First, I have to admit it wasn’t cheap; I paid like € 900 for my new posture. I consider it worth every penny, though! I was with my Alexander teacher for 2 months; in retrospect, I could probably have taken fewer lessons, but I didn’t yet feel confident.
They say it is best to go as often as possible, in the beginning, so that’s what I did. IIRC, I went 3x a week for the first few weeks, and then 1x a week.
The teacher looked at my posture, of course, and put me in the correct posture (while standing). It felt a bit strange, because I wasn’t used to it. :-)
She had me lie down on a (slightly padded) table, and put some National Geographics under my head as a pillow. I’m not sure how she determined how many were necessary; I’ve read that it’s better to have too high a ‘pillow’ than one that is too low. My hands rested on my belly, with my elbows at my side on the table; knees pulled up so my feet were flat on the table. In this position your shoulders should be flat on the table, and there should be just a small gap under the small of your back. I remember my shoulders coming up off the table all the time, in the beginning, because of all the unnecessary muscular tension I was used to. I had to do this exercise at home, too—I lay on the ground on a few fleece blankets with a book under my head.
Another exercise was just to stand in front of a chair, and she would correct my posture and movement while sitting down, standing up and moving from sitting to standing vv. (I’m not sure I’m doing that last correctly nowadays, it was difficult.) At work, I mostly sit at the computer, so we practiced that too. The corrections were verbal and with light touches.
One thing I learned, was that you don’t need any back or arm rests. In fact, they’re actually detrimental, IMO. You’re constantly tempted to use them (things are like @#$% magnets!), but that makes you contort yourself one way or the other, and because of the support, you don’t really notice it. I have removed the back and arm rests from my chair, and I still sometimes sag a little, but usually I notice it quickly and correct myself. I did feel my shoulders the first few days, but that was just because the muscles there were shortened, and they needed to stretch and relax.
We practiced walking around, as well, and walking up- and downstairs (that wasn’t easy either, like moving from sitting to standing—I think I’m doing it right, but I’m not really sure; maybe I should get some follow-up lessons).
It doesn’t sound too difficult, and maybe some people could learn it from a book, but I think it’s actually not that easy. I was told any number of times to ‘sit up straight’ when I was young, but my parents didn’t know how to tell me just how to do that, so when I tried, I wasn’t relaxing, I was actually just tensing my muscles in another way. That also happened when I read a book about posture. I’m sure they explained it as well as they could, but it didn’t ‘get’ it. And like I said, correct posture feels strange, in the beginning, because you’re so used to the wrong posture. An Alexander teacher knows just what to say and do to actually get you to do the right thing. I can’t tell you, because I don’t remember and also because it’s different for each person, depending on just what’s wrong with their posture.
What was wrong with my posture was probably the most common thing: hunched shoulders, and because of that, head pulled back (because you still want to see ahead), which produced tension in my shoulders, neck and back. It’s what comes from sitting in chairs with back and arm rests all the time, starting in school. If you want to see what good posture looks like, look at a preschooler. Very few adults stand like that.
I’ve got a different angle on some of this. I’ve had a teacher training in Alexander Technique though I haven’t practiced professionally.
As I understand it, Alexander Technique is not about posture. Not ever. Not even a little bit. The idea is that if you permit yourself to access your kinesthetic sense by releasing your neck, permitting your head to move forward and up, and your back to lengthen and widen, you will move more easily and naturally. This generally results in what looks like better posture, but the Alexander Technique is about movement and attention, not a static image.
AT is also about releasing upward before movements (like getting into and out of chairs, walking, and speaking) which tend to evoke the opposite, deleterious habit of pulling (the back of one’s head) downwards. Some teachers also work with whatever activities the student is interested in improving.
I agree about the difficulty of learning this from books, though modern tools like videoing oneself might help—Alexander was limited to three-way mirrors.
The idea is to use enough books when lying down to get your face to be horizontal.
The problem with posture is what Alexander saw as a pervasive problem—he called it “neglecting the means whereby”—not noticing what you’re actually doing because you’re only focused on a goal. For example, it’s easy to reach for something, focusing only on what you’re trying to get, and not notice that you’re tightening the back of your neck in the process.
I hope I haven’t come off as too sharp about this. I actually think it’s kind of cool that bbleeker got a lot of practical good out of Alexander Technique without getting the theory. To a large extent, AT is about retraining system one, not system two.
If you want something cheaper that has similar good effects, try Feldenkrais Method—it’s got a explicit system of repeated gentle movements which awaken the kinesthetic sense, and which designed to be done without a teacher. It’s also possible to work with a teacher.
I have no opinion about whether Alexander Technique or Feldenkrais Method is better. They’re both very valuable.
You are totally right, Nancy! I was just trying to remember what actually happened during a session, but I didn’t explain it very well at all. Thank you! :-) Maybe I should go back for a refresher...
I’ve been curious about this for a while. Could you describe your experience a bit?
First, I have to admit it wasn’t cheap; I paid like € 900 for my new posture. I consider it worth every penny, though! I was with my Alexander teacher for 2 months; in retrospect, I could probably have taken fewer lessons, but I didn’t yet feel confident.
They say it is best to go as often as possible, in the beginning, so that’s what I did. IIRC, I went 3x a week for the first few weeks, and then 1x a week.
The teacher looked at my posture, of course, and put me in the correct posture (while standing). It felt a bit strange, because I wasn’t used to it. :-)
She had me lie down on a (slightly padded) table, and put some National Geographics under my head as a pillow. I’m not sure how she determined how many were necessary; I’ve read that it’s better to have too high a ‘pillow’ than one that is too low. My hands rested on my belly, with my elbows at my side on the table; knees pulled up so my feet were flat on the table. In this position your shoulders should be flat on the table, and there should be just a small gap under the small of your back. I remember my shoulders coming up off the table all the time, in the beginning, because of all the unnecessary muscular tension I was used to. I had to do this exercise at home, too—I lay on the ground on a few fleece blankets with a book under my head.
Another exercise was just to stand in front of a chair, and she would correct my posture and movement while sitting down, standing up and moving from sitting to standing vv. (I’m not sure I’m doing that last correctly nowadays, it was difficult.) At work, I mostly sit at the computer, so we practiced that too. The corrections were verbal and with light touches.
One thing I learned, was that you don’t need any back or arm rests. In fact, they’re actually detrimental, IMO. You’re constantly tempted to use them (things are like @#$% magnets!), but that makes you contort yourself one way or the other, and because of the support, you don’t really notice it. I have removed the back and arm rests from my chair, and I still sometimes sag a little, but usually I notice it quickly and correct myself. I did feel my shoulders the first few days, but that was just because the muscles there were shortened, and they needed to stretch and relax.
We practiced walking around, as well, and walking up- and downstairs (that wasn’t easy either, like moving from sitting to standing—I think I’m doing it right, but I’m not really sure; maybe I should get some follow-up lessons).
It doesn’t sound too difficult, and maybe some people could learn it from a book, but I think it’s actually not that easy. I was told any number of times to ‘sit up straight’ when I was young, but my parents didn’t know how to tell me just how to do that, so when I tried, I wasn’t relaxing, I was actually just tensing my muscles in another way. That also happened when I read a book about posture. I’m sure they explained it as well as they could, but it didn’t ‘get’ it. And like I said, correct posture feels strange, in the beginning, because you’re so used to the wrong posture. An Alexander teacher knows just what to say and do to actually get you to do the right thing. I can’t tell you, because I don’t remember and also because it’s different for each person, depending on just what’s wrong with their posture.
What was wrong with my posture was probably the most common thing: hunched shoulders, and because of that, head pulled back (because you still want to see ahead), which produced tension in my shoulders, neck and back. It’s what comes from sitting in chairs with back and arm rests all the time, starting in school. If you want to see what good posture looks like, look at a preschooler. Very few adults stand like that.
I’ve got a different angle on some of this. I’ve had a teacher training in Alexander Technique though I haven’t practiced professionally.
As I understand it, Alexander Technique is not about posture. Not ever. Not even a little bit. The idea is that if you permit yourself to access your kinesthetic sense by releasing your neck, permitting your head to move forward and up, and your back to lengthen and widen, you will move more easily and naturally. This generally results in what looks like better posture, but the Alexander Technique is about movement and attention, not a static image.
AT is also about releasing upward before movements (like getting into and out of chairs, walking, and speaking) which tend to evoke the opposite, deleterious habit of pulling (the back of one’s head) downwards. Some teachers also work with whatever activities the student is interested in improving.
I agree about the difficulty of learning this from books, though modern tools like videoing oneself might help—Alexander was limited to three-way mirrors.
The idea is to use enough books when lying down to get your face to be horizontal.
The problem with posture is what Alexander saw as a pervasive problem—he called it “neglecting the means whereby”—not noticing what you’re actually doing because you’re only focused on a goal. For example, it’s easy to reach for something, focusing only on what you’re trying to get, and not notice that you’re tightening the back of your neck in the process.
I hope I haven’t come off as too sharp about this. I actually think it’s kind of cool that bbleeker got a lot of practical good out of Alexander Technique without getting the theory. To a large extent, AT is about retraining system one, not system two.
If you want something cheaper that has similar good effects, try Feldenkrais Method—it’s got a explicit system of repeated gentle movements which awaken the kinesthetic sense, and which designed to be done without a teacher. It’s also possible to work with a teacher.
I have no opinion about whether Alexander Technique or Feldenkrais Method is better. They’re both very valuable.
You are totally right, Nancy! I was just trying to remember what actually happened during a session, but I didn’t explain it very well at all. Thank you! :-) Maybe I should go back for a refresher...