Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and the Alexander Technique
When it comes to something like CFS it is obvious that the model has some substantial limitations and you need to start thinking outside the current paradigm. Gregory Bateson talked about how the medical model has accumulated a lot of very clever tricks that work very well, such as the vaccine for polio; but the minute that such a vaccine is found nothing further is researched about it. The end result is a medical system that has no underlying wisdom, no superstructure that binds it all together in an holistic way. The rise of alternative therapies is certainly an indication of this. So if the model is inadequate what can we do? We can always try another model. In my own case the Ayurvedic or traditional Indian model worked very well returning me to health in about 2 years and helping me to make some major life adjustments along the way. The advantage of the Ayurvedic (literally the 'science of life') model is that it does have a systematic and profound wisdom underpinning it, that stems from over five thousand years of culture and learning. It treats the whole person - physical, emotional and rational.
Western medicine advocates rest, counseling, adjusting lifestyle and support as the best approach to treating CFS and this is all good advice. The problem, it seems to me is one of perception. The orthodox point of view perceives CFS as a thing. It is my opinion that CFS is not a thing at all, which is the reason that no cause and no diagnosis can be found. It is a process. A process of a human system running down, in a variety of ways, to such a point that it can't function properly anymore. In my own experience of CFS, it was exactly that and the solution was not to attempt to 'fix' a part of my body but to address the whole of 'me' and my life, in all its various aspects - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. And the new model that I followed worked.
As Alexander Teachers we are, of course, not in the business of treatment at all. We are in the business of education. Marjorie Barstow, a renowned Alexander Teacher and a student of Alexander, once described the technique as 'the study of the conservation of energy for human beings'. This is an apt description and especially relevant for CFS sufferers for whom the
Latest Articles