The Alexander Technique
Chronic Pain Relief with Good Posture and Ease of Movement

The Alexander technique is considered a form of bodywork the can provide chronic pain relief by changing the way you sit, stand and move. Good posture and ease of movement can have a big affect on how you feel. Despite the fact that it isn't a form of massage, I decided to include it on this website because it is a natural healing method that does help people find relief from chronic pain.

Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955) was a Shakespearean actor who had problems with laryngitis. When projecting his voice in the theater it would often go hoarse before the end of the performance.

Desperate to find the cause of this problem, Alexander decided to start monitoring his posture using mirrors placed at various angles. In doing this he discovered something quite shocking. He wasn't doing things the way he thought he was. He wasn't actually holding his body in the positions he intended.

He came to the conclusion that his posture, particularly the alignment of his head, neck, and back, caused his chronic hoarseness. During a 9 year period, he experimented with posture and movement becoming more aware of the way he moved his body to perform tasks. Eventually, he was able to solve his problem with the techniques he developed. He called this the Alexander Technique and taught it to others.

Most have never learned how to sit and stand in a natural upright way. We tend to slouch. When we stand up straight we over-arch our backs to compensate for our normally bad posture. Each of these extremes is not good for the body's alignment or for ease of movement.

The way we move is habitual. These habits are often quite deeply rooted and are difficult to break on our own. Breaking these bad habits is what Alexander technique teachers do. (Practitioners of this form of bodywork are called teachers.)

The techniques of movement and self-awareness that Alexander created are now taught to others around the world. These techniques can help athletes improve their performance, musicians refine their skills and play their instruments more comfortably, and even help people find chronic pain relief.

The principle behind the Alexander Technique is that if you have proper alignment in your core, you will be able to move more freely, breath more easily and your organs will function better. Bad posture causes compression in the spine and core that causes restrictions. Good posture frees you of these restrictions.

It is only through the guidance of someone trained to see these imbalances in posture and correct them that most people are able to make lasting changes.

Besides being good for performers, it is also good for people who are experiencing chronic pain. Bad posture or bad habits in movements can cause pain. These bad habits cause muscle dysfunction, nerve entrapment and repetitive strain injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome.

Many people try to separate their minds and bodies. They treat their bodies as if they are a hunk of meat that is to be used to do things, but don't consider the connection between the mind and body. The mind and body are connected. They are two aspects of the same thing.

When you're thinking about something deeply not only is your mind engaged but your body is engaged as well. Equally, when you do a difficult physical task your mind is engaged in that task just as much as your body. The general principle that Alexander discovered about the connection between the mind and body has been known in Eastern philosophies for a long time.

During an Alexander Technique lesson your teacher will evaluate your posture and give verbal and gentle hands-on guidance to correct it. Hands-on guidance is used to direct the student physically. It's not assumed that the person knows how to move correctly. Physical guidance can re-enforce verbal instructions. We're trained to put our attention externally, but we don't tend to put that same sort of attention on ourselves and what we're doing. This is why body awareness can often get pushed aside.

A main point that is paid close attention to in Alexander technique is the balance of the head on the body. The head weighs 12 pounds and sits on the top of your spine. Many people hold their heads in a way that is unbalanced. Simply correcting the way you hold your head can make a big difference in your comfort level.

Lessons usually last from 30 to 45 minutes. It is usually recommended that you receive 30 lessons to completely correct your posture and give you a new sense of poise and self-awareness. The number of lessons you get may vary according to your goals.