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| F.M.Alexander |
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"Anyone who
has
learned this technique of the correction of interference
with the working of the primary control will be
able to put it ino practice in daily life in any
sphere and in any form of activity, including
games and all forms of exercise.
The Universal Constant in Living
F. M. ALEXANDER
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"My technique
is based on inhibition, the
inhibition of undesirable, unwanted responses
to stimuli, and hence it is primarily a technique
for the development of the control of human reaction."
The Universal Constant in LIving
F. M. ALEXANDER
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The majority of people who seek out
the Alexander Technique do so to find relief from physical
symptoms such as back and neck pains, migraines, breathing
difficulties, stress related problems, repetitive strain
injuries, or because they are unable to find their previous
physical form after having an accident or surgery. The
chronically ill can also be helped by the Alexander
Technique but very often it is difficult for them to
realise how learning a new way to move can help them
get better.
However the Alexander Technique is first and foremost
a pre-technique primarily concerned with the maintenance
and the improvement of movement in every field of activity,
therefore it is a useful tool in preventing problems
from developing in the first place, rather than being
used to solve them once they arise. Many musicians,
actors, dancers and sports enthusiasts find the Alexander
Technique an indispensable part of their improvement
program, and there is a full-time Alexander teacher
present in many schools for the arts. Alexander himself
devoted a chapter in one of his books "The Use
of the Self" to the golfer’s need to keep
his eye on the ball, and there can be no greater testimony
to the benefits of the Alexander Technique than in the
all round athlete Daley Thompson and his consistent
gold medal winning performances. Behind many successful
performances in the artistic and sporting fields there
lies an Alexander teacher and his willing pupil.
And finally to this list I would like to add my first
Alexander teacher to whom I am greatly indebted. A gymnastics
teacher, she caught sight of herself one day in the
mirror and found that she did not like the effects that
the exercises she had learned and was teaching to others
had on the overall shape of her body. There must be
something I can do about this she said to herself, and
indeed through a series of Alexander lessons she learnt
to eliminate unnecessary tension in certain muscles
and allow others to work more efficiently, to consider
the body as a whole rather than concentrating on certain
parts at any given time so as to be more in balance
whilst carrying out her gymnastic activity, all of which
radically changed the shape of the person she saw in
the mirror.
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