Fitness Quality and the Alexander Technique

There are a number of methods available today which can teach fitness participants how to stop putting harmful and unnecessary strain on their bodies while exercising.

The method I know the most about is the Alexander Technique. Four generations of performers and athletes have used it to increase their stamina and skill, and it is increasingly being used by people in all walks of life to help alleviate stress-related conditions such as backache, migraine, and TMJ disorders.

Certified teachers of the Alexander Technique undergo a rigorous and lengthy training process during which they learn to detect the harmful (and often very subtle) habits which interfere with the body's natural flexibility, coordination and balance. Because these habits often produce excessive muscular contraction, or tension, they prevent the spinal column from achieving its full length and restrict breathing and movement capacity.

Using a combination of verbal instructions and gentle hands-on guidance, Alexander Technique teachers show their students how to release this tension. They help them to direct their energies in ways that allow exercises, as well as ordinary daily activities, to be done in a safe and efficient manner.

Central to this process is a relearning of the natural balance and ease of movement we all had as children, but which we have lost touch with in our fast-paced stressful world.

You don't have to be an athlete to benefit from increased body awareness. And it's not only your body that improves. Becoming more comfortable in your own skin gives you greater freedom to enjoy the world around you, and to develop all your abilities, mental and physical, to the fullest.

In the final analysis, any fitness program that does not address these fundamental issues is incomplete.

 

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