When a woman becomes pregnant her physical and emotional state is altered almost overnight. And what’s more, as the months of pregnancy progress the changes never stop. As pregnant women we are required to adapt to a constantly changing body shape and weight, to new hormone levels, and on the psychological level to the expectations and emotional reactions from ourselves and our environment. Apart from illness, there is no similar event in our life when that much is happening inside of us during a relatively short time span. Pregnancy and childbirth however are not medical conditions; they are physiological processes that give us the chance to pay attention to change.

Based in anatomical and neuropsychological knowledge, the Alexander Technique can address how we move and coordinate ourselves and how we respond to stress.

In regular Alexander lessons with a certified teacher you learn how to stop your automatic physical and emotional responses to stress. I place particular value in teaching thinking skills that create spaciousness in your body for your own wellbeing and for your growing baby and its passage during birth. Lessons help you to accommodate the constantly changing center of gravity through your body so as not to burden your spine. On the practical level we look at best ways to rest and to keep breathing, but you will also become more deeply aware of how you move and how you can stay active in daily tasks that require bending, lifting, sitting, standing and walking. Through my gentle touch and guiding words your body becomes a more sensitive instrument through which you adapt better to change. The Alexander Technique is also giving you more choices about your reactions to discomfort and the pain of contractions.

In short, the Alexander Technique does not compartmentalize; it does not manage relaxation, breathing, posture and fitness separately but with the underlying principle of treating your whole self. And the skills you learn in lessons will be valuable to you far beyond this pregnancy.

Michaela is a nationally certified Alexander Technique teacher. She has an adopted and a biological child. She found the Alexander Technique when she was looking for ways to supplement her daughter’s scoliosis treatment. Her background enables her to teach people with various complaints, including chronic pain and neurological disorders.

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