Almost every day I have clients present
to my office with some kind of chronic or acute pain. TheyÕre worried, tense
and most of all cannot understand where this all came from, and why now.
Listening to their stories they feel it
all started over the weekend while playing tennis or golf or when they lifted
something heavy. Yet with closer examination of the muscles involved it soon
becomes apparent at least to me that what has happened has a long history.
These kinds of chronic injuries are the
result of poor posture and poor body mechanics utilized while performing
repetitive daily tasks. As the injured, overused muscle gradually begins to
shorten and is isolated from other muscles that would normally do part of the
work; pain begins to set in. It may start first with tension or fatigue, but
the end result without correction will be pain that can become chronic.
One of the first methods developed to
work with the subtle causes of pain and their correction was the brain child of
Fredrick Alexander an aspiring young Shakespearean actor in the late 1800s.
Frederick found his ambitions frustrated by a chronic cough that led to the
loss of his voice. When weeks past with no improvement in his condition offered
by the medical community Fredrick, determined to find a solution decided to
begin a study of self-observation and modulation of his activity.
Observing himself in a three-way mirror
he noticed that every time he began speaking, he tightened certain muscles in
his neck, lifted his chin and tilted his head back and down. The resulting
pressure on the spine and the other structures in his throat and neck
restricted his breathing and shortened his stature. By simply changing this
habit surprisingly his condition improved.
He also found that when he focused on the
goal of correcting this postural deficit instead of the process, his
over-activity of incorrectly using certain muscle groups brought him little or
no progress. This was a simple statement of old habits are the worst to break.
So instead of trying to break the old habit he made new ones.
The Alexander TechniqueÕs basic tenet is
that when the neck does not overwork, the head can balance lightly at the top
of the spine. He found that when head and neck were not in concert with one
another it had ramifications throughout the entire body.
Our neuromuscular system is designed to
work in concert with gravity, which imposes a force of 3.5 pounds per square
inch. When our posture in siting or standing is poor our body does not resist
gravity at the same rate. This puts increased weight and tension on structures
that were not intended to hold that much weight.
As the student of the Alexander Technique
becomes a sharper observer and begins noticing not only his own more subtle
responses and corrects them, they also notice those around them sagging,
holding their breath or hunching their shoulders. By their simple observations
they are reminded to counter their own stress responses correctly.
Since tension is a kind of internal
static, releasing that tension tunes the system quiets the mind and expands
perception. A simple yet intensely powerful technique anyone can learn.
I have found the Alexander Technique to
be very useful for myself as well as my clients for relieving chronic pain, especially
in the upper back and neck. If you would like to learn more about this useful
technique, there are various books on his life and work, or visit the national
web site at www. alexandertech.com.
Till next time, Rebecca.