The Alexander Technique is an enduring method of restoring balance, coordination and grace through the release of muscular tension and inefficient movement and has long been embraced by artists, athletes, and people suffering from pain. It is also gaining widespread acceptance as a means to treat, alleviate and, most importantly, avoid many of the injuries and damage to the body that limit a person’s ability to perform in the workplace.
Improved physical balance and coordination can bring about emotional centeredness and natural confidence. This can influence how we communicate and interact with others, allowing our full potential to be expressed. Greater calmness and self confidence comes with natural upright poise and can help achieve more in life and generally feel happier and more fulfilled.
One of the most important uses of the Alexander Technique is pain management. Going beyond treatments for physical problems, the Alexander Technique offers the ability to retrain the use of your body to gain long term relief from such aliments as:
Additionally, the Alexander Technique can help speed up recovery from injuries or surgery. The Technique works holistically to help alleviate physical suffering and improve overall health, both physically and psychologically.
In 2008, a major study published by the British Medical Journal showed that the Alexander Technique produced significant long-term benefit for low back pain. This was a scientific randomized controlled trial.
No matter what your occupation, if you sit for long hours at a desk or work on your feet, chances are you are putting unnecessary and possibly harmful stress on your body. Whether it’s the repetitive motion of pointing and clicking a mouse or reaching and lifting to complete a task, you’ve developed habits that strain joints and fatigue muscles. Over time, these habits can lead to repetitive strain injuries, chronic tension, neck, back and hip pain and an assortment of stress-related disorders.
Originally developed as a method to help performers on stage, it is also very popular among public speakers, performers, athletes, and those interested in total mind-body awareness. Performers use the Alexander Technique to improve stamina, increase clarity of perception, free creativity and spontaneity, and manage stage fright. Performers know that they have to be in good form and in a balanced state both physically and mentally to be able to work, but often they do not have the tried and tested means of achieving this state until learning the Alexander Technique.
Athletes know that balance and coordination are their foundation. The Alexander Technique can produce immediate benefits making you a better competitor and extending the life of your sport. Your body functions with maximum efficiency when all its parts are in balance with one another. The Alexander Technique helps you “unlearn” unconscious habits of tension and misuse when you move that prevent your body from delivering its best—no matter how strong you are, or how many hours you train. It allows your body to perform with greater ease and fluidity, and to achieve greater speed, height, and agility.