Our Body, Mind and Emotions are inseparable – The Alexander Technique is based on the principle that our body, mind and emotion form a unit in the human being, balancing each other and, when one part is affected (by life circumstances), this is instantaneously reflected in the two other parts.
’How’ you do things is more important than ‘what’ you do – Since early childhood we’re encouraged –programmed by school, home or community – to perform, do, achieve, try ever harder and so on. This ‘programming’ tends to instil in us the belief that the future is ’better’ than now, and that future results are more important than our current experience. With the Alexander Technique, you become much more efficient because you are more focused and deliberate in your actions, and because you save on energy – that is usually lost in muscular tension and in worry about future results.
Stop doing the wrong thing and the right thing will do itself – We all develop unconscious postural habits – such as walking with the torso leaning back, picking up a heavy object from the floor without using the knees, sinking into the right (or left) hip while waiting in line and so on. When carried long enough, such habits become detrimental to our well being and may cause pain. The Alexander technique teaches you how to become aware of such harmful habits and how to stop them, resulting in a considerable improvement of your posture, ease of movement and overall wellbeing.
Increased awareness and attention – The Alexander Technique sharpens your mind by teaching you how to pay attention to the way you move, sit, carry objects and perform all activities in your daily life. This is because, in order to change the harmful habits developed over the course of a lifetime, you first need to become aware of them. By extension, this newly acquired ability to pay attention to your posture allows makes you more aware of other aspects of life around you, bringing you more into the present moment.
Omar
