Back Care and The Alexander Technique
by N. Brooke Lieb
Nationally Certified Teacher of the Alexander Technique
This month's issue of New Age Journal has an article about back pain, citing the re-education process of the Alexander Technique as a valuable tool in back care. After our recent victory with the New York State Massage Board, who determined that the Alexander Technique does not fall under the scope of practice of any of the licensed professions in New York, it is more clear than ever that our work is truly educational in nature, though it can have quite an impact on physical well-being. The technique is truly a body/mind tool.
When someone with back pain chooses to come for lessons, we have a useful tool to teach them. The Alexander Technique is not a replacement for medical intervention. It is a valuable addition to anyone's skills for living (whether in pain or not).
Basics:
To work with someone having back pain, I begin where I would with any other student: exploring habits. The Alexander Technique is a unique tool to learn to bring greater and greater efficiency and ease to the task of living by knowing how to identify overuse of muscles, mental and physical energy, and lessen that overuse.
With any new student, I am going to begin with the simple activity of moving in and out of a chair (chairwork). This is a rich "laboratory" in which to bring habits of thought and movement to light for a student and teach them how to interrupt those habits, allowing for new and more effective patterns to become available.
The process of learning the Alexander Technique asks the student to suspend their interest in being right. F. M. Alexander learned through his exploration that in trying to reason out a solution to his vocal problem (chronic hoarseness) he was using his sensation to tell him whether he was right or not. He was relying on his sensation to tell him he had the correct amount of muscle energy; the proper alignment; and the appropriate volume of voice to gain his end: reciting text. However, how he used his voice habitually had always felt right to him all along, and using his voice that way was how he had created his vocal problems to begin with. F. M. soon realized he would have to "ignore" sensation to find a solution to his self-created mis-use. That meant things would very probably feel wrong. So, I repeat: The process of learning the Alexander Technique asks the student to suspend their interest in being right.
An example of working with students with back pain:
Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching my colleague, Judy Stern, give a first lesson in the Alexander Technique to a woman named Alice, who was having sciatica (pain referring down her lower leg into her foot) from a pinched nerve.
Before Judy began working with her, she wanted to get a sense of Alice's discomfort. On a scale of 0 - 10, 0 being no pain, 10 being the worst, Alice was at about a 4-5. Judy then gave an basic introductory lesson to Alice, with a particular emphasis on the idea of teaching her how to decompress through her spine, and use her legs for support. Judy worked with her the same way any of us would work with any student, teaching the principles of awareness, inhibition and direction. There was no special attention paid to any one part of Alice. Rather, Judy taught her how to use her whole self by releasing her head from her neck.
After the lesson, Alice reported her pain at 1/2 to 0. At the end, Judy asked Alice if she'd ever had a massage (she had) and if this was like massage. Alicešs reply: "No, this is not at all like massage."
Watching Judy reminded me all over again how much potential our work has to teach people how to use their bodies in a healthier, more accurate way.
N. Brooke Lieb is a Nationally Certified Teacher of the Alexander Technique who specializes in Postural Re-Education/Stress Management/Performance Enhancement/RSI and Prevention and Recovery. To contact her, call (212) 866-0679 or email brookelieb@mindspring.com For class schedules and articles, and to subscribe to her free newsletter, "Alexander Technique Self Study Tools," visit her website at http://www.brookelieb.com.