To be happy in your own body, it is not just a matter of what food you eat and what exercise you take, it is also about HOW you undertake everything you do every day. Knowing more about your body and how it moves will enable you to live life in a more comfortable place with more energy, as well as enabling you to enjoy the activities you undertake with less aches and pains.
More and more people are coming to me with a specific issue that they would like help with. How can I get into and out of my car? How can I get my tricycle into my car? How can I lift my small child? How should I sit at my computer? How can I sit comfortably with my guitar, my piano, harp, etc, and learning the Alexander Technique will certainly help them to find a better way.
However, it is important to realise that they will need to learn some underpinning principles about how we move before they start to focus the more specific issue.
The most recent request was from a regular client, Mike, who wanted to know how he could ‘walk’ his very heavy motorbike to a safe place, a requirement for his forthcoming motorbike test.
Having never moved a motorbike myself, (and, I add, never played the harp) I never realised how heavy and awkward a motorbike is. The interesting thing is that if you TRY and shift it, you put all your effort into pushing, which creates a lot of tension in your arms and neck.
However, using Alexander Technique, every task is approached indirectly. Firstly, we need to attend to ourselves, and our own habitual way of being, prior to attempting any task. We need to stop and think: am I easy in my body; can I let go of unnecessary tension.
Learning Alexander Technique helps with the skill of approaching any task thoughtfully, with ease of mind and body. Secondly, we need to inhibit the habitual response to push hard and plan how the bike might move with less effort.
