The Alexander technique

[CosmicJoghurt]

Hey.

Lately I've been hearing a bit about the so-called Alexander technique. I won't go into details on what it is, I encourage you to google it and check out the wiki page. Basically it's a technique used to cure muscular back pain, fix unbalanced body positions, bla bla bla. Now the difference between this and the so-called "New Age" techniques is that there is actually empirical evidence to support it.

*points to the part of the Wiki article concerning scientific studies*

Studies show it's effective, very effective in helping with back pain, and fixing bad position, etc. I also encourage you to take a look at the studies. They were very well done...

Anyways, what I like about this is that it doesn't involve New Age bullshit like universal life forces, and life energy, vital energy, all of that bullshit. It's just based on how bad position habits can impact your body in the long term... And the lessons apparently teach you to apply these concepts on a daily basis. In other words... You don't have to visit a practitioner every week for 200 bucks...

They recommend like 20 lessons for a full understanding of the technique, but the studies show that a pack of 6 lessons plus prescripted treatments were best in helping back pain, if I remember correctly. More bang for your buck than 20 lessons...

Seems nice...

Opinions?

 

[kenandkids]

Hey.

Lately I've been hearing a bit about the so-called Alexander technique. I won't go into details on what it is, I encourage you to google it and check out the wiki page. Basically it's a technique used to cure muscular back pain, fix unbalanced body positions, bla bla bla. Now the difference between this and the so-called "New Age" techniques is that there is actually empirical evidence to support it.

*points to the part of the Wiki article concerning scientific studies*

Studies show it's effective, very effective in helping with back pain, and fixing bad position, etc. I also encourage you to take a look at the studies. They were very well done...

Anyways, what I like about this is that it doesn't involve New Age bullshit like universal life forces, and life energy, vital energy, all of that bullshit. It's just based on how bad position habits can impact your body in the long term... And the lessons apparently teach you to apply these concepts on a daily basis. In other words... You don't have to visit a practitioner every week for 200 bucks...

They recommend like 20 lessons for a full understanding of the technique, but the studies show that a pack of 6 lessons plus prescripted treatments were best in helping back pain, if I remember correctly. More bang for your buck than 20 lessons...

Seems nice...

Opinions?

You mention a wiki link and studies... care to provide? If it is what you say, then yes it would be valid. Proper body maintenance and care greatly decrease discomfort and/or pain.

 

[Case]

Man, I've been having back pain for years - ever since I stopped doing sports. Staring at a screen all day might have cnotributed to the elaborate back/neck pain, but that's just a guess. Well, after thoroughly looking at the evidence, I can only conclude that this Alexander method is legit. Despite its stupid name. I also found a short video tutorial (step by step) as a kind of appetiser, I highly recommend watching this to get a better idea what this method entails. The video can be found here.

 

[MRaverz]

I dislike it because it has an air of 'alternative therapy' to it, which I've so far been unable to dispel. This likely being due to the way in which people are trained, the prices they charge and how they present themselves via advertising etc.

To me, if it worked I don't see why it wouldn't fit within a normal physio plan.


Oh and lets get some references in here, I'll quote from Singh and Ernst's book 'Trick or Treatment': "Very little research has been conducted so far on the Alexander technique. Some promising findings have emerged in terms of improvement of respiratory function, reduction of anxiety, reduction of disability in Parkinson's disease, and improvement of chronic back pain. However, for none of these conditions (except maybe chronic back pain) is the evidence sufficient to claim that the Alexander technique is of proven effectiveness."

They conclude that the evidence is not conclusive, but some benefits may arise if you're willing to fork out loads of money for the sessions. Sessions which essentially consist of being told how to sit up straight and breath a bit better, and which on average pile up to around 20 to 40 sessions.

 

[edoublep]

"I'll quote from Singh and Ernst's book 'Trick or Treatment': "Very little research has been conducted so far on the Alexander technique. Some promising findings have emerged in terms of improvement of respiratory function, reduction of anxiety, reduction of disability in Parkinson's disease, and improvement of chronic back pain. However, for none of these conditions (except maybe chronic back pain) is the evidence sufficient to claim that the Alexander technique is of proven effectiveness."


Hi - i found my way here via a google alert - i'm studying to be an Alexander teacher myself. i just wanted to say that Trick or Treatment was actually published before the aforementioned trial was published in the BMJ in 2008. Therefore isn't it likely that the authors would have concluded something different considering it was such a large randomised trial?

The Alexander technique is based on reasoning - it's a common sense principle and there is no mysticism or faith about it. It is however preventative in nature rather than curative and takes a commitment from one wishing to benefit from it so it is perhaps not the most appealing thing to many people who are perhaps searching for a silver bullet or quick fix to their problems.


Here's a link to the BMJ video about the trial
http://www.bmj.com/content/337/bmj.a2656.full

Since this is the League of Reason it may be of interest to note that F.M Alexander's first book, Man's Supreme Inheritance, published in 1912 has as it's central idea that man needs to exercise more reasoning in order to overcome problems of physical degeneration.

 

[CosmicJoghurt]

@edoublep

Yes, I forgot to mention that. The study was done much after those conclusions that there wasn't evidence.

 

[Andiferous]

Well, as someone coming from top physical condition to slipped disc/pinched nerve back pain (and I mean pain), I might suggest that the best remedy may be in seeing one's doctor, cuz I tried everything else.

 

[CosmicJoghurt]

Well, as someone coming from top physical condition to slipped disc/pinched nerve back pain (and I mean pain), I might suggest that the best remedy may be in seeing one's doctor, cuz I tried everything else.

That's a whole different story. The Alexander technique is supposed to fix bad posture on a daily basis, not fix severe problems like yours.

 

[Saul99]

Alexander had also made the discovery that breathing and vocalization are part and parcel of how the body functions as a whole. Habitual breathing and vocal patterns are parts of habitual patterns of general coordination. In fact, many problems we see as involving just one particular part of the body, e.g. lower back pain and RSI are often symptoms of larger habitual patterns of malcoordination.

Just as people had found Alexanders's vocal technique helped them with their breathing problems, so a number of his students found his method of respiratory re-education helped them with other physical difficulties. Basically, Alexander had evolved a method for learning how to consciously change maladaptive habits of coordination. He had come to the understanding that the mind and body function as an integrated entity, a rather unusual realization for that time. Alexander found that habits whether "physical" habits or "mental" habits, are all psychophysical in nature. He observed that how we think about our activities determines how we coordinate ourselves to do those activities, and, equally how long held habits of excessive tension and inefficient coordination affect how we feel and think. In a relatively short period of time, Alexander evolved his technique from a method of vocal training into a method of breathing reeducation and then into a comprehensive technique of psychophysical reeduction. His technique deals with the psychophysical coordination of the whole person or what he termed more consisely as "the use of the self".