Alexander Technique

Biologists confirm that 95% of our movement is subconscious.  For example, the thought of sitting  triggers a habitual set of neuromuscular responses. We do not have to think of every muscle or bone that you have to move in order to accomplish the task of sitting.  Moreover, every time we sit, each of us, unconsciously,  perform the function with our own unique set of movement patterns.

Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955) devised a method, the Alexander Technique, specifically designed to bring the function of our body within our conscious intention.  He called this method “constructive conscious control”. Constructive conscious control  has three elements:

• Awareness
• Inhibition
• Direction
  

Awareness is the first step.  Awareness guides you into an awareness of how your entire three dimensional body moves in space and to gradually become aware of your own unique personal movement habits.  For example, the student may not be aware that  he/she  tends to lock their knees, or raise their ribs, hold their breath or put their heads back and down on their spines.

Inhibition is a term borrowed from neurology: nerve impulses can be either excited or inhibited, either turned on or off.    In Alexander Technique, inhibition is a pause, or moment of stillness, where the individual can consider a new response to the stimulus.  The stimulus may be the desire to sit or to pick up an object, play an instrument or ski down a hill.   “My technique is based on inhibition, the inhibition of undesirable, unwanted responses to stimuli, and hence it is primarily a technique for the development of the control of the human reaction”.  F.M. Alexander.

Direction is the final step.  Directions are a series of statements repeated mentally (thereby affecting the subconscious) in order to accomplish the task in a new non-habitual manner.    The mental statement goes something like this: “neck release, head forward and up, back lengthened and widened."

Why these particular directions?   F.M Alexander discovered that the dynamic relationship between the head and neck governs the workings of the entire body.  He called this relationship “primary control”.  Biologists have confirmed that man, like all other vertebrates, initiates movement from the top of the spine, in a forward and upward direction.   Man balances his head on a little known joint called the atlanto-occipital joint, which is illustrated to the right. This joint is not visible to us but lies in the center of the head between the ears and directly behind the uvula.  The uvula is that little bit of flesh that hangs down off the back of the roof of the mouth.               

In order for the head/neck relationship to function efficiently, it is critical that muscular tension in the neck be released.   It was F.M. Alexander’s genius to realize that when the neck muscles do not overwork, the head balances on top of the spine, creating upward length and a lack of compression.   If the head and neck are in a state of dynamic balance, then the muscles of the back have the potential to lengthen and widen, the torso can expand, and the joints can move more freely.  However, if the head is back and down, there is a downward compression on the entire system and ones entire body is affected by excess muscle tension and effort.