Update: Asthma and the Alexander Technique - for adults and children!

I do not claim to have discovered any new method of breathing, but to understand the only true one – Nature’s
F. M. Alexander

Here are two an excellent blog posts about how the Alexander Technique can help the symptoms of Asthma (and breathing issues in general).

They've been written by Beret Arcaya, a New-York-based Alexander-Technique teacher (and incidentally the one who introduced me to the Alexander Technique in 1998!):

Asthma gives a feeling that you cannot inhale air. In reality, the sufferer cannot exhale. But it does not feel that way (unreliable kinesthesia).

For asthmatics, the ease of air in and air out which is normal for all creatures is totally disrupted. It is a horrible condition and can cause death. It feels as if you will suffocate as the airways in the lungs spasm preventing you from breathing and causing a panic and then more spasm and more fear.

»Click here to go to Beret's blog and read her first post concerning Asthma and the A.T.

Two days later Beret wrote a follow-up article that illustrates the dramatic effects the Alexander technique can have on young children with asthma:

Terry was about 9 months old, not yet walking (...), had presented with asthma from one month or less and had been rushed to the emergency room a few times. (... ) I noticed at once that this head/neck relationship was not as free as we’d expect in a child and then she told me about his condition.

(...) At first Terry was fussy and didn’t like his head and neck touched but gradually he quieted down and seemed to enjoy it. We noticed a change that day in the depth of his breathing (...) In less than 6 “lessons” he was able to take half the medicines and didn’t gasp for air or have the sudden onset attacks he had had before. By the time he was walking (...) the asthma was minimal.

(... )Terry is now 2 and a half. His asthma is nearly gone and his doctor is happy that he is “outgrowing it.” Terry and his parents are happier.

»Click here to read the entire article about The Primary Control and Asthma Conditions in Young Children

Both very recommended!

[via http://habitandchoice.com/blog/]

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Asthma and the Alexander Technique

I do not claim to have discovered any new method of breathing, but to understand the only true one – Nature’s
F. M. Alexander

Here is an excellent blog about how the Alexander Technique can help the symptoms of Asthma (and breathing issues in general).

It has been written by Beret Arcaya, a New-York-based Alexander-Technique teacher (and incidentally the one who introduced me to the Alexander Technique in 1998!):

Asthma gives a feeling that you cannot inhale air. In reality, the sufferer cannot exhale. But it does not feel that way (unreliable kinesthesia).

For asthmatics, the ease of air in and air out which is normal for all creatures is totally disrupted. It is a horrible condition and can cause death. It feels as if you will suffocate as the airways in the lungs spasm preventing you from breathing and causing a panic and then more spasm and more fear.

»Click here to go to Beret's blog and read the full post. Very recommended!

[via http://habitandchoice.com/blog/breathing-fitness-sports/asthma-management]

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Treating RSI with the Alexander Technique [ http://bit.ly/cRhmsE ] - RT @BodyLearning

Another most commom ailment in our society - RSI. The good news is: The Alexander-Technique can help!

What is RSI?

Repetitive strain injury (RSI) is an injury of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems that may be caused by repetitive tasks, forceful exertions, vibrations, mechanical compression (pressing against hard surfaces), or sustained or awkward positions. (»Wikipedia)

Read »the full article on treating RSI with the Alexander Technique

Here's an excerpt:

(...) But the main problem with trying to prevent RSI's is that the human body is very resilient and adaptable. An office worker can type all day with her wrists bent at an awkward angle. A mechanic doesn't notice that he is gripping a spanner too tightly or using more force than is necessary to undo a nut if that's the way he's always done it.

Most people give little thought to exactly how they perform routine actions and don't realize they are putting undue strain on a joint unless it causes pain. Because of this, poor postural habits can develop gradually over many months, or even years, until they seem normal and comfortable.

Teaching people to become more consciously aware of how they are using their bodies is the main aim of The Alexander Technique, which is why it is so useful in treating all types of RSI's. It is not a therapy, and doesn't involve any manipulation or exercises, but it helps people to rediscover their own natural posture.

[via »RT @BodyLearning]

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If you don't make mistakes, you're doing it wrong. If you don't correct those mistakes...

SCIENCE:
If you don't make mistakes, you're doing it wrong.
If you don't correct those mistakes, you're doing it really wrong.
If you can't accept that you're mistaken, you're not doing it at all.

The Alexander-Technique in three sentences - brilliant!

The above text is a statement about science and scientific principles. But why is this also a spot-on definition of Alexander-Technique?

Well, F. M. Alexander always contended that the Alexander-Technique be a scientific method in the sense that it it uses reasoned-out hypotheses (in "Alexander-speak": the means-whereby with inhibition and direction) and put them to the test in empiric experiments (i.e. in daily life).

Do those hypotheses work reliably or not? Can the results be re-produced? If not, go back, check your hypotheses and make modifications!

More to the point: Learn to make mistakes!

F. M. Alexander even said (I paraphrase):

Don't come to me for lessons unless you're ready to make mistakes and be happy about it!

[ via »sl-lost.com - that's right I'm a LOST-fan! ]

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Video: Why changing is so hard - and how to make it a little easier with the Alexander-Technique

Fresh baked Cookies or radishes? What would you rather have?

Most likely the cookies would be the 'easier' choice for you whereas choosing the radishes might involve more conscious effort. »Recent psychological studies suggest that our brain is a limited resource when it comes to making "right/new" choices as opposed to habitual ones.

So this might help to understand what we all know - and have experienced over and over again: Changing is hard.

I like to contend that there is a way of making those changes of lifestyle and habits less hard: the Alexander-Technique.

Basically, the Alexander-Technique is all about learning how to change habits. Postural habits, habits in movement, thinking habits, habits in communication, habits concerning emotions and your reactions to them, ... You name it....

The Alexander-Technique helps you become aware of what you're doing with yourself while you're doing what you're doing. You learn what "makes you tick", you get to know yourself better. You get to explore your full potential, your talents, your strengths. At the same time you gather information what your real limitations are and what you habitually do to makes things harder for you than they need to be. And with this knowledge you're becoming more sympathetic with yourself and you tend to put less unrealistic demands upon yourself. This alone helps you with making changes!

But there's more. You learn practically, empirically, by experience what does work for you and what does not. Instead of acting and reacting automatically you gradually make informed choices about what like to do. And, more importantly, how you do that and how you can avoid the "bad" choices. Your freedom of movement becomes greater. You expand your range of expression and co-ordination - on a physical, intellectual and emotional level.

You exercise choice and change on a daily basis. Therefore changing becomes more and more familiar; it becomes a new habit - and consequently: a lot easier! You change the way you go about change!

Now, coming back to the aforementioned Cookies vs. Radishes experiment and why changing is hard (if you don't know the Alexander-Technique)...

Overeating, leaving your stuff laying around, getting short with your spouse after work—they're not just weaknesses of character. Dan Heath at Fast Company suggests it has to do with exhausting your self-control reserves, which are more finite than you think.

Heath aims to shoot down the popular sentiment that people who can't change a bad behavior, whether health or work-related, are simply lazy or just resistant to change. He illustrates his point with a study involving cookies, radishes, and impossible geometry problems, explained in the clip above. The gist? After managing to resist the cookies and eat radishes, one group had almost no patience for the impossible problem, while the satiated cookie eaters were happy to work more than twice as long at it.

Watch the video...

[ via »lifehacker.com ]

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