and alignment. It will also reduce possibilities of injury and pain.

Let’s start with awareness of our head and neck. Place one finger on your nose and one on the occipital ridge of your skull.

Occipital Bone

Imagine your finger is a pencil and draw circles with it, so you are initiating the movement from your nose. Now do the same with the occipital. You can think of writing your name with your nose, or occipital. Say yes or no. Having the awareness of the back of your head and tip of your nose and moving from there could give you more ease, less tension in your jaw. Once you have a sense of initiating the movement from you nose or occipital you can drop your arms and just move from those two parts as you. As you experiment with this be aware of your whole body, making sure your shoulders are relaxed, you are standing equally on both feet, or if you are sitting you can sense a balance of weight on both sides of your pelvis. (DON”T CROSS YOUR LEGS) This movement should be small, subtle. AS you are doing this movement (saying yes or no with your head, or writing your name in space) notice the feeling inside your mouth. Relax your jaw, your neck, your teeth, as you do these gentle movements you may feel more room in your mouth, less tension in your neck. And more awareness of your tendency to tighten up when its not necessary. It may also give you a sense of dimension in your body. Remember this is an exploration you are gathering information that could help you relax. As you go about your day see if having this awareness and moving from there lets you feel and sense more ease through out your body.

This exercise can be done lying down, just make sure you have some height under your heard a book or folded towel. You want your head high enough that your ear is in line with your shoulders; have your knees up so you can feel the bottoms of your feet making contact with the floor.

When doing this exercise use very small movements.

This is a good exercise to do at the computer. Taking a break to move is essential to aiding the process of awareness and alignment. If you are using your computer longer than an hour it really is important to take a break and move. Remember that old saying ‘if your don’t move it you lose it’! You don’t want to lose your flexibility. And if you have lost your flexibility the good news is you can regain it.

©Elaine Belle