Here's what our clients have to say about their lessons...
‘I started lessons at the Alexander Technique Practice in May 2009 after developing serious back pain following trouble with a disc. With the help of the technique my back improved steadily and the lessons were so beneficial and enjoyable that I decided to continue with them, and I have been going once a week ever since. I can heartily recommend the Alexander Technique Practice: the teaching I have received there has been at all times thoroughly professional and committed. In all sorts of ways, I have found the work revelatory.’ - N.S. Publisher
One of our clients has been keeping a diary of their Alexander experience. We hope that by making this available others might get a clearer idea of the process that occurs during a course of Alexander Technique lessons. Click on the links below to about her experiences!
I first became aware of the Alexander Technique several years ago, and the little I knew about it made so much sense that I always meant to learn more, and take some lessons. Unfortunately, like so many of my great ideas it ended up on the "must get around to doing something about this when I get the time" list, and it was only when I started helping out at Ham House Stables, where I found myself surrounded by people who took lessons, taught the technique, and incorporated it into their riding, that the opportunity to try it out was too good to miss.
I finally got around to booking a lesson at The Highbury Park Clinic,111 Highbury Park N5, one of the centres in North London where Vicky and her partner in the practice teach. She had already worked with me a couple of times at the stables, so I had a general idea of some of the basic principles of Alexander, and we were able to get started without the need for too many explanations.
To begin with Vicky got me to simply stand still while she placed her hands at various points on my back to improve my position. If I remember what she said correctly, it's not about straining to achieve balance, but letting go, releasing and allowing the muscles to lengthen. There is no pulling, pushing or vigorous manipulation involved, it's very understated, but amazingly effective. By gentle touch I was made aware of the tension in my body and able to relax the muscles and achieve a more balanced posture.
One of the most immediate results I've noticed from previous work is a releasing and lengthening of my neck, but afterwards I find myself reverting to old habits again only too quickly. The neck seems to be a key area in Alexander - perhaps it's because of the mobility of the joint between the vertebrae and the head that there's so much scope for misuse - so Vicky placed her fingers either side of my neck and following her instructions I visualised the lengthening and softening that was soon restored.
As we worked and I became more focused on how it actually felt to inhabit this physical body, I became aware of my breathing and how closely it was related to, and reflected, what was happening with my muscles. When I began to relax and let go of tension, my breathing slowed and deepened accordingly.
Once we'd re-established a more balanced posture, the next step was to see if this could be maintained through movement. Sitting down and standing up is something we all do umpteen times every day without giving a moments thought to how we're actually achieving it, but if you take a moment to look at the way in which you perform the movement, if you're anything like me you will find yourself arching your neck, throwing your chest out and your seat back - the movement feels as if it's habitually lead by the upper body, so with her fingers on my neck to focus my attention there, Vicky directed me through performing this task in a whole new way, with a straighter back and longer neck that felt much freer, lighter and a lot less effort.
As a horse rider and someone who is physically active I thought I was quite aware of my body but this session made me realise how much was going on that I was completely unaware of. Until Vicky pointed it out to me I hadn't realised that I was holding a certain amount of tension in my shoulders, but she could see that any movement I made began there - just to walk across the room for instance, I would tighten muscles in my upper body - totally unnecessary and uneconomical body use but an old habit.
With just the tips of my fingers in contact with hers I had to move my arms by following her hand while trying to maintain my posture and avoid tensing. She then got me to sit down with my arms resting on the back of a chair and began working on my shoulders to gently try and release them
My shoulders were feeling much looser, but Vicky could tell that there was some tension still there, so to finish the session she got me to lie down on the purpose built padded treatment table with my head raised slightly . I brought my knees up, which reduced the arch in my back, bringing more of it into contact with the table, until it was completely supported. (This is recommended as a very good tonic for the back and can be done equally well on the floor).
It felt great to lie there while Vicky worked on gently loosening my shoulders and hips, and lengthening my back and neck, and after the session I felt fantastic - freer, lighter, and I'm sure I was standing at least an inch taller. When I got on my bike to cycle away I was surprised to notice an immediate difference - I was allowing the saddle to take my weight whereas usually I'm pushing down on the handlebars with a lot of tension in my arms. Now I was cycling balanced over my seat, hands light and shoulders free - it felt so much better.
Looking forward to the next session already.
In order to get the most from a course in the Alexander technique, initially a weekly session is recommended, but it's been a fortnight since my last appointment with Vicky. Now that I'm beginning to feel the benefits of the technique I was disappointed that I was too busy to see her any earlier, so this week I made sure that I found the time to fit in a session.
I'd just been to the dentist beforehand, so I didn't arrive at the Highbury Clinic in the best frame of mind, and it took a little while, as Vicky gently readjusted my posture, to forget about outside distractions, but a session focuses you very effectively on the here and now, and before long I was concentrating on what it really feels like to inhabit this body.
It feels in a way, as if my muscles have their own memory, and in the same way that they remember old familiar patterns of use and posture, so they're beginning to remember the work I am doing with Vicky too. She says that although it may feel like I'm slipping only too quickly back into old habits after a session, when she works with me she's finding that it's quicker and easier to make corrections.
Like a lot of people I have a tendency to round my shoulders, and whenever I remembered I would try and correct this, but in doing so I was stiffening and pushing them back, which simply created different problems. You can't treat one part of your body in isolation from the rest, everything affects everything else and by trying to square my shoulders I was affecting my whole back, So while she was straightening me out Vicky explained how I should think instead of releasing my shoulders and visualise them opening out away from each other.
After going over previous work, Vicky got me to stand with my back to the wall, heels a few inches away, and then let myself fall back against it, noticing what was happening as I did so. This was quite a revealing exercise - straight away I could feel that my shoulders met the wall first, with the right one touching just before the left, showing up a slight twist in my movement. It illustrated very clearly what Vicky had been saying, and I was beginning to understand what she meant when she explained that in trying to push my shoulders back I had developed a tendency to arch my lower back and tilt my pelvis.
She then got me to move around the room, and with this new awareness I could feel that I was doing exactly the same when walking - leading with my upper body, shoulders braced and the muscles in my lower back tightened, but now that I was conscious of this I could let go of the tension, make a slight adjustment to the angle of my pelvis, which released the muscles in my lower back and everything felt looser and almost effortless.
Next we worked with a large exercise ball (if you're not familiar with these, think space hopper without the handles). Not every Alexander teacher will work with them, but when I asked Vicky she said she liked to use one sometimes because it gave an unfamiliar feeling which can help break long established patterns, and the movement it offered when sitting on it allowed for more freedom of the hips, also she said horse riders seemed to like it because it mimicked the feeling of sitting on something moving beneath you. We repeated the sitting down and standing up exercise which we'd done before with a stool, this time using the bounce of the ball to aid the movement while Vicky's hands helped me maintain length through my back and neck.
Vicky then worked specifically on my shoulders; with her hands placed on them to focus my awareness there she took them through gentle circular movements to release that background tension that I always seem to hold on to. I was concentrating so much this week on trying not to tense up my shoulders and leave them free and relaxed that I realised my neck was locking up!!! This is called transference and it was interesting because I can feel the same thing happening sometimes when I'm riding - Vicky had noticed this too, but gradually I was able to release my neck and still keep my shoulders relaxed. We finished the session with some table work, and I left feeling fantastic - looking forward to next time already!