Applied Alexander Technique Blog

Hello my friends,

Thanks so much for stopping by again. It's always nice to take a moment to say hi. If you are on a personal quest for health and fitness, I'm glad to talk with you. I am very thankful for my own health and do not take it for granted!

Here are some quick highlights of the past year:

- SJSU Dance Dept – Guest instructor

- Journal for California Dental Hygienists Assn (CDHA) I was requested to write an article for this reviewed Journal. The issue was later picked up and republished by the American Dental Hygienists’ Assn. (ADHA.) .) Click on this link to download the article.

- East West Bookstore – a lively talk/demo of Alexander Technique

- Radio interview with Bonnie Coleen on KEST radio. I share some stories about the Technique and the essence of its power for transformation. Click here to listen to the podcast.

Do you know someone who may benefit from Alexander Technique? I am grateful for your referrals. For anyone who's curious to find out if this may help them, I'm offering a free, 20 minute telephone consultation.

with appreciation,

Dana

Greetings!

As January is well under way, health and fitness are on many of our minds. Good posture helps with whatever you do. You will instantly look more confident and more slender. It helps with body mechanics and improves your workout results.

According to the current issue of Harvard Medical School Health Beat Extra:

"Good posture trims your silhouette and projects confidence. More importantly, it lessens wear and tear on the spine and allows you to breathe deeply. Good posture helps you gain full benefits from the effort you put into exercising, too."

It's true! Proper form helps you use the muscles you are targeting when you exercise. You will get better results if you use yourself correctly rather than compensate by momentum or using some other body parts.

Learn how the Alexander Technique helps you put your mind into your body. Putting your "sole" into the gym gets you started. It takes consciousness to reap the benefits.

If you're going to put in time, you may as well reap the benefits!

Drop me a line and I will offer a free, 20 minute phone consultation.

Let's get fit and look younger in 2012!

Dana

Hello my friends!

It is morning and I'm sitting here with my coffee, listening to NPR. Sitting here reminds me that too much sitting leaves many of us aching at the end of the day. Sitting is literally a pain.

Musicians have double trouble; some of them sit to play and all of them use their hands and arms in repetitive motions. There must be something wrong with the way we sit, the way we use our arms, or it wouldn't hurt. It's not supposed to; really, it's not.

Basically, we need to figure out what it is that we are doing that is connected with our pain. Are we slumping? Tensing up and hunching over? Obviously, if we could tell, we wouldn't do it! What are some ways out of this endless loop? Keep reading...for one of them...

Continue reading "Alexander Technique: A Balm For Back Pain? on NPR" »

Hello friends!

Did I mention that I recommended two books to this curious student-to-be?

I certainly think that reading F.M. Alexander is key if you want the true essence of the Technique. Everything else is a distillation and interpretation. Try his book, The Use of the Self. If you only read the first chapter, “Evolution of a Technique,” you would have the essence of the work.

You can find The Use of the Self at AmSAT* Books online.

For clear pictures and very clear, practical guidance, I like Glynn MacDonald's book:

2) The Complete Illustrated Guide to Alexander Technique: A Practical Approach to Health, Poise, and Fitness, by Glynn MacDonald

Curious to hear if you read these; let me know if they are helpful!

Peace,
Dana

*The American Society for the Alexander Technique

Hello my friends,

One of my just-beginning students felt the need to understand what will happen during lessons in the Alexander Technique, in order to fully be engaged in doing the work. Good point! He requested a "how-to" book and I offered two suggestions.

He looked online and wrote back that there were positive reviews of one book, however there was one negative review and he was concerned. What was the problem? Someone - it happened to be a chiropractor - couldn't understand how to do the process, after reading F.M. Alexander's own description.

I tell you, it is a thorny issue, because the problem is part of the answer.

The reason that it is so difficult to learn this method from a book is that we can't feel correctly, what we are doing with our bodies. If that doesn't make sense, try thinking of it this way. If we could feel what we’re doing that’s connected with our bad posture, we’d fix it. Therefore, the logical conclusion is that our inner sense of our bodies isn’t giving us a true picture.

That's what this method is all about. Alexander Technique trues up this inner sense so you feel what you are doing in the right way and self-correct. It is a skill that you acquire and can use for the rest of your life.

My (hopefully new student) wanted to understand this process, so I sent him a simple explanation of how it works.

Continue reading "Keeping it Simple: Better Posture, Better Functioning" »

Hello Friends,

Thanks for stopping by again. I'm inspired by my colleagues - surely a nice thing! It's wonderful to learn so much from them. My friend, Sandra Riddell, in Edinburgh, wrote a lovely letter about a quote from Viktor Frankl. We had a lovely exchange that I'd like to share. With her permission, here 'tis:

Viktor Frankl was a survivor of the concentration camps. He went on to develop a system of psychotherapy based on his experiences there, and the philosophy he outlined in his book, Man's Search for Meaning.

"Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. The last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." Dr. Viktor Frankl

Continue reading "Viktor Frankl: the Freedom to Choose" »

Making the Crooked Straight
- by Simona Fuma – reprinted with permission

They're the words a girl loves to hear: "Have you gotten taller?" "You've lost weight!" Such were the unsolicited comments I received when I visited the United States from my home in Israel recently, where, for the last three months, I had been practicing the Alexander Technique (AT)—a movement re-education program that involves hands-on adjustments to improve posture and coordination.

While yoga, Pilates and other posture-enhancing methods have swept the U.S. in recent years, AT has enjoyed a thriving presence under the radar. Its hubs include London, New York, San Francisco and Israel, which boasts one of the highest numbers of AT teachers per capita (300). Stateside, there are an estimated 800 certified teachers and tens of thousands of students.

Oscar-winning actress Hillary Swank was one of those students while preparing for her 2001 role as an 18th-century French countess in The Affair of the Necklace. "Jean Louis [her AT instructor] taught me that an aristocrat didn't just sit down in a chair," Swank famously told the The New York Times. "She floated down. And she floated up and down stairs. She certainly didn't climb them, for that implies effort." AT also counts Lady Judi Dench, Paul McCartney and Sting among its famous fans.

According to Dana Ben-Yehuda, media spokesperson for the American Society of the Alexander Technique (AmSAT)—and, perhaps fittingly, the daughter of an Israeli father—in the U.S. the Alexander Technique is popular among two categories of people. "Singers, actors and musicians use the technique to enhance their performances," she explains. In fact, the father of AT, Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955), was an Australian actor who developed the method to help him overcome chronic laryngitis.

The other category comprises people who are in pain and looking to AT for relief. After all, most health experts agree that good posture and proper muscle relaxation go a long way toward preventing back pain, the fifth most frequent reason for all physician visits in the U.S.

Dr. Howard L. Rosner, medical director of The Pain Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, says that the number one complaint of the patients he sees is lower back pain, and he recommends the Alexander Technique, along with other forms of physical therapy, to treat muscular-skeletal pain. "The Alexander Technique can retrain people to use their bodies more constructively," he says. "It can impact neck pain, low back pain and carpal tunnel syndrome."

Continue reading "Alexander Technique - Making the Crooked Straight" »

Hello again!

How did you come to find this blog? How did you find out about the Alexander Technique?

A number of people have come to me for lessons recently. When I asked how they found out about the Alexander Technique, several people have said that they have been reading a book:

How You Stand, How You Move, How You Live: Learning the Alexander Technique to Explore Your Mind-Body Connection and Achieve Self-Mastery, by Missy Vineyard

People tell me they are enjoying the book. It has many case studies with interesting stories and also gives a great amount of detailed information about studying the technique, and also, teaching it.

I know of this book from Missy Vineyard, and have been reading it, myself. I find that it is not simple reading, however it has a great deal of information that’s both interesting and also, food for thought. I particularly enjoy her discussion of the mind-body connection and neuroscience.

If you are looking for a complete book, this may be a good place to start.

Continue reading "How You Stand, How You Move, How You Live: Learning the Alexander Technique to Explore Your Mind-Body Connection and Achieve Self-Mastery, By Missy Vineyard" »

Here's an article written by the MS Foundation* about the Alexander Technique. Posted here for download with permission. Click on this link to read the article.

This is very useful information for anyone as it's a good article that outlines the history of F.M. Alexander as well as explaining why and how it works.

It also includes pictures and notes about the actor, William Hurt, who has been an advocate of the Technique.

Enjoy!

* Multiple Sclerosis Foundation