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The Alexander Way/Problems with Stress and Tension

Submitted by admin on Mon, 03/05/2018 - 12:41

Us humans have a problem: How can we stay balanced on two feet without getting tense? Without pulling back our shoulders and bracing our knees?
We have a fundamental requirement to achieve balance, yet the cost can be high in wear and tear on body parts and excess muscle tension.
This is where The Alexander Technique comes in, rebalancing overall muscle tone to dynamically support the skeleton, reducing stress on all the joints, big and small, and freeing up the ribcage.
Developed in the late 19th century in Australia by F M Alexander trying to alleviate his own problems, he luckily, through years of self-observation, determined how to remove the causes of stress and tension to allow himself to to operate with ease. I say luckily because there was no pathological cause, only a case of mis-use.
Arriving in London in 1904 he quickly established himself teaching his method to the top Victorian actors of the day and later such luminaries as George Bernard Shaw and Aldous Huxley. He wrote four books explaining his ideas in great detail, the most approachable being The Use of the Self which contains a chapter outlining the years of studying himself.
He started training others in the 1930’s and now there are teachers all over the world, all with a direct lineage back to this great man who discovered the fundamentals of how we operate, much of which, over the decades, has been proven by emerging science.
Being a general system of self-help a course of lessons is beneficial to anyone wanting to improve themselves in any field they choose, whether it’s sitting at a computer for long periods or dancing the Tango. A single first lesson is highly recommended so you can feel the difference.