Monthly Archives: September 2012

Bending Forwards with Ease

Bending Forwards

Children usually move around freely and are able to bend down with ease and poise but as they grow older, people often find that bending forwards becomes more of a problem.

This is usually because of the habits we develop over time that distort the way that we move. When adults bend forwards, they often curl over or arch the back, in such a way that the back muscles work extra hard, put pressure on the spine and the intervertebral discs become compressed. This can be the route through to developing problems such as sciatica, as the compressed discs gradually impinge on the spinal nerves and cause discomfort then pain. How good when this can be avoided (Alexander lessons can help!).

I managed to get another great shot of this child as she bent down to see what the dog is eating. She is quite naturally using a deep version of what F M Alexander called ‘the position of mechanical advantage‘ – and what Alexander teachers now call ‘monkey position’. She flexes her knees and ankles and easily folds forwards from her hips joints whilst looking at the dog without shortening her neck muscles and this allows her whole spine to remain comfortably lengthening.

Child naturally using 'Monkey 'Position'.jpg

Hopefully, many children will be able to maintain a similar alignment and easy use of their bodies as they grow up, in which case they will be less likely to develop the problematic aches and pains that so many of us experience. This will depend on a number of factors, such the types and sizes of furniture they have to use, the way they sit and use desks and computers, the attitudes and body-use of the people around them – and of course the way they react to the world, the activities they pursue and the habitual ways in which they pursue them…..

If children are fortunate enough to have some Alexander Technique lessons whilst young, they can learn how to avoid developing unhelpful habits, so they can explore the world in ways that allow them to retain their poise and ease of movement as they grow up into adulthood – ‘prevention is better than cure’ as the old saying goes

FREE Taster Workshop 7 October

Here’s a chance for teens and adults to find out more about the Alexander Technique at the Introductory AT Workshop on 7th October in Islington N1 – FREE event – but please book so we know how many are attending.

Further Info & Booking

Poised for Life

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Poised for Life

We can learn a lot from small children if we take notice of how they use their bodies as they unselfconsciously move around. Unless they have some physical problems, most small children move about very freely, are alert, poised and ready for life.

This one year old found a tortoise on the grass (an ornamental one, fortunately) and decided it would make a good seat, so she squatted down and started to look at it. This involved rocking forwards from her hip joints, with her hips, knees and ankles quite free and moveable, so that she could see and touch the tortoise’s head – she sat there for some time investigating the tortoise, with lovely poise and alignment.

In Western societies we use chairs more and more as we grow up, so we often loose that lovely freedom in our hip joints that this child demonstrates. It has been interesting recently in London to see people from other cultures, who often sit in a squat whilst waiting at bus stops. Quite elderly people have maintained freedom in their hips and joints and are able to squat with ease and poise.

Many children in the UK begin to loose their natural poise as they get older. They slump as they watch television for hours, imitate the people around them and go to school where they sit at desks for long periods of time – often with unhelpful chairs to sit on. All too frequently this results in children crumpling themselves over their work, which can contribute to back pain, headaches and other disorders, even at a young age.

F M Alexander was very keen to help children avoid developing unhelpful habits and he ran a school in which his Technique was taught as part of the curriculum. These days music and drama colleges often teach the Alexander Technique to their students but sadly there are too few ordinary schools that include the AT on the syllabus.

It is easier to prevent problems of mis-use arising, than to change our habits as an adult and many children have benefited from having Alexander lessons, so they learn to let go of habits that cause them problems and begin to maintain their naturally free movements, so that they remain poised for life.

Headache Prevention

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Headaches are discussed in the media

The fact that the frequent use of painkillers can actually give us headaches, is once again being brought to the attention of the public – and a good thing too. ‘Medication overuse headaches’ is the term given to describe the preventable condition, in which we can become habituated to the painkillers so we try taking more in order to bring about relief – but only end up by making the situation worse.

It is therefore necessary for people who have been constantly taking painkillers to come off them but, like coming off other drugs, there are withdrawal symptoms and as the BBC news item put it ‘this will lead to about a month of agony as patients contend with regular headaches without pain relief, until symptoms eventually improve’.

This is obviously a situation worth avoiding!

So what can people do, other than reaching for drugs when they first get headaches? Well, using the Alexander Technique can be amazingly helpful here, particularly if the headaches have been brought about through stress, poor posture and/or general mis-use and tension.

What Pupils Say

A new pupil told me yesterday that ‘I sat waiting for a train and thought about freeing my neck and my jaw and I actually managed to stop my headache from developing! So I avoided taking any paracetamol, which is what I would have done before I started having AT lessons’. This way of reducing headaches is surely preferable to using painkillers, if they can be avoided.

Another pupil, who came to me after having had major brain surgery also described, in her testimonial, how the AT had helped her with her ‘horrible headaches’ that she’d had since childhood. This pupil had previously ‘tried many things over many years to help reduce the frequency of the headaches’ and she said that taking Alexander lessons with me had changed things for her so that ‘I rarely get headaches any more because (Hilary) helped me teach my body to relax away from the bundle of tension it had become’.

It would almost certainly have helped this pupil to avoid years of headaches, if she had been able to have AT lessons as a child, which would have helped her avoid the tension patterns and postural problems that she had developed as she grew up.

Working out why we get headaches, is an important part of being able to avoid them and factors such as tension, the way we use our bodies and even what we eat can play a part in bringing about headaches. Severe or frequent headaches can be a symptom of a medical condition that needs treatment, so do consult a Doctor in such cases.

However, for the headaches that most people experience, learning the Alexander Technique so that you can use it as an invaluable first step to take and is far more beneficial to use it rather than automatically taking painkillers that have been shown to work less and less well over time, until they cause pain and many problems. Use the AT regularly and save painkillers for occasional use – they will work better for you and you will feel healthier.

International Alexander Awareness Week Taster Workshop ~ 7 August

If you would like to find out more about the Alexander Technique I will be running a free Taster Workshop on 7 August in Islington N, as part of International Alexander Awareness Week. Individual lessons are regularly available in Stoke Newington N16.

Leonardo da Vinci Anatomy Drawings