Alexander Technique
Mindfulness in Movement
The Alexander Technique is an approach to learning that cultivates an individual's capacity to take control of their wellbeing. It develops an awareness of movement and postural patterns that may be contributing to pain, re-organising them for easier and more effective ways to move and live.
The Alexander Technique works with the whole person, calming and re-focussing awareness and redirecting energy to wellbeing.
Lessons and workshops teach you to:
Develop an awareness of your movement and postural patterns
Calm the nervous system thereby reducing stress, fatigue and excess muscle tension.
Understand what may be sustaining or aggravating your pain and discomfort.
Learn how to cooperate with gravity to improve posture, balance, support and coordination.
Develop insight into the ways in which thinking and behaviour affects movement and action.
Apply the learnt skills to your movement, work and areas of special interest.
Alexander Technique Teachers are movement and postural experts who understand that the mind and the body cannot be separated, that in order to understand and change complex health concerns, a holistic approach is required.
The Alexander Technique is currently offered in a number of medical settings in the United States and United Kingdom.
The Mayo Clinic offers the Technique as a safe and effective method for improving posture, reducing stress and supporting optimal health. AT offers a gentle and sustainable counter-balance to the fast-paced world of stress, tension and strain. AT students learn how to recognize and prevent harmful habits, thereby restoring the natural poise, dynamic coordination, and overall uprightness of the whole body.
To learn more about AT at the Mayo Clinic see Dan Abraham Healthy Living Centre.
Alexander Technique Research
Below are summaries of published papers demonstrating the efficacy of the Alexander Technique for back pain, chronic pain and Parkinson’s.
For further studies on the effectiveness of the Alexander Technique see annotated research provided by the American Society for the Alexander Technique.
Little, P. et al. (2008), British Medical Journal 337:a884
579 patients with chronic or recurrent lower back pain were randomized to normal care, massage, 6 Alexander technique lessons (with or without exercise) or 24 Alexander technique lessons (with or without exercise). Degree of disability and numbers of days per month of pain, were compared between the groups. Compared to the control group, exercise and lessons in the Alexander technique, but not massage, remained effective at one year. For example, with 24 lessons in A.T., at one year, there was a 42% reduction in the Roland disability score and an 86% reduction in days in pain compared with the control group.
Randomised controlled trial of the Alexander Technique for idiopathic Parkinson’s disease.
Stallibrass, C., Sissons, P., Chalmers, C., Clinical Rehabilitation 2002; 16: 705-718
This was a trial involving ninety three subjects with Parkinson’s disease. They were divided into three groups, receiving either massage, Alexander Technique lessons or no additional treatment. The Alexander Technique group improved compared with the no additional treatment group in respect to the SPDDS (Self-assessment Parkinson’s disease Disability Score and the Attitudes to Self Scale. This was maintained at the 6 month follow up.