Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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Not holding positions
Child with good head poise without stiffening her neck. Her head is freely balanced despite looking upwards.
A client who has not had more than just a few sessions asked after a session today if the position of his head was better than before and was he holding better posture. This is such a straight forward question and it's a shame that my answer has to be slightly more in-depth than a simple yes or no.
In short his poise was better and the 'position of his head' was more in balance and yes, he was in better shape after the session....But. The point I want to make is that it is not about 'holding' onto a position; it is not about keeping his head in the right position, or his shoulders, neck, back or anything else. Looking at him during this 'snapshot-in-time' one might say that he was quite nicely upright, or certainly better than he was, but the key point is that it's the condition inside that counts, not the position.
When I say 'condition' inside, I am referring to the quality of muscle tone throughout his body that is neither too stiff, nor so flaccid that he collapses and it's the freedom of the joints so they are not held or stiff. Ultimately the quality that we all want, if we look at the best examples of good posture that we can find, in our own young children of 3-4 years old; they are very free and relaxed, yet expansive, tall and broad at the same time. They are both free (loose) and expansive at the same time.
Such combination of 'looseness' and being tall and broad all at the same time can seem contradictory. However, we have evolved as a species of vertebrate mammal to cope with the effects of gravity, be athletic (to hunt and chase, despite not needing to go much further than the supermarket these days) and be expansive in stature so our internal space is at its maximum to afford efficient working of all our organs. This is how we are 'designed' through the evolutionary process. If we now have a slouch, stoop, stiff back, neck, hips and knees it is because we have developed postural habits that are interfering with our natural poise and instinct that we have from birth. It is our 'birthright' to be free, expansive....and healthy.
If we misuse any machine or piece of equipment we cannot expect it to work very efficiently afterwards. We are very much the same. However we are made of living tissue which changes with use and time (for better or for worse depending on the use!) and we also have a brain that can be in more control of how we are functioning. Many of us are not aware of how we stand, sit, run, bend or do anything; we rely on our body to work it out; we trust the system. However our system is now faulty (as a result of habits) so we cannot really rely on it in the way that a child (who is free of habit) can.
FM Alexander evolved a technique that now bears his name to revive our natural poise, to give us a step-by-step procedure for taking more control and helping our body and mind work more efficiently. By having a short course in the Alexander Technique we learn to think in ways that help us make the most of ourselves, physically, mentally and with natural confidence.
With Alexander lessons we learn to maintain a free neck and relaxed shoulders, that are not in any particular 'position' except for being well balanced in relation to gravity. It also helps with a miriad of other things such as breathing, circulation, timidity, shyness, menstrual cycles and reproductive systems, blood pressure, co-ordination for sport and performing arts, voice and so much more. All these things are affected by the overall working of our body. With Alexander lessons we learn to maintain more freedom and better balance as we move around, sit, stand or swing a golf club, run, play the violin, make a public speech or wash the dishes. We are dealing with poise in action. Consequently it can easily be seen that 'to hold a position' for our head, neck or back is entirely wrong as it prevents easy and natural movement. The 'holding' is the problem. No. We want to be free, in balance and able to more without unnecessary stiffening. Watch a 3 year old to see how they are when they move.
So, on looking at my client I said something along the lines of "Yes you are much better poised, but as you move, continue to 'free your neck', think of your head going upwards and your back lengthening as you walk. You mustn't hold it, but continue to think as you go. So you are constantly freeing and lengthening as you move. This is 'thinking in action'.
Comments
Hi,
So are you a physiotherapist?
What do you think of the postures of people who does ballroom dance competitions?
Posted by: Causalien | January 17, 2008 5:45 AM
No, I'm not a physiotherapist. I teach the Alexander Technique which is entirely different. Where a physio can help with healing etc, the Alexander Technique helps people look after themselves on a daily basis by avoiding bad postural habits. People come for lessons in this technique so they become more self-sufficient.
Ballroom dancing by nature requires certain postures to suit the art and performance but which are not 'natural'. Some will have reasonably good posture and others may have problems, often in the upper back as a result of over-straightening their spine in performance. It's not possible to classify all ballroom dancers in the same way as we are all individuals with our own unique habits and characteristics. Bur certainly to become good at ballroom dancing requires good co-ordination, balance and awareness of movement, and this is all helpful in maintaining good healthy poise. Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks for commenting.
Posted by: Noel | January 17, 2008 12:59 PM