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The comprehensive system of Yoga has evolved over many
centuries, so what can a technique that has existed
barely one hundred years contribute to a system as ancient
and as developed as yoga?
In the Western world, many people who begin to practice
yoga are extraordinarily ill-equipped both mentally
and physically in coordination terms, independently
from their initial flexibility, and thus will find the
positions and exercises proposed in yoga sessions too
exacting and will therefore be unable to benefit fully
from them. Also to remain immobile and attentive is
an extremely difficult task and often this difficulty
is underestimated.
The Alexander teacher will work with a pupil in order
to teach him to avoid excessive tension in preparation
for an asana. Simply thinking of movement is enough
to trigger usual limiting or painful muscular tensions.
Using his hands to monitor the coordination of the pupil’s
body, the Alexander teacher will help him to learn to
start a movement without these unnecessary tensions,
in order to create a neutral state of coordination,
from where he will be able to built and discover his
potential.
The Alexander Technique is concerned with reeducating
the basic neuromuscular patterns underlying every human
movement or response. In addressing these patterns it
can help the yoga practitioner to become aware of the
imperceptible tensions which place constraint upon the
asanas or impede their proper performance.
Furthermore, as the Alexander Technique can be applied
at any time and to every activity, the pupil will learn
to address any difficulty during the remainder of the
day, since a demanding discipline like yoga will be
bound to reveal faults that are also present in the
simple movements of daily life.
As far breathing is concerned, which is an essential
aspect of any movement, the Alexander technique does
not set out to add new breathing exercises, but to simply
teach pupils to rediscover a normal, natural, unaffected
way of breathing, this being an essential prelude to
any venture into more advanced and complicated breathing
techniques in yoga. In the Alexander Technique’s
perspective, the breathing function depends on the general
state of the body and improvements in breathing are
not going to be possible therefore unless one looks
at what is happening in the rest of the body and organism.
The Alexander procedures used seek to remove any tensions
interfering with a person’s breathing and to create
in the body a state of greater ease. This is achieved
by improving the dynamic relationship between the neck
and the head as well as the flexibility of the spine
and the combined effects will be to release energy that
can be put to use by the yoga practitioner. Without
this template for sound breathing and without a natural,
unimpeded rhythm, it is even risky for certain people
with weak breathing to go straight into more complex
breathing exercises.
Nevertheless, there is no question that in traditional
yoga instruction, where teacher and pupil are linked
in a special one-to-one relationship, the pupil will
progress at his/her own speed under the watchful eye
of the master. This approach, which constitutes a true
path and way of life, is not always the main aim of
western yoga practitioners who practice yoga in a group,
and this is why the Alexander Technique can be a useful
aid to consider.
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