Alexander Technique + Posture
We have all heard someone talk to us about our posture, common phrases include:
Stand up straight
Shoulders back
Sit up straight
Don’t slouch
Tuck your pelvis
Hold your head up
Don’t lock your knees
Puff up your chest
Hold in your low ribs and stomach
Keep your shoulders down
Feet flat on the floor
Stand tall
Tuck your chin
Many realize that poor posture is preventing them from living their best lives and because of this there are several products that claim to improve posture. There are several braces that fit over the low ribs and abdomen and have straps that go over the shoulders to draw them together. There are even electronic devices that buzz to alert you to slouching. If you’re interested in learning about how lumbar supports or special chairs also won’t help improve posture, check out the Ergonomics page here.
What these products fail to realize is that posture, healthy poise rather, is not about shape.
Stand in front of a mirror and put yourself in the position that you call “good posture,” now notice if you can maintain this posture while performing activities. Do you feel tight and tense? Are you able to move with ease? Unlikely. Often we put ourselves into a position and then “hold” it so that we stay in “good” posture. This holding is not what our bodies are designed to do. We are always moving, our tissues, vessels, muscles, and our organs, they are all moving all the time. Micro-movement. When we try to prevent movement and hold ourselves in a particular posture, we go against our very nature.
What is more important than position is direction. If you are in a position of “good posture” but are combating your habit of slouching by muscling your shoulders back you’re going to be in pain. If you are able to, instead, undo your habit of slouching, you will find yourself in better alignment without the pain of “muscling” your shoulders into a position. What the Alexander Technique does is exactly this. We work to remove obstacles to improve alignment thereby improving posture and poise. When we undo our harmful habits we are able to find poise, balance, and ease in alignment which is better than the shape of posture.
“To obtain good posture it is important to realise that freedom of movement is not achieved by doing anything, but rather by realising what we are already doing to prevent this freedom of movement from taking place and then taking steps to stop interfering with the way we move. This not only allows the body’s own healing processes to function, but also brings about a greater efficiency of energy and a happier outlook on life.”
–Alexander Technique Ireland
A study done by Pramod P. Reddy, Trisha P. Reddy, Jennifer Roig-Francoli, Lois Cone, Bezalel Sivan, W. Robert DeFoor, Krishnanath Gaitonde, and Paul H. Noh on ”The Impact of the Alexander Technique on Improving Posture and Surgical Ergonomics During Minimally Invasive Surgery: Pilot Study” it was concluded that training in the Alexander Technique improved posture in laparoscopic surgeons. I talk more in-depth about this study, here!
If you are interested in improving your posture, poise, and alignment, reach out here!
Stand up straight
Shoulders back
Sit up straight
Don’t slouch
Tuck your pelvis
Hold your head up
Don’t lock your knees
Puff up your chest
Hold in your low ribs and stomach
Keep your shoulders down
Feet flat on the floor
Stand tall
Tuck your chin
Many realize that poor posture is preventing them from living their best lives and because of this there are several products that claim to improve posture. There are several braces that fit over the low ribs and abdomen and have straps that go over the shoulders to draw them together. There are even electronic devices that buzz to alert you to slouching. If you’re interested in learning about how lumbar supports or special chairs also won’t help improve posture, check out the Ergonomics page here.
What these products fail to realize is that posture, healthy poise rather, is not about shape.
Stand in front of a mirror and put yourself in the position that you call “good posture,” now notice if you can maintain this posture while performing activities. Do you feel tight and tense? Are you able to move with ease? Unlikely. Often we put ourselves into a position and then “hold” it so that we stay in “good” posture. This holding is not what our bodies are designed to do. We are always moving, our tissues, vessels, muscles, and our organs, they are all moving all the time. Micro-movement. When we try to prevent movement and hold ourselves in a particular posture, we go against our very nature.
What is more important than position is direction. If you are in a position of “good posture” but are combating your habit of slouching by muscling your shoulders back you’re going to be in pain. If you are able to, instead, undo your habit of slouching, you will find yourself in better alignment without the pain of “muscling” your shoulders into a position. What the Alexander Technique does is exactly this. We work to remove obstacles to improve alignment thereby improving posture and poise. When we undo our harmful habits we are able to find poise, balance, and ease in alignment which is better than the shape of posture.
“To obtain good posture it is important to realise that freedom of movement is not achieved by doing anything, but rather by realising what we are already doing to prevent this freedom of movement from taking place and then taking steps to stop interfering with the way we move. This not only allows the body’s own healing processes to function, but also brings about a greater efficiency of energy and a happier outlook on life.”
–Alexander Technique Ireland
A study done by Pramod P. Reddy, Trisha P. Reddy, Jennifer Roig-Francoli, Lois Cone, Bezalel Sivan, W. Robert DeFoor, Krishnanath Gaitonde, and Paul H. Noh on ”The Impact of the Alexander Technique on Improving Posture and Surgical Ergonomics During Minimally Invasive Surgery: Pilot Study” it was concluded that training in the Alexander Technique improved posture in laparoscopic surgeons. I talk more in-depth about this study, here!
If you are interested in improving your posture, poise, and alignment, reach out here!