Thinking with every muscle

The Thinker

I went to Tate Modern to see ‘The Making of Rodin’ exhibition. This was the first time I had been to a Gallery for some time, because of Covid restrictions. It was so good to see art again! Rodin’s plaster models in the exhibition show him experimenting with how to portray movement and form. He even explores how a man can be thinking with every muscle in his body.

‘The Thinker’ by Rodin illustrates the concept that bodies express our thoughts and feelings, that our mind and body work together as one unit. This concept underpins F M Alexander’s technique that we still teach today. Many people just associate the Alexander Technique with issues such as reducing back pain, which it has been proven to do. But AT work goes far deeper than people realise. For instance, when we react to stress, we often tighten our necks and backs, thereby contributing to painful problems there. We can learn how to avoid doing that….

Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’ at Tate Modern 2021

I was interested to see a great quote from Rodin on the wall. This reveals how Rodin made the Thinker think with his whole body:

‘What makes my Thinker think is that he thinks not only with his brain, with his knitted brow, his distended nostrils and compressed lips, but with every muscle of his arms, back and legs, with his clenched fist, and gripping toes‘. Rodin.

Alexander would have appreciated this statement as he believed we tend to ‘translate everything, whether physical, mental or spiritual, into muscular tension’ (Aphorisms). However Alexander realised this tendency can be modified by our conscious control. We can re-educate ourselves to respond differently.

Psychophysical Re-education

Alexander used the term ‘Psycho-physical‘ to express this mind-body unity:

‘The term is used…. to indicate the impossibility of separating “physical” and “mental” operations in … the working of the human organism’ . Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual 1923.

Alexander said he was forced to use the words ‘psycho’ and ‘physical’ because there is no other word that expresses the amalgamation of both concepts.

If Rodin’s Thinker was having Alexander lessons his teacher could explore how much pain he experiences in those scrunched up feet, neck, shoulders, wrist and back. How often does he assume that position? Is it a habit, or a one-off expression of internal turmoil? Can he re-educate himself, let go of his habit and learn to change the way he reacts to situations? If so, he can learn how to continue his thinking but without reacting in that way and creating more pain.

Psycho?

Unfortunately Alfred Hitchcock’s film ‘Psycho’ has greatly contributed to ‘psycho’ being associated with mental instability and psychosis. This can create a misunderstanding when AT teachers use the word psychophysical! But the AT is not to do with mental illness.

Alexander described his work in a rather heavy-handed Victorian style. Unfortunately, this also includes some passages that are considered offensive and racist today. Thankfully, at the end of his most popular book, ‘The Use of the Self‘, Alexander states he deplores prejudice, ‘racial or otherwise’. Teachers are searching for a new vocabulary to express Alexander’s ideas and his books are gradually being edited to make them easier to read and more acceptable for all audiences. The essence of Alexander’s discoveries is still valuable today, so it is well worth reading his books, with an understanding that present day teachers do not hold his Victorian views of the world.

All Aspects of our Being

An important part of Alexander lessons is when pupils begin to understand this concept of psychophysical unity, of how our minds and bodies work together. When we accept and embrace this fact, changes can take place. This can be very healing, as can be seen in this testimonial:

‘Having someone remind me how to connect with myself again and to be aware of how I use all aspects of my being was exactly what I needed’

The Jigsaw Challenge

So Why am I Talking About Jigsaws?

It’s Christmas (2020). Out comes my new jigsaw and now I have some challenges. The most important one, I realised a bit late, was how to do the jigsaw and avoid getting neck pain! The next was to decide if the table should be covered with jigsaw pieces. With the Covid 19 lockdown in place there will be no visitors, so yes, the table can hold the jigsaw.

Another challenge is to find all the edges and line them up where they might fit. I’ve started hunting and I gently rummage around in the box. I explore carefully, so I don’t break any of the jigsaw pieces. I’m already confused because the corner pieces are different colours from the image on the box! Unfortunately, I’ve not being paying enough attention to my body use.

How do We do Jigsaws and Avoid getting Neck Pain?

I’ve not done a jigsaw for a long time and I need to get my eye in. It’s hard to find what I’m looking for. I notice my shoulders and upper back are beginning to ache a little – that didn’t take long to happen! So what was I doing to cause that?

I had got lost in the activity and I had begun curl down over the table to see the jigsaw. So I’d started getting a bit tense and then achy. How easy it is to lose awareness of our body use when we get engrossed! It’s not surprising I was a bit achy, when you remember that our heads weigh approx 5 kg or 11 pounds. Our heads are so heavy, if we don’t support them with an easy poise and balance, the weight will drag us down. Then we can get neck pain and stiff shoulders.

My grandson is a good teacher! See how freely and easily he looks down

My grandson is a good teacher for me and when I see how he moves, it reminds me to come back to myself and think of my own body use. He has such a lovely easy way of moving. Here he is looking down, yet he is not dropping his head and neck forwards as I had just done. He is folding forwards from his hip joints and his muscles are working together in a quiet and balanced way – just as I teach people to do in Alexander lessons. (Teacher teach thyself!) You can sense the connection from the top of his head, along his spine and down to his coccyx and sitting bones.

So my most important challenge is that when I do jigsaws, I will to do so with more awareness. I will avoid getting neck pain by using the Alexander Technique. I’ll hinge forwards from my hip joints so that I can see what I’m doing and take frequent breaks – as I do when I’m working at my computer. Maybe I don’t need to play so intensely (in-tensely – got it?). Just because I’m having fun and supposedly relaxing, it doesn’t mean that I don’t need to look after myself.

If you would like to discover ways of looking after yourself whilst performing daily activities, contact me here and try an Introductory Alexander Lesson. This can be face to face in Harringay, or online if you live far afield.

Contact Hilary King

The Developing Self

The Developing Self is a pioneering organisation that actively promotes the Alexander Technique in education. The Developing Self team offer specialised Postgraduate Training in the UK and USA, for qualified Alexander teachers who want to bring the Alexander Technique to children and into into schools and colleges. There is now a growing number of primary, secondary and tertiary colleges that include the Alexander Technique in the curriculum.

The Little School – where the Alexander Technique was embedded into Education

The Developing Self movement found its inspiration from F M Alexander’s work with children. Alexander believed it was essential to help children avoid developing poor psychophysical habits and misuse. To this end he ran The Little School from 1924 until the Second World War, when it was transferred to the US. At this school, they applied the principles of the AT to all lessons and activities. Today, Educare Small School in Kingston -upon Thames, is run in a similar way. It ensures that ‘principles of the Alexander Technique are woven seamlessly into each school day’.

The Developing Self Resources

There are several excellent books on aspects of the Alexander Technique in Education. These have been written by the Developing Self team, particularly Judith Kleinman and Sue Merry.

The Developing Self website offers a number of free resources, including some lively and informative videos of presentations at the 2021 and 2020 Conferences . If you are interested in bringing the Alexander Technique to children and into educational settings, the videos are a great way to explore the topic.

Teaching the Alexander Technique Online

Adapting to the Challenges of Covid-19

I’ve been teaching face to face Alexander Technique classes since 1987 and I now also include online work. During the Covid-19 epidemic, there were many months when we were not allowed to give in person lessons, so we had to adapt and began teaching the Alexander Technique online. I attended an online Primal Alexander course, the brainchild of Mio Morales, to develop my online teaching skills

Hilary King experimenting with movements on Mio Morales’ Course

The 12 week CPD course also extended my range of teaching procedures which I use in face to face lessons. Another benefit was that I connected with international AT teachers during that long period of time when we had minimal contact with others, which was great.

An Expanded Alexander Technique Vocabulary

Mio’s developed a new vocabulary for online work, to explain the concepts of the Alexander Technique. For instance Mio talks of allowing ‘Ease’ in ourselves, as an alternative to the traditional wording of allowing movements to be ‘Free‘. This extended vocabulary expands our ability to communicate the Alexander Technique to students, particularly online. Mio also created a series of ‘etudes’, in which movement patterns can be explored whilst thinking about our body use. whilst we perform them.

Online Alexander Lessons

Online lessons are now regularly available. I have taught clients when they have been unable to come to their in person sessions and also people from many parts of the world where they do not have access to an Alexander teacher.

Torticollis or Wryneck

Torticollis – Wryneck is a form of Cervical Dystonia

Torticollis is a condition where a person’s head and neck are constantly twisted by spasms in their neck muscles. These contract down towards one side all the time, often with abnormal rigidity. This old Private Eye cartoon says it all! Torticollis may develop gradually or suddenly and babies may be born with Congenital Muscular Torticollis.

Acute Torticollis or Wryneck

This is the term given when the condition arrives suddenly. For instance a person may wake up to find they slept in a distorted position and have such a stiff neck that they cannot move their head from side to side. This problem often resolves itself fairly quickly. But a wise person would ask themselves what they might have been doing to bring it on and then find a way of avoiding it happening again.

Diagnosis

When severe, torticollis may be associated with damage to the cervical vertebrae and discs. Diagnosis is essential when there are symptoms such as chronic neck pain with numbness in the hands and arms. This numbness not only poses a threat to many careers but indicates an underlying problem where the nerves are being irritated. The cause needs to be known, to check for a prolapsed disc and to rule out illnesses such as meningitis, particularly if the person has a fever.

Causes and Development of Neck Pain

Torticollis can be caused by accidents, injuries, tissue scarring and shrinkage. It can also be brought about by mental states such as anxiety and habitual patterns of poor body use, as in the image above.

Poor posture and long-term mis-use of the body, that disturbs the natural muscle balance in the neck, can lead to the gradual development of torticollis. Unfortunately, many children hunch over school books, holding the pen in a contracted, twisted manner whilst writing. This is a habit they often take into adulthood and then gradually develop neck pain – unless they learn to let go of the habit. Also babies whose heads are left lolling down to one side as they sleep in pushchairs, must be vulnerable to wryneck developing. Over time the neck muscles can get used to being contracted in this way and they become fixed so that torticollis can develop.

There are also work situations which require a person to incline their head and body in one direction constantly. Radiologists for instance, or violinists, often resort to pulling their heads down to one side quite tensely in order to work or hold the violin in place. Dentists often lean down over patients at an angle and a twist – for hours on end all their working lives! If such activities are performed without looking after the head-neck-back relationship and general body use, then problems such as torticollis and neck pain are likely to develop.

Treatment

In extreme cases, botulism can be injected into the muscle to stop the spasm for a few months. Surgery to partially cut and release the contracted muscle is sometimes used as a last resort. Physiotherapy to help stretch out the muscles can be helpful.

Can the Alexander Technique help Torticollis?

Fortunately, it is possible to improve one’s body use by learning the Alexander Technique so we can avoid the habits of twisting and contracting that contribute to torticollis. Through the gentle guidance of the Alexander Teacher, it is possible to re-educate muscles so that they can relax and ease out of the neck spasm. This puts less pressure onto vulnerable discs and nerves and begins to re-establish the natural head neck back relationship.

Many violinists for instance, have been saved from constant pain which could threaten their careers, by applying the Alexander Technique to playing. They can learn to hold and play their instrument in a manner which does not cause them harm. When they learn how to maintain a freedom and resilient lengthening of their muscles, they can avoid going into spasm whilst playing.

Research into the Alexander Technique and Neck Pain

More generally, a major research study, the ATLAS Research Trial (2015) has shown that the Alexander Technique produced “clinically relevant reductions in neck pain and associated disability” for people with chronic non-specific neck pain.

http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2467961

If you would like to discover how the Alexander Technique can help you with neck pain and other conditions, you can contact me to arrange an Introductory Alexander Lesson:

Contact Hilary King

Kyphosis

Kyphosis

Kyphosis is the term given to an exaggerated dorsal curvature of the thoracic region of the spine. It can be a congenital condition that is present at birth. Kyphosis can also develop, for instance, through curling over a screen for long periods of time, or by constantly bending down towards small children or work surfaces. This curvature causes the heavy head (approx 5kg) to drag downwards, which eventually tends to hurt. The more off balance the head becomes, the more the spine curves. This compression tends to restrict the functioning of the lungs and other internal organs. The curvature of the upper back and chest can also put pressure on the nerves of the upper arms and contribute to problems such as RSI.

The imbalance created by this curvature in the upper body, is often compensated for by the spine which develops lordosis, an exaggeration of the lumbar curve in the lower back. This results in an obvious ‘S’ shaped appearance of the spine.

Prevention is Easier than Cure

It is often possible to prevent kyphosis from developing, if we learn Alexander Technique early enough. Later on in the condition’s development, the AT can help free up the musculature and improve kyphosis and, importantly, reduce further degeneration. Avoiding habits that cause compression can help enormously.

Kyphosis Shown in Art

I love this sculpture called ‘The Scholar’ by Tapfuma Gusta, which I discovered in Cape Town, South Africa. It clearly shows the upper spine and body curving forwards and down, with the head pulled off balance. The Scholar presumably bent over towards his desk for years whilst writing and reading many many books. Fortunately, with the AT, we can learn how to read without putting such pressure on our bodies.

Alexander Technique Can Help With Hypermobility

Research

As yet, there is minimal research into hypermobility and the Alexander Technique. However the consultant rheumatologist Dr Philip Bull FRCP, who is on the advisory board of HMSA , believes the Alexander Technique can help with hypermobility, often in combination with physiotherapy. He states:

‘I hope you have found this introduction to the Alexander technique interesting. Eminent medical practitioners have proposed that this should be part of the medical curriculum. It is my hope that Alexander’s teachings become mainstream as part of a doctor’s training, in the way that
Mindfulness is now being taught in some medical schools. Further research is required to help
establish the role of the Alexander technique as part of the tool kit available for an individual to
manage their hypermobility’ HMSA Journal Volume 3 Spring 2015 v.1.2

This is echoed by the personal views and experience that are outlined in the article by one of my pupils below.

Alexander Technique Can Help With Hypermobility

Shoulder Pain and Tension

I came to Hilary two years ago when I developed an intense shoulder pain playing the violin. I simply had not noticed how much tension I was putting into my playing. Hilary also helped me to notice other postural quirks and tensions that were affecting my sitting posture, computer use and many basic daily activities. Like many people I have a tendency to “power through” any problem by redoubling effort – my body was finally rebelling at age 40!

Since taking lessons with Hilary (initially regular weekly lessons, then occasional) I have noticed improvements in many areas:

Almost immediately my ability to sit still in meditation for 45 minutes improved noticeably – I became able to release aches and pains as they developed, without having to change position
I learnt to approach the violin with patience, whereas before I had been “rushing” at it and tensing up
In my running club I improved my pace, core stability and breath coordination
I became aware of unhelpful posture habits: twisting my body at the computer, collapsing onto the sofa, clenching my right hand whilst texting, or leaning my hips against the kitchen sink whilst washing up.

Body Awareness and Co-ordination

Even more than these specifics though, the greatest benefit has been the overall improvement in body awareness and coordination. This has been sorely lacking all my life (pun intended) as I have always had hyper-mobility in several joints. I had not previously realised how much it affected me and limited my choices. Since working with Hilary on improving my proprioception and kinesthesia, I am now much more confident in how I use my body and am constantly improving my basic coordination skills, leading to stability and strength rather than frustration and injury. I feel like my mind and body are friends again now.

The New Family Game: ‘Posture Police’!

Lessons with Hilary have always been fun and relaxing, she listens every carefully and adapts her lessons to give precisely what is needed that week. I always leave her beautiful house feeling refreshed and buoyant. The only down-side is that I’m afraid I am a bit of an Alexander-evangelist now, and have roped my whole family in as “posture police” – with noticeable improvements in all of us! By “posture police” I mean my kids are now in the excellent habit of saying “nice straight back, Mummy!” to me (or “ooh, your back is really curved when you’re putting your shoes on, you should bend your knees!” Also to each other, and they are more easily aware of their own movements and postures. (They do know it’s not supposed to be a stiffly-held straight back.) I have the feeling they are so much more aware of their bodies than before.

Having done plenty of martial arts, my husband Marco has better posture and balance in movement than I do generally, but he is not immune to “laptop and couch slouch” – now he has three pairs of eyes ready to remind him. It’s become quite a family game. We’re all helping each other take care of our bodies better.

Pascale (Architect, Coach and Mother of Twins)

Alexander Technique Can Help Neck Pain and Headaches

An Alexander pupil’s experience of neck pain and headaches

The article below, ‘Six years of suffering headaches brought me to Alexander lessons’, was written by one of my pupils. It is about her experience of reducing neck pain and headaches through having AT lessons with me. I have included some information about research projects that support her anecdotal assertion that the AT can help neck pain.

Neck Pain Research

Scientific research findings support the experience of my pupil reported in her article below. The NHS website states that for long-term neck pain ‘lessons in the Alexander technique may lead to reduced neck pain and associated disability for up to a year or more’

This statement is supported by a major research trial into the Alexander Technique which was undertaken by York University, funded by Arthritis Research UK. ATLAS was a randomised controlled trial, which compared the Alexander Technique, acupuncture and regular GP care in the treatment of 450 people who had chronic neck pain for at least three months.

The findings showed that both Alexander Technique lessons and acupuncture sessions led to statistically significant and clinically relevant reductions in neck pain and associated disability, compared with usual care alone, at one year. Also shown, were improvements in mental health and self-efficacy, for both the Alexander and acupuncture groups.

You may read full details of the ATLAS Trial here:

http://www.trialsjournal.com/content/14/1/209

Alexander Technique Can Help Neck Pain and Headaches

Six years of suffering headaches brought me to Alexander lessons

I went to see Hilary because of a long standing problem with my neck and shoulder. I have had occasional flair ups of shoulder pain for about 30 years. For the past 5 or 6 years I have been waking up in the morning with a headache a couple of times a month. At first I put it down to hypertension and stress but even when my blood pressure was controlled the headaches continued, occasionally developing into full blown migraines.

Last summer I went sailing in the Mediterranean. I had a wonderful time, swimming several times a day, though I was aware that holding my head out of the salty water whilst doing breast stroke wasn’t good for my neck. The morning after an uncomfortable night sail to Corsica I lay on my bunk in agony whilst the others swam. I had a migraine and pain extending down my arm past my elbow. When I returned to the UK there was some improvement but the morning headaches were now happening nearly every day and usually woke me about 3 or 4am. Gentle yoga eased the pain, but I was having to do it at 4am.

Just how DO I sit and stand?

My GP sent me to a pain management consultant who told me my shoulder blades were “winged” and should be tucked flatter against my back, and my spine was too straight, it should have more curve. I left the clinic feeling I no longer knew how I should sit or stand or hold myself.

A friend suggested the Alexander Technique. At my first lesson I found it hard to believe Hilary when she told me that I didn’t need to force myself into a different shape. If I relaxed and let my body do its own thing it would naturally fall into position. Her recommended 20 minutes lying on the floor in semi supine seemed to me like a very long time doing nothing much! However I was so exhausted with the 4am headaches I decided to give it a try.

Pain fades away with Semi-Supine Procedure and awareness during activity

When I woke in the night with a headache, instead of doing yoga I tried lying in semi supine. I began to realise that if I concentrated on releasing my neck and shoulders the pain faded. Soon I was managing to go back to bed and get a few more hours sleep. That spurred me on and I read everything I could find on the Alexander Technique, practised lying down at least twice a day and tried to remember what I learned about inhibition and use in the rest of my day. At first that seemed impossible but with Hilary’s encouragement I know now that it is gradually seeping into the rest of my life.

Swimming and sailing again

I’m swimming again, remembering to lengthen and straighten my back. I’m sailing again too, though I still need to work on remembering what I’ve learned when I’m out in a boat. I’m generally much more aware of how I’m using my back and if I’ve been giving my neck a hard time I can usually sort it out with spending a while in semi supine when I get home.

Now Headache Free!

Best of all I’m headache free – they just faded away. Thank you

Pat – June 2017

My Alexander Technique Journey

One student’s route through to training as an Alexander Technique Teacher

I started to learn the Alexander Technique with Hilary King in 1988 after a lower back injury at work and persistent pain. I loved the AT sessions immediately and especially enjoyed using semi-supine to control any discomfort and pain and also to reduce stress. I found Hilary was always very compassionate and attentive and took a lively interest in my work and lifestyle, to try to understand how my difficulties may have manifested. She was always very calm and considerate, paid attention to detail and was a very patient teacher, showing enthusiasm and commitment to the sessions.

I continued to have sessions for well over 12 months and during that time I became pregnant and Hilary saw me right through my pregnancy and for a few sessions after I had given birth.

After that, family life and work took over but AT thoughts were always in the back of my mind and I often gave informal advice to family and friends, lying down ‘talk-throughs’ to my young children and I often thought about how I was using my body for myself whether I was sitting, standing or lying down. I even dreamed of training to become an AT teacher……….

Roll on to 2010 and my work and family life changed dramatically. My children had flown the nest and my work pattern changed for the better, with reduced hours and stress. So I started to think about AT training again. I ‘Googled’ Alexander Technique and immediately found Hilary was running an International Women’s Day workshop in March. The forces were speaking to me, I had to go!

And so, in September 2011 I started training to be an AT teacher at LCATT (London Centre for Alexander Teaching and Training), where Hilary also teachers, and I graduated in July 2014.

It was a wonderful three years including extensive aspects of bodywork, mindfulness and nurturing the soul and now, whilst being semi-retired, I have embarked on a new career. How wonderful is that!

Thank you Alexander Technique and to Hilary for making my introduction to the AT so enlightening.

Deborah Levy

Deborah teaches in Crouch End, N8

International Alexander Awareness Week

The first International Alexander Awareness Week (IAAW) took place in June 2004, when the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique, STAT, decided to inaugurate IAAW week, in order to celebrate the fact that the Alexander Technique had been taught in the UK for 100 years. In 2018 the name’s been changed to ‘Alexander Technique Week’ and it now takes place in October each year.

F M Alexander came to live in London at the age of thirty five, in 1904, and began to teach his eponymous Technique here. Initially, Alexander and his work were unknown in London but he was recommended to various eminent doctors and his teaching practice soon grew. Alexander developed a reputation for teaching children and actors how to improve their general use so that they could breathe properly. By 1910, F.M. as he was known by his pupils, published his first book in the UK, ‘Man’s Supreme Inheritance’. In 1931 Alexander began the first Teacher Training Course in London and although he also taught in the USA and South Africa, Alexander continued to work in the UK until he died in 1955, shortly before his 87th birthday. His work is recognised the world over and he has been rated as one of the top ‘200 people who made Australia great’. So it’s well worth celebrating his work!

F M Alexander plaque

Centennial Celebrations

The 2004 Centennial celebrations were held in the UK, Australia and the USA, with a week full of activities and classes in the Alexander Technique. This first IAAW week was so successful that it has now become an annual event promoted by the International Affiliated Societies of Teachers of the Alexander Technique. ATAS is made up of the fifteen national Alexander Technique Societies that uphold the standards of Alexander Technique teacher training and practice around the world. ATAS also acts as an umbrella body for the many teachers who live in countries that have not created their own A/T Society as yet.

IAAW is celebrated in the fifteen countries represented by ATAS, with a variety of events such as Introductory Workshops and talks, that focus each year on a different theme to do with the experience of learning and teaching the Alexander Technique, For instance, the 2008 theme was linked to the publication of the major ATEAM research trial, published in the BMJ in August 2008, which shows that the Alexander Technique can offer those who learn it, the chance to find an end to back pain. Other themes have been coping with stress and avoiding the problems associated with ‘text neck’. Each year, so far, there have also been special IAAW Discount Vouchers available, which entitle people to one reduced rate lesson with participating teachers such as myself.

2008 saw another important anniversary for STAT, which was formed in 1958 by a group of Alexander Technique teachers. All had been trained by F M Alexander himself, who had died in 1955. The formation of STAT brought together most of the existing Alexander teachers and the Society began the process of regulating the profession. STAT is the oldest and largest professional organisation devoted to the Alexander Technique. Currently, there are over 2,500 registered teaching members within STAT and its Affiliated Societies worldwide.

STAT aims to ensure that a high level of Teacher Training and teaching practice are maintained throughout the profession. STAT is the professional body to which I belong and in order to become a teaching member of the Society, we are obliged to train at one of the STAT recognised 3 year Teacher Training Courses. Each STAT registered teacher is required to adhere to the Society’s published Code of Professional Conduct and Competence, and to be covered by professional indemnity insurance.