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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Taking Alexander Technique on holiday
Going on holiday is an opportunity to leave all our normal day-to-day activities, worries and considerations behind and switch off for that well earned valuable rest. The switching off process is part of the relaxation and along with visiting new places, going to the sea or country, eating in nice restaurants and cafes and watching the world go by, we restore our energies and be fit for the return to work afterwards. If we take any work with us on holiday; if we take a Blackberry so we can receive emails or even making one phone call into the office to 'make sure all is OK', then we're not giving ourselves the opportunity to unwind and relax as much as we could and the benefits of the holiday will be correspondingly reduced.
So why is it that while I am away for one week's holiday in deepest Dorset, am I thinking so much of the Alexander Technique?
If you've been reading my posts for any period of time, you will know that the Alexander Technique is my profession and what I do every week, pretty well from sun-up to sun-down. You will probably also know that this technique is most helpful for overcoming a bad back, sciatica, scoliosis, an aching or stiff neck, postural habits, breathing problems and reducing stress. You may also know that it helps us avoid getting into postural habits in the first place; it helps us avoid problems in the future while also helping us make the most of ourselves with improved confidence, co-ordination, balance which is extremely beneficial when performing in sport, music or whatever.
The Alexander Technique is often considered as a therapy because it can help with so many health related issues. But when we have Alexander sessions, they are more like 'lessons' so we can learn how to use the Alexander Technique for ourselves; so we become relatively self-sufficient in maintaining good poise or posture. Professionals like myself are called teachers, not therapists and the technique is educational within the field of Complimentary Therapy. Because it is 'educational', practitioners like myself never set out to 'cure' anyone of a problem, but to teach them how to use the technique for themselves. It is quite normal that during the process of having some lessons, some one's posture will improve quite considerably, and if they have been suffering from some painful symptoms or stress related to posture, these symptoms will often reduce and disappear quite quickly as if by magic. But of course it is not magic at all. The person concerned has simply stopped doing the tensional or postural things that caused the problem. Consequently the technique has its reputation for being so helpful for postural problems, but it is not treatment.
I remember one client many years ago saying during her first or second session when I was showing her and guiding her how to stand and sit more effortlessly, "This feels great! Have you ever had anyone do it to you?" I smiled and thought of the many years I had had of enjoying my own private Alexander Technique lessons before deciding to train as a teacher and I explained to her that there is no way could I do what I do with my hands to help her release tension and walk more lightly if I had no previous experience myself of the Alexander Technique!
Unlike professionals in almost any other field who should ideally leave their work behind, I take the Alexander Technique with me, so to speak. But I do so not to teach others while I am on holiday but to help myself feel as fit and as healthy as possible. It enhances my sense of well-being. It is more like a hobby and not restrictive in any way other than by helping us avoid problems or tensions etc that we do not want anyway.
My holiday this week, walking the lanes and footpaths of Dorset, visiting gardens and the Jurassic Coast, going to the beach, enjoying nice restaurants and afternoon cream teas in the most quintessentially English way, is a holiday away from teaching. But the technique is with me, like a friend, helping me walk lightly and freely, helping me breathe the lovely sea air deeply and effortlessly, helping me have more energy to do more of what I enjoy. Do I ever switch off, I hear you ask? Of course! The technique is never in any one's mind all of the time. But it is there to come back to frequently....for fun. Why should anyone deprive themselves of something that is wholesome and feels so good?
This has been a great spring holiday and I shall be back in my London practice to write another post on Tuesday next week. See you then. :-)
