Alexander Technique: October 2007 Archives
This short piece was written by a young secondary school child for his Religious Studies homework and no mention of the Alexander Technique had been made by his school teacher. However, the boy had experienced some Alexander Technique for himself and he had also seen how people around him had changed in themselves, after taking a number of Alexander Lessons.
The boy's words illustrate the fact that the Alexander Technique is a form of psychophysical learning and can even be a spiritual experience, not purely a set of ordinary physical exercises.
I will leave his homework to speak for itself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An osteopath told me that some patients come to her because they have hurt their backs when sneezing and coughing. So, as winter approaches, yet more people may find their way to her door, unless they find a way of avoiding this problem to begin with, perhaps through looking after their backs by having Alexander Technique lessons.
One of the main reasons that this type of back problem can happen, is that when we hold ourselves in a fixed manner, with contracted muscles and habitual tension in the lower back, the lumbar region, this tightness will be increased by the spasms of coughing and sneezing. This will obviously be more exaggerated if you have a long bout of coughing. The jolting can jar or strain the muscles, sometimes even damaging an intervertebral disc, causing great pain.
However, if we learn to unlock our hips, knees and ankles so that they can bend and, ideally, allow our back to be freely lengthening, the muscles are able to respond more elastically as our ribs expand and contract with the sneezing. In this way, the jolt can be softened and ripples through us, rather than straining us. This way of sneezing and coughing can also be helpful for people after having abdominal surgery, possibly with the addition of holding the abdomen during the sneeze.
The more able you are to have a free neck and back, the more resilient your muscles will be. Even if you have not had Alexander Lessons and learned how to do this, you can help protect your back if you remember to
Bend your knees
When you cough and sneeze
One of the main reasons that this type of back problem can happen, is that when we hold ourselves in a fixed manner, with contracted muscles and habitual tension in the lower back, the lumbar region, this tightness will be increased by the spasms of coughing and sneezing. This will obviously be more exaggerated if you have a long bout of coughing. The jolting can jar or strain the muscles, sometimes even damaging an intervertebral disc, causing great pain.
However, if we learn to unlock our hips, knees and ankles so that they can bend and, ideally, allow our back to be freely lengthening, the muscles are able to respond more elastically as our ribs expand and contract with the sneezing. In this way, the jolt can be softened and ripples through us, rather than straining us. This way of sneezing and coughing can also be helpful for people after having abdominal surgery, possibly with the addition of holding the abdomen during the sneeze.
The more able you are to have a free neck and back, the more resilient your muscles will be. Even if you have not had Alexander Lessons and learned how to do this, you can help protect your back if you remember to
Bend your knees
When you cough and sneeze
This
small child is alert and poised, with her back freely lengthening,
quite naturally. Her head is balanced on her neck in such a way that
all her muscles are able to work freely and in co-ordination, so that
the heavy weight of her head is transferred evenly right through her
body, onto her sitting bones.If the child is able to maintain this free and easy poise as she grows up, she will be fortunate. Most of us started out life with a similar, natural but unconscious, postural alignment but most of us lose it over time. Many people start Alexander lessons in order to improve their posture and reduce back pain.
In Alexander Technique lessons we can begin to reclaim this birthright, by learning to maintain our poise and increase our freedom of movement, through making conscious choices about the way we use ourselves during all our activities. Sometimes, we even feel younger again.
The Blog
This is a new departure for me and for my Website. I hope that this Blog will enable me to keep pupils informed about term dates etc plus offer news and ideas from the world of the Alexander Technique. Sometimes pupils express the desire to connect with others who are learning the Technique and this Blog offers one way this can happen.
I also want to add new material to my site that includes other areas of interest - topics that are local to Stoke Newington and Newington Green, plus environmental concerns in particular. Why add these topics to a Website about the Alexander Technique?. Well, in A/T we learn to be aware of how we live and act in the world and learn to take care of ourselves in a specific manner, all the time becoming aware of the immediate environment around us. For instance, sometimes we will think about how we use a computer and as part of that process we will look at how well our equipment is placed for us, so that we can give ourselves the best chance we can to use our bodies well whilst typing - or reading this Blog, of course!
I want to take this approach out into the wider world - what can we do to help make our world a better, healthier place to live in? Our quality of life is affected by our environment and this impacts on our wellbeing. Discovering about our local area can help us to connect with it and to develop the urge to actively care for it. Contact with gardens and other green spaces is known to help reduce stress levels and to improve our health but city parks are all too often uncared for, or are so highly 'manicured' that they support no wildlife. All parks and green spaces tend to be in short supply and they will be even more so, if the government builds on those they can label brownfield sites.
The refurbishment and transformation of Newington Green has resulted in the Green being given various awards. This is an example of positive change that was brought about through local action, with the lead being taken by the Newington Green Action Group, who engendered public involvement and consultation with the Council. The Green has gone from being the run-down haunt of alcoholics, to the much enjoyed community space that it is now. The Green is still somewhat barren from a wildlife standpoint, with just a flock of 100 feral pigeons, an occasional visit from a blackbird and little else. However, with plans to improve the situation in the near future, biodiversity surely has to be increased. We are almost starting with a blank canvas.
With climate change increasingly being an issue we need to engage with the problems and cherish every outdoor space, to maximise their capacity to combat CO2 and pollution levels, to mop up excess water and to create spaces that are good for both wildlife and humans.
So often we can feel powerless when faced with such daunting topics as climate change but there are many ways in which we can act, that could contribute in a positive way to both the global situation and to our own health and wellbeing, plus our enjoyment of the area we live in. We can all do things that help - remember -
Every Action Counts
Quite how far this Blog will expand I do not know. Meanwhile I've gone from thinking about looking after our backs, to thinking about caring for the environment and the world of invertebrates, creatures that have no spine at all.
If you would like regular updates from my Blog, you can subscribe to the RSS Feed above.
Watch this space!
This is a new departure for me and for my Website. I hope that this Blog will enable me to keep pupils informed about term dates etc plus offer news and ideas from the world of the Alexander Technique. Sometimes pupils express the desire to connect with others who are learning the Technique and this Blog offers one way this can happen.
I also want to add new material to my site that includes other areas of interest - topics that are local to Stoke Newington and Newington Green, plus environmental concerns in particular. Why add these topics to a Website about the Alexander Technique?. Well, in A/T we learn to be aware of how we live and act in the world and learn to take care of ourselves in a specific manner, all the time becoming aware of the immediate environment around us. For instance, sometimes we will think about how we use a computer and as part of that process we will look at how well our equipment is placed for us, so that we can give ourselves the best chance we can to use our bodies well whilst typing - or reading this Blog, of course!
I want to take this approach out into the wider world - what can we do to help make our world a better, healthier place to live in? Our quality of life is affected by our environment and this impacts on our wellbeing. Discovering about our local area can help us to connect with it and to develop the urge to actively care for it. Contact with gardens and other green spaces is known to help reduce stress levels and to improve our health but city parks are all too often uncared for, or are so highly 'manicured' that they support no wildlife. All parks and green spaces tend to be in short supply and they will be even more so, if the government builds on those they can label brownfield sites.
The refurbishment and transformation of Newington Green has resulted in the Green being given various awards. This is an example of positive change that was brought about through local action, with the lead being taken by the Newington Green Action Group, who engendered public involvement and consultation with the Council. The Green has gone from being the run-down haunt of alcoholics, to the much enjoyed community space that it is now. The Green is still somewhat barren from a wildlife standpoint, with just a flock of 100 feral pigeons, an occasional visit from a blackbird and little else. However, with plans to improve the situation in the near future, biodiversity surely has to be increased. We are almost starting with a blank canvas.
With climate change increasingly being an issue we need to engage with the problems and cherish every outdoor space, to maximise their capacity to combat CO2 and pollution levels, to mop up excess water and to create spaces that are good for both wildlife and humans.
So often we can feel powerless when faced with such daunting topics as climate change but there are many ways in which we can act, that could contribute in a positive way to both the global situation and to our own health and wellbeing, plus our enjoyment of the area we live in. We can all do things that help - remember -
Every Action Counts
Quite how far this Blog will expand I do not know. Meanwhile I've gone from thinking about looking after our backs, to thinking about caring for the environment and the world of invertebrates, creatures that have no spine at all.
If you would like regular updates from my Blog, you can subscribe to the RSS Feed above.
Watch this space!
Hilary King - BA (Hons) PGDip Psychol. Dip Couns. MSTAT - Tel: 020 7254 9206
Copyright © 2004 - 2007 Hilary King, All rights reserved.