Alexander Technique (AT)

Nick Mellor writes...

'Here's one way to describe AT. Everyone has had an experience of moving, feeling and thinking beautifully. It’s at its most obvious when we are three or four years old.


'Watch how a three year old, almost any three-year-old, bends at the knees and hips, feet flat on the floor, when looking at something below their eye level. See how relaxed and natural they are. In many parts of the world this is a normal way to use your body right into old age.

'See also the direction in the child's body-- he's pointing up along his spine, and there's no trace of contradiction anywhere. That's how nearly all of us were at the age of three.

'In a fascinating Youtube video on education (Changing Education Paradigms), Sir Ken Robinson talks about divergent thinking, an essential component of creativity. 98% of Kindergarten children score at genius level for divergent thinking but by the time their education is over, their scores have dropped dramatically. Partly this is a normal part of maturation, but a great deal of it is connected with what Alexander teachers call "using yourself well". Divergent thinking and creativity can be enhanced and recalled by looking at the barriers to thinking, creating and moving that you put in your own way. Back pain, mental health and creativity are all connected, because human selves are connected. Those connections are what an Alexander Technique teacher helps you to recognise.

Thinking and Movement are the Same Thing

It's an Alexander Technique teacher's job to find where your movements and thinking have become mildly contradictory over time, like an engine losing its tuning. We mainly go up along our spines, but in some places we are pulling down a little. Not going up along your spine, contracting rather than expanding physically, can always be traced back to the way you think. Your errors will be few and subtle, but they will be there. Carefully and gently, an Alexander Technique teacher guides you to make new, clear, open choices rather than closed, contradictory ones, simply lengthening your back rather than both lengthening and shortening it, simply widening across the shoulders rather than widening and pulling them together. And you begin to see that how you think about movement and how you think, full stop, are one and the same thing. Your body becomes the playground for a joyful and creative mind. And, by the way, it has some of the best research results for back pain of any intervention (see below.)

Gentle Persuasion

'You can't force change. If lasting change is to happen it needs to be done by invitation, respect and with gentleness. Why? Well, persuade someone to be clear, and they will make clarity their own. Force them to be clear, dominate them, and they'll resist and fall back into their old ways quickly. In the ATEAM trial  at the University of Southampton, UK, conducted with the help of 576 chronic back pain patients, therapeutic massage was found to have entirely lost its pain-reducing effects after 3 months, whereas Alexander Technique lessons were still just as effective a year later. The Alexander Technique consistently gets results that last because it persuades without ever using force. The changes you choose for yourself are the only ones that last.

From Pain Relief to Potential

'You can often get rapid pain relief from Alexander Technique lessons. Here's an audio recording of a Professor of Medicine talking about his experiences with Alexander Technique in a pain management setting.

'But beyond that the Alexander Technique is a process of learning, improving your performance and unlocking blocked potential. You don't only get yourself out of trouble with your knee, your back or your voice; you also run faster, with fewer injuries. You project your voice better. You feel less anxious on-stage or up in front of the board of directors. You feel great at the end of a busy day, rather than exhausted and bad-tempered. You're kinder and more understanding with your children (because you're kinder to yourself.) You begin to recover from that car accident that has given you trouble ever since, where previously your healing appeared to have stalled. You recover the balance that you lost when you had a stroke, and begin to recover your confidence and independence.

'As psychotherapist and Alexander Technique teacher Naomi Shragai notes, the Alexander Technique can be used to stabilise depressed patients in situations where counselling and psychotherapy can't yet be used. The two very different approaches of the Alexander Technique and psychotherapy can be used together where "understanding alone has not led to improvement."

'The effects are different for everybody, but there is almost always something worth learning from the Alexander Technique, at any age. To quote Naomi Shragai again,

'"The psychological benefits of the Alexander Technique lead many people to continue taking lessons long after their physical ailments have recovered. Many individuals report more balanced moods, an ability to change unwanted behaviour patterns, and an increased capacity to cope with life's challenges."'

Nick Mellor teaches the Alexander Technique at Healing Well in the evenings, or during the day at 5 Campbell Street, Newstead. He also runs weekly running   workshops, monthly introductory groups and groups for those already having one-to-one lessons that help deepen their experiences and help them learn from the ideas and experiences of others who are learning the Alexander Technique. He can be reached on 1300 485 114.