What is the Alexander Technique?

Alexander Technique corrects postural habits and helps you to develop new awareness of where your body is placed in space in response to things around you.

This improves your spatial awareness and can positively influence your neural functioning. New ways of activating your muscles can lead you to optimal posture, function, and coordination.

Correcting posture brings optimal movement and blood flow, better detox, reduced inflammation and joint wear and tear. This can help cartilage, ligaments, and tendons.

Reduction in muscle effort develops better thoracic volume and more rib articulation. This can help to improve breathing and breath tidal flow rate.

It’s easy to see how a simple improvement in posture makes you feel better, move easier and takes pressure off your whole human system.

A little Alexander Technique background.

Alexander Technique is based on the discoveries of FM Alexander. He lived from 1869 until 1955. He was named as one of 200 greatest Australians for our Australian  Bicentenary in 1988. Alexander’s observations of integrated thought and movement have been called “constructive conscious control“.

Learning the Alexander Technique is easy when you learn with highly trained qualified teachers. With light movements from the teacher, you begin to develop new postural skills.

As you put this “conscious constructive control” into action you may find a new, easy support that takes strain off from your body.

What Alexander discovered

Alexander observed that many people shorten their stature in movement to such a degree that their bodies must tighten and stiffen muscles to maintain balance. Chronically stiffened muscles put strain on the whole support structure of the body. It forces people to exert a great deal more effort than would otherwise be needed. This not only affects their posture. It impacts on the overall function of the body.

He found that when the chronic stiffening is released the body regains the deep support of the bone structure and muscles become free the regain their elasticity.

Elastic muscles are quite different from tight muscles or relaxed muscles. They have a dynamic tone.  They work together with the bones, ligaments and tendons to provide a framework of support and movement that is easy, fluid and dynamic.

Alexander Technique and your potential

Alexander’s observations have been translated into a useful and easy-to-learn technique for unlocking your potential regardless of your situation.

Alexander Technique teachers can demonstrate how your body’s organisation system can be harnessed for significant improvement in all forms of activity. Alexander Technique is akin to learning a new language whose vocabulary is made up from body awareness and embodied understanding. You get to know and communicate with your body in a completely new way.

But will it help my bad back?

People with injury, bad backs, neck pains and chronic conditions can experience profound improvement as a useful benefit from learning this new language of body awareness. Alexander Technique is a skill that you learn to do for yourself. That’s a substantial difference from other approaches to back pain. It can be a practical complement to medical treatment. Check with your practitioner. Then come and see us.

You’ll want to learn Alexander Technique because it teaches you about your body in an empowering way. The learning is evidence based and totally in step with modern scientific discovery. This means that you will learn what you need to do, through your own observations and understandings. Your teacher will provide you with a structure for positive body changes that can’t be got through exercise, yoga, or any other method. Alexander Technique is unique.

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