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One Part Moves, All Parts Move
I feel that there is a huge amount of wisdom that comes to us from what are known as the internal martial arts such as Tai Chi and Yiquan. In their authentic form these arts great prowess comes from a form of complete ‘relaxation’ known as sung or song and a different kind of…
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Eyes Matter – part 5
Unlocking your vision and yourself. Seeing As If From The Back Of The Head. Image: ‘tunnel vision’ an exaggerated impression of the narrow, tightly focused and closed down way of seeing that stressed and tense people experience. (Before we begin this is about seeing forwards as if from the back of your head) To…
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Eyes Matter – Part 4
Aspects of how our brains process vision and what it means for posture and agility in movement. The topic I introduce regarding posture, balance and vision is often called the “Where vs What?” aspects of vision, since I couldn’t think of am image to represent this I thought I would instead feature an image…
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Eyes Matter – part 3
There is a direct correlation between tension in and around the muscles of the eye and tension in the rest of our bodies. Soft Eyes Softening the eyes helps us dissolve highly concentrated patterns in the use of our eyes, just letting the eyes do their job reflecting that vision does not require work…
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Eyes Matter – part 2
On evolutionary timescales it is not so long ago that we hunted with stone tools, we should not be surprised if much of the way our senses inform our movement and posture patterns has changed little over this time. Please see Eyes Matter – part 1 to find out how our vision affects balance…
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BMJ Back Pain Study – Alexander Technique
Findings of a study of Back Pain and the Alexander Technique conducted by the British Medical Journal A major study led by a Southampton researcher has found significant evidence that the Alexander Technique can provide long-term benefit for people with chronic or recurrent low back pain. The study, one of the first of its…
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Back Pain and the Alexander Technique
Back pain and in particular low back pain is one of the most frequent and painful ailments in modern society, unfortunately many approaches fail to address the most frequent causes of back pain and that is simply how often we mis-use our bodies in modern living, our body systems are out of balance and…
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Eyes Matter – part 1
The way you use your eyes can have a significant effect on your ease of movement or sitting, indeed your entire well being. temporary notice: If you are returning to this post please note it has recently been split up, part1, part2 etc When someone arrives for a lesson you could say metaphorically they…
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Erick Hawkins
I am not a dancer myself but dancers often do visit Alexander Technique teachers to find more about how to work harmoniously with their bodies. A few years ago I became interested in a dancer named Erick Hawkins, who was passionate about restoring flow and ease of movement in dance, he felt that ballet…
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Looking after the spine
How easily we can corrupt the essential head-neck-back relationship when picking something up from the floor, see in the picture below how the infant effortlessly preserves the integrity of his head-neck-back relationship and so keeps optimal strength and flexibility in his spine. The adult has weakened his spine by kinking at the neck and…