alexander technique

Alexander Technique

The ‘Alexander Technique’ is an approach for the self-prevention of unhelpful or harmful habits that interfere with the mental and physical conditions best suited for the health and functioning of the individual as a whole. Learning to inhibit one’s “too quick and unthinking reactions” and to maintain openness and balance as we go about our daily activities can have wide-ranging benefits. The various teaching methods used to teach the Technique (which include hands-on guidance by the teacher) are also referred to as the Alexander Technique.

The Alexander Technique is usually learned from individual lessons with a teacher using specialized hand contact and verbal instructions. The Technique is also taught in groups, often using short individual lessons which in turn act as examples to the rest of the class.^[1] The Technique takes its name from F. Matthias Alexander, who first observed and formulated its principles between 1890 and 1900.

Benefits

Applications are subjective by nature; many testimonies exist on the Internet. Alexander Technique is regarded to be a helpful adjunct to traditional medical treatment regimens and not as a substitute.

Some regard the Alexander Technique as a first-hand experience of the reality of body/mind unity. Proponents believe that its practice results in improved awareness and descriptive ability, as well as improved ease of movement, improved balance, stamina and less muscular tension. Additionally, those who practice it often report that Alexander Technique gives them an enhanced ability to clarify their thinking, gain objectivity about themselves and free themselves from unintentional self-imposed limitations. Further, proponents see Alexander Technique as a way to use less effort for movement and thus perform more efficiently, feeling younger and moving gracefully.

It is curriculum in performance schools of dance^[4], acting, circus, music, voice and some athletic training^[5]. Suitable for those starting at any fitness level, it is also used as remedial movement education to complete recovery and provide pain management.

Although the Alexander Technique is considered by those in its field to be primarily educational—taught in a student/teacher relationship as compared to being a treatment regimen between client and practitioner—it is regarded by the United Kingdom National Health Service to offer an alternative and complementary management for many medical complaints. A partial list is: back problems, unlearning and avoiding Repetitive Strain Injury, improving ergonomics, stuttering, speech training and voice loss, coping with mobility for those with Parkinson’s disease, posture or balance problems, or to complete recovery from injury as an adjunct to Physical therapy.

Alexander Technique has also been known to help performers with getting past the plateau effect (despite trying, no improvement), performance anxiety, getting beyond a supposed “lack of talent” and to sharpen discrimination and descriptive ability. It has also helped people control unwanted reactions, phobias and depression.

Evidence of change is sought in verifiable outside feedback; using a mirror; by noting, comparing, or describing differences of the relative location of one’s eyes, balance or weight changes; a change in the sound of one’s voice or the effects on one’s objectives, props or environment.

Students often describe the immediate effect of an Alexander lesson as being an unfamiliar feeling of lightness or expansion. During hands-on lessons, most pupils report an immediate result of feeling less weighted down, despite their inability to evoke or sustain this state by themselves. Other reported experiences include altered perception of their voice or environment, noticing a change in self image, or having temporary disorientations of where their body is located spatially.

Gertrude Stein’s brother Leo called the Technique: “the method for keeping your eye on the ball applied to life”.^[6]

The English novelist Aldous Huxley was strongly influenced by F. M. Alexander and the Technique so much so that he included him as a character in the pacifist theme novel Eyeless in Gaza published in 1936. ^[7]

The American philosopher and educator John Dewey was very favorably impressed by F. M. Alexander and the Technique. In 1923, Dewey wrote the introduction to Alexander’s magnum opus Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual.^[8]

My mom sent me this… advice for living (some relevant stuff here)

Not to sound too preachy… but I think one of the goals in life is to be internally happy, healthy, fulfilled, wise, at peace etc. and perhaps this ‘advice’ can help you attain inner freedom. With all of the crazy issues that we think are important to be conscious about, we can’t forget that freeing our soul, body, and mind are extremely important in our quest for inner fulfillment and purpose. Neglecting our personal health and happiness should not be compromised for any reason. If you can find relevance in your own life to these suggested ideas, and if they benefit you, then try implementing some of them in your own daily life….feel free to share with others too!

Peace and Love,

D-F(ng)s

1.  Take a 10-30 minute walk every day.   And while you walk, smile.   It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
2.  Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.   Buy a lock if you have to.
3.  Buy a DVR/TIVO, tape your late night shows and get more sleep.
4.  When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, “My purpose is to ______today.”
5.  Live with the 3 E’s:  Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.
6.  Watch more movies, play more games and read more books than you did in 2007.
7.  Make time to practice meditation and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8.  Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
9.  Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
11. Drink green tea and plenty of water.  Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.
12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
13. Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk, and let new and flowing energy into your life.
14. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control.   Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class, but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
17. Smile and laugh more.   It will keep the energy vampires away.
18. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
20. Don’t take yourself so seriously.  No one else does.
21. You don’t have to win every argument.  Agree to disagree.
22. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
23. Don’t compare your life to others’.  You have no idea what their journey is all about.
24. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, and wear the fancy lingerie.   Don’t save it for a special occasion.   Today is special!
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: “In five years, will this matter?”
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. What other people think of you is none of your business.
29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will.  Stay in touch.
32. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
33. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
34. The best is yet to come.
35. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
36. Do the right thing!
37. Call your family often.
38. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: “I am thankful for __________.  Today I accomplished _________.”
39. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
40. Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you certainly don’t want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.

How the Machine value$ your life

Smokers, the obese cheaper to treat than healthy, long-living people: study

Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it doesn’t save money, researchers reported Monday.

It costs more to care for healthy people who live years longer, according to a Dutch study that counters the common perception that preventing obesity would save governments millions of dollars.

“It [the finding] was a small surprise,” said Pieter van Baal, an economist at the Netherlands’ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, who led the study. “But it also makes sense. If you live longer, then you cost the health system more.”

In a paper published online Monday in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal, Dutch researchers found the health costs of thin and healthy people in adulthood are more expensive than those of either fat people or smokers.

Van Baal and colleagues created a model to simulate lifetime health costs for three groups of 1,000 people: the “healthy-living” group (thin and non-smoking), obese people and smokers. The model relied on “cost of illness” data and disease prevalence in the Netherlands in 2003.

The researchers found that from age 20 to 56, obese people racked up the most expensive health costs. But because both the smokers and the obese people died sooner than the healthy group, it cost less to treat them in the long run.

On average, healthy people lived 84 years. Smokers lived about 77 years, and obese people lived about 80 years. Smokers and obese people tended to have more heart disease than the healthy people.

Cancer incidence, except for lung cancer, was the same in all three groups. Obese people had the most diabetes, and healthy people had the most strokes. Ultimately, the thin and healthy group cost the most, about $417,000 US, from age 20 on.

The cost of care for obese people was $371,000 US, and for smokers, about $326,000 US.

The Story of Stuff

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

McDonald’s video game…

www.mcvideogame.com

Making money in a corporation like McDonald’s is not simple at all! Behind every sandwich there is a complex process you must learn to manaage: from the creation of pastures to the slaughter, from the restaurant management to the branding. You’ll discover all the dirty secrets that made us one of the biggest companies in the world. A great game for educational purposes…

“For decades McDonald’s corporation has been heavily criticized for its negative impact on society and the environment. There are inevitably some glitches in our activity: rainforest destruction, livelihood losses in the third world, desertification, precarization of working conditions, food poisoning and so on…

Denying all these well founded accusations would be impossible so we decided to create an online game to explain to young people that this is the price to pay in order to preserve our lifestyle.

We’ll continue on our way, with our well-known determination. Join us and have fun with us!”

-Ronny Mc-Dick

Buy Nothing Day

As much of ‘the machine’ requires our unrelenting, unquestioning habit of consuming to exist, I thought we could align ourselves with an adbusters initiative…. that of ‘buy nothing day’…. perhaps we could take some time at our next workshop to brainstorm some ways in which our time could be better spent than mindlessly consuming crap we don’t need. Maybe we could come up with a poster idea, find a way to mass produce it, and spread the word around the streets of vancouver…. Here’s a starter list of free (or cheap) activities that give me a greater sense of satisfaction and happiness:-reading (mainly non fiction, but every now and then a fictional story is good for the imagination)-playing foosball, tennis, ping pong (craigslist has cheap used stuff that works great)-going for a walk or a run or a bike ride in the forest-playing my guitar-socializing/philosophizing with friends-playing drop in ice hockey ($5.50)-doing yoga in my bedroom-writing my thoughts down in a journal-playing hacky sack-volunteering time at a daycare-indoor rock climbing (approx. $10)-playing ‘bump set spike’ with a couple of friends