It's NOT Just About Alignment!

Alignment: the ordering of things into a line.
Posture: the position or bearing of the body whether characteristic or assumed.

Often when I hear people speak in reference to the Alexander Technique they  say something like: “yes, I know my posture isn’t as it should be” or an instructor  will say, “this student should take Alexander  lessons, his posture needs improvement.”  What then is the Alexander Technique if not a tool by which we learn how to improve our posture?

In addition to the above definition, posture has another meaning. We can say that one has a menacing posture, or speak of someone’s political posture.  To speak of posture as merely a physical position is not to acknowledge posture as synonymous with attitude.  Speaking of posture as only a body position does not acknowledge  the fact that the Alexander Technique does not separate between the physical and mental “self”.  Pedro de Alcantara in his book, The Alexander Technique, A Skill for Life, says, “Posture, good or bad, is simply the outward manifestation of a series of convictions and beliefs." F.M. Alexander, then, taught a new method dealing with the “use of the self”; the “self” meaning in this case, the whole, physical, mental, emotional being.  Ultimately, of course, improved physical alignment does occur in the process of learning the Alexander Technique.

So, how does this impact how we live and move?  How can  lessons in the Alexander Technique help in one’s life, other than to improve one’s posture.   Alexander Technique is also about awareness; it is about becoming more kinesthetically aware of what is happening with our bodies.  We react to stimuli in ways both physical and emotional.   The Alexander Technique teacher works with a student privately or sometimes in pairs, to help the student become more aware of how he is reacting physically, both to physical as well as emotional stimuli.   This is done with hands on.  Because, like it or not, we all have what Alexander called “faulty sensory awareness”, we often do not “do” as we “feel” we are doing.  It is the Alexander Teacher’s job to bring one’s awareness to these  faulty actions  or reactions and to help one change them.   Alexander said, “Often when we do the “right thing” it feels wrong, therefore why would anyone do the “right thing” on his own?”  In life's challenges, the study of the Alexander Technique  will help the student to be more productive  with less injury (mental, physical and emotional) and more growth.  The Alexander Technique then, is a tool which will help one meet life’s challenges in a more open and expansive way.