Alexander Technique - a matter of learning

The Alexander Technique is an over 100 year old method with roots in one man's quest to overcome his own voice problems. FM Alexander himself was reciter and actor which in turn lead to that the first students were found among actors and later on among other culturally involved people.

From that startingpoint the technique has spread and is now available as a way to refine the use of the self in running, swimming, horse riding, golf, rowing, tennis, martial arts, rehabilitation, pregnancy, childbirth yes, in almost every area where the ability to use the body in a better way can mean a lot to both performance, experience and health.

When I got my first "Alexander Experience" in 1997 I was hooked. Hooked, because I knew that even if I was offered this great experience in my body now I could "own the road" to the experience itself, if only I could learn more about how to enter that road.

It is the fact that “the road becomes yours” that distinguishes the Alexander Technique from so many other body awareness methods. It is also therefor the thechnique is not a technique for everyone. It requires your commitment. You need to devote time to your development by doing your homework. You may have to opt out of some of the things you do today to get where you want tomorrow, I had to put riding on the shelf for two years and then return to it as a re-ginner for example.

Alexander Technique is no quick fix, it is a process (under your control) based on your ability, needs and desires. As a teacher, I can initiate, provide feedback and serve as your guide and give you reference for your work.

A lesson in Alexander Technique can be both pleasant and a challenge, it can vary from one hour to two minutes (it was all Lena coped with in the beginning because she had her history of back problems). Since it is a process, it is you as a student that determines how fast it will proceed. The tools you have available is to visit yourself, that is to check what is going on in your body and your mind in a specific moment (Visit yourself right now: what is going on in you?), inhibition (the transformative word" no ") and direction.

At first lessons cover everyday activities like walking, sitting and standing. The genius of these "exercises" is that all you do is a possible training opportunity for you as an Alexander Student. You do not need to devote one hour a week for training, the opportunity is there all the time your’e awake!

When training is possible as often as you just remember, the better you become at reading what is happening inside of you before, during and after an everyday activity, and therefore the more refined your perception will become. You will eventually be able to determine what you need to adjust before coming into play in order to get what you want to be doing done in a better way.

That ability is so important for us as riders. It allows us to ride the horse in the present, taking in information and adjust the next step. Among the athletes it is called flow. For a tennis player, flow could mean that he percieves that the ball is moving in slow motion on its journey from the opponent's racket against his own and that he has time to make the necessary adjustments he needs to hit the ball as he wants to. Flow is a form of mindfulness in activity that makes you feel that you have control of the boat or the horse, which we probably can assume it is in your case, no matter pace.

For me, the Alexander Technique led to increased self-awareness. I know where I am in myself, where the sign of stress comes first, how stupid I get when I learn new things, how I can rest in the middle of chaos, what to do if I need to let my thoughts free and I can enjoy the beauty around me (skyes, views, flowers) even if I'm on my way to something else, and usually in a hurry.

The Alexander Technique bares recemblance to several currently popular approaches; mindfulness, coaching and body awareness among others. FM Alexander stressed that man was a psycho-physical unity and that body and mind was an inseparable whole.
He also stressed that it really was not important to reflect on which muscles are doing what since the quality of the movement is dependet on their ability to interact with each other. A collaboration which in turn is depending on how well the head is carried on top of the spine.

As a summary, the Alexander Technique teaches how the mind-muscle-skeleton can work for you and with you in the best possible way under the influence of gravity. Alexander Technique takes a fraction of a second to understand and a lifetime to master, said Marjorie Barstow, one of the grand old ladies of the technique, and I can just nod my head and return to my chamber to continue my studies.