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[This article first appeared in
Volume 10 No. 1, January 1998, edition of Stress News,
the newsletter of the International Stress Management
Association (UK)]
Who was F. Matthias Alexander? What is the Alexander Technique?
How does
it relate to Stress Management?"
Generally considered today (owing to
some unfortunate literature) to be a postural approach to
dealing with back pain, the work of F. Matthias Alexander
(1869-1955) was, for he himself and his early pupils, primarily
a means of learning to control human reactivity. Faced with
vocal and respiratory problems in his youth, when he was an
itinerant actor, he sought unsuccessfully for a cure from the
medical profession and through the study of various contemporary
systems of voice production and respiratory control. By means of
meticulous self-observation over a considerable period of time,
he was eventually able to discover certain patterns of
unnecessary muscular tension which were causing harmful pressure
on his larynx and interference with his natural breathing.
This in turn led him to the realisation that the human body
maintains its equilibrium and poise according to certain
principles. By understanding what these principles are one can
learn to carry out the normal range of human activities in such
a way that they are in conformity with these principles rather
than in contradiction to them. In other words, one can learn to
be better co-ordinated.
However, as Alexander
discovered, these principles of physical co-ordination do not
work in isolation from the rest of our functioning.
Specifically, the quality of muscle tone and the way we are
supported at rest and in movement is only one aspect of a whole
which includes our thought processes and our emotional states.
In trying to unravel and understand the interrelationship
between these different aspects of his organism Alexander
realised that they were inextricably linked with habit patterns
which were deep-rooted and connected with his "intention to act"
or his "will to do". If this sounds as though it is getting
complicated, I will try to explain what I mean.
Firstly
on the physical level, Alexander discovered that we do not hold
ourselves upright by balancing one part of the body on top of
the part below it - like someone on stilts balancing something
on their head - but rather that we are held upright by dynamic
tension: a useful image is that of a suspension bridge or a
camping tent which are held firm by forces pulling in opposing
directions. Poise, therefore, is attained by finding the right
balance of tensions pulling in the right directions.
Contracted muscles in parts of the back, neck or
shoulders, for instance, are seen from the point of view of the
Alexander Technique as symptoms of an uneven distribution of
tension throughout the whole body . The "Alexander" approach to
dealing with this is to try to rectify the overall balance of
tensions - just as a "kink" in the canvas of a tent is corrected
by adjusting the relative tensions on the guy ropes. The key, on
a physical level, to this balance of tensions in a human being
is the relationship of the head to the neck, and the head and
neck to the back.
Certain parts of the body are for
support and others for mobility. The spine, pelvis and rib-cage
are our central support structure and movements come from the
joints. The weight of the head (some 10-12lbs.) has to be borne
by the cervical spine. It does not rest on the atlas in such a
way that it could balance; there is more weight forward of the
atlas than behind. The head would, if left to itself, tend to
fall forward and it is prevented from doing so by muscular
activity which pulls the head back. If this muscular activity
becomes excessive then the head pulls back too much and the
weight of it starts to bear down on the cervical spine. This
then has a "knock-on" effect on the rest of the spine, which
either collapses or, usually with a great deal of tension in the
chest shoulders and neck, becomes rigid in order to provide
support. The effect of either collapse or rigidity on the
respiratory system is that free movement of the ribs is
prevented; the relationship between respiration and emotion is a
field of study in itself.
No amount of locally applied
massage or remedial treatment - nor, for that matter, a
psychologically based approach to tension - is going to bring
about more that temporary relief until the individual discovers
what it is he or she is doing (at a level currently below the
sense register) that is causing this "chain reaction" and stops
doing it. In other words, the individual needs to learn how to
allow the spine to regain its natural length and spring. This is
achieved, put in the most simple terms, by removing the
excessive downward pressure of the head on the cervical spine,
which is achieved by releasing excessive tension in the muscles
of the neck.
This is just the physical aspect, however, and it does
not function in isolation. In learning to carry out
motor-activity certain connections are made between the mental
decision to act and the physical actualisation of that decision.
These processes are connected below the level of conscious
awareness in accordance with certain patterns of neural
stimulation stored in some kind of "motor" or "neural" memory.
However, if this "memory" contains badly organised information,
or unnecessary information then the "will to do" a certain
activity will inevitably stimulate all the neural and motor
activity associated with it. Like a computer programme, or worse
a computer virus, once it is activated it obediently, ruthlessly
and blindly follows each stage of its preordained obligatory
path. This is how habits of posture and movement work. A very
simple example of this is someone who when using a computer
mouse lifts their shoulder every time they click it. Lifting the
shoulder is unnecessary, but it has become associated
unconsciously with the act of clicking the mouse. The tension
which accumulates in the shoulder can start to pull on the neck
and cause pain. Massaging the neck and shoulder will relieve the
symptoms but until the person realises what is causing the
problem it will recur. (This was the case with one pupil of mine
who thought his shoulder pain was caused by a sports injury from
too much squash and tennis. It turned out to be the result of
lifting his shoulder when using a mouse. Once he had realised
this he could very quickly stop doing it and all symptoms soon
disappeared.)
Alexander devised for himself a method of re-educating
the links between volition and the resultant motor-activity. His
approach is not "behaviourist" in that it deals with the
detailed processes, extremely subtle though they are, of the
interface between thought and movement. The changes which are
brought about are not so much ones of "behaviour" as of "state".
When the quality of the connection between mental and physical
processes changes, so does our "state". Alexander studied in
himself the action of both volition and its counterpart,
"inhibition" (not in the Freudian sense of some kind of
repression, but in the sense of the opposite of volition: i.e.
"Volition" is that which you agree to do and "Inhibition" is
that which you do not agree to do). He found that with
sufficient mental alertness it was possible to receive a
stimulus to act (the stimulus coming either from within the
organism or from without) and to choose not to react. This is a
function of a higher part of the mind and calls for a high
degree of attention and "awareness in the moment", which in
themselves affect one's state. The possibility of using
consciously our potential to "give or withhold consent" has, if
one takes the time to reflect on it, far-reaching implications.
Even at a very basic level people trying to put this idea into
practise report a greater sense of having control over their
lives.
It is the role of the Alexander teacher to guide
the pupil into a discovery of these psycho-physical facts, and
it is done through a combination of explanation and direct
"hands-on" work. A competent teacher is able to bring about in
the pupil a change in their co-ordination in a matter of
minutes, though this cannot, of course, be sustained. Gradually
the pupil comes to understand how a certain mental acquiescence
is necessary to allow these changes to happen. This
"acquiescence" or "absence of interference" is the very state
needed by the body to function at its most efficient. In time
the pupil learns how to bring about this internal reorganisation
on his or her own and how to apply it to all the normal - and
even some of the unusual - activities of life.
It
should by now be apparent in what way this relates to managing
stress. Experience is very subjective, and situations which are
stressful and difficult for one person can be challenging and
enlivening for another. It all depends on how we take them,
which depends on our individual "make-up". Learning the
Alexander Technique cannot change someone's essential nature,
but can help one to achieve greater integration, inner
"connectedness". That which is better connected, better
integrated can better withstand stress, just as our camping tent
- if properly pitched with the right amount of tension - can
better withstand the storms.
For many people who learn
the Alexander Technique the sense of improved physical
well-being is as much as they want to take out of it. For
others, the possibilities of developing some of the
psychological aspects can become a very personal tool for
self-development over a great number of years. Space does not
permit me to explore such questions further and the serious
enquirer is referred to Alexander's own writings* or to a
trained teacher. I have found, however, that these ideas do
translate well into the needs of busy people in the work-place.
Both in private lessons and in group classes (where such tools
as "role-play" can be used) the process of making discoveries
about oneself, of understanding some of the hidden relationships
between cause and effect, can empower people in a very real way.
* Particularly recommended is
"The Use of the Self"
.
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