[HolisticLiving] Movement Therapy

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Misty L. Trepke

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Movement Therapy

Body, Mind and Spirit in Harmony

 

By: Fadzo Chanakira

 

Everyone knows that exercise is good for you. Most people have heard

the axiom that a strong body, mind and spirit are necessary for

complete health of the individual. The busyness of our daily lives,

however, frequently causes us to compartmentalize not only our

activities, but also the above three facets within ourselves. We go

to the gym and think about 20 other things while on the treadmill. I

frequently see college students getting their reading assignments

done on the stair master. One might go to church, temple or satsang

and pay attention to the spiritual message or experience you are

there to absorb without once giving thought to your posture. People

attend seminars for hours or days at a time without attending to

their body or their spirit because they get so caught up in the

mental demands of their conference. We all do it. We attend to a

corner of what I will refer to as the body, mind and spirit triune

whenever we can squeeze it in. We seldom experience the triune as a

whole and in harmony.

 

Over the next few issues we will explore specific exercises for

experiencing the mind body connection. In this series on Movement

Therapy we will study how both modern and ancient techniques of

movement can expand our awareness, facilitate emotional release,

foster spiritual connectedness while still benefiting our bodies

either through the specific healing of ailments or by increasing

your overall physical vitality. The movement traditions and

techniques explored in this series will include the Alexander

Technique, the Feldenkrais Method, dance, drumming, yoga, tai chi

and Qi Gong. For this issue we will focus on the fairly modern

Alexander Technique.

 

The Alexander Technique

Frederick Mathias Alexander lived from 1869 – 1955. Understanding

certain aspects of his personal history enlightens the novice as to

how his technique can work for him or her. FM, as he is popularly

referred to within the Alexander community, was a self-taught man

who was born and raised in Tasmania. He loved horses and at a young

age absorbed himself in studying their movement. A love of

Shakespeare led him to the theatre, and eventually to Melbourne,

Australia, in pursuit of lessons and a career in acting. FM,

however, developed a problem with hoarseness in his voice when he

was on stage that almost ended his acting career. Given that this

hoarseness was specific to his stage performances, he thought that

he might be doing something to impact his vocal chords while on

stage, and if he could figure out what that was and correct it, it

would solve his voice problem. He proceeded to observe himself while

on stage, and with the help of friends in the medical establishment,

he was able to create a method by which to heal his condition.

 

The idea of self study and therefore self-correction is a

fundamental theme in the learning of the Alexander Technique. This

method works from an assumption that poise is innate. In the course

of living we develop habits of movement that inhibit that poise.

Chronic pain is often due to the cumulative effect of incorrect

patterns of movement. After years of relying on such patterns, we

actually believe that their use is normal rather than being the

source of our physical distress. The technique is more of an

educational process than it is a treatment. The student learns (or

relearns) how to use the appropriate amount of strength for specific

actions, thus reducing the amount of unnecessary tension in his or

her movements. Much emphasis is put on the spine and neck tension in

the way the student behaves physically. The Alexander Technique is

taught by certified instructors who have undergone a 3-4 year

training period. Instructors observe the student's movement patterns

in either a group or individual session and make corrections either

verbally or with gentle hand movements. It usually takes several

sessions for the instructor to ascertain how quickly the student

will progress, after which it is then up to the individual (as in

any educational process) how far they want to go.

 

A good resource book that goes into this technique in depth is " The

Alexander Technique " by Wilfred Barlow. He uses a wonderful example

in this book of a student who came to one of his classes complaining

of chronic neck and shoulder pain. It became apparent to Barlow,

after observing this man for some minutes that when he talked he was

constantly moving his head, and remarked that it was no wonder that

his neck and shoulder hurt. Upon working with him further, he was

able to observe that his jerking movements were associated with

fear, which went all the way back to his childhood, when his father

had traumatized him as a boy through physical abuse. The head

jerking was a defensive behavioral pattern that arose from the need

to be constantly " on the lookout " for a violent parent that might

pounce on him at any moment. This example illustrates how the

Alexander Technique, by fostering this awareness of movement, can

uncover deeper emotional or psychological motives that explain our

movement patterns. It must be stated, however, that while it may

bring awareness of those issues, it will not necessarily solve them.

It is recommended that should this occur, you couple your sessions

with treatment from a licensed psychotherapist

 

Thus the Alexander Technique is an excellent way to foster

awareness, grace, and ease of mobility in your day-to-day activities

whether it be while driving your car, or playing softball with your

kids. It can be implemented at any level of physical ability by any

one who is cognizant enough to observe their movement. FM used this

technique on himself in his later years to regain functionality

after a stroke. He actually recovered sufficiently to continue

teaching for the last seven years of his life, until his death at

the age of 84.

 

The Alexander technique has been endorsed by celebrated athletes,

musicians, actors, philosophers and scientists including Sting, Paul

McCartney, George Bernard Shaw, James Earl Jones and Moshe

Feldenkrais, who developed the Feldenkrais Method that includes

certain aspects of the Alexander Technique

 

Fadzo Chanakira is a freelance writer with a background in

kinesiology and a strong interest in natural health. She lives and

works in Los Angeles

 

For more information or to locate instructors in your area go to

www.alexandertechnique.com