| Many Thanks to John Hunter |
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by John Hunter
- Who was F. Matthias Alexander?
- What is the Alexander Technique
?
- How does it relate to Stress Management?
This article first appeared in Volume
10 No. 1, January 1998, edition of Stress News, the
newsletter of the International Stress Management Association
(UK)
Generally considered today (owing to some unfortunate
literature) to be a postural approach to dealing with
back pain, the work of F. Matthias Alexander
(1869-1955) was, for he himself and his early pupils,
primarily a means of learning to control human reactivity.
Faced with vocal and respiratory problems in his youth,
when he was an itinerant actor, he sought unsuccessfully
for a cure from the medical profession and through the
study of various contemporary systems of voice production
and respiratory control. By means of meticulous self-observation
over a considerable period of time, he was eventually
able to discover certain patterns of unnecessary muscular
tension which were causing harmfu l pressure on his
larynx and inter ference with his natural breathing.
This in turn led him to the realisation that the human
body maintains its equilibrium and poise according to
certain principles. By understanding what these principles
are one can learn to carry out the normal range of human
activities in such a way that they are in conformity
with these principles rather than in contradiction to
them. In other words, one can learn to be better co-ordinated.
However, as Alexander discovered, these principles
of physical co-ordination do not work in isolation from
the rest of our functioning. Specifically, the quality
of muscle tone and the way we are supported at rest
and in movement is only one aspect of a whole which
includes our thought processes and our emotional states.
In trying to unravel and understand the interrelationship
between these different aspects of his organism Alexander
realised that they were inextricably linked with habit
patterns which were deep-rooted and connected with his
"intention to act" or his "will to do".
If this sounds as though it is getting complicated,
I will try to explain what I mean.
Firstly on the physical level, Alexander discovered
that we do not hold ourselves upright by balancing one
part of the body on top of the part below it - like
someone on stilts balancing something on their head
- but rather that we are held upright by dynamic tension:
a useful image is that of a suspension bridge or a camping
tent which are held firm by forces pulling in opposing
directions. Poise, therefore, is attained by finding
the right balance of tensions pulling in the right directions.
Contracted muscles in parts of the back, neck or shoulders,
for instance, are seen from the point of view of the
Alexander Technique as symptoms of an uneven distribution
of tension throughout the whole body . The "Alexander"
approach to dealing with this is to try to rectify the
overall balance of tensions - just as a "kink"
in the canvas of a tent is corrected by adjusting the
relative tensions on the guy ropes. The key, on a physical
level, to this balance of tensions in a human being
is the relationship of the head to the neck, and the
head and neck to the back.
Certain parts of the body are for support and others
for mobility. The spine, pelvis and rib-cage are our
central support structure and movements come from the
joints. The weight of the head (some 10-12lbs.) has
to be borne by the cervical spine. It does not rest
on the atlas in such a way that it could balance; there
is more weight forward of the atlas than behind. The
head would, if left to itself, tend to fall forward
and it is prevented from doing so by muscular activity
which pulls the head back. If this muscular activity
becomes excessive then the head pulls back too much
and the weight of it starts to bear down on the cervical
spine. This then has a "knock-on" effect on
the rest of the spine, which either collapses or, usually
with a great deal of tension in the chest shoulders
and neck, becomes rigid in order to provide support.
The effect of either collapse or rigidity on the respiratory
system is that free movement of the ribs is prevented;
the relationship between respiration and emotion is
a field of study in itself.
No amount of locally applied massage or remedial treatment
- nor, for that matter, a psychologically based approach
to tension - is going to bring about more that temporary
relief until the individual discovers what it is he
or she is doing (at a level currently below the sense
register) that is causing this "chain reaction"
and stops doing it. In other words, the individual needs
to learn how to allow the spine to regain its natural
length and spring. This is achieved, put in the most
simple terms, by removing the excessive downward pressure
of the head on the cervical spine, which is achieved
by releasing excessive tension in the muscles of the
neck.
This is just the physical aspect, however, and it
does not function in isolation. In learning to carry
out motor-activity certain connections are made between
the mental decision to act and the physical actualisation
of that decision. These processes are connected below
the level of conscious awareness in accordance with
certain patterns of neural stimulation stored in some
kind of "motor" or "neural" memory.
However, if this "memory" contains badly organised
information, or unnecessary information then the "will
to do" a certain activity will inevitably stimulate
all the neural and motor activity associated with it.
Like a computer programme, or worse a computer virus,
once it is activated it obediently, ruthlessly and blindly
follows each stage of its preordained obligatory path.
This is how habits of posture and movement work. A very
simple example of this is someone who when using a computer
mouse lifts their shoulder every time they click it.
Lifting the shoulder is unnecessary, but it has become
associated unconsciously with the act of clicking the
mouse. The tension which accumulates in the shoulder
can start to pull on the neck and cause pain. Massaging
the neck and shoulder will relieve the symptoms but
until the person realises what is causing the problem
it will recur. (This was the case with one pupil of
mine who thought his shoulder pain was caused by a sports
injury from too much squash and tennis. It turned out
to be the result of lifting his shoulder when using
a mouse. Once he had realised this he could very quickly
stop doing it and all symptoms soon disappeared.)
Alexander devised for himself a method of re-educating
the links between volition and the resultant motor-activity.
His approach is not "behaviourist" in that
it deals with the detailed processes, extremely subtle
though they are, of the interface between thought and
movement. The changes which are brought about are not
so much ones of "behaviour" as of "state".
When the quality of the connection between mental and
physical processes changes, so does our "state".
Alexander studied in himself the action of both volition
and its counterpart, "inhibition" (not in
the Freudian sense of some kind of repression, but in
the sense of the opposite of volition: i.e. "Volition"
is that which you agree to do and "Inhibition"
is that which you do not agree to do). He found that
with sufficient mental alertness it was possible to
receive a stimulus to act (the stimulus coming either
from within the organism or from without) and to choose
not to react. This is a function of a higher part of
the mind and calls for a high degree of attention and
"awareness in the moment", which in themselves
affect one's state. The possibility of using consciously
our potential to "give or withhold consent"
has, if one takes the time to reflect on it, far-reaching
implications. Even at a very basic level people trying
to put this idea into practise report a greater sense
of having control over
their lives
It is the role of the Alexander teacher to guide the
pupil into a discovery of these psycho-physical facts,
and it is done through a combination of explanation
and direct "hands-on" work. A competent teacher
is able to bring about in the pupil a change in their
co-ordination in a matter of minutes, though this cannot,
of course, be sustained. Gradually the pupil comes to
understand how a certain mental acquiescence is necessary
to allow these changes to happen. This "acquiescence"
or "absence of interference" is the very state
needed by the body to function at its most efficient.
In time the pupil learns how to bring about this internal
reorganisation on his or her own and how to apply it
to all the normal - and even some of the unusual - activities
of life.
It should by now be apparent in what way this relates
to managing stress. Experience is very subjective, and
situations which are stressful and difficult for one
person can be challenging and enlivening for another.
It all depends on how we take them, which depends on
our individual "make-up". Learning the Alexander
Technique cannot change someone's essential nature,
but can help one to achieve greater integration, inner
"connectedness". That which is better connected,
better integrated can better withstand stress, just
as our camping tent - if properly pitched with the right
amount of tension - can better withstand the storms.
For many people who learn the Alexander Technique
the sense of improved physical well-being is as much
as they want to take out of it. For others, the possibilities
of developing some of the psychological aspects can
become a very personal tool for self-development over
a great number of years. Space does not permit me to
explore such questions further and the serious enquirer
is referred to Alexander's own writings* or to a trained
teacher. I have found, however, that these ideas do
translate well into the needs of busy people in the
work-place. Both in private lessons and in group classes
(where such tools as "role-play" can be used)
the process of making discoveries about oneself, of
understanding some of the hidden relationships between
cause and effect, can empower people in a very real
way
• Particularly recommended is "The Use of
the Self"
www.alextech.demon.co.uk
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