Are you suffering from constant back aches or stiff necks and joint pains? Are your visits to the doctor not paying off as you had expected they would? Well, in that case, it’s time to look beyond medicine and start understanding the basics about your body, its natural posture and balance. This is the first theory of the famous Alexander technique.
As we grow older we forget how nature has designed our body and start inventing newer ways to get work done. Something as simple as picking up a pen from the floor can go terribly wrong and stress your internal organs! Surely, you weren’t aware of this. However, now that you have started realizing that you need to look within and not outside your body for finding a permanent solution for your aches and pains, you can be assured that you are going the right way.
The Alexander Technique helps us achieve self-realization and/or self-actualization at a spiritual level. This is where it scores high as compared to other more common methods. This method teaches you to be conscious about your body and its natural posture and regain what you’ve lost – the freedom to move without being afraid of pain. Read on to discover how this amazing technique can make your life better.
A Little Bit about the History of AT
The Alexander Technique or AT gets its name from its developer, Frederick Matthius Alexander, who was an orator during Shakespearean times. Yes, you got it right. This method was developed in the 1890s. When he lost his voice and failed to find a medical treatment, he started focusing on self-observation and experiments until he realized that many of his upper torso and neck movements were not really needed so as for him to be able to speak. Furthermore, these movements stressed his vocal and his breathing mechanisms. He was successful in getting back his voice after he corrected his movements.
How can this old technique help you?
First of all, you need a teacher to help you understand the proper implementation of AT. Alexander’s principles were based on freedom of movement based on one’s instinctive realization about the body movements. Alexander did not develop the principles as a technique to exercise but as an educational process where you learn about the natural balance as opposed to what you have wrongly developed over the years. The three most important principles of AT are:
- Freedom
- Efficiency
- Patience
A teacher helps you understand exactly where you are going wrong in simple everyday movements. This is done by using mirrors, by recording and replaying the movements as well as the observations given by other participants in the class. A change in balance and posture is verbally explained and recommended as well as through hands-on assistance. In an AT class, the participants realize where they have gone wrong and how they can achieve freedom of movement by making simple changes in the way they balance their movements.
At the end of the sessions you will know all about your body and the necessary balance much better and feel your health and performance issues just going away. You feel connected to each and every part of your body as you understand the way it functions. Furthermore, you will feel how your body is responding to this newly found self-actualization of yours! Not only does your back pain become less frequent than before but you will also feel that your joints have become much more flexible. The Alexander technique involves lifelong practice, which once learned and understood becomes a way of life and becomes as natural as breathing for you.