Alexander Technique in Harvard MA

It takes a certain attitude to benefit from lessons in the Alexander Technique. How do you know if the Alexander Technique is right for you?

Lessons in the Technique are for you if, when you are exercising and your knee begins to hurt,  you think to yourself, ” my knee only hurts when I do this exercise maybe I should reevaluate my form?”

Lessons in the Technique may not be for you if, when you are exercising and your knee begins to hurt,  you think to yourself, “No pain no gain! Isn’t it wonderful they make such long lasting artificial joints these days. Luckily the whole procedure is covered by my insurance.”

Lessons in the Technique are for you if, when you notice you always get a headache when you spend more than 20 minutes typing at the computer, you think to yourself, “why do I always get these headaches when I am typing and so preoccupied that I don’t know how much time is passing?”

Lessons in the Technique may not be for you if, when you notice you always get a headache when you spend more than 20 minutes typing at the computer, you think to yourself, “I’m so glad I bought the economy size pain killer because in 15 minutes I will be feeling no pain and then I can get back to my virtual world!”

Lessons in the Technique are for you if, when you are going to your monthly visit to the chiropractor you think, “I feel so great when I leave my appointment but soon everything goes back to this painful state. What if it were possible to maintain these changes or even be able to make the changes myself? ”

Lessons in the Technique may not be for you if, when you are going to your monthly visit to the chiropractor you think, “If only these appointments were fully covered for life I could come every week to get straightened out! Maybe I could convince management to hire a full time company chiropractor.”

The direct cost of the treatment of chronic back pain is estimated to be approximately 100 billion dollars/year. The number of suffers continues to rise. Last summer the British Journal of Medicine published a large randomized study that showed an 85% reduction in back pain through lessons in the Alexander Technique. After a year, patients who had 24 lessons in the Alexander Technique had an average of 3 days with pain in the preceding 4 weeks compared to the control group that experience an average of 21 days of pain out of the preceding 28.

This is quite an amazing result but will it lead to more people studying the Alexander Technique? There are many reasons it might not. First of all, few people have heard of the Alexander Technique. Although the study was reported in the popular press most readers are not likely to pursue something that is an unknown. Second, lessons would have to be paid for out-of-pocket. Further, lessons imply more effort than receiving treatment.

All these factors are reflected in the way people treat their own bodies versus how they treat their cars. When a car starts exhibiting “symptoms”; funny noises, red lights, etc. the owner will insist that the mechanic find the root cause and fix it. Most people don’t disconnect warning lights (except the ones who call car talk) and turn up the radio loud to cover up weird noises. And when it comes to finding the $1,000 to replace a leaky radiator, they find it. After all we all need our cars in good working order to live our lives. But when it comes to the body, most people are happy finding a pill to mask the symptom and are really loath to spend money to find out, and change, what they might be doing (the root cause) to create their symptoms.

But I think that attitude is changing…..because, after all, we want our bodies in good working order to live a good life!