Let the Alexander Technique Help You

Timothy McCall, M.D.

Readers of this column know that I often recommend yoga as a useful technique for lowering stress, improving posture and for relieving conditions such as arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome and back pain. But there’s another powerful way to achieve many of these same benefits.

The Alexander Technique is a systematic study of posture and movement. Although it typically gets classified under the rubric of alternative medicine, there is nothing “new-agey” about it. It postulates that much of the pain and discomfort many people suffer is due to ingrained, dysfunctional movement habits, such as slumping when reading or holding unnecessary tension in your muscles when doing routine activities like reading, playing tennis or lifting a baby.

I asked Joan Arnold, a friend, colleague and an Alexander Technique teacher in New York City, to delineate some of principles she teaches her students. Among the top points:

• Don’t overwork the neck. When the neck overworks, the head gets pushed down onto the spine, compressing the vertebrae, joints and organs. Instead, let the head poise gently on top of the spine.
• Lengthen, don’t compress, the spine when you move.
• Tune into your body. Are you unnecessarily tightening muscles in your neck or arms when reaching for a coffee pot or turning a steering wheel? Is your breathing full and relaxed?
• Contrary to popular belief, standing military style, with the lower back arched and the chest puffing out, isn’t good posture--or good for you.
• Toddlers naturally have good posture with the head spine and hips stacked in a straight line. The Technique is teaching you to relearn some of the natural ease you used to have.

By creating more space for the joints and organs, there is less tension and more normal functioning. And like yoga, the AT seems to contribute to a general sense of well-being.

I have found the Alexander Technique particularly effective for back problems. One young man I referred to Arnold had constant pain that severely limited his activities and had achieved no benefit from either chiropractic or conventional medical care. During his first lesson he became pain-free for the first time in months. And after a half dozen lessons, he learned to release the chronic muscular tension that was causing his problems, allowing him to stay pain-free.

Other conditions which may be helped by the technique include joint pain, tension headaches and other stress-related disorders, knee problems and various repetitive strain injuries (RSIs) such as tendinitis. The technique, invented by an actor to cope with neck tension that was causing hoarseness, has proved so useful for performing artists that it is now taught to aspiring musicians and actors at such institutions as Juilliard and Yale.

You may feel better after a single lesson, though a course of 10 is typically recommended. Some people continue to study for years, often as an adjunct to medical care. Private lessons cost from $50 on up though, unfortunately, usually aren’t covered by insurance. Some group classes and workshops are offered as well. For more information or to find a teacher near you, check out the American Society for the Alexander Technique web site at www.alexandertech.org or call 800-473-0620. A useful book is Body Learning : An Introduction to the Alexander Technique by Michael J. Gelb (Henry Holt).

Perhaps the greatest lesson the Alexander Technique has to offer is that good posture does not require a lot of muscular effort. Though it may feel strange at first, a good teacher can show you that it takes a lot more work to slump your shoulders than it does to remain calm, centered and beautifully upright.

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