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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Alexander in a Nutshell
Nuba wrestler. Photograph by George Rodger, 1949
It is often considered that good posture is something about holding ourselves up correctly and we may even check ourselves in the mirror to see if we've got it right. However if we just simply 'pull our shoulders back, suck our tummy in and pull ourselves up to our 'full height' we're only pulling ourselves around in the most unnatural way and it is simply cosmetic with no foundation that can last. The best natural posture can be seen in such people as the Nuba Tribesman in George Rodger's photograph or in young children who have not learnt any bad habits yet. F.M. Alexander gave his name to the technique that revives our natural poise that taps into our instincts and when it's working well, good posture has a feeling of effortlessness. We become freer, taller and broader; all without any sense of effort.
Having written about many things over the months, I suddenly feel inclined to summarise the main principles of Alexander's technique. It's so simple and straight forward but usually needs one-to-one sessions for us to grasp how to use it for ourselves. But I'll summarise the steps here, should you find them useful.
As we have evolved as a species to be expansive it is necessary that we release unwanted tensions as these have a compacting and shortening effect on us. Alexander’s method helps us achieve this. We’re thinking on a conscious level to tap into the instinct we have from birth for healthy upright poise. And remember that we’ve all got this instinct and we’ve also got the intricate balancing and postural mechanisms to help us; so we have the systems in place, and the ability. We only need to send the instructions (tho think) to overcome our habits. We’re going to create the quality of expansiveness by firstly bringing our attention to ourselves and then by clearly wishing and intending.
Let's break down this overall quality of expansiveness into easy to apply stages; loosening, then lengthening, then widening. But before any of this, we must stop to give ourselves time to think.
THE SEQUENCE OF STEPS
1. Firstly stop to allow yourself to think. This is called inhibition. This gives you time to tell your body how you would like it to be, i.e. stop to give yourself time to think step 2.
2. Think of being free all over. We don’t need half of the tensions most of us carry around. Tell yourself to become looser. Really ‘wish’ it.
3. Free your neck. Let your head roll forwards a little on the top of your spine at a height of between your ears by dropping your nose by a few millimetres. Avoid tucking your chin in. Allow your head to teeter like a child’s.
4. Whilst keeping your head freely balanced, tell your head to go forwards and upwards. Direct your head to actually travel in an upward direction. ‘Inhibit’ any tendency to push or make effort. The thoughts are tapping into your instinct for good poise. Your body know what to do. Your job is to ‘wish’ for it and allow it to happen.
5. While you still maintain a free neck and the thought of your head going upwards, tell your back to lengthen….to following your head. Again, do not make any physical effort to pull yourself up straight. Continue to ‘inhibit’ any tendency to force or push. Do absolutely nothing physically and allow it to happen. All of your back muscles will do their proper job if they receive the correct instruction.
6. While you keep the other thoughts going, instruct your back to widen. Think of broadening out across your shoulders, chest and back at the same time as freeing your neck and sending your head upwards. Do not ‘pull’ your shoulders back or do anything physical; this would be interfering with the natural process.
7. Allow your knees to go forwards and away. When you bend or when you are sitting, think your knees to ‘go’ forward and away from you so that your legs ‘lengthen’.
That's it in a Nutshell. By following these guidelines, you may not feel like you've cracked it, but as long as you don't make a physical effort to 'push' or 'pull' yourself into shape and just think, then you'll probably do yourself quite a lot of good. If you want to read more about Alexander Technique, you can Search on this site, or go to www.alexander-technique.com
