Results tagged “poise” from Hilary King's Blog

Poise and Posture

When we are children, most people have a beautiful easy poise, as is illustrated in this photo of a little girl sitting on a giant snow seat. Despite the obvious cold, the child is sitting easily and in a relaxed manner, whilst many adults would be bent over and tensed up against the chill!

There are many influences in our lives that get us interfering with our natural poise. Our attitudes and emotional experiences are reflected in the way we use our bodies and our minds gradually tend to become rather set so that our view of the world - and our physical responses to it - become rather fixed and habitual. Stress, peer group pressures, accidents and illnesses all play their part in moulding our habitual body use and many of us end up crumpling our bodies down into ourselves - whilst others over-extend and arch their backs in an attempt to 'stand up straight' - both of which pull us off our balance and poise.

Fortunately, F M Alexander realised that we are able to reduce some of these effects if we are willing to let go of habits of thought and behaviour that interfere with our natural use. During Alexander Technique lessons, we can learn how to do this and in so doing, regain much of the fluid, free and poised way of being and moving that we had as children and feeling more comfortable in ourselves.

You may read more about Alexander Technique classes here.

Some people manage to retain their good body use into adulthood, without ever having an Alexander Technique lesson. However, most adults lose the free and often graceful movements that we had as children and often end up rather 'crumpled', with a variety of aches and pains. One of the joys of having Alexander lessons is that we can often regain - or find - some of the co-ordination and freedom of movement that is more natural to our bodies. 

Sam Murphy of the Guardian has written another article about the Alexander Technique (17th Nov '07), this time comparing it to Tai Chi on a number of parameters. Again, the article makes for interesting reading and it is good that he is discussing the Technique.

Murphy compares various research studies into the two disciplines and it is true to say that there needs to be more research undertaken into the Alexander Technique, as scientific 'evidence' about its effectiveness is a little flimsy.

An important difference between the two, is that the Alexander Technique is not a set of exercises but becomes more of a way of life. An important aim of the Alexander Technique is to learn how to improve the use of our bodies, whatever we happen to be doing - so we can apply it to improve our Tai Chi practice, for instance.

One statement that Murphy makes, I would like to query.  He says that 'Good posture, at rest or in movement, is the raison d'etre of the Alexander Technique'. Certainly, our posture tends to improve as a result of learning the Technique but it is the means-whereby we bring about those changes, which is important. This is because we don't just 'sit up straight', but learn to let go of our habitual reactions, along with the associated mis-use that tends to distort our natural poise.  We then give ourselves directions that bring about changes in the way we use ourselves and in so doing, we allow our bodies to re-align. Good posture is usually an outcome of taking lessons, providing the pupil applies their learning of the Technique to their daily life, but is not the main aim of the work.

Perhaps it would be appropriate to quote Alexander himself, as reported by some of his pupils:

'There is no such thing as a right position, but there is such a thing as a right direction'

and

'You are not here to do exercises or to learn to do something right, but to get able to meet a stimulus that always puts you wrong and to learn to deal with it'.

F M Alexander - Aphorisms

'Aphorisms' is a small book, full of fascinating quotes from F M Alexander

There was an interesting article by Sam Murphy in the Guardian (Wed 6th November '07) called 'More Speed, Less Pain'.  Murphy writes about the experience of learning to run differently through having a running lesson with Malcolm Balk, who combines the Alexander Technique with running skills and has developed an approach to his teaching called 'The Art of Running'. This article can still be seen online at Guardian Unlimited and is well worth reading, whether you are interested in running to improve your health, or the Alexander Technique, or both, as it gives you a taste of the way in which you can train yourself to run using the Technique.

As Murphy puts it 'I've been running for 18 years and it's never felt this easy and, well, bouncy'. The article's title also indicates that it is possible to move faster when using the A/T, not that we all have to slow down, as some people fear they will have to do, in order to be aware of their use. When we let go of habits that interfere with our movements, it is possible to act freely and more speedily, if we choose to. This is quite another experience to that of rushing around, whilst end-gaining in a driven manner.

In his article, Murphy refers to several of F M Alexander's theories such as doing, non-doing and end-gaining - and for those of you have not come across these concepts as used in the Alexander Technique, you may like to refer to my Glossary Definitions of these terms.

Murphy also quotes Alexander as saying "Stop what you are doing wrong, and the right will take care of itself" - something we could all do well to remember. However some people may benefit from the help of an Alexander teacher, in order to understand how to do this during our activities.

Malcolm Balk has also written a book which many Alexander students have found interesting and helpful to use when thinking about how to apply the Alexander Technique to their running, so that can can run freely and with poise, whilst helping themselves to avoid injury.

Master the Art of Running by Malcolm Balk and Andrew Shields is available here for just £8.39 at the moment  - (usual price £12.99)

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.