The Alexander Technique (AT) teaches us how to reverse and prevent this degeneration by becoming aware of our negative, habitual patterns. We learn to subtract them from our movement, thus restoring the dynamic coordination, balance, and efficiency of the whole body.
Over time we learn to respond better to the situations, tasks and activities of our life. Instead of reacting in accordance to our habits, we respond with a broader range of choices that are more in harmony with our natural human design.
Despite the fact that our posture has significant and long-term effects on our health, we are often unaware of how we are fighting the natural design of the body, how we are misusing ourselves. Most importantly, we neglect the governing relationship between head and spine, which in turn integrates other bodily systems.
Alexander Technique, through dialogue and hands-on work, focuses on improving the relationship between head and spine, the primary factor in vertebrate coordination. Whenever a vertebrate goes out of optimal coordination, the system compensates with excessive work in the relationship between head and spine. AT aims to bring the head and spine back into optimal coordination.
This optimal coordination can then be applied to all the joints of the body, so that a ‘tensegrity’ or a harmony of energy is being used to perform a given task.
And since Alexander Technique addresses basic human movement, it can be applied to and improve the performance of any human task – from basic activities like sitting, standing, walking, holding a child, washing dishes to the most complex, such as dance, athletics, yoga, playing musical instruments.
Unlike other modalities that often address the symptoms, the Alexander Technique is a permanent, on-going solution to the problems of poor movement quality and pain brought about by inefficient coordination.